Yotolban Asked It Back
Yotolban turned Yujun's own words back on him, repeating them exactly as they had been spoken.
"Because I've heard a thing or two myself."
"You can't have been on this Continent for even five years."
"That's right."
"Did someone else tell you, then?"
"They did."
"And who was it..."
"I can't tell you that."
"As I thought."
Something in Yotolban's eyes shifted.
"If you know even that much, then you must also know what sort of wretches the Demon God Worshippers are."
Yujun nodded.
"They mean to call the Demon God down and destroy the world. Is that it?"
"More precisely, they intend to place every soul on the Continent beneath the Demon God's dominion. That is their final aim."
"And what do they get out of it? In the end, isn't it all just doing the Demon God a favor?"
"Is that not the way of every band of fanatics? They believe the rule that follows the Demon God's return will bring them enormous profit as well."
Yujun had only ever faced the Demon God Worshippers on the virtual battlefield, but he had a fair sense of what kind of people they were. Most of the demonkin believed in the Demon God, didn't they. Duke Jonas was probably no different.
"In any case, we of the Hon hold the Demon God Worshippers in profound hatred. They are a blight upon the Continent, and there is the matter of the past as well..."
"I see."
Yujun stroked his chin, his expression grave. The Demon God Worshippers. When he had fought them on the virtual battlefield in the Primordial Player's body, they had been no match for him at all, and he did not believe he was any weaker now than the Primordial Player had been then. So there's no real need to worry? He couldn't afford to grow careless, of course, but his present abilities were beyond anything he could have imagined — hardly what anyone would expect of a newcomer dragged into the Tower of Infinity only a few months ago.
"I'd like to meet an apex predator sometime, but there's something we need first. Shall we look for that?"
"Yes! Yes!"
Manuela nodded over and over, as if she had been waiting for him to say it. In truth, that was why they had come. Levels are climbing nicely, at least. Can't complain.
He didn't know the name of the material Manuela needed. She had described the herb's appearance instead.
"Blue — or maybe I should say a blue with a hint of purple? The leaves were so full of life it was like they were moving on their own."
"Nothing more obvious than that?"
"Hmm, hmm... It was getting a little dark, so maybe that was why, but it felt like a faint light was coming off the flower."
"Light?"
"Yeah. It wasn't that bright. It might just have been reflecting the moonlight."
"Anything else?"
"Sorry. That's all."
"Why do you need a flower to make a dungeon?"
"I'm not building a dungeon from scratch, you know. I have to grant a new trait to a suitable dungeon that already exists, and for that I need the flower I saw in my vision."
"Does it have to be that exact flower?"
"Yes."
"Well, all right."
Hunting down a single flower in a forest this vast would be exhausting, and a waste of time besides. But the experience from the monsters here was generous enough that he had no real complaint. If anything, he thought it had worked out rather well.
Shhk — swish. Yujun cut the throat of a monster that had been creeping up on them. It had a humanoid body and a face with no features at all, a rather grotesque thing. Manuela and the Hon, who hadn't even known it was there, flinched in surprise.
"When did it..."
They hadn't sensed a thing. Rayl and Yotolban stared blankly at the corpse, already gone cold.
"First time seeing one of those, I take it?"
At Yujun's words, the two Hon nodded.
"Had we met one before, we would not be standing here talking."
In other words, they never had.
"Sourtul Forest really does have every kind of freak imaginable."
Yotolban gave an awkward laugh.
After that, Yujun dealt with about ten more monsters in Sourtul Forest, alone, of course, and without anyone's help.
"The experience here is no joke."
"..."
He had even formed a party with them and raised the Hon's levels, and they looked at him with open admiration.
"Thank you. You didn't have to go this far..."
"Might as well, while I'm at it."
The Hon were startled by the low level displayed in Yujun's party window, but they didn't mention it. They thought it might be rude. A smile spread across Yujun's face. Five whole levels. Just how high are these monsters?
It wasn't merely that they gave a lot of experience. They seem to give even more than a marquis-class demon. The monsters here were certainly abnormally strong, and yet, relative to that strength, the experience they offered was on the low side. In a sense, it could be called an inefficient hunting ground. Doesn't matter. They die in one hit anyway.
Ever since he had switched to level 450 equipment, not a single monster had withstood a blow from him. Impossible without an overwhelming gap in raw power. How must it have felt for those watching? Nothing but one shock after another. In the instant light flashed before their eyes, the monsters that had charged in so fiercely collapsed where they stood, as if he were working some magic that common sense simply could not explain.
Half a day passed that way. As if word of Yujun had spread, no more monsters came to attack.
"...Did they all go to bed?"
Yujun even used a search spell to look for them, but there wasn't a single living thing nearby.
"Manuela."
"Yeah."
"Still haven't found it?"
"Mm-mm. But it'll be easier once it gets dark."
"Because the flower gives off light?"
"Yeah. But once we find it, are we leaving this forest right away?"
"Can we even leave? Memorizing the path doesn't help us get back, remember. First we need to find a way out of this forest."
The monsters gave plenty of experience, but they couldn't stay trapped here forever. Better to find both a way out and the material, and leave while the leaving was good.
There was a woman who looked to stand about five foot seven. She held a sword in one hand and a shield in the other, both of them considerable in size and ill-suited to her slender arms.
"Where on earth is the exit..."
Jo Su-a muttered, her fine brows drawn together. She was a player who had been in Sourtul Forest for over a month. Unknown to the Continent, her level was a staggering 610. She had been exactly level 600, but since entering this forest she had gained ten more. Gaining levels is nice, but... I think I'm starting to hit the ceiling.
Levels hardly rose at all anymore. Not long ago she had fought to the death and even taken down a high-tier predator, and still the experience hadn't climbed to her satisfaction. Relative to the monsters' strength, it was modest. On the other hand, this place hands out a lot of points. I've even picked up Legendary-grade items a few times.
This was probably the only place where Legendary-grade items could be obtained in such numbers — at least among the places she knew.
"Haa... This is starting to get on my nerves."
Even for her, this was by no means a safe hunting ground. It was closer to a brutal battlefield where she had to stake her life, and she was growing tired. Different monsters appeared every time, and they possessed abilities bizarre beyond imagination. Bizarre would have been fine. She hadn't even let her guard down, and still she had nearly lost her head more than once or twice. Even she, past level 600, was reduced to that. I understand why they call Sourtul Forest the Forest of Death. There was no way out to be found, and the monsters that lived here were catastrophic.
She looked down at her sword, its edge now all but spent.
"..."
A Legendary-grade sword. A precious weapon, bound by a level requirement of 500, and even that item's durability was running out. Things were not going well. If I have to swap even one weapon, fighting the monster I just killed will become a struggle. Knowing that well, she couldn't hide the anxiety on her face. And if I run into an apex predator like this...
The highest-tier predators that inhabited Sourtul Forest were too intelligent, too cunning, to be called mere monsters. In any case, there was too much to watch for. The first thing she had to do was find the exit, and the biggest problem was that she had failed to do so for a month. Anyway, what is this even used for?
A blue flower, tinged with a hint of purple. Captivated by its beauty in the moonlight, she had taken it without thinking. If there's no other flower like this, it must be something rare. So all she had to do was get out of this forest. I'm sure my level is the highest there is.
She had heard that even the top rankers weren't yet level 500, and realized she was far ahead of them. The players of the group called Coordination were only a little stronger than those top rankers — still nowhere near her.
Jo Su-a invoked an SS-grade skill.
Sword Force Emission
SS-Grade
An intangible force shot forth at tremendous speed. Whoosh — boom! The body of a tentacle creature that had been approaching from afar came apart. But its life did not end. Half its body had been blown away, yet it regenerated the wound at a rapid pace, and in less than two seconds the tentacle creature had restored itself completely. It spread dozens of tentacles and aimed them at Jo Su-a.
She kicked off the ground and advanced instead, a move that caught the creature off guard. Her sword moved at blinding speed.
Consecutive Slash
A-Grade
In an instant the blade swung more than ten times. The tentacle creature's movements stopped, and so the battle ended.
"Hoo..."
It looked like an easy victory, but Jo Su-a's expression was far from bright. It felt as if a blade were always pointed at her throat. Every monster in every direction was a threat to her, and even the attack of the tentacle creature she had just faced had been enough to chill her to the bone.
After that she wandered the forest without destination. She wanted to find a path, but for now there was no proper way. I remember every path I've taken, and yet somehow I can't get out. Why? No barrier of any kind had been laid over the forest. Jo Su-a let out a frustrated sigh.
And then it happened.
KRA-KOOM! KRA-KOOM! A tremendous explosion erupted not far away.
"What was that?"
In a month of unwanted residence in this forest, she had never heard a noise of that scale. Could it be another player? Whether from bad luck or not, she had not met a single player since entering the forest, so she broke into a run at once. Right now she needed to meet anyone she could actually talk to. Otherwise she felt she might go mad.
"Yujun! Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"What on earth was that just now?"
"A monster. Looks pretty angry. Like it's about to blow the whole forest away."
Where Jo Su-a arrived at a dead run stood two humans and two of the Hon. One of the humans had features like a Westerner's, which made it likely they weren't human at all. Jo Su-a's eyes lit up. An unfamiliar combination.