Into the Forest: The Wooden Demon and Hendrick's Haunted Past
Chasing the traces kept me up until dawn. Sometimes I'd have those maddening dreams involving Moyong Shin, Namgung Yeona, and those Namgung bastards, and on those days, my condition was just ruined. Fortunately, I slept soundly tonight without any such nightmares and woke up feeling refreshed.
Passing the workshop on the sandy beach, I arrived at the armory where my beloved weapons were safely stored.
No matter how strong I was, there was a limit to what I could carry. Not in terms of weight, but volume—there was a clear limit there.
So, following the optimal loadout I'd planned yesterday, I strapped the Three-Barrel Cannon to my waist. On my back, I slung the Three-Eyed Cannon with its barrels loaded and pointed skyward. Gripping the Sage Cannon in my hand, I was fully armed and ready to head into the forest.
Unlike yesterday, with this solid armament, my mind felt secure too.
“Hendrick? Where are you?”
I'd prepared excuses in case I ran into him, or worst-case, braced for an argument about hiding things. Strangely, though, Hendrick was nowhere to be seen today.
Should I count that as lucky? Of course, if he passed by the workshop while I was gone, he'd notice something off immediately. The Sage Cannon's presence was pretty conspicuous, after all.
Still, it was a decision already made. I'd deal with that when the time came.
Seizing the moment, I hurried off.
“Argh, what a hassle.”
Climbing the forest path with cannons wasn't easy. Their weight wasn't an issue for me. The problem was their shape—the barrels, muzzles, handles, and crevices snagged on vines and branches everywhere, slowing me down.
Pushing through the underbrush, I finally found open spaces where trees hadn't grown, scattered widely. I could finally breathe and take a short break.
“This forest is deeper than I thought.”
The entrance was barely a drop in the bucket. Deeper in, it was far larger and vaster than I'd roughly estimated from outside.
The one saving grace was that the path was one-way, almost artificially laid out. No sign of monsters anywhere.
So, without stopping, I pressed on. Soon, following the path naturally led to a large clearing. Unlike before, artificial traces different from the path started appearing here and there.
“Bullet marks?”
Time had passed, with new growth and moss fading them, but that only applied to small-caliber shots. The traces of massive iron balls piercing through couldn't vanish naturally, no matter how much time passed.
Checking the splintered trees and punctured ground, I traced the trajectory of the iron balls. There, amid ruined carts, lay rusted scrap metal, abandoned as is.
“A cannon? Why's something like this here?”
From the look, it resembled—no, matched exactly—the falconet I'd seen on the Hue Elrofun.
This was the first real link to the Hue Elrofun's missing crew.
Once one trace appeared, others sprouted like bamboo shoots: rolling iron balls, powder kegs, decayed muskets reduced to metal parts.
“...Wait, this next to it.”
Examining the ground where the traces were,
“...Bones.”
Not just any bones. Human bones. Scattered skeletal remains, gaunt from time, littered the clearing.
What the hell happened? Did a boss monster get them? If so, I'd need to revise my strategy fast.
With my growing knowledge of firearms, I knew the Spanish sailors' weapons weren't low-tier. If even more men and that falconet couldn't handle it, I stood no chance, dead or alive.
I swallowed hard and prepared to slip away quietly. The cries came at dusk, so maybe it was nocturnal. I could prepare countermeasures and return later.
But then, something changed. An alien sensation hit my smell.
The stench of rotting flesh, days old, rapidly filled the clearing.
“Why now?” Not nocturnal after all? Even with precautions, I was too late to notice.
Next, my hearing: thumping footsteps racing toward me, shaking the ground.
Finally, sight: a grotesque monster, claws extended, leaping at me.
Field Boss 'Wooden Demon' has appeared.
(Remaining HP: 2740 / 9980)
“Damn it.”
I leaped back to maximize distance.
Startled by its speed but reacting in time, I lit the Sage Cannon's fuse for a strike.
Hiss—BOOM!
The pre-shortened fuse fired quickly. Timing a bit off, it missed the aimed spot, but the close range amplified the iron ball's impact, crushing its side as it flew.
“KIIIIIEEK!”
I saw it writhe in pain. Had to buy time while it was dazed.
No openings given, I gripped the Sage Cannon's handle tight and swung it full force—whoosh—right at it.
Clang!
'Smashing'
Weapon class bonus applied. Knockback effect triggered.
Its massive bulk barely budged.
Still, better than nothing. Distance gained, I immediately reloaded the Sage Cannon.
The process was now muscle memory, speeding things up, but cannon reloading was inherently slow. I couldn't finish before it recovered.
Raising the cannon like a shield against its next attack, I finally noticed something off.
I'd hit its side, but it looked like it'd been through multiple brutal fights before now—far from healthy. One arm hung in tatters like a rag, and countless healed bullet wounds pocked its body.
'Come to think of it, that HP bar was weird.'
Glitch? No, its state reflected the reality.
Its follow-up attack was pathetically weak for its size. Confirmation: small arms would work in this condition.
One more big swing to create space, then I dropped the Sage Cannon and aimed the Three-Eyed Cannon from my back.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three barrels fired in one-second intervals. Bullets hammered one spot, piercing deep.
Stunned and rigid, perfect. Finished reloading the Sage Cannon.
Eye contact—cannon aimed at its head.
BOOM!
The iron ball shattered its skull. The huge body toppled like a felled tree.
Magically, it dissolved into the air like polygons, as if never native to this place.
In its place: a lump of grayish metal and a clump of grass.
Rare items—two of them, no less, straight out of the game—should've thrilled me, but the joy was muted.
Instead, a nagging unease, like I'd missed something.
Why was the monster half-dead, wounds healed over like ancient scars? Fought other forest beasts? But no life signs anywhere now.
My gaze drifted to the nearby bones.
Approaching cautiously, I examined them. Some crushed beyond recognition—probably the Wooden Demon's work. Without my external arts, I'd have ended up the same.
But excluding those, many skeletons looked relatively intact. Quite a few.
I approached those. Picking up a skull,
'...Bullet hole.'
Common thread: every skull pierced by bullets, same caliber judging by the holes.
What? Infighting among the crew facing the monster? Even then, survivors should've been there.
Questions piled up.
Searched every corner—no more clues. Dusk falling. Island cleared of monsters, but dark vision limited options. Time to bail.
Retraced steps with weapons; no threats now, familiar path—quick trip.
At the forest entrance, an unexpected figure startled me.
—Gone was the kindly, playful expression. A man stood with hollow, rage- and fear-filled eyes glaring at me.
[I told you not to go in!!!]
“H-Hendrick?”
[You think I was wrong too, right? You think I was wrong!!!]
His passionate roar hit my ears.
Why the sudden rage? For breaking the no-forest promise?
“Hendrick, talk to me.”
[You got hit by it too. Yujin, my apprentice. You're the one who understands me.]
What the hell? Hit by what? Understand what? His baffling words scared me a bit; no clue how to respond.
Serendipity [Lost Wreck] Finale: 'That Man's Choice'
The man lives trapped in a memory he'll never forget, even in death.
Witness the past and achieve your goal.
Story Clear Condition: Become his one true understanding.
Rewards: Hendrick's Affinity +20 (Current: 80), Bond with ???, Reward Room Unlocked.
Accept? (YES / YES)
Without the quest window, I'd have frozen there for hours. “...Accept.” Desperate to end the awkwardness, I took it.
Vision blacked out.
Strength drained from my body, mind fogging soon after.
—I opened my eyes.
'Where the hell is this?'
The ink-black sea churned upside down.
Sky and sea swapped; towering waves engulfed the masts like mountains.
“Dios mio! Furl the sails quick!” “Snap to it— one mistake and we're all dead!”
Screams, splintering wood, howling winds clashed in dissonance.
“What? Is this the Hue Elrofun pre-wreckage?”
Not the battered wreck I knew—this was a fully operational galleon.
But the situation was dire: directionless, sucked into a massive whirlpool.
Some still fought desperately to save the ship, but most had given up, crossing themselves, praying, confessing sins to God.
“Cliff fall and near-drowning yesterday, now a shipwreck? Really?”
We're screwed. Nature's terror paralyzed them; I just knew we were done.
“Lisbet!”
A familiar voice. Hendrick? Turning, no translucent ghost—this was flesh-and-blood Hendrick.
“Father, the wind—!”
Clawing across the deck for dear life, his eyes locked on a child.
Short boyish hair, soaked shirt clinging to narrow, frail shoulders.
Lightning flashed—a pillar of light struck down.
The deck blazed white; air exploded.
Flash!
Sails shredded, the Hue Elrofun lost all power.
Some clung desperately; others plummeted into the depths.
“...Father, are we gonna die?”
Overwhelmed by despair, the child echoed the terror. Hendrick, finally close, hugged his kid tight with wet hands—no words.
A colossal wave loomed like a mountain.
Powerless as ants before giants, they could only watch fate approach.
“Lord, have You forsaken us?”
With his lament to God, the sea swallowed everything.