Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Gray Wolves
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About ten minutes until the fourth wave.
Just like that morning, everyone was making full preparations for the wave.
However, there was one difference.
Leisure.
Thanks to blocking the third wave more easily than expected, the tension had noticeably eased.
"It's about to start! Everyone, get ready!"
"I hope boars come out again this time. The more food, the better, right?"
"No cows?"
"Whoa, beef! I never got to eat my fill back on Earth. That would be amazing!"
Even with Yoo Seo-ah's shout, people didn't stop chatting. It was a clear sign of how much the tension had faded.
Watching them, Yoo Seo-ah bit her lip hard.
"Everyone, focus! According to Se-woon, this wave is going to be especially dangerous!"
"Even if it's dangerous, we're more than enough to handle it, right?"
"Besides, with him around, he can block anything that comes. What's there to worry about?"
"Yeah, that flame was seriously impressive."
Yoo Seo-ah shouted again, but people ignored her this time too.
A few understood her concerns and nodded grimly, but most didn't.
Some even set their weapons down, figuring there was still time left.
The more this went on, the more Yoo Seo-ah had to stew in her anxiety alone.
'This feels off...'
In the short time she'd observed him, Se-woon was no lightweight.
If he'd specifically come to warn her to be careful right before the wave, it meant the difficulty was beyond expectations.
Yet people weren't focusing.
She was a great leader, but her charisma fell short, making it hard to turn things around.
Then.
Boom!!
A deafening explosion erupted from the front line, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Startled, people fell silent and turned their eyes forward.
There stood Kang Han-cheol, a hulking man over 2 meters tall, brushing dirt off his fist with a hardened expression.
"Quiet."
One word. His heavy voice snapped everyone back to reality.
The area went deathly still in an instant, broken only by occasional nervous swallows.
"One minute left!"
Yoo Seo-ah's clear voice broke the silence first.
Snapping to attention, people gripped their weapons and prepared for battle.
"Kang Han-cheol, right? Thanks."
She approached and spoke to him, but he didn't reply. He just silently readied for combat.
Until now, no matter what happened, he'd focused solely on his own tasks, ignoring everyone else. For him to step up for her sake was something else.
It made Yoo Seo-ah feel like she had a reliable ally.
And finally.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Tutorial First Chapter – Adaptation] The fourth wave begins. Block the monster wave and prove your existence. The long-awaited fourth wave began.
"Grrr..."
"Wolves again?"
"W-What the hell are those?! Why are they so huge?!"
"Insane..."
Larger than the Brown Wolves from the first wave, the superior monsters—Gray Wolves—began to appear.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Here they come."
"H-Hyungnim! Is this okay? Those things are massive!"
Se-woon had mostly cleared the wolves in the wolf forest. Yet new ones emerged from the woods.
Wolves twice the size of Brown Wolves, at that.
"What, you thought sheep or goats would show up?"
"Not that, but those aren't something humans can handle! No guns—how are we supposed to fight them?!"
The reactions around Se-woon matched Park Jeong-pil's noisy complaints.
Their confidence in "We can do this" swiftly turned to despair: "That's impossible!"
'Well, I was like that once too.'
For people used to peaceful Earth lives, facing beasts that size would crush anyone.
Dozens of them in a pack, no less.
But two kept their cool amid the panic.
Yoo Seo-ah and Kang Han-cheol.
Only they clenched their fists, burning with fighting spirit even with Gray Wolves right in front of them.
"Quit yapping and start herding them."
"Huh? No, hyungnim! This isn't like the monkeys! Wolves! Mountain-sized wolves!"
"Then squeeze in with those people over there."
Se-woon pointed to the group clustered around Yoo Seo-ah.
They might hold out if he joined them, but Se-woon was on the opposite side from the start.
Running there was suicide.
Trusting Se-woon offered better odds.
"Damn it!"
Park Jeong-pil spat a curse and started moving.
"This is so freaking annoying!"
"What?"
"Annoyingly awesome! Rawrgh!"
As Park Jeong-pil ran, the wolves' eyes locked on him.
No pack could ignore prey yelling and dashing by when they needed every eye on guard.
'Still smaller than that guy.'
Se-woon recalled the "Wolf Guarding the Grave" from deep in the forest, before the grave.
Same Gray Wolf, but a boss monster—far larger and stronger than these.
'If something like that showed up in a pack, almost no one would clear the tutorial.'
Tutorial.
Whoever designed it was ruthless.
Lulling players through the third raid with "You can handle this much, right?"
Then spiking the difficulty like this once they adapted.
"Hyuungniim!"
"Fewer than I thought?"
"Crazy, this is the limit! Humans can't outrun wolves anyway!"
It felt like no time had passed, but Park Jeong-pil was already heading back.
Behind him, about twenty wolves he'd lured.
Fewer than the monkeys, but impressive still.
As he said, Gray Wolves were far swifter than Brown Monkeys.
Once they closed to the right distance, Se-woon raised his hand toward Park Jeong-pil—or rather, the wolves—like with the monkeys.
"Fire Ball."
"Argh! No signal this time?!"
Kaboom!
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Constellation 'Hungry Prince' quickly grabs utensils while eyeing the well-cooked prey. The fireball streaked past the desperately diving Park Jeong-pil and engulfed the wolf pack.
Pouring all the circle's mana in, it exploded far bigger than a 1-circle spell should.
Hot flames swirled out from the center.
However.
"Argh! Hyungnim, save me!"
The result differed from the monkeys.
Wolves at the center charred black, but those on the edges swiftly escaped the blast.
Not unscathed—some burned, fur aflame—but about half survived, baring sharp fangs.
"Hide behind me."
"Got it!"
Se-woon had expected this much.
He never thought one shot would wipe Gray Wolves like monkeys.
He drew the Forgotten Hero's Sword from the belt Go Chang-seok had prepared.
The dagger was too short for wolves.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ 🗡️ Blood Wolf Sword Technique A unique martial art said to have been created by Zhao Gongzi, a Wudang Sect master, after cutting ties with the mortal world and facing a wolf pack in the mountains. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.
If wolves bared fangs, he'd unleash even fiercer ones.
He'd mastered Hamel Family Longsword Technique only a day ago, but his sword foundation was already solid.
Plus, right before the wave, he'd opened his dantian via Three Essences Art—plenty prepared for true swordplay.
Taat!
This time, Se-woon charged the wolves first.
The wolves, warily backing from the lingering flames, startled and counterattacked.
But.
Slash!
Se-woon's strike ignored their counter, savagely ripping through a wolf's body.
Like a beast's claw.
Blood Wolf Sword Technique first form: Blood Wolf Claw.
As its name implied—claws of a blood-red wolf—it was a sharp, brutal strike.
Counterattacks weren't even permitted.
The Blood Wolf Claw tore from maw to torso.
Burned wolves, plus reinforcements drawn by the flames, charged Se-woon.
Over ten easily.
No blind spots.
Se-woon circulated the faint inner energy in his dantian.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Physical abilities rise while using inner energy. His body felt instantly lighter, muscles twitching more powerfully than usual.
Faint inner energy meant short duration, but enough for these wolves.
Grind!
Inner energy focused, swelling his thighs.
Veins bulged on his sword-grip hand, ready to burst.
As wolves lunged, jaws wide.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Blood Wolf Sword Technique second form, Blood Wolf Fang, is enhanced via inner energy. Inner energy around Se-woon formed a blood wolf shape, sword becoming its razor fangs.
Krrrrunch!
A howl-like force erupted, shredding the charging wolves.
Their corpses were mangled as if chewed by another wolf.
"...Hyungnim, are you really the same species as me?"
Park Jeong-pil muttered blankly from his hiding spot behind Se-woon.