Already a Month

It had already been a month. "It's almost at the final stage."

Peschino, the mid-grade demon who had bought Ungbak's innards from Lee Seokhyun in the black market, was extremely satisfied with the results of his own creation. He stood at a crossroads that would define his entire life.

"The portal settings are all twisted, correct?"

"Yes. Every individual connected to Mirinae Academy will have their coordinates scrambled when attempting to use high-grade portals."

"Good. Keep it up."

For a mid-grade demon like him, assassinating or kidnapping noble students or professors was impossible. But if he only followed orders to the letter, he might be killed before proving his worth. That was why Peschino had devised ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his own method of survival: twisting the coordinates of high-grade portals.

'Using a high-grade portal implies they possess either authority or wealth.'

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

High-grade portals were prohibitively expensive and unusable by unskilled riffraff. Twisting their coordinates was therefore tantamount to excluding a large number of capable individuals. Unfortunately, setting the coordinates deep underground to bury them alive instantly was impossible, but even this much was a significant gain.

If even one key figure was absent when the main plan began, the damage would spiral out of control. Moreover, since this operation focused on crushing budding sprouts rather than targeting established powerhouses, Peschino could consider his contribution a massive success.

"Once those who use high-grade portals are removed, only the weak will remain in the academy."

Kill those with potential, instill terror in those who had already grown to stunt their development, and finally bring about that person's descent.

"A new era will dawn!"

Peschino shot up from his seat, dreaming of his promotion to executive rank, and resumed drawing magic circles throughout the city. He could only pray that day would arrive soon.

The ways to become an orc are divided into congenital and acquired methods. The former involves being born with a truly hideous appearance and ruling over the land. The latter is a simple disguise that makes you look nearly identical to one.

In a sense, I possessed both. My face didn't resemble an orc's, but the most distinctive feature—my hands—could never be mistaken for human. Having missed the window for treatment, they were ruined, and now bore a spider-leg tattoo on top of that. The dark, dead skin and scars forged through brutal labor made them indistinguishable from a monster's paws.

Since disguising my face wasn't an immediate option, I decided to cover it roughly with cloth and mud. My voice would pass as long as I mimicked their speech patterns properly, so this body was actually quite well-suited for pretending to be an orc.

'I can't decide if I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠should be happy about this or not.'

There were times when the harsh childhood I endured turned out to be useful. Life really was unpredictable.

Anyway, I quickly completed the disguise—face fully covered, hands deliberately exposed to suggest I was one of their own. If the monsters had high intelligence, this crude trick would have been seen through immediately. But mid-to-early stage monsters weren't equipped with that kind of intellect.

'This is the judgment of a veteran player.'

A few minutes later, I deeply regretted that thought.

"Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Chwik! Chwik! You bastard! It's a human! A human!"

What I had overlooked was that this was no longer a game but harsh reality. The convenient corrections that felt natural in the game had vanished, leaving only genuine, unfiltered situations.

The days when monsters would see a disguised player and simply grunt "Uwo? Kuo?" before wandering off were long gone.

"Human over here! There's a human!"

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠complacent idea that covering my face and showing only my hands would be enough had snowballed into something far worse than expected. I'd casually asked, 'I'm an orc returning from reconnaissance. May I enter?' only for the guard to immediately sound the alarm and cause an uproar.

"A human has escaped! There's a human roaming near the fortress, so strengthen the perimeter! The general's orders are to keep it alive until we discover its intentions!"

As the orc's shouts made clear, my complacent action had produced irreversible consequences.

The silver lining was that I was alone, which made movement and concealment easier. And whether their low intelligence was genuine or not, they never even considered that I might be hiding in the trees. They assumed others were incapable of what they themselves could not do.

'Thanks to that stupidity, I'm still alive right now.'

Though when you thought about it, the stupidest one was me, so I had no room to talk.

If I looked for any silver lining, it was that most of the low-grade monsters had poured out of the fortress, revealing their equipment. There were no threatening artifacts in sight. Their cheap bows and crude stone spears told me everything about their combat strength.

'Fortunately it doesn't look like they've poisoned the arrowheads either.'

Poisoned weapons are dangerous, but they require careful maintenance, which makes them troublesome.

'Now the question is what to do with the remaining situation.'

Once you enter a dungeon, you can't leave unless you clear it or die. Having drawn the sword, I had to cut even the rotten rope.

'I'll start reducing their numbers one by one.'

After deciding to handle what I could right away, step by step, I moved immediately.

"The human is definitely somewhere around here! Sniff sniff! It reeks of dirty mud!"

The mud had been another mistake. Since orcs look like pigs, I'd assumed they'd enjoy a mud massage. Apparently they lived cleaner lives than expected, because the moment they saw the mud on my face they threw a complete fit.

I'd tried to insist it was a mud pack for skin care, but the result was... well.

'Creatures that don't even understand the aesthetics of skincare.'

They deserved to die.

Swoooosh.

Since I'd already been discovered, I slipped the Arachne's Glove back on and pulled out a long strand of spider silk. The monsters who couldn't think to look above the trees and only scanned the ground were perfect prey for a spider.

Even if they watched every direction, how could they defend against an attack from their most vulnerable angle?

Whoosh whoosh whoosh.

I extended silk threads between the trees, targeting the ones moving alone. It was the perfect day for the goblins who were slacking off, pretending they'd gone far away instead of working diligently.

Slither.

The title's effect increased the silk's cutting power. The stat boost that activated when facing multiple enemies alone, combined with the advantages of solo dungeon clearing—my physical abilities had risen across the board. Cutting through a goblin along with its wooden armor was no longer difficult.

Slice.

The goblins' heads fell from the tree with dull thuds, like ripe apples being picked. They should have screamed as they died to leave some trace, but with their necks severed, only a metallic gurgle escaped their mouths.

Hunting through the jungle by shooting spider silk made me feel like some kind of primitive savage. The sensation was strange, but it couldn't be helped.

'I need to reduce the monster numbers as much as possible, then infiltrate the fortress and take out the key executives.'

Of course, before that I absolutely had to secure certain items.

Even with the 5% additional damage against boss monsters, there was no guarantee I'd win easily. The only way to defeat it was to make aggressive use of the surrounding environment.

'I can't reduce their numbers too suddenly, so I'll take them out slowly.'

While dropping monster heads from the treetops, I shifted my position toward the gunpowder storage.

Just because the monsters that came out were poorly armed didn't mean the fortress itself was weak. A fortress naturally had cannons, and indeed, gun ports were installed on both sides of the main gate.

'I'll seize the gunpowder storage, grab some bombs... Hm?'

As I was carefully building my plan, my nose suddenly began to itch. My face turned of its own accord toward the cliff.

Bewilderment rose within me at this irresistible compulsion. At that moment—

The frenzied messages filled my vision and forced my body to move against my will.

"H-human! A human is suddenly charging! There's a human here!"

"No! The human is trying to die! It's heading for the cliff! Running like it's gone mad!"

"Don't stop it! The thing saw us, got scared, and is trying to commit suicide!"

My body moved without any regard for the monsters. Realizing I had lost control, all I could do was open my eyes wide and sense that the situation had gone completely wrong.

'It's already been a month.'

Feeling bitter at how quickly time had passed, I leaped off the cliff.

'I need to find a way to remove this penalty too.'

It felt like I'd just gained the biggest immediate goal of all.