Incidents and Accidents...! # 5
Incidents and Accidents...! # 5
"Fuck, it's the end times, man. Seriously. How the hell does a party have zero ranged DPS? That's four goddamn melee fighters and nothing else. Is a four-melee party for real?"
The more I think about it, the crazier it is. Four party members and every single one of them is melee. How can a comp be this scuffed?
"Oh, yes. I concur. Who built this composition?! Mun Min! You death-car!"
"Why's it gotta be me every time! Freaking lunatic!"
When Brian starts clowning with that exotic accent of his, Mun Min's tension spikes. But in a place like this, if you stay wound up too tight you'll burn out in no time.
Better to keep our perimeter tight and let the tension bleed off as we move.
"Not ideal, granted. A proper dungeon-clear party usually wants at least one Mage-type to smooth things out, and..."
"Exactly what I'm saying. Hell, we don't even have a single guy with a gun."
"I should acquire a firearms carry license, Scream Man. Would you care to join me in obtaining one once we get out of here?"
"Sounds good. Let's do it."
Then I could pack a gun around. That monster gun I picked up earlier. I feel like things would get a lot easier just having that around.
"Anyway, Mun Min, how the hell did we end up with a party of nothing but melee? Is this real life?"
"Couldn't help it. Our class only takes melee types."
"What? The hell does that mean?"
Hold on, what?
"What do you mean what? It means our class is the Melee Specialization Class. It's all melee types, see?"
"Who the hell throws together a class made up of nothing but melee fighters? That ain't even a special-track class!"
That's what kind of insane class I ended up in?
"No, wait. Hey. There are kids in our class who do shoot stuff, right? What are they, then?"
I've never really talked to them and we haven't crossed paths, but as far as I know, a few guys in our class can pull off ranged attacks.
Guys who can fire something from their fingertips.
"Joo-hee and Soo-hyuk? Yeah, they exist, but overall their aptitude's low and the damage is weak. So they ended up in our class, which only handles melee types... the Mage types all cluster in Instructor Kawar's class, you know."
"Wtf, first I'm hearing about this. For real?"
Hard to know when you've never actually talked to anyone from another class. So that giggling Instructor Kawar's class is the Superpower Specialization Class, huh.
"Damn, this guy Kim Geun-cheol didn't even know that?"
"Literally just found out. Mun Min, turns out you actually have a working knowledge stat?"
"You're the weird one for not knowing, dumbass!"
"Your marksmanship score is weirder."
"Ah!"
This guy was dead last in shooting.
Anyway, we bullshitted like that while pushing through the jungle. The plants were grotesque—and dangerous too. Nearly jumped out of my skin when some tree swung a tentacle at me, only to realize after I snapped into a combat stance that it wasn't attacking us. It was hunting a small monster about the size of a cat.
"It is terrible...! Tentacle trees? A small otherworldly species? I have never seen the like!"
Those tiny otherworldly species are basically weaker than F-rank. Their combat power is barely on par with small wild animals back on Earth, so we don't need to treat them as threats.
"Looks like that tree can't move. So even if a gate opened, it probably couldn't come through, right?"
"Convincing! By which I mean, this planet could be crawling with entirely new monster species...!"
"Odds are good."
"Logging. I shall log this. Intel collection officer. Okay?"
"Sounds good. Hey, you guys. From now on Brian is our intel officer. Got it?"
"Got it, Scream Man."
"Yeah."
Brian's got more skills than I gave him credit for. As we moved, he kept tabs on the surrounding flora and fauna.
And whenever he spotted something he recognized, he gave us a rundown.
"This is... a cylindrical plant called Camjon. It bears fruit inside. Slightly toxic, containing substances humans cannot digest—like dietary fiber. However, Awakened individuals are known to suffer no particular side effects from consuming it. Edible."
"Wait, who the hell even discovers info like that? 'Edible'? Who tried it first?"
"Explorers exist everywhere. I shall sample it now."
—Crrk.
Brian grabbed the Camjon and split it open. Inside sat a blue fruit about the size of a billiard ball. The thing honestly looked pretty appetizing.
"Br-Brian. I would not recommend eating that. Your intel could be wrong."
"Yeah, just leave it!"
Ken and Mun Min both freaked out.
"Oh, it is verified. No worries, no-no."
We don't need to run human trials out here.
"Hey, don't eat it. If we're literally about to starve to death later, we can test it then. Don't do stupid shit right now. Plus, wasn't that testing done on Earth? In a natural ecosystem here, it might actually be poisonous."
Just because someone ran experiments on otherworldly plants doesn't mean those results are accurate here. What's the most important factor in any experiment? The environmental conditions.
Fine on Earth doesn't guarantee fine in the species' natural ecosystem.
Think about a pufferfish. An alien grabs one, only it's farm-raised. Farmed pufferfish aren't toxic. But wild pufferfish are. Same logic.
"Hmm... yes. Convincing. Then I shall simply store them. If we are seconds from starvation, we must test them then, shall we not."
"Yeah, you do that."
Right.
We have to worry about provisions here. Lucky for us, we've all been taught intel on edible monsters.
Antajora are edible. Observations show they drink water on Earth, so water sources definitely exist here. Just have to keep an eye out for those. The toxicity issue bugs me, but... we superhumans have damn good detox capabilities.
"I've heard that during the Dimension War, there were tons of people who resorted to eating monsters because there was nothing else. So food shouldn't be a problem."
At Ken's words, we all nodded.
—Shhk.
We left a mark on a tree and moved on.
* * *
[Main Quest — Escape from Another Dimension]
The quest exists because escape is possible.
Having that as my anchor let me lock my mindset in place, and with that foundation, I kept party morale up while we scouted the area.
"From now on, consider ourselves combat elites. You think any other cadets could operate this smoothly in another dimension?"
"True words, Scream Man. You are more dependable than I ever imagined. Not for nothing did you climb to 5th place in a single semester."
"Heh heh heh, Ken actually knows what he's talking about."
I can't help but grin.
"Swear to god, this bastard Kim Geun-cheol's narcissism is seriously top-tier—"
The moment Mun Min said that, something weirdly ominous flickered through my chest.
—Thud-thud-thud-thud.
My overly sensitive hearing had picked up something. I swear to god, Mun Min, is this for real? The second you open your mouth this shit happens?
"Hold up. Quiet. You guys hear something?"
"Sound, you say?"
"Try to pick it up."
Instant silence.
We all focused our hearing.
—Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
Clear as day, the sound of a whole mass of something charging this way!
"Everybody! Heads up! Something's coming!"
"Wha—what! What's coming!"
"First, form a Triangle Formation on me!"
No sound of trees being smashed down. This is thick jungle terrain, trees and plants everywhere. Whatever is coming, it's not a massive monster bulldozing a path straight through.
Small to medium size... then we can win this!
"Yes!"
They immediately formed a Triangle Formation centered on me.
"Everyone watch your sector and nothing else! I'll cover any gaps! First, eyes that way! Brian! You handle our rear and flanks!"
"Ah, understood!"
"Guh... so fighting's starting now!"
I fired off rapid orders to shut down the chaos, but I couldn't wipe the anxiety off their faces.
It's fine.
I'm a damn good fighter. We're all armed. And critically, I'm still fully geared up.
Even if it's a medium-class monster, we can take it.
"Hey, hey! Kim Geun-cheol! Over there! It's coming!"
Mun Min shouted, and right on cue, they came into my field of vision.
"It's a pack of Antajora!"
Looked like dozens of Antajora were charging straight at us, goddammit!
"That's clearly more than a few dozen! Hey, hey! Don't freak out! They're only F-rank monsters! These little shits are total fodder! I've killed a shitload of 'em myself!"
This is honestly a relief!
It's an F-rank monster pack, but it's a known quantity. If that's the case, there's zero reason to panic. Plus, these things aren't heavy. With an Awakened's strength, we can hold the line even if they crash into us like a wave.
"Yes! Geun-cheol is correct!"
"R-right! Scream Man! You're right! We don't need to panic just because it's an F-rank monster pack!"
Party morale surged.
"Kweeeeeeeek!"
"Kwrrrrrk!"
The Antajora pack rushed us, weaving this way and that around the trees.
"Here they come!"
Ken, positioned at the front, dropped into a samurai swordsmanship stance.
"Hraaaaaaaaah!"
He let out a sick af war cry and brought his sword down—
—Fwoosh!
The lead Antajora split clean in half, blood bursting everywhere!
"Nicely done, Ken! Alright, now wipe the floor with the rest of them!"
"Ooooooh! The combined power of the U.S., Japan, and Korea! I shall show it to you! Triangle Nationalist-Hype Power!"
Fighting spirit explodes.
"Hraaaaht! Hraaht!"
Ken swung his sword with ferocious energy, locking down the front line solid, while Mun Min booted an Antajora in the torso to shove it back before slicing through its waist.
"Gragh! Graaaagh! Hah-ah!"
But this bastard Mun Min is way too overamped.
You have to pace yourself in a fight. If you go all-out like that against nothing but F-rank monsters, you'll gas yourself out in no time.
"Mun Min! Get your head in the game! I've got your back! Stay calm! Watch your stamina and fight smart!"
"Oh, ohh! Yeah! Okay! Got it! Oh! Manage my energy output—right!"
He's a worry, but we'll deal with it once the fight is over.
That instant.
"Kreeeeeeeehk!"
"Kreeeeehk!"
Bizarre screeches came from the sky. I looked up—three flying squid-things the size of enormous eagles were dive-bombing straight at us...!
They're fast.
And there are three of them.
"Huk!"
"N-no! In the sky!"
I can handle this many!
"You motherfuckers! I've got the air! The rest of you just keep fighting!"
—Fwoosh!
I immediately kicked off the ground, launched myself up, planted a foot on the nearest tree trunk, and shot upward.
