Four Seasons Forest (2)
Who’s the highest god in this world? YasaengGrill asking
└Why?
└YasaengGrill So I can curse 'em out proper
└lolololol
└lolololol
└Straight-up blasphemy declaration whoa
└Don'tAbandonHero Blasphemy is bad!
└That's why you got dropped in the Four Seasons Forest lololol
└You got punished lolol
└Don'tAbandonHero Blasphemy is bad!
It felt like the hope I'd barely clung to was crumbling away. I crossed my arms and stared down at the ground. Compasses from the high-nics were lined up there. Their second hands were all spinning wildly, like they were broken.
They couldn't all be busted, so the problem was probably where I was. 'Is this really the Four Seasons Forest?'
I looked up and checked the Gallery. Rumors had spread—everything was about me. Plenty said this phenomenon was impossible outside the Four Seasons Forest, but others countered that then how was I accessing the Gallery?
Turns out YasaengGrill's faking it? That bastard deliberately broke all the compasses?
└Deliberately, not deliberately
└For a fake, his posts were all legit scary tho?
└Mad Dog, then Guardian, then Guardian to Owl Bear
└Look at that lineup lololol
└And the sizes were insane—no way it's fake
└Shin Wol Yeongcho seems real too? Check Cheonma's post
└At least not a scammer, even if he's a bit nuts
└lololol I wish it was fake too.
A sigh escaped from sheer frustration. My mind was spinning just like those compass hands—about to lose it. No clue what to do next.
'Still, there's hope.' It wasn't confirmed this was the Four Seasons Forest. The world's vast, full of unmapped spots. Could be one of those.
Everyone painted it as a demon realm beyond hell. As a civilized guy used to society's safety net, I had to get out somehow. Better to act than sit idle.
Tell me about Four Seasons Forest features pls YasaengGrill asking
└Why features?
└YasaengGrill To verify if it's real
└Think spring, summer, fall, winter weather all there
└More like every climate imaginable—even deserts I heard
└YasaengGrill wtf why's there a desert in a forest??
└We dunno either lol
└FYI it's small country-sized, fyi
└YasaengGrill Super useless info
└Said fyi lolol
What kinda bullshit forest is this? Better check first. Going out's risky, but busted compasses make it pointless otherwise. Start from the cave and expand radius slowly.
'Need paper and pen too.' Gonna sketch a rough map. Better than nothing, even if compasses suck. Can't risk getting lost and unable to return.
Prep for worst-case. 'Do everything I can.' Heard survival's all about the will to live. More people die giving up than from risks. Gotta take 'em.
I turned to the cave corner. 'No safer spot than this cave right now…' Might be stuck here days, so water first over escape. Can last three weeks no food, three days no water? Dead.
Gallery helps, but I'll handle what I can myself. 'Can't always get help in real danger.' Felt it with Mad Dog. SwordTasteStar saved me then. No guarantee next time—hell, it's likely.
No help in a pinch? Dead. 'Gotta befriend high-nics…' No idea who they are. Checked the ones I kinda knew: Cheonma's bigwig, SwordTasteStar rich sword expert, PassingDwarf's a dwarf. That's it for now.
Compass donors? Unknown. 'StarlightPrincess seems sick.' Not mental—physical. Daily full recovery prayers scream chronic illness.
Others? Posts too scattered to pin down.
Asshole reveal ChangguPrincess (photo of emblem with deer pattern)
My asshole lol
└lololol did Changgu lose today?
└ChangguPrincess Those bitches scored twice in extra time haha
└lololololol
└No wonder the crazies were swarming
Or not. I grimaced at the blunt post. ChangguPrincess is sports-mad for sure—most posts are game-related.
Wanna cry~ Why am I a Changgu fan~ haha
You bastards. Got totally fucked like idiots~
As expected, Evers!! Believed in you~!
So fucking shitty~. That's a team? Lezgo! Lezgo! Lezgo!
"…."
A familiar stench wafted from this strange Gallery. Sports drive folks nuts. Tasted like home. I once obsessed over soccer and baseball till stress-baldness hit. Epiphany cured it.
'To befriend her…' Tough now. No clue about this world's sports. Stop profiling high-nics, scout before sunset.
Grabbed Cheonma's sword, popped Wall Valley Pills. Bitter as hell—gulped water to kill it. No end in sight.
'Good. Ready.' Posted before heading out, pocketed extra pills for emergencies.
Prep done YasaengGrill (photo of cave exit)
Scouting to confirm Four Seasons Forest
└Too risky??
└Met Owl Bear earlier;;
└Compasses weird, better scout
└Cheonma Take care
└SwordTasteStar You got this
└PassingDwarf Hold up, was gonna give used shield
└YasaengGrill Getchu later. Bail if risky
└Next day, no post from Grill….
└T_T
└YasaengGrill All good
High-nics cheering, rest mostly "who cares?" Some crossed lines—deleted quick.
└Don'tAbandonHero Harsh insults at hardworking folks = ban!
└YasaengGrill Thx;;
Hardworking? Dropped here by accident. Anyway, posted what might be my last, took deep breath, stepped out.
Familiar woods greeted me—warm weather. 'Silver lining: not cold.' Woulda upped difficulty.
Scanned, walked opposite Mad Dog corpse. Marked trees with sword to not get lost. 'Focus on sounds.'
Crickets. Bushes rustling. Distant roars. Ears sharp, heart pounding. One slip, dead. Sword's all I trust.
Tzzzzzzt—Ears caught ominous hiss. From above. Snapped head up—no time to ease it.
"Hiiiisssss!!"
Huge snake lunged, jaws wide. Fangs gleamed. No scream time—jerked face aside. Jaws grazed by inches. Swung at body without pause.
Thud!
"What…."
Unexpected. Cheonma's sword that sliced Mad Dog clean. But stuck halfway. Scales tougher than thought.
"Kyaaaa!!"
Snake thrashed in pain, huge jaws coming again. Anaconda-sized— one bite, done. Rushed right hand, but froze.
Squeeze!
"Guhk?!"
Snake coiled right arm. When?! Panic short—grabbed throat before bite. Scales not slimy, like steel plates.
Squeeze!!
"Agh!"
Pressure intensified. Left hand free? No—drop it, bitten. Hold status quo best.
'How… Ah!' Spotted half-sliced body. Arm coil and head separated. Jumped rope-style, slammed arms down.
Half-body dropped at feet. Now pull.
Squelch!
"Hraaaah!!"
"Hiiiisss!!"
Stamped center, yanked like tearing fully. Snake whipped head, poison spraying dangerously. Arm crushed harder—bone-shattering intent.
Chicken game: you die or me. Hit snag.
'Fuck. Scales too tough?!'
Cheonma's sword barely pierced. Tough expected. Give up? Hell no. Rip in half to live.
Riiiip! Rip!
Results showed. Body tearing slowly from sword cut. Gave all, feet too—more force.
Riiiip! Riiiiip!!
Tough fight ended. Body split. Power drained from headless torso. Whipped arm free, stabbed head.
Stab!
Sword sank proper. Still twitched. Gasped, collapsed. Left sword in—just in case. Heard snakes move sans head. Even pinned deep, wriggled. Tough life.
Throb! Throb!
"Aigoo…."
Checked arm—marks clear, bruises too. Bone nearly crushed—light injury lucky.
'What material are these scales?' Barely pierced Cheonma's sword. Posted photo. Rest 30 secs, move on. Drained.
Snake ended up huge af YasaengGrill (photo of snake head) (photo of separated body)
Thought I was dead. Sword didn't cut clean, freaked;;
└Whoa gross;;; Viper?
└YasaengGrill Yeah tried fangs first, then coiled arm. Thought bone broke
└Mad Dog halfed easy, snake not? How kill?
└YasaengGrill Tore from sword cut. Tough af
└whoa whoa whoa
└Looks like Steel Scale Snake?
└If real, pricey af
└Yeah poison and scales valuable
This guy's Steel Scale Snake. Lives up to name. Ignored raging comments, closed. No carry to cave—too big. Auction better.
'Like Mad Dog, gotta.' No hesitation, entered auction. Wild stuff: elf panties, unwashed socks. World big, weirdos plenty.
Snorted. Anyone posts here unlike trades.
'Fees… eek 40%?' Murderous. But high use from exposure. Touched body (not head), registered: "Freshly Caught Snake," min bid 5 gold.
Corpse hassle solved—profit if sells. 'Reg fee low, good.' High-nic sold gave starter cash.
P.S.: Fees may vary by weight. Whatever. Registered clean, stood. Body vanished, head left—still twitching, no auction. Bury best.
'Rough start.' My fate. Why so hard? Rubbed throbbing arm, walked. Pray no trouble.
Splash splash—Alerting sound. River! Vital survival. Hurried.
Drinking water, maybe float out. Thought so.
"…What the hell is this."
If not for the 'desert' across stream. More baffled than shocked. Reddish sand, real desert. Forest here, desert there? Common sense shattered.
Blank awhile, accessed Gallery.
Guys check this wild shit YasaengGrill (photo of stream and forest)
Forest and river here! (photo of vast desert beyond stream)
Desert beyond river! Fake? (video alternating forest, stream, desert)
Whoa fuck! Where am I?
Abso. Lute. Ly. Un. Be. Liev. Able.
└Whoa. You. Are. Do. Ing. God. Tier.
└??? Real Four Seasons Forest?
└How's Gallery work?
└lololol spectacle
└It's real lololol
└Cheonma What a pretty place
└YasaengGrill Teacher?
└Cheonma Seems clueless lololol
└Boomer vibes lolol
└PassingDwarf Hallucinating?
└YasaengGrill Sober ages;;
└PassingDwarf Drink up. It'll pass
└lolololol
└Poison cures poison whoa
Useless comments everywhere. Sighed in frustration.
"Ha…."
One word summed my mood.
"Fuck."