Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Beyond the Border
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[Don't be too disappointed. It won't take that long.]
With those words, she vanished.
"Hah!"
I felt the pressure lift and bolted upright.
I'd woken from the dream.
"Haa, haa..."
My body was already drenched in cold sweat.
Panting raggedly, I looked around.
"...Yoo Han, you alright?"
"What happened, No.1? You were groaning like crazy..."
"Bad dream or something?"
My comrades, who had been fast asleep, were now gathered around me, staring.
Their eyes urged me to spill the details.
"Uh... well..."
I began recounting what had happened in the dream, step by step.
***
"What? You almost got taken over?"
I nodded at Kayla's shocked question.
"Yeah, this time it was really dangerous."
I hadn't shown it much in the dream, but honestly, it had been close.
I'd nearly caved to her demand to voice my wish.
The promise of sending me home had sounded that sweet.
Of course, if I'd given in...
'I'd have ended up like Dershion.'
A madman chasing his desires, not even realizing he'd die.
That's what would've become of me.
'What's the point of going home as a corpse? Better to go back alive.'
Anyway.
I'd dodged it, so all good.
"So, what'd that bitch babble about?"
"She was vague, but it seemed like she'd come back on the night of the red moon."
"The red moon? You mean that whole great war prophecy?"
"That's the only thing that comes to mind right now."
"Haa..."
Kayla let out a deep sigh, her face etched with worry.
"Looks like the war's really coming. Honestly, I was half-doubting it."
Fair enough.
Big disasters are hard to feel real until they hit.
But the dream, the prophecy, the rumors floating around... everything pointed to the great war.
Even if we didn't fully believe, we had to prepare at minimum.
From that angle... how were we doing? Prepared enough?
Eh, honestly, no clue.
If we were doing our best? Sure.
"So, here's the thing..."
Lost in those thoughts, I brought up what I'd been mulling since before sleep.
"Think we should put District 7 on hold for now."
"What do you mean?"
"Let's stick to the original goal."
"...No.1, you saying we head outside now?"
I nodded at Thompson's question.
"Honestly, our growth pace isn't bad, but it's not enough."
The prophecy had made it clear: less than a month until the great war.
I might even face the demon legion commander then.
Considering that, our current pace fell short.
The demons lurking here were mostly low-to-mid grade.
"Plenty of stronger demons in the outskirts. That's their territory."
"Then... our growth'll speed up too."
"Right. It'll come with risks, though."
I stopped there, waiting for their choice.
With District 7 already breached, pushing further out was worth serious thought.
If they said it was too much, I'd back off coolly.
But.
"If No.1 says so, what choice we got? Course we're in."
"Why you saying it all serious like that?"
"Yeah, wasn't that the plan from the start?"
Against my expectations, they accepted without much hesitation.
"..."
...What was this?
Felt like watching ducklings trailing their mom.
I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.
"Okay, then we head out starting tomorrow."
Tomorrow, the real exploration beyond the border began.
***
That morning.
We headed straight for the underground passage to District 6.
"Hoo... hoo..."
"Damn... the stench is worse."
Only one reason we'd come here right away.
"Auntie, you okay?"
With us leaving the border, we couldn't look after the survivor lady anymore.
"...Y-yeah. Just gotta tough it out a bit, right?"
"Yeah, it's just up ahead."
So this was our solution.
Escort her to District 6.
No plans for more survivors anyway, so this worked best all around.
How far did we go?
Soon, the ladder to District 6 appeared, and we said our goodbyes to the survivor lady.
"Just keep a low profile, and you should be fine. District's all caught up in war talk—no one's paying attention to others."
With that, I gathered our remaining gold and handed it to her.
"Use this to hold out once you're in."
"Thanks, kid..."
She wiped away tears, genuinely grateful.
Honestly, she'd felt like a drag the whole time, but sending her off alive brought a swell of pride.
"Auntie, see you later! I'll come find you!"
"Ah... yeah, Kayla. Thank you so much."
Her voice choked as she hugged Kayla once, then slowly climbed the ladder.
Only when she was out of sight did we turn away.
Holding our noses against the foul stink, we pressed through the passage.
Midway, Thompson muttered, lost in thought.
"Hoo... but I never imagined it'd turn out like this."
"What, Uncle?"
"Nah, even with demons tearing everything up, how's there only one survivor?"
"Uh, yeah..."
Fair point.
Not like everyone in District 7 had died.
"Seriously, what happened to everyone?"
"Probably hiding somewhere."
"Hope so..."
No use us racking our brains over it.
We shoved the thought aside and picked up speed.
Clop, clop!
The path there had meant clearing demons en route, so the way back was a breeze.
Quiet road, no demons, no people.
After a good while.
We stopped before a thick line gouged into the ground.
"We're here."
From this point on, it was truly beyond the border.
"No demons in sight for now."
"Should start seeing a few soon."
"But what's this line?"
Thompson tapped the mark on the ground, and Kayla answered.
"Remnant of the outer wall."
"Outer wall?"
"Yeah, never seen it myself, but they say District 7 used to be safe like the others."
"Ah... makes sense. How'd it end up like this?"
Kayla shook her head—she didn't know.
No surprise there. Even I, who'd played the game set 100 years prior, had no clue.
'No walls back then either.'
Natural she wouldn't know.
As those thoughts crossed my mind.
"...Shh."
Barundel halted abruptly, signaling us.
The move we only took around demons.
We dropped into combat stance, following his gaze.
There.
Thud... thud...
A massive double-bladed axe in hand, a half-man, half-bull monster prowled, scanning the area.
"...A Minotaur."
Upper demon [Minotaur].
"Keh heh, scale's on another level already...?"
Even at a glance, its presence dwarfed anything from District 7.
Step, step...
Eyes locked on it, we crept forward, holding our breath.
From here on, it was do-or-die.
***
Upper demon [Minotaur].
Two main traits.
First: insane strength.
Grooooar!
Kablooey-!
Thompson, arms wrapped in rock, barely blocked the headbutt and skidded back meters.
"Grk, what strength...!"
The shock hit hard; groaning in pain, he bellowed at full volume.
"Now—!"
Our ace in the hole, waiting for that moment.
Barundel lunged at the Minotaur's back in a flash.
Whoosh.
His short arms swung the axe at terrifying speed, aimed straight.
But.
Roooar!
The Minotaur reacted, countering with its own axe.
Clangggg!
Deafening roar, sparks flying everywhere.
That was its second trait.
Wielding weapons with that monstrous strength.
Meant intelligence at least above goblin demons.
"...Damn!"
Barundel instinctively pulled back, sensing danger, creating distance.
Too late, though—the impact too much?
Crack! Split! Craaack!
Cracks spiderwebbed his axe, then it shattered.
"Damn...! This is as far as I go!"
"I'll take it!"
I tagged in with Barundel and leaped into the fray.
Thirty minutes into this deathmatch already.
The thing's stamina had to be nearing empty.
'I'll finish it.'
Truth was, Thompson and Barundel had bad matchups.
Their best was a big single hit, but not enough to overpower Minotaur strength.
Me?
'Not bad.'
I had what they lacked.
Agile body.
Might lose in burst speed, but overall? I was way ahead.
Minotaur was the type to chip away at, bit by bit.
Zzzap!
Lightning cloaked my body as I dashed inside its guard.
It reacted instantly, swinging its double-axe with force—but.
Zzzap!
I surged speed, slipping its trajectory.
Whoosh!
Intimidating wind pressure whooshed behind me.
'...One hit and I'm done.'
Gulping, I pushed faster, faster.
Zap! Zzzap!
Closing to point-blank.
Grooo!
It swung again.
This time, precise—no dodging even at full speed.
Not that I planned to.
We still had one comrade left.
"Where ya—!"
A roar from behind, heat surging.
Kayla's fireball, all her mana poured in.
Boom!
Dozens of times bigger than any before, it smacked the axe aside.
The body tilted from impact.
Perfect opening.
"Now."
Slash-!
Blade infused with holy power and [Essence of Light].
It carved a long gash up the Minotaur's calf.
Grooooar...!
Pain made it lift one leg.
Meager damage for a full-power strike, but whatever.
Never planned a one-shot anyway.
'Bit by bit, for sure.'
Hit the ground from my aerial launch, leaped again.
Slash-!
Sliced its leg once more.
Repeated endlessly.
Slash! Slash! Slash...!
Ankles, calves, knees, thighs...
Legs burning to burst, I didn't stop, hacking relentlessly.
After ages.
Thud-!
Legs gave out; it knelt.
I'd waited for this—I leaped high.
Finally eye-level.
Its hollow gaze seemed to accept death.
"Die."
I swung mercilessly at the doomed beast.
Spurt!
Blood gushed like a waterfall from its neck as it toppled.
Thud!
"..."
Brief silence fell.
Then, massive cheers erupted.
"Woooo!"
First time since arriving in this world.
We'd hunted an upper demon.