Chapter 9: The Third Evolution
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 9: The Third Evolution
[ Excellent. You have defeated a human who changed their class using a crude strategy! A special class is now available. You will rank up. Please select a being to evolve into. ]
[ 1. Intermediate Hobgoblin Warrior ]
[ 2. Hobgoblin Assassin ]
[ 3. Orc Warrior ]
[ 4. Kobold Warrior ]
[ Special. Hobgoblin Commander ]
Nice.
I couldn’t help but smile. The next evolution might be a long way off, but at least I’d managed to evolve once during the Tutorial.
Seeing the ‘Commander’ option, which I probably got a bonus for thanks to my simple disguise and ambush tactics, I immediately skipped over the special class.
I figured upgrading to a superior species was the best choice, so I also skipped the Intermediate Hobgoblin Warrior and Assassin options. That left the Orc Warrior and the Kobold Warrior.
Though they were both demi-humans, Orc Warriors and Kobold Warriors were on slightly different paths. I had thought it might be possible to evolve beyond my current species’ value, and it seemed I could even evolve in a direction similar to beastmen.
I wasn’t certain, but I suspected that choosing Kobold could open a path to higher-tier species like Werewolf or Werebear. It certainly wasn’t a bad option, but what drew me in more than a werewolf was the ‘Orc.’
Some might question why I’d choose a mere Orc, but the Orcs here were completely different from the common extras you see in stories. They didn’t have pig heads; in fact, they were closer to the Orcs depicted in the West.
They love to fight, cherish honor, and are straightforward and tough.
Naturally, in terms of racial stats, they were a clear upgrade from humans. Orcs weren’t as sensitive to mana as humans, so choosing to be a magician as an Orc might be a bit iffy, but as warriors, Orcs were truly powerful. In my past life, I could barely manage to take one down in a one-on-one fight.
They don’t tire easily, and their skin is tough. They can completely block a stray blade with their hide, and their physical strength is incomparable to that of an ordinary human. The same held true on the continent. An experienced Orc warrior could easily take on more than three average human warriors. Depending on how they were raised, the Orc was a well-balanced species that I could stick with for the long haul.
Since I had no desire to have a dog’s head, I decided to choose Orc without hesitation.
Orc Warrior.
As I focused on the thought, a pain as if my body was being torn apart washed over me, and I began to swell. Even as a Hobgoblin, I was smaller than a human, but Orcs were larger. I could feel my body expanding in an instant.
And when I opened my eyes, I could feel the power.
I circulated the mana circuit in my body once and felt it respond with a clarity that was on a different level from my Hobgoblin days.
Good.
It seemed I wasn’t the only one who had evolved. Goff, the leader of the Goff Clan, was also growing larger. It looked like he had chosen Orc as well.
“Uwaaaargh!”
With a scream, his body began to swell even larger than mine. I could feel the tusks protruding from my lower jaw. I slowly looked around.
The nearby goblins were all staring at me with shocked eyes. Soon, they began to shout.
“Our Chieftain became an Orc! Kkireuk!!!”
“An honorable Orc!!! No, a treacherous Orc!!”
I thought I had fought quite bravely instead of just hiding, but it seemed the image I’d cultivated among these simple-minded creatures was hard to shake.
An Orc who valued profit and loss wasn’t so bad, I thought, and grinned, baring my tusks.
“Our Chieftain is evolving too! Goff of the Goff Clan has also turned into an Orc. Kkireuk… Kkireuk!!!”
“A brave Orc who knows true honor!”
I was definitely as brave as Goff… The difference in their assessments left a bitter taste in my mouth. I wondered if Mev and the five loyal goblins had also evolved and glanced over at them, but it seemed they hadn’t yet. I opened my mouth to speak to Mev.
“Mev. Not yet?”
“Huh? Ah! Kkireuk… U-uh… yes, Chieftain. I don’t think… I’m ready yet.”
She seemed dazed.
“Really? A shame. Go bring that human woman back here.”
“Y-yes.”
With a displeased expression, Mev quickly went to fetch Jung Hayeon. As expected, Jung Hayeon collapsed to the ground, staring at me with astonished eyes once again.
“You… you’ve evolved again.”
“……”
I didn’t bother to answer and simply helped the woman to her feet. Staying fixed in one settlement was no longer a good option, so we were constantly on the move, changing our camp every time. It seemed this was where we would be staying for the night, as everyone was moving about busily.
“W-we’re on the same side, right? The s-same side.”
She was usually quiet, so I wondered why she was suddenly so talkative today. I glanced at the woman named Jung Hayeon. I wasn’t sure if it was because she didn’t like feeling alone here or if she was curious about her future, but her expression was just as ambiguous as Mev’s.
Seeing her tremble, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to say a word. I spoke bluntly.
“That’s a matter of perspective.”
Her face brightened a little. I led her away. Seeing the determined look on her face, I was curious about what she was thinking. As I was lost in my miscellaneous thoughts, the shabby tent built by the goblins came into view.
*
I have to survive.
Jung Hayeon was the eldest daughter, born into a very ordinary family. After her father passed away, she was left with only her mother and two younger sisters. The family’s finances weren’t great, so she had to leave home early to take responsibility for their livelihood. She worked and slept in a factory, sending her earnings home.
Not being able to see her sisters often was a great regret, but the occasional letters they wrote gave her the strength to start each morning.
The day she was brought here, after hearing a sudden, strange voice, was precisely July 7, 2016. Before she could make sense of the incomprehensible situation or get her bearings, she heard that strange voice again. She wasn’t the only one who had been summoned. Everyone was looking around, listening to the voice with expressions of utter confusion.
[ The Tutorial will now begin. Goblins will be summoned at random locations. The Safety Zone will be deactivated. ]
[ The goal of the Tutorial is to survive for 100 days. ]
[ Your character will be activated. ]
[ The Quest Window will be activated. ]
[ Quest - First Battle: You have been suddenly dragged to a strange place for reasons unknown. It may be bewildering, but survival comes first. Kill the summoned goblins. (0/10) ]
And then the battle began. She had just run away frantically, so she couldn’t even properly remember how it had ended. All she remembered were the horrific screams. The floor, sticky and slippery with spilled blood. The inability to understand how she had ended up in such a state.
Many people died, but Jung Hayeon had ‘luckily’ survived.
When the companions who had decided to hide in a cave for 100 days were attacked, Jung Hayeon survived then, too. Purely ‘by luck.’
It was the same when she later met the goblin she thought might have been human. Her survival up to this point was entirely due to ‘luck.’ She hadn’t been chosen from among the countless people. It was just a coincidence that she was the last one left alive.
The fact that the man they called Chieftain had spared her was not due to her own will, but purely to that goblin’s whim.
Before she knew anything about the man, before she knew how he knew about South Korea or why he was in that form, Jung Hayeon had killed many people, all against her will.
The situation was nauseating, but the thought that struck her even before the hellscape unfolding beneath the flagpole was:
I survived. I survived.
If I just endure for 100 days, I can go back. If I just endure for 100 days, I can go back and see my sisters. That’s what she thought, but she couldn’t help but question whether she could truly return.
It was clearly called a ‘Tutorial.’ These 100 days might not be the end, but the beginning. The man beside her certainly seemed to be preparing for something. He moved constantly, without rest.
Watching him, Jung Hayeon couldn’t help but think.
If she could just cast aside a little guilt, she could definitely survive.
That thought was shattered the moment she saw the man’s cold eyes. The look in his eyes, as if he saw her as a toy, sent a chill down her spine. He wasn’t looking at her as a fellow human, but with the expression one would have when looking at a truly insignificant bug.
I have to survive. I have to survive.
She didn’t know where she found such courage. During the second battle, Jung Hayeon blindly rushed forward, picked up a fallen goblin’s dagger, and plunged it into a dying human.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!! I’m sorry!!!”
“S-save… me… Save…”
Blood splattered on her face, and nausea rose in her throat, but Jung Hayeon continued to stab the dying woman’s stomach to the very end.
“I’m sorry!!… Sorr…”
Luck would no longer help her. She had to be acknowledged. She had to prove she was useful. She had to survive. The look on the man’s face as he stared at her in surprise was definitely not the same look he gave a bug. Jung Hayeon looked at the man, smiled, and opened her mouth.
“W-we’re on the same side, right? The s-same side.”
And after a few more battles, she heard a voice.
[ Your mental fortitude is commendable. A special being is now available. You will rank up. Please select a being to evolve into. ]
[ Special. Alraune ]
She didn’t know what it was, but she knew something had changed. Of course, Jung Hayeon had no idea what kind of monster an Alraune was. As she thought of the name, information about the being naturally surfaced in her mind.
[ Special. Alraune ]
[ The upper body of a human with the lower body covered by a giant flower. The skin is greenish. A type of monster that emits pheromones to lure humans and then drains their life force. ]
A monster that lures and then kills humans—didn’t that perfectly match what she had been doing? Jung Hayeon couldn’t help but realize it instinctively. If she chose ‘this side,’ she could never go back to ‘that side.’
She would cease to be human. That was why she had to approach the man who had turned into an Orc and speak to him.
“W-we’re on the same side, right? The s-same side.”
“That’s a matter of perspective.”
She had no other choice. If she couldn’t return to Earth after 100 days, being in ‘this group’ was advantageous for survival. She absolutely could not die before she could go back to Earth. Even if it meant giving up her humanity, it was far better than losing her life in this absurd place.
Its skin was also greenish. Everyone in ‘this group’ had green skin except for her. Could she even call herself human anymore? She had indirectly killed countless people, and with her own hands, she had killed over ten.
I’m the same as them.
I have to survive. Survive… and somehow, my sisters…
And so, Jung Hayeon squeezed her eyes shut and made her choice.
A choice she might one day come to regret.