A Korean, Just Like Her
Jo Su-a felt a deep wash of relief at the simple fact that another Korean was here — someone like herself.
Earthlings were easy to tell apart. Hair, features: the differences stood out at a glance.
He looks pretty strong.
The equipment on the man was anything but ordinary, and more telling still was the ease of his bearing after stepping into a place this dangerous. It didn't read as empty bluster.
He's confident in his skill.
Her eyes, which had been taking the measure of the four of them, slid elsewhere.
And an apex predator. Of all the times for one to show up.
A prickling ran the length of her body. The pressure was immense. Never in her life had she met a monster that strong. Jo Su-a shook her head.
Of all the situations to run into one.
Had her luck gone rotten?
No.
In a way, she couldn't even blame luck. It was the breath that black-skinned drake had fired that let her spot the players in the first place. An awkward spot to be in.
Should I help?
No — could she even help? Step in carelessly and she might get dragged into it and die herself. She understood that well enough, so for now she decided to watch, putting a little more distance between them so she wouldn't be caught in a fight between an apex predator and a party of players. She was past level 600. Even from a long way off, she could read the situation with perfect clarity.
His arm was numb. He had wrapped the blade in mana and managed to knock aside the attack that came flying in out of nowhere, but the force behind it was no joke. His defense sat beyond anything measurable, and he had still felt pain. That black drake was no ordinary enemy.
Drakes, as a rule, were monsters even upper-tier players could take down without much trouble. This one was different. The monsters of Sourtul Forest were strangely, unreasonably strong.
So the boss-type finally shows its face?
A smile tugged at the corner of Yujun's mouth. He had been bored anyway, and there wasn't a trace of tension in him as he leveled his sword at the drake.
The drake seemed to take that for a combat stance and loosed its breath at once — an attack so fast and so straight it called a laser to mind, the kind of strike that was hard to dodge even if you read its path, even if you already knew it was coming.
Yujun swung once, meaning to bat the breath aside the way he had before. The result, though, came out a little different. This time he had meant it.
The Black Drake faltered. It had never imagined its own breath could be shut down so cleanly, and in the opening while it locked stiff from the shot, Yujun moved.
A flash — lightning itself wouldn't have covered it. The sword swept through, quiet and fast, and cut across the drake's body. Not once. Twice, three times, four. Along with the message that his level had risen, the body came apart in pieces.
"......"
"Wh-what?"
Watching from a distance, Jo Su-a's eyes went wide. What unfolded was the exact opposite of what she had expected. She scrubbed at them with a fingertip, and still couldn't believe what was in front of her.
"No way......"
The presence rolling off the Black Drake had been nothing anyone could dismiss. She herself couldn't have guaranteed a win, and that man had handled a drake like that as if it were nothing. Luck wouldn't explain it either. She hadn't even seen the swordsman move.
And it isn't just speed.
A thick mana field had wrapped the Black Drake — a barrier sturdy enough to take a meteor head-on and come out intact. The man had punched straight through it as if it weren't there. A hollow laugh escaped her, half disbelief.
What is he?
She looked to his companions. They didn't seem particularly surprised, perfectly composed, as if this were hardly the first or second time. Otherwise a reaction like that made no sense.
Jo Su-a forced her startled heart to settle and walked toward the players with both hands raised, making it plain she had no intention of attacking. Yujun watched her come without a word.
"Who are you?"
"Someone trapped in this forest. You're Korean, right?"
"Yes. You too?"
Jo Su-a nodded, and Yujun broke into a bright smile.
"Good to meet you. Running into a Korean all the way out here."
"Nearly every human player is Korean. No idea why."
"And what brings you over?"
"I just wanted to see other people. I've spent a long time in this forest looking at nothing but disgusting things."
Her voice sat low, but the tone was attractive, and the excitement in it was plain. Had she been that starved for company?
"Mind if I come with you?"
The offer came out of nowhere.
"No?"
"......"
"And why would I trust you?"
"In this forest, isn't it safe enough to? I don't have any reason to betray you."
"That's true, but."
There was an item for exactly this sort of moment. Yujun opened his inventory.
◈ Option: Until the contract's effect expires, the two contracted players cannot attack each other.
It was an item made for users who couldn't feel safe even in a party, and it fit the moment perfectly. Even if Jo Su-a tried to stab him in the back, Yujun was not the one who would be taking the hit. He held the contract out to her.
"What's this?"
"Read it and you'll know."
"......Oh. This?"
"So you do know it."
"I do. I've just never actually seen one...."
"Press your thumb here."
"Does the contract have some kind of fingerprint recognition?"
"No?"
"......"
"Contact is enough."
"All right."
Jo Su-a set her finger to the contract without another word, and Yujun laid his hand on it as well. That was all it took for the item to take effect.
"I should have introduced myself sooner. I'm Jo Su-a."
"Shin Yujun."
"......Shin Yujun?"
"What?"
"Nothing. It's just a familiar name."
And with that, the group was six: the two solo players, Yujun, Manuela, Paranet, and Jo Su-a, newly arrived.
"Shall we form a party as well?"
"Sure."
A party meant shared experience, and safer hunting besides. Yujun's eyes went wide at the level displayed in the party window.
"Six hundred?"
He checked again in case he had misread it, but it was definitely over 600.
"Why is your level that high?"
"You're one to talk. Why are you 400..."
Jo Su-a was far more shocked than he was. A player in the 400s had just put on a display like that?
"Why are you level 424?"
"I just killed that drake. My level jumped by more than ten."
"That's not what I meant...."
What she really wanted to know was how Shin Yujun had killed a drake at that level at all.
"Is your level displayed wrong?"
"No. More importantly — are you mixed?"
The question came out of nowhere.
"......Yes. Why?"
"You don't look Korean. Not fully Western, either."
Jo Su-a's looks were exotic. At first he had wondered if she belonged to some other race entirely.
"I am Korean. That's why I was dragged here."
"I heard it isn't only Koreans. There are foreigners too."
"A tiny minority. Foreigners who were living in Korea."
"Have you met any?"
"Twice, maybe? That isn't the important part. How did you get into this forest? Hardly anyone knows anything about Sourtul Forest."
"Guess I'm one of the few."
"...And the person beside you?"
"Manuela. A companion."
"She isn't human, is she?"
"No."
He didn't mention that Manuela was a witch. Witches were poorly regarded on the Continent, and the Demon Realm was hardly any kinder.
They were both startled by each other's levels, and neither of them dug any deeper. Jo Su-a, who had entered Sourtul Forest a full month ahead of them, was not talkative. Far from it. After those first few exchanges, she barely said a word.
Conversation went on anyway, the two solo players chattering while Yujun answered in short replies. Manuela kept quiet as well, apparently unwilling to be found out as a witch.
Steel whispered. Jo Su-a landed and drew her sword back, and a monster that resembled a harpy lost its head and dropped to the ground.
Not bad.
Yujun was impressed. So a level past 600 wasn't for nothing. Level wasn't everything, but that high was a different matter.
A hundred levels above the Coordination members. That says it all.
The Coordination members he had met before would not have been a match for Jo Su-a. Her skill stood that far above them. Whenever a monster appeared, she stepped forward and dealt with it, as if she were putting her strength on display for him to see, and she left him no opening to step in. He could have moved first if he had wanted to, but he saw no reason to, not when she was handling things on her own.
At this point, I am curious about the trick.
Level 600. For Yujun as he was now, that was a height impossibly far off. Ever since he had drawn near 400, the pace of his experience had slowed, and it had been wearing on him.
I've got a title that grants bonus experience, and items on top of that. Looking at her level still makes me feel small.
Reaching 400 in a matter of months was remarkable enough, but Yujun's greed had no ceiling.
"How long has it been since you were summoned here?"
"Mm... five years."
"Fifth year?"
"Yes."
"Ah."
"......"
The conversation died there.
They walked a long while before Yujun, unable to hold the question in, opened his mouth again.
"Why is your level that high?"
"......Sorry?"
"I'm curious."
"I just killed monsters."
"No other secret?"
"There isn't one. You just have to kill an absurd number of them."
"Hmm..."
Utterly useless advice. Who didn't already know that? And she didn't look as if she were lying. She really must have killed far more monsters than he had. Of course she could have, as a fifth-year player.
Does that make her the highest-level human player?
610. Was there anyone above that? He had his doubts, but nothing he could be sure of. This wasn't a game with a ranking board. Unless you actually formed a party and checked, there was no way to know.
Jo Su-a kept glancing around, never relaxing her watch on every side. Every nerve seemed fixed on monsters that could appear anywhere, at any moment. The two solo players and Paranet kept stealing looks at her. Paranet had been human once, so that was one thing — but even the other races seemed unable to help staring. She had that kind of face.
Paranet. I didn't think he was the type...
He had been so cold to Kim Heeyeon and Hong Yeji.
Another level-up.
They looked as if they had adapted well to Sourtul Forest, but everyone except Yujun stayed tense. In truth, Yujun had not let his guard down either. He had taken down one apex predator, but run into a monster with the wrong matchup and he could still get wrecked. Nothing was invincible. Cut his throat, and Yujun died like any other fragile living thing.
The forest was growing bleaker by the moment. There was no sound of small animals.
"We're definitely not circling the same ground..."
Yujun murmured it. The change was slight, but the scenery kept shifting. His memory had sharpened since he became a player, and he remembered every path they had taken. He was sure of it.
This forest is wider than I can even imagine. That much is certain.
From everything he had grasped so far, there didn't seem to be any trick to it.
It feels like we're going deeper and deeper, and yet... I can't see a way out.
It was a little strange that Jo Su-a, a full month into the forest, had crossed paths with him at all. When he asked about it—
"I never meant to come anywhere near here. Apex predators. Every time I got close, I felt their presence more than once. I kept walking while I avoided them, and I only ended up more lost."
"Have you been to the other areas?"
"Yes. Of course."