Obtaining a Navigator

I pushed off the roof of an abandoned cargo truck and leaped, landing atop the sign of a two-story commercial building. My agility had increased, and the difference was palpable. Crouching behind the sign, I peered down at the commotion unfolding below.

Clang! Krr-ang!

Sharp, metallic shrieks echoed repeatedly. This was no desperate struggle between humans and monsters.

“...It really is a mad world.”

It was a one-sided human hunt. Amidst the wreckage of abandoned cars, four men armed with iron swords and baseball bats were cornering a single woman.

“Haa, haa...!”

The woman’s face was deathly pale. All she held in her hand was a jagged piece of scrap metal. I narrowed my eyes as I watched her. Her movements are peculiar. She was avoiding their grasp by the thinnest of margins. She wasn’t fast, but her sense for utilizing the terrain was abnormally excellent. The moment a sword swung, she slid beneath a vehicle. When a bat came flying, she leaped and twisted her trajectory. Her peripheral vision must have been incredible.

“You fucking bitch! Can’t you just stay still!? I’ll kill you if you don’t stop right now!!!”

“Hey, spread out! Block her escape route!”

The men, their bloodlust piqued, tightened the encirclement. I indifferently turned my gaze away. She was good at dodging, but that was all. I had no reason to risk my neck. In this world, I barely knew if I could protect my own sister, let alone a stranger.

“...Let’s go.”

Just as I turned to leave, blue text flickered into existence above their heads.

“These lunatics...”

I froze. The text was disgusting just to read. It was beyond any crime I had imagined. And furthermore—Cannibalism? It was only the second day of the tutorial. Barely twenty-four hours had passed, and they were already thinking like this? They weren’t normal. Should I really let these guys live? A fundamental question arose. My body turned back to stare at them—these men who treated crime as a matter of course. Then, a spoiler window appeared above the woman as well.

“...Huh?”

My pupils trembled for a split second. Explorer. A trait I’d never seen before. And more importantly, her thoughts. Safe Zone? If I could make it there, I could survive. My mind raced. An Explorer trait and a Safe Zone. ...Is that her ability? Just hearing the name gave me a rough idea of what kind of place it was. For someone like me, who didn’t know when I’d have to move Yu-ah out of our villa, this was vital information.

“Well, that changes things.”

I tightened my grip on the handle of my Shadow Fang. Just then, the woman’s foot caught on some collapsed concrete debris.

“Ah...!”

She lost her balance and tumbled miserably to the ground. Her knee scraped and bled, and the piece of metal she’d been holding skittered away.

“Heh. What, can’t run anymore?”

“Gotcha, you fucking bitch.”

The four thugs, panting, surrounded her. Their eyes glistened with greed and madness. One of them raised his iron sword. Just as he was about to bring it down on her ankle—

Whoosh!

I kicked off the sign and leaped into the air. My target was the head of the man with the sword. My body sliced through the wind, closing the distance in an instant. The man instinctively looked up at the sudden shadow.

“Wha... What!”

But it was already too late. The short sword in my hand pierced through the top of his skull.

Thwack!

“Gaaah...!”

A spray of blood erupted from his mouth along with a short scream. As I pulled the blade out, I stepped on his shoulder, performed a backflip in mid-air, and landed.

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Thud.

The corpse collapsed, spilling blood. The remaining three thugs widened their eyes.

“Boss?! Wh... what the fuck!! Who the hell is this guy!!!”

I raised my sword without a word.

“Kill him!!!!!”

The three enraged men rushed at me simultaneously. Clubs, iron pipes, an iron sword. Their thoughts began to surface.

“Who’s going to die?”

I tracked the trajectory of the pipe with my eyes and ducked. The pipe whistled past my hair. Kicking off the ground, I slashed the wrist of the man thrusting the sword from the right.

Slash!

“Aaaaaah! My hand!!”

Kang Cheol-min rolled on the ground, spraying a fountain of blood. I didn’t stop. I dove into the chest of the frozen Park Tae-gu and drove my blade deep into his solar plexus.

“Guh...!”

Two lives snuffed out in an instant. Only one remained—the one who had leaped to strike at the back of my head. I twisted my body and delivered a kick to the knee of the airborne Kim Jin-cheol.

Crunch!

“Gyaaaaaaah!!!”

The combination of increased strength and agility was immense. A bone-chilling sound of rupture echoed. His leg snapped instantly. I immediately drove my short sword into his chest as he fell to the ground.

Ding!

Along with the system notifications, the corpses spilled copper coins. The time it took to kill all four enemies was barely ten seconds. I was stronger than even I had expected.

“...Hiiik.”

A wheezing sound reached my ears. Lee Seol-ah was sitting on the ground, staring at me. Her eyes were filled with terror. I wiped the blood off my short sword and approached her. Lee Seol-ah recoiled, inching backward.

“Phew...”

I sighed and opened my mouth. “Get up.”

“Hiiik...! P-please, spare me...!”

“Konkuk University Entrance Station, Exit 3.”

“...Huh?”

The woman, who had been clutching her head, stopped dead. I continued calmly, “The Safe Zone you said was hidden in that basement. I happen to need a place to stay, too.”

Her eyes filled with shock. Her dilated pupils locked onto me. I added a short remark to the frozen Lee Seol-ah: “Guide me. Then you won’t have to die.”

At my notification, her shoulders flinched violently. She asked back in a trembling voice, as if she couldn’t believe it, “H-how on earth did you...”

“How I know doesn’t matter,” I said coldly, urging her on. “Guide me quickly. Before the smell of blood attracts other things.”

Lee Seol-ah bit her lip. I stared down at her coldly. Silent pressure. Now, if Lee Seol-ah guided me, I could take Yu-ah to a safe place and—

“I... I don’t want to!!!”

“...What?”

For a moment, I doubted my own ears. Lee Seol-ah had suddenly squeezed her eyes shut and screamed as if her life depended on it. “Then what am I supposed to do!!!”

“Ha.”

A short, incredulous laugh escaped me. I’d just saved her from being killed, and now she was resisting, saying she didn’t want to? I furrowed my brow and asked, “If you don’t want to, you might just die here, you know?”

“N-no!!!! That’s not it!!! If I tell you where the Safe Zone is, how am I supposed to survive out here!!!”

“That’s not my concern.”

“Exactly!!!”

Lee Seol-ah sat on the ground and held her head high. Her chin was still trembling, but she looked me straight in the eye. “Once you know everything, you’ll just go in alone and lock the door! Then I’ll have guided you there only to die a dog’s death out here at the hands of monsters or murderers like them!!!”

She wasn’t wrong. All I wanted was the Safe Zone.

“So?”

Lee Seol-ah bit her lip hard and shouted urgently, “I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you the location and how to get in... but in exchange, could you protect me from now on...?”

“Why would I drag you around?”

“N-ne... Ne!?”

Lee Seol-ah was startled by my immediate, hesitation-free response.

“I don’t necessarily need you. If I go there, I’ll figure it out, won’t I? It’s not like it’s far from here, right?”

“T-then at least until this tutorial is over!!!” Lee Seol-ah began to spill her words out desperately. “Y-you might not know, but I’ve gained an incredibly useful trait!? I can see things others can’t, and find things others can’t find! You look like you’re really good at fighting... You catch the monsters, and I’ll find useful items while avoiding danger! Wouldn’t it be better if we helped each other out!?”

I stroked my chin. The words she was spilling out in desperation. It would be hard to believe under normal circumstances, but I knew her words were true.

I guess I know what kind of ability it is. I was conflicted. She wasn’t wrong. There were definitely limits to traveling while protecting Yu-ah. Having a navigator to find the way might be helpful. Besides, if there was even one more person to protect my sister, it was a good deal. The problem is, how trustworthy is she... I glanced at her. The blue text appeared once more.

...Unbelievable. I saved her, and she calls me a murderer. Well, even so, this was probably as normal as people got these days. I might need her ability in the Safe Zone. Having finished my calculations, I stared straight at Lee Seol-ah.

“Helping each other out, huh.”

“Y-yes! That’s right! I’m really useful! I’ll never be a burden!”

“Fine. Let’s do that, but only until the tutorial ends.”

A long sigh of relief escaped Lee Seol-ah’s lips. She looked like she was about to collapse on the floor. I turned, putting my Shadow Fang back into my belt. But then—

“W-wait... just a moment!” Lee Seol-ah’s urgent voice rang out. I turned my head, and she was waving her hand in the air, pulling out a piece of parchment. “Words... words alone are hard to trust. You won’t trust me, and I... ah, no. Anyway, it’s better to be certain.”

The paper emitted a faint light from her fingertips. As I stared at it, she carefully parted her lips.

“...It’s a contract.”

I narrowed my eyes slightly. A contract? She already has an item like that?

It wasn’t something sold in the shop. It was either an effect of her trait or an item she’d farmed separately. To have something like this... she might be more useful than I thought. But is this a proper contract? She didn’t hide any traps in it, did she? How many times had I been stabbed in the back by being ignorant? As I stared intently at the parchment, a blue window rose up as if waiting for me.

Whoa.

I swallowed a short gasp. Even things like this were possible? The more I knew, the more absurd this ability was. I gestured toward the parchment with my chin.

“What do I do?”

“J-just put your thumbprint here.” Lee Seol-ah pointed to the bottom of the contract. She pressed her thumb first, and then I placed mine over it. The parchment scattered into light, leaving a faint mark on the backs of both our hands.

Her expression brightened. ...Let’s ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠see how good this navigator effect really is. I was just as expectant, but I didn’t show it. I spoke as indifferently as possible. “It’d be best if you didn’t try anything funny. You know what I mean?”

“I’ll keep it in mind...! Never, there will never be such a thing.”

Once the contract was finalized, Lee Seol-ah stepped forward. There was significantly more life in her eyes than before.

“Let’s leave right away. You said Konkuk University Entrance Station, Exit 3, right?”

“Yes! It’s this way. Oh, if we go around the outside, we might draw monster aggro, so let’s pass through the back door of that collapsed building.”

Her previous trembling subsided quickly. She moved her feet, scanning the terrain here and there. She’s definitely skilled. By the way, a Safe Zone... I wondered what it would look like. I just hoped it was as safe as the name suggested. That was the only way I could bring Yu-ah there.