006. Camela Forest (2)
006. Camela Forest (2)
"Jin Yu-ha... will take part in the goblin clearing?"
Lee Yu-ri raised one eyebrow in doubt.
"Ah, I'm not saying I'll stop using Detection. I still plan to keep reporting Nakey sightings. I just want to help with the goblin clearing on top of that."
"Hmm... I don't think you really need to go that far..."
"Team Leader, as you know, Detection is a trait that doesn't consume Mana. Honestly, up to now, I might as well have been out for a stroll."
I meant it.
On the way here, the only things I'd used were my neck and my legs.
My neck, for calling out Nakey positions.
My legs, for walking here.
Yu-na, the Porter, looked like she was having a harder time than me, the supposed Damage Dealer.
She was trudging along, drenched in sweat, carrying a pack as big as she was. When I got self-conscious and tried to take some of it off her, she refused, saying, "This is my job!"
"Jin Yu-ha. First, let me be clear so there's no misunderstanding. The reason I'm hesitating right now isn't because I don't trust you."
With a long "Hmm—," Lee Yu-ri chose her words, then spoke again.
"To begin with, me, Yoon-seo, and So-yeon unni have been one team and worked together for quite a long time. And the Damage Dealer before you—we had also worked together for a long time."
"Which is why I've been watching you from behind, Team Leader. The whole time."
"...You were watching me? The whole time."
"Yes. There were moments mid-combat when your coverage would drop. Especially when you'd smack a goblin with your shield and pass it to the Damage Dealer. It was probably in those moments that the Damage Dealer who ditched us the day before wasn't doing their job of finishing off the monsters... usually, that was when Go Yoon-seo would get hurt."
At that, Lee Yu-ri's mouth fell open as if she were startled.
"Whoa! You caught that?!"
"I told you, I have a good eye for people."
"No, I don't think that 'eye' and this 'eye' are the same..."
"I won't be a hindrance to the party."
I cut her off and stated firmly.
"So please, just give me a chance."
When I met her eyes with a serious look, Lee Yu-ri subtly averted her gaze.
"Does Velvet Academy only get male cadets like this...? Ha, seriously. He's mesmerizing."
After murmuring to herself in a small voice, Lee Yu-ri let out a deep sigh and slowly nodded.
"Alright, since you're putting it that way... I understand. But only on the way back. By then, there are hardly any monster appearances, so even if you make a few mistakes, we'll have the leeway to handle it."
"...Huh? The way back? Are we heading back already?"
When I asked, flustered, Lee Yu-ri tilted her head as if I'd asked the obvious.
"We came here. So... we go back?"
"Ah."
This was another way it differed from the game.
In a game, dungeon clearing is all about pushing ever forward. You never retrace your steps.
You just beat the boss, the 【STAGE CLEAR】 message pops, and that's it.
"...Hmm. Well, it might not work out anyway."
"What?"
"Oh, for now, I'll accept you joining the combat, Jin Yu-ha. It's just that I also need to come to an agreement with the party members on another matter."
As she said this, Lee Yu-ri opened the plastic bag she'd been fiddling with. Inside, gochujang and a variety of side dishes were all mixed together deliciously.
A small smile spread across her face.
But she quickly composed her expression and spoke again in a businesslike tone.
"Then, Jin Yu-ha, I'm sorry, but could you go finish your meal and round up the party members? I'll finish eating and join you shortly."
"Yes, understood."
I left Lee Yu-ri behind, just as she was starting to eat, and left.
After roughly finishing my own meal, I gathered the party members.
"Huh? Gukbap called a meeting? Why?"
"Yeah, wonder what's up this time."
"Maybe it's about taking care of Yu-ha oppa?"
"Yu-ha... oppa?! You little rascal! When did you two get so close by yourselves!"
"Ack—ow, ouch! That hurts!"
I waited, watching Go Yoon-seo and Yu-na's back-and-forth comedy routine for a bit, and soon enough, Lee Yu-ri returned.
All eyes turned toward her.
"First of all, we achieved all of today's clearing objectives. Despite some uncomfortable situations, everyone did well."
Lee Yu-ri spoke up, her expression not half bad.
At those words, a smattering of applause—clap, clap, clap—broke out.
"That said, we have a lot more time left than expected. So now, we have a choice to make."
Her unexpected pronouncement.
We had time left.
To explain what that meant:
The Camela Forest route we'd entered today was apparently a round-trip route that was supposed to take ten hours.
The objective was to take about five hours to reach this base camp and then turn back.
But today, because I'd used Detection and we hadn't had to worry about Nakeys, we'd arrived at the base camp in just three hours and thirty minutes.
In other words, a ten-hour round trip had been cut down to seven.
Considering we were actually down one Damage Dealer, it was a staggering result.
"...Whoa, no way. I thought we ate early today! Isn't this insane? Jin Yu-ha, just what the hell are you?!"
Go Yoon-seo shivered—bbrrr!—and kept rubbing her arms.
I let out a hollow laugh at the sight. Her brand of over-the-top fangirling was starting to get familiar by now.
"Ahem, ahem."
Clearing her throat, Lee Yu-ri drew everyone's attention back.
"We can be satisfied with this and head back now. The clearing is done and dusted early. Going home and resting right away is always an option."
"But... that means three hours would just be floating free," Choi So-yeon remarked, touching her lips.
"Yeah, unni. So we need to decide whether to end the clearing here or press on into the unexplored route ahead—the Unknown Route."
The Unknown Route.
Exploring uncharted routes inherently comes with risk.
Under normal circumstances, not attempting it would be standard.
We'd already used a lot of stamina just getting this far, and the unfamiliarity on top of that meant almost no one would want to push ahead anyway.
In the first place, we'd never had the time or leeway for it before.
But now, we had ample time to recover our stamina,
and enough time left over to invest in exploration. That made it a pretty attractive option.
"The Unknown Route, huh... Gukbap, if we pioneer an Unknown Route, we get a performance bonus, don't we?"
Go Yoon-seo, who'd been mulling it over with her arms crossed, asked Lee Yu-ri.
"Yeah, that's right."
"Hrrrm— Honestly... since the pace was faster than usual, I'm a teeeensy bit tired? But what I'm debating is... on the way back, monsters are practically nonexistent anyway, right?"
"Right. And on the way back, Jin Yu-ha has also agreed to take part in the goblin clearing."
"Eh, really? Jin Yu-ha is?"
Go Yoon-seo whipped her head around, her eyes wide as saucers, and stared at me. I nodded in confirmation.
"Yes. My trait doesn't consume Mana, and I've hardly used my stamina until now. So I asked the Team Leader separately."
"Whoa, wait. That changes things... Screw it, go big or go home. Let's go! Unknown Route, let's gooo!"
Go Yoon-seo thrust her arm in the air and yelled.
At that, Choi So-yeon, who'd been thinking deeply, also signaled that she thought it was doable.
And Yu-na, who'd already been organizing her bulging pack, piped up, "At this rate, I can fit a little more!" and made some empty space in her bag.
The fact that they accepted my offer to join combat without a word of objection told me
that by now, even they didn't distrust me just for being a man.
That realization made me feel acknowledged as a party member, and it felt pretty good.
"What about you, Jin Yu-ha?"
This time, Lee Yu-ri asked me.
"I'm fine too. As I said, I still have plenty of stamina."
Once all the party members had consented to the exploration of the unknown, Lee Yu-ri nodded readily.
"Understood. Then we'll spend the remaining time exploring the Unknown Route. Everyone, rest up and recover your stamina."
And once the party members' stamina had recovered to some degree through rest,
Lee Yu-ri raised her shield and shouted,
"Everyone, reform the ranks! We're commencing the exploration of the Unknown Route!"
* * *
"I'm sorry to you, Jin Yu-ha, but it looks like even on the way back, you'll need to keep the same role as before while we're in the Unknown Route."
Lee Yu-ri, advancing forward with her shield up, spoke as we went.
"That's fine. In an unexplored area, it's better to minimize variables."
"Thank you for understanding."
"Anyway, we haven't seen any goblins. No Nakeys either."
We'd been advancing along the Unknown Route on high alert for thirty minutes already.
Aside from two goblins we'd spotted right at the start,
we hadn't encountered a single monster.
Even those two had fled straight into the forest the moment they saw us.
After that,
nothing but the endlessly continuing scenery of the green forest.
The sound of the party members' heartbeats and footsteps, tense as if we were in a strange place,
and the rustle of leaves in the wind were all that filled the silence.
This... is too quiet.
"Heh, if this keeps up, we'll be nabbing the exploration for free, too. So isn't this just a hell of a lucky day?"
Just then, breaking the silence, Go Yoon-seo spoke.
Tch, and now she's raising a flag on top of it. Just makes me more uneasy.
Ever since a bit ago, the back of my mind had been itching with an unpleasant feeling.
Nothing specific had registered on my sensory perception, so it wasn't Detection.
Maybe it's just that this is an unfamiliar place and everyone's on edge, so I caught the feeling from them.
Then, it hit me.
Uh... wait a sec. Could this be... Intuition?
The three random traits I'd gotten from the "Trait Recommendation Letters"
were 《Detection》, 《Eye Opening》, and 《Intuition》.
Of them, 《Detection》 was the ability to pick up on monsters within a 100m radius in advance,
and 《Eye Opening》 was the ability to see as clearly as day even when the surroundings darkened.
And the last one, 《Intuition》, was...
In the game, a trait that warns you in advance before a boss monster appears.
Now that Velvetsra had become reality, there was no way to know if Intuition was the same as in the game.
Unlike on a screen, where it would warn you of a boss appearing, I didn't even know how it operated here.
Maybe it was just groundless anxiety.
But I couldn't afford to ignore it.
Right now, everyone was worn out from excessive tension.
We didn't have enough prep, people, or stamina to face a boss monster.
It seemed right to call it a day here.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
I tapped Lee Yu-ri's shoulder as she walked ahead.
"Jin Yu-ha?"
And just at the moment she turned her head toward me—
Thud—
Shit.
Far in the distance, a single red goblin caught my eye.
The instant I spotted it, Intuition sounded an alarm bell.
Ssshtt—
At the same time,
monsters started getting snared by Detection, pouring in from all sides.
When I shifted my gaze to look around,
before I knew it,
we were surrounded by goblins clutching all manner of weapons.
"...."
As I looked around, my face going blank,
Lee Yu-ri's head slowly turned as well.
Face aghast, Lee Yu-ri scanned the monsters encircling us once,
and soon, her expression hardened.
And then.
Huuuuh—
She drew in a deep breath.
"Everyone━━━━!"
She tightened her grip on her shield.
"Retreat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Her voice erupted loud, ordering everyone to fall back.
While shouting for her comrades to retreat,
she,
dashed forward alone.