Surviving in the Forest (3)
[06:00:00]
“This is definitely working.”
I stretched, seeing that the ninety minutes written in the wiki had finally run out.
Ever since I’d brought down the bear, hardly any creatures had come for me. A few big wolves and giant birds had flown over to take a look around, but actual attacks had been few and far between.
If I were them, I probably wouldn’t rush me either.
If you saw a rabbit drenched in a bear’s blood, you’d at least hesitate before charging in. If I were a wild animal, I’d see some suspicious rabbit pumping out pheromones and assume it was baiting a trap.
“Thanks.”
I rose from atop the bear’s body and headed upstream along the creek. The pheromones weren’t going to last forever, so I was getting sick of the blood on me and wanted to wash it off.
Even so, bathing right there beside the half-toppled corpse of a bear felt a little wrong.
* * * * *
[05:32:26]
Wow, it’s already been four and a half hours.
After washing up, I gnawed on a few tree fruits and stared at the timer.
Time was passing faster than I’d expected. I knew there was no way the 50th floor would be this easy, and yet I still couldn’t help thinking: maybe?
Honestly, if I had a cheat like the wiki and I was spending TP on top of that, maybe this was exactly how it was supposed to go.
If they show up every two and a half hours, then the next one should be soon.
The second event notice would come in about two minutes. I had no idea what sort of event could happen in a place as limited as a forest.
That scar-covered bear was clearly the final event at a glance, so there had to be at least two more waiting somewhere.
Maybe the forest catches fire?
Nothing else really came to mind. Maybe the monsters would go berserk, or maybe the pheromones would spread through the whole forest.
With my miserable imagination, I couldn’t come up with anything that even deserved to be called an event.
Honestly, it probably wasn’t even an event.
Ping-!
“All right... so what is it this time?”
As expected, the notification rang out, and I checked the wiki right away.
[Tower of Trials]
- Floor 50, first run: analysis in progress.
Second event, “The Shape of the Hunted” will begin in [30:00].
“The Shape of the Hunted”
- Grants a hallucination that makes the user’s appearance register as a “high-blooded elf.”
- A specialist hunting group that captures elves using advanced tracking and traps will storm in.
- Lasts 90 minutes.
“...Elf?”
I let out a dumb laugh at the absurdity of it all, as if my threadbare imagination was being mocked.
An elite elf-hunting crew was going to storm into the forest, and I’d be the one getting hunted. Simple enough, if you ignored the part about how any of it was supposed to be possible.
Shhkk—
Good-looking, huh.
I checked my face reflected in the water, but I didn’t see anything unusual. It was just Han Seol, like always.
Still, I supposed I was handsome enough to be mistaken for an elf.
[05:29:32]
Same ninety-minute duration, too.
I looked back at the timer, then at my reflection in the water.
Since the enemy was human, this would probably be harder than the predator-mark event. It didn’t mention combat ability, but it had specifically said they used tracking and traps.
I doubt I’ll be able to spot them as easily as I did when the pheromones were active...
They’d probably find footprints or signs of a fight before long. When I’d spread the pheromones, I’d stayed put because running around only made more enemies show up, but this time I’d have to keep moving.
I still had about thirty minutes before the event began, but I had no idea what I was supposed to prepare. I didn’t know where they would appear, whether they worked alone or in a group, or anything useful at all.
I still haven’t found anywhere I can hide, either.
There didn’t seem to be much I could do until something actually happened. It’s not like I had any talent for laying traps myself.
“Tsk.”
I spent a moment wondering what a hunted person should even prepare, and then it hit me.
...Do I really need to be the one getting hunted?
It wasn’t much different from the first event, after all, just with the target changed.
Of course, facing it head-on in this state was still terrifying, so I’d need to prepare properly—but...
They’re people too, aren’t they?
That meant I probably didn’t need to bother with running away or any of that.
* * * * *
[05:00:00]
Okay.
After finishing my preparations for the hunters, I took a small breath and steadied myself.
I’d worried that my appearance or the equipment in my hands might change the moment the event started, but nothing like that happened.
Ping-!
“Huh?”
What shocked me more was that the wiki had suddenly started ringing a notification.
Boom—!!
What is this, the hunt begins or something?
I glanced at the red smoke rising far off in the sky, then checked the wiki—and froze.
[Tower of Trials]
- Floor 50, first run: temporary [Real-Time Mapping] activated.
I blinked at the wiki, which had apparently finished its analysis and handed me a brand-new item.
...Hah.
The last time I’d used a map was on the 10th floor of the Tower of Wisdom, wasn’t it? This [Real-Time Mapping] was like a map, but on an entirely different level, and I couldn’t help laughing.
This is ridiculously broken.
It started with a full map of the forest, then the positions of monsters and animals, the spots where tree fruits were growing, and even the location of a concealed cave.
And on top of that, there were red blinking marks moving at high speed—my “prey.”
“So you guys really are separated, huh?”
I smiled in satisfaction as the wiki wiped away the last of my anxiety.
Blip, blip—
I took my time and started walking toward the people who were throwing themselves at me in a desperate search.
* * * * *
“...Found you.”
Clear footprints. The seeds from tree fruits left behind after eating.
For an elf, the trail was almost offensively obvious, but not all elves were the careful type, so I didn’t think much of it.
That information broker definitely said they were high elves.
If this had been any other day, they would’ve narrowed the search together and combed the area as a group. But this was different. When an opportunity to turn your life around suddenly dropped into your lap, there was no way the whole “let’s share it fairly” bit would go over well.
First one to catch it gets it all.
First one to grab the prize and run takes everything. That was the end of the discussion.
Shhkk.
Silencing my footsteps, I slowly followed the tracks of that precious little target.
Since they were a high elf, I needed to be cautious, sure—but what of it? If I could catch one somehow, I’d have enough money to live like a layabout for the rest of my life.
It’s close.
The depth of the footprints, the density of the traces—they were unmistakably nearby.
Lucky. Too lucky, in fact. I hadn’t even been in the forest for a few minutes, and I’d already found them this fast.
Snick.
I gripped a sharp dagger and stepped forward with a broad smile.
Thud—
“What are you looking around for?”
“I’m looking for elves, obviously. Keep your voice down.”
At the voice, I snapped my head around. I’d thought it was some idiot newbie talking, but today I was alone. I’d been searching by myself.
“I’m right here.”
“What the—”
At the clear, almost feminine voice claiming to be the elf itself, I frowned and turned toward its source.
“Hi.”
“...”
“We’ve been short on food lately, see.”
“W-what... what are you doing...!”
I stared blankly at the elf in front of me, covered head to toe in blood and grinning so hard its mouth nearly split its face.
What the hell was that?
I’d never seen an elf like that in my life.
“You know meat-eating’s all the rage these days, right? I hear human meat is insanely good.”
“What...?”
Shhkk—
“I’m pretty excited to see prey after so long.”
“You’re insane...”
An elf using a sword?
A shield strapped to its arm, and a steel blade so heavy it looked nothing like my dagger?
How did it even know I was here in the first place...
There was no way elves had tracking abilities, so how—
No way.
The traces had been far too blatant. And not a single wild animal had been visible on the way here.
I’d been lured in.
I wasn’t the hunter.
I was the one being hunted.
Gulp.
And the blood staining that thing’s body—the density, the color. That was absolutely not ordinary elf blood. At best, it wasn’t from some rabbit or squirrel.
Maybe it was the blood of the forest’s owner.
Its whole body was drenched in blood that might not even belong to this world at all.
I need to tell them...!!
The instant I frantically started rummaging through my pocket for the signal flare to relay the situation—
Crackle—!!
“Kgh...?!”
“Now, now. Hands on your head. Since when do criminals shove their hands in their pockets? Haven’t you ever seen a drama?”
Thud.
A blue lightning spell shot from somewhere and slammed into my hand.
My whole body shook as if it had gone numb. The signal flare I’d just managed to grab slipped from my fingers and fell uselessly to the ground.
Magic... Don’t tell me that elf is...!!
Crunch!!
When I glared down at the fallen flare, it was brutally crushed beneath someone’s foot.
I barely managed to lift my gaze again, only to find the elf standing right in front of me before I’d even noticed it move.
Ah...
Who the hell had scammed me and called this monster a precious high elf?
This was a guy who’d only be barely catchable if you brought a whole group.
Whoosh—!!
“Goodbye.”
Fuck...
I shut my eyes as the sword came flying toward my throat.
If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve just shared it properly and stayed quiet.
* * * * *