Chapter 6
Chapter 6
1. Status Window and Tutorial -4
[Tutorial: Hunt the 『Erect Violet』 placed in the forest]
[The team that completes the mission first will be given priority in selecting a mentor.]
Monster Tree (怪樹).
The green calamity that descends from Gates. The inorganic archenemy of humanity, devoid of reason or emotion, that encroaches upon the land and turns it into dead, contaminated soil.
For reasons unknown, they resemble plants, just as their name suggests. That was why, after the Gate Incident broke out, there was a time when botany majors commanded higher salaries than doctors.
After the Hunter Monarchy came to power, that salary premium became largely meaningless, but regardless of the rise and fall of their market value, their knowledge still held worth. Enough that the plant volume of the "WHY?" series was kept and treasured. Our Seoul vault had a few related books as well.
So I could tell at once what kind of creature 『Erect Violet』 referred to.
But Sohye seemed a bit uncertain.
"...Um, Noah. Do you know what an Erect Violet is?"
"You don't?"
"I, I think I'd recognize it if I saw it in person... but our community is small, so instead of packing books, we grabbed an extra can or two, and we don't have any field guides or anything at our hideout. I don't really know the names. I'm sorry...!"
"Oh, I wasn't scolding you. I was just genuinely asking."
Well, sure. If a zombie apocalypse had broken out on top of everything else, she wouldn't have had the leisure to flip through a plant guide and analyze whether that monster tree resembled this or that.
A C-rank monster by Earth standards, designation 『Erect Violet』.
Naturally, it wasn't an actual Erect Violet. It was only called that because of similarities in its ecology and appearance. In reality, it was a plant standing thirty centimeters tall with a kill range of one meter—an ankle mine.
I explained while making quick slicing motions with my hand.
"You know, that thing you often see in the shade. It has a single white flower, and when you get close, it attacks by sweeping the ground with sharp vines."
"Ah, Paris! I know that one."
"Excuse me?"
"It's, it's kind of a nickname we use among ourselves. Since Paris was the name of the person who shot Achilles in the heel, we call the one that goes for ankles Paris... I'm sorry. I was a Greek studies major."
Sohye had some tact, it seemed, and she reined in the TMI that was about to spill out on its own. She thought for a moment, then spoke.
"Pari... Erect Violets, they were often seen in shaded places, right."
"Yes. They prefer shade, and they love dry conditions to death. Hyejin... no, when pyrokinesis dried them out a bit, they just dropped dead one after another."
"Then the damp, shaded side would be over there. I can smell water, so... I think there's a stream somewhere around there. How about we, how about we look around that area?"
"...You can smell water from this position?"
"I have a good nose... I can pick up other scents well too. I can use it to estimate the number and location of zombie hordes..."
Sohye was more talented than I'd expected.
"It seems to be this way..."
She went beyond simply grasping the terrain quickly. She read the vegetation to calculate the shortest route, and she moved while naturally leaving traces so it would be easy to follow.
Her senses were good overall.
Right. The System said it selected the most talented people from each planet, so every registered hunter must have at least one talent of their own. In her case, it must have been tracking ability.
On top of that, most of her judgments were made in under ten seconds. Thanks to that, we moved along a nearly straight path and soon discovered a shallow stream.
"Found it."
"Huh? Oh... yes, me too!"
And we found the target, 『Erect Violet』, in one go as well.
Swish— swish-swish—
A body with root tentacles about three meters long extending radially, and at the center hung a single small flower, as if insisting it was a plant. At a glance, it looked like a large brown starfish.
As you can see, it wasn't a creature with good camouflage. It might pass in a place densely covered with knee-high grass, but in an ordinary forest, it stood out plainly. What came next was very simple.
"Stay here. I'll catch it and be right back."
"Huh?"
There was no need to waste time. I strode toward the 『Erect Violet』.
Monster trees, for all that they're plants, have something like a brain. I don't know if they have it to move like animals, but if you stab it, they usually die. One good thrust with this dagger and it's over.
"It's dangerous! Paris moves fast, so wait until its attack passes and it lets its guard down...!"
Behind me, Sohye didn't know what to do with herself. She seemed worried about me, but to be blunt, it was needless concern.
Step. Pararararak—!!
The moment I stepped on a nearby mound of dirt, the 『Erect Violet』 began whipping its root tentacles in all directions like a propeller. It was a slash-like attack covering a three-meter radius.
Crunch—!
A root tentacle that flew like a whip felled an entire tree. With that kind of power, a person's ankle would be gone in an instant.
It was lethal in its own way—but nothing to an A-rank Hunter from Earth.
Whoosh, swish—! Thunk.
Three jumps. One, two, a breath, then three. I ducked under the one coming diagonally, then drove my dagger straight into the center where the flower bloomed. Done.
Got it.
The 『Erect Violet』, which had been squirming as if screaming, soon went limp. It lay motionless, as if it had returned to its original plant form.
[Hunt completion confirmed.]
[Your team's record is 1st place.]
I'd hoped there might be some kind of mid-way reward, but there was nothing special. After confirming the System's matter-of-fact scoring, I dusted off my hands.
"All done. There's no reason to stay in the forest, so shall we head back?"
"H-how did you dodge... that?"
"Its movements are simple."
"Was that something you could just dodge...?"
Anyone can do that much with practice.
As I finished up and started heading back to the clearing where Sohye and I had originally been, loud noises began to reach us one after another. There were explosions, and the crunching sound of trees collapsing rang out repeatedly.
Fairly close by, I could also see a three-meter-tall robot. It apparently lacked any tracking function despite that impressive frame, because it was swinging its arms with enough force to sweep away the forest. Far off in the distance, a pillar of fire shot up.
Excessive firepower.
Of course, not everyone has a good nose or good eyes. If you need to complete the mission quickly and you have enough firepower, the strategy of just flattening everything is perfectly understandable.
Still, it felt like a waste.
Because I couldn't help thinking—if we gathered up all that firepower and burned the forested areas around Seoul, we could secure at least one more residential zone...
What happened to those who were eliminated?
"Let us through too! We were only one second late!"
"Look, our team barely scraped through. One of the three of us has to drop out. You contributed the least, so have a conscience and step aside."
"Testing us by catching this little thing is unfair, hey! First place, you! Fight me! I'll fold that pretty-faced wimp of yours in half, so let me pass!"
[Hunters other than the top 35 may now return.]
[Hunters who fail to be assigned a mentor within the time limit will return to their original world.]
They had effectively received a notice of dismissal.
"So people who didn't pass are just supposed to deal with it themselves—?!"
They voiced their complaints in their own ways, but no answer came back from the System. The eliminated hunters had no choice but to give up one by one and return to their own worlds, and soon the clearing emptied out and grew quiet.
The System proceeded to the next step mechanically, without emotion.
[Temporary access to higher-tier information through a mentor is now possible in this area.]
[Starting with the 1st place team (2 members), please designate a mentor within the time limit.]
...Higher-tier information?
There was no time to mull over what that phrase might mean. The 1st place team was us, after all. We had to pick a mentor first.
"Hm."
"Hmm..."
Not only had we passed the mission, we'd also earned the right to choose. There were five mentors. Which one should we pick?
Thinking simply, we should choose the strongest one. The Greek-style spearman, that is. All five mentors were powerful, but the spearman was on a different level by himself. If we learned from him, we could gain a great deal.
Assuming, that is, that the man would actually devote himself to teaching us.
"So, in your opinion, Noah, that person is the strongest... But maybe this is just my prejudice. He looks really, um, like he has a terrible personality..."
Right. In terms of appearance, he looked like an obnoxious second-generation chaebol heir.
And in his blue-green eyes, an appraising intent rippled openly. The other mentors also had a rather interviewer-like attitude, but this guy didn't even bother hiding it.
Let's rule him out for now. Then what about the remaining mentors?
"...That smiling person over there looks friendly."
"............"
Sohye pointed at a bald man wearing large ram-head gauntlets. She said he looked friendly, but to me, he was a bit unsettling. There was something different about his smile.
Rather than someone smiling out of genuine kindness, he felt like a viper hiding ulterior motives.
"I'm not so sure. Personally, I'd rather avoid him..."
"Still, doesn't he seem better than the one next to him... the one wearing a necklace made from a goat's head?"
That was true. Aside from the spearman and the bald man, the remaining options were quite ambiguous. It looked like we'd end up choosing one of the two.
While we were deliberating like that.
Crack—
The sound of something fracturing rang out, and the tutorial participants all flinched and turned as one toward the source of the sound. It was the sky.
The spearman had thrust his spear in—and was breaking something like an invisible membrane in the air. The membrane that had existed as if separating the mentors from us, the one the mentors were standing on.
"What in the world are you doing?!"
"That spear-wielding lunatic is at it again!"
The mentors lamented. But... "again"?
Crunch—! Clang!
The spearman made a hole just big enough for one person to pass through and descended. Landing lightly on the undergrowth with a soft step, he strode toward us—no, toward me—without hesitation.
And without so much as a glance at Sohye, he spoke to me.
"I am Sergios, born on Mount Moria."
"Uh, uh, hello. I'm Kim Sohye, born on Gwanaksan in Seoul Revolutionary City—"
"Ah, yes... My name is Noah Won—"
"I have no desire to know your name. I saw you hunting in the forest, and you seemed serviceable. That much is enough to qualify you to receive a hero's teachings. Don't waste time on rabble. Come under me."
"........?"
What kind of approach was this? He didn't even acknowledge Sohye's greeting.
The strongest mentor recognizing my ability was a good thing, if anything, but his way of speaking made my skin crawl. "A hero's teachings"?
I raised my hand and asked a question.
"Let me ask a few things. What exactly will you teach me? What I need is information about the System—"
"Figure that out yourself. What I will teach you is the virtue of a hero."
"...I see. Then my next question: can I join together with Sohye?"
"Among all those gathered here, you are the only one with the potential to set foot on the path of a hero."
"Huh."
So, in other words: if you're not qualified, he won't teach you, and what he teaches is entirely up to him. That seemed to be the gist of it... but was that really something to say in a tutorial? Was there no penalty for a mentor slacking off?
As I stood frozen in bewilderment, one of the mentors looking down from above added a remark with an exasperated expression.
"Look here, Silver-Traced Spear. The System paid Credits in exchange for helping with the newcomers' initial support, didn't it? If you abandon your duties and slack off, there'll be no Credit reward, and you might even get hit with a punitive Credit fine!"
Right, so there was a penalty after all. The System did have order!
But the spear-wielder declared boldly.
"Then I'll simply pay the fine."
"............"
Then why the hell did you even come as a tutorial mentor, you bastard.
I had him figured out. This guy was a lunatic.
If I urgently needed combat power right now, this spear-wielder wouldn't be a bad choice, but at the moment, tips and information about the System were more important than that. I declined as politely as I could.
"I respectfully decline."
"...You're being a fool. Why?"
Would knowing the reason change anything?
Right, there had been a guy like this among my seniors in the entertainment industry. That bastard had faded into obscurity after a personality scandal broke out, but this spear-wielder wasn't in a profession where scandals cost him anything, so he wouldn't disappear either.
I looked at the spear-wielding bastard and answered calmly.
"Sergios. I don't know exactly what the qualifications or conditions for a hero are, but in my opinion, discernment is also very important."
"Indeed."
"In that sense, seeing as I fail to recognize your worth, I'm afraid I may be somewhat lacking in that qualification."
"........?"
He made a face that said, what nonsense are you spouting, so I answered with my actions.
"This way. We'll take this person as our mentor."
"M-me too...!"
"Hahaha! Welcome! It's a great joy to mentor the top performers!"
We did our best to ignore the piercing gaze of the spear-wielding bastard and sided with the smiling bald man.
Wasn't a snake in the underbrush far better than a mad tiger?