The Tyrant of the Forest
The monster known as the Giant Slug carries the grandiose nickname Tyrant of the Savage Forest, but in reality it's little more than a gag monster. Think of it as a parody of the giant slugs from the roguelike game Dungeon Crawl. Despite its massive size, the creature is incredibly weak. It has no special abilities, no acidic blood or anything of the sort. You can just hack it apart normally, but...
"Shit! It's the Tyrant of the Forest!" Jangcheok shouted the moment he recognized the giant slug.
Merchants who had been watching timidly from a distance began trembling pitifully.
"The Tyrant of the Forest?"
"A-are we going to die?"
"No! The explorers will handle it!"
Sion, armed with a broad kite shield and an arming sword, took up a combat stance as if to protect Jangcheok. Jangcheok likewise nocked an arrow and prepared to shoot. They had been fighting together for a long time; even without exchanging a single word, the two were already ready for battle.
"Jangcheok, is that thing strong?"
"No idea. This is my first time seeing one. But if it has a nickname like 'Tyrant,' it must be terrifying."
"...No. It's not that strong."
"Hajun! Don't let your guard down either! Look at those horrible teeth. Get bitten once and you won't even have bones left to bury!"
Sion approached the giant slug with a tense expression. From a distance, Noman pulled out his whip and struck the slug with all his might.
Smack!
But it was useless. The sticky mucus simply slid the whip's blow away. Noman cried out in surprise.
"This thing! My attacks aren't working at all!"
"Damn it!"
"See? It's no ordinary monster!"
"..."
If attacks aren't landing, shouldn't the first thing to consider be whether the damage output is simply too low? Jangcheok quickly loosed an arrow.
Thwip!
The sharply flying arrow pierced through the mucus and embedded itself in the slug's body. But the creature was so enormous that a few arrows weren't nearly enough to bring it down. If anything, they only enraged it.
"Kwaaaaargh!"
The giant slug glared at us with its round, beady eyes and let out a shrill cry. Then it charged toward the explorers with speed that seemed impossible for a snail.
Sion leapt forward to intercept it.
"Hup!"
He tried to block the slug with his shield. As an Ironclad, Sion possessed shield-handling skills. Depending on the skill tree, Ironclads could use their shields aggressively like secondary weapons. Sion's shield slammed into the slug's head—an Ironclad's Shield Bash.
Right then—
"Kwek!"
The slug that had taken the hit vomited sticky mucus. The mucus struck Sion with force, covering him instantly and sending him crashing to the ground.
Shibal, I knew it would turn out like this!
"Sion!"
"Watch out, Hajun!"
I stopped my approach and observed the situation. The agitated slug sprayed mucus in every direction. Jangcheok fired several more arrows, but the creature simply endured them with its body. Sion lay fallen, surrounded by filthy mucus.
"Ugh... urgh..."
Sion let out a long groan, then lowered his head and stopped moving.
I shouted in panic.
"Hey! You bastard! Sion!"
"..."
No reply came. Sion's fallen body showed not the slightest movement.
"Shibal, hey! If you're alive, get up already!"
"..."
I called Sion's name several times, but he remained silent. Had that guy actually died?
Noman muttered in disbelief.
"Sion... is dead?"
Jangcheok, enraged, drew his sword and shouted.
"That bastard! I'll kill him!"
I barely managed to stop Jangcheok.
"Calm down. Can't you see that mucus field over there?"
"Then what the hell are we supposed to do?!"
When I slowly shook my head, Jangcheok finally regained his composure. Charging in without a tank was foolish. It would be better to provoke the creature and lure it away. There was no other choice.
Jangcheok looked at the fallen Sion with an expression that seemed ready to burst into tears at any moment. Even though he was a grown man sniffling, it didn't feel pathetic.
"Sion... grk. I'll definitely avenge you!"
For a moment, I had forgotten. This was the world of a roguelike game. Anyone could die at any time, for any reason. I spoke while looking at Sion's corpse.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure to avenge Sion."
"Yeah! I'm counting on you, Hajun!"
The giant slug approached us. Before it could get close, I began chanting.
Sion! I'll help you take your own revenge!
"Animate Dead!"
You have called upon the power of darkness...
Malevolent magic spreads!
I waited for Sion's zombie to rise.
"..."
But no matter how long I waited, Sion did not revive. Had the spell failed? No—the system said there were no issues.
Right then—
"Uwaaah! What the hell is this?!"
Sion, enveloped in deathly magic, screamed as he rose to his feet.
"Hey, Hajun! You clueless bastard! Can't you see I was playing dead?!"
Shibal.
"Why the hell is the tank playing dead?! You crazy bastard!"
The slug's eyes spun wildly. It immediately charged at Sion.
"Kwaaaang!"
"Aaaagh!"
Jangcheok, whose tears seemed to have dried up completely, stared at Sion with a blank expression. Sion was now being chased around by the slug.
"That... Sion bastard. He's only gotten better at slacking off..."
"Shouldn't we help him?"
"Damn it. Let's go!"
The tank had certainly drawn aggro well. While Sion lured the slug away, we successfully struck the monster from behind.
"Kiiiiiing..."
The giant slug collapsed.
"All that flashy name for nothing. It really wasn't much."
I patted Sion's shoulder.
"Sion. I thought you'd changed a lot while we were apart, but you're still the same."
"Huh? Hahaha! I'm the same as ever!"
Sion grinned widely while banging on his shield.
...His level had gone up, but Sion was still useless. Haneul's face from when we parted in Oricil flashed before my eyes. She had been an Ironclad ace. Leaving Sion behind, I returned to the carriage and flopped down.
The halted caravan began moving again.
#
"Feels like it's been a while since I came back."
After a short carriage ride, we arrived at Wiseville, the village where Jangcheok's house was located. Just as expected, the journey had been peaceful—aside from the appearance of the giant slug. Jangcheok went to the merchants and collected the reward. Five hundred ron per person. Just enough to count as pocket money.
"The village is bigger than I thought."
I looked around, taking in the sights. Even as an explorer, I hadn't traveled to every corner of the kingdom. The only rural village I'd seen so far was Jerad. Compared to Jerad, Wiseville was bustling with people.
"Well, there's a dungeon here, and artifacts get unearthed too."
Jangcheok explained. Wiseville had been built by explorers dispatched to excavate the dungeon. It had started as little more than a tent village, but as ancient artifacts and treasures kept emerging from underground, professional treasure hunters began gathering. The settlement grew until it reached its current size.
A village this famous for its dungeon should have had several requests coming in for exploration parties. There was a reason I hadn't been able to come to Wiseville until now.
"The Shadow Patrol has this place locked down tight. Most of the artifacts that get unearthed flow straight to them."
"The Striders, then."
The Shadow Patrol—the Strider Guild's name. Most artifacts excavated in Wiseville reportedly ended up in the Strider Guild's hands.
"If you're not a Strider, you can pretty much forget about getting work here."
In other words, Strider explorers entered the dungeon and sent the excavated artifacts to their guild. Successful guilds often had their own exclusive dungeons like this. For example, the Guardian Guild's headquarters on Riane Island supposedly had a dungeon that could only be entered by those with the Guardian class. Guilds like Necromancers, with small numbers, or Raiders, who lacked proper foundations, had no exclusive dungeons.
We walked along the muddy road, avoiding the busy carriages. People paid no attention to explorers carrying weapons. It was only natural for a village near a dungeon.
"Alright, work's done. Want to head to my place for a drink?"
Jangcheok suggested to the party members. That had been the goal anyway. We headed toward Jangcheok's house.
#
Jangcheok's house was located on the outskirts, a little ways from the village. Since his job was that of an explorer, there had been no need to secure a house inside the village proper.
On the way there, wide fields giving off the strong scent of manure spread out before us. Yellow pumpkins ripened appetizingly in the fields. Vegetables I didn't recognize grew fresh and green as well. Scarecrows stood in the fields, and piles of manure were stacked here and there. A country road filled with green.
Every time I saw such a peaceful sight, my mind and body, exhausted from the dungeons, felt healed.
"From here all the way up there is my land."
Jangcheok gestured broadly as he spoke. Bragging about one's property was a privilege of the elderly. It wasn't simply about showing off wealth—it was about sharing the story of the years they had lived.
"I'm busy running around on requests, so my kids and wife work the fields here."
"You must be happy when you come home."
Jangcheok looked at me and smiled genuinely.
"Of course! Happy as can be!"
Jangcheok was probably in the top one percent of explorer lives. Even though his rank wasn't high, he had steadily completed requests for a long time, saved money diligently, gotten married, bought land, and raised his children well. Explorers who earned Gold or Platinum Badges and swept away underground monsters were impressive, but so were explorers like him who built their own happy futures.
"Actually, I've been thinking about retiring soon."
Jangcheok spoke in a low voice meant only for me to hear.
"When I was young, I had no education and no skills, so I joined dungeon parties as a porter. After getting used to it, I thought being an explorer wasn't so bad. The Strider Guild accepted me without asking questions, so I became a Strider."
Jangcheok's voice gradually grew quieter.
"It's about time I quit this line of work. There aren't many people who stay explorers at this age. Most switch to other businesses or become exploration party supervisors. If I'd made it to Silver Badge, maybe things would be different... but I don't think that's happening for me."
"High-rank explorers are a matter of talent, after all."
"Hajun, have you ever seen a Gold Badge explorer?"
"No, but I know what kind of people they are."
"They're all monsters. People who can tear apart orc warriors with one hand and venture into the deepest underground ruins to find ancient artifacts."
Gold Badge explorers were roughly between levels 6 and 8. The max level in Dungeon Overseer was 10, and the highest explorer rank was Platinum Badge. I'd heard somewhere that there were only four Platinum-rank explorers in the entire kingdom.
"The truly talented ones got promoted and reached high ranks long ago. After nearly thirty years as an explorer... I couldn't even reach Silver rank."
But Jangcheok would eventually earn his Silver Badge. Having worked as an explorer for a long time myself, I knew that explorers who had worked as long as Jangcheok received a special one-rank promotion upon retirement. It was a kind of tribute to their service.
"I think you're amazing, Jangcheok."
"Me?"
"You survived for thirty years and finally retired. You bought land and raised kids."
"Kid, even a deliveryman can retire after thirty years. An explorer is supposed to achieve something."
Jangcheok patted my back firmly. His hand was surprisingly strong.
"From what I saw last time, you seem like you've got what it takes, Hajun. Always calm. Know a lot of things. I've seen plenty of explorers in my time, and all the ones like you earned their Silver Badges and left Runen. If it's you, Hajun, you'll definitely succeed."
Jangcheok seemed to genuinely envy my abilities. But he didn't know what kind of person I really was. He didn't know I was someone who had gained knowledge from a thousand hours of gameplay and used skills through the system.
To Jangcheok, I probably looked like an explorer capable of great achievements. And I would be. Because I was going to find the Crown of the Forgotten.
But in this moment, I envied Jangcheok a little. Would I ever be able to finish everything and talk about retirement with a smile like that? What would my own ending look like?
"Honey! Wife! I'm home!"
As we climbed the hill, a pretty country house came into view. Jangcheok approached the place, built like a painting with its neat stone walls, and called out. The gate opened, and Jangcheok's wife greeted us.
"You should at least tell us you're coming!"
We planned to stay there for a few days.