Orc Settlement (2)

Even though we'd gained experience in Chekhov's Arena, from the perspective of those who'd climbed up from there, the [Orc Settlement] stage was nothing but a headache in every way. Elimination. While we'd been killing time in the arena, the 88 aspiring heroes who'd cleared stage 1 were already deep into the Orc Settlement. They didn't open a separate Orc Settlement stage for those of us returning from the arena—no, they just tossed us into the one already live and running. Complaining about that would be too harsh. Estiel was just a low-level angel; she didn't have the authority to spin up 108 individual stages for 108 people. The fact that they even let us mid-join was something to be grateful for.

If the situation were reversed, things would've been different. From the viewpoint of those who'd racked up four wins in the arena, having people who'd died in the Orc Settlement get summoned to the arena starting from zero wins? That would've been a nightmare. But that hadn't happened. Either they thought it was too cruel to mid-insert someone who might've died in the Orc Settlement into Chekhov's Arena, or the arena got cleared so fast that insertion was pointless anyway. Worst case, what if they'd mid-inserted someone right when I killed Helm? The tutorial was for training heroes—what would be the point?

So, any aspiring hero who'd died here in the Orc Settlement would be in standby mode, just like me when I died, waiting until the next stage opened. And another possibility: no mid-insertion needed at all. This was a truly special case, but theoretically possible. What if no one's died yet? If no one had been killed by orcs over the past week, the whole premise of elimination-based mid-insertion fell apart. And now, two hours after insertion, my hunch was leaning toward the latter.

That made sense, because...

"Damn, this gear's pretty solid. Did I end up saving this guy by accident when I got my first death?"

I could tell just from looking at the equipment on this man I'd unwittingly rescued.

He's teamed up with a mercenary band in one of the farther villages.

The standard way to tackle the Orc Settlement. As you wander the villages inside the stage, you run into mercenary bands come to fend ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠off the orcs. They're upright, righteous types—no pushover heroes. No matter how many aspiring heroes there are, these veterans train them in combat and teach them how to hunt orcs in real battles. Like tutorial guide NPCs, basically. Heroes who'd cleared the Orc Settlement even called them "teachers." The Japanese side went with "sensei" or "shisho."

Silver Mane Mercenaries.

The man had a sword etched with their emblem. His armor looked like the starter gear we'd all gotten, same as mine, but it had some nicks from orc fights. And blatant arrow wounds, too.

"Hmm."

What to do. My purpose here was already accomplished.

I'd killed 29 orcs and wrecked one hatchery. Separate from the main quest, I'd made this much side progress in just two hours—if I pushed, I could finish the sides in a day. The problem was...

I don't have to clear them.

Estiel had made that clear. These side quests could help in the next stage. If I wanted better starting gear there, it'd be smart to grab the rewards somehow... but

Unnecessary.

It meant nothing to me. I'd already snatched a decent weapon from what passed for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a chieftain among the orcs, and armor just needed to avoid hits.

In a siege, even more so.

Point was, I didn't need ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to complete the quests. So why was I killing every orc I saw? One reason: they were enemies. I was just wandering the forest minding my own business, and they came at me first. Happened to find a hatchery where they were born and cut their lifelines. Like that nun over there, naked and looking relieved in death.

"Tch."

I knew. She was from the past. Just a fake crafted from holy power—no soul. Same for the demons here, like the orcs. Tutorial stage demons weren't real ones. Closest thing was the goddess side hunting demons, snatching their souls before the Demon King's army could recover them, and putting them to use. Stage bosses might recycle special souls instead, but they didn't draw as much attention as these "hatcheries."

"Gotta keep killing every one I see from here on... but it still sucks to look at."

Raped by monsters, then forced to birth their spawn. Some dark fantasy expert called it a "broodmother" with a long leash. Obvious wordplay.

Broodmother. But it got shot down quick.

Goblins and orcs definitely grab women for breeding, but insect monsters lay eggs in men too. Not broodmothers.

Being a monster's breeding medium wasn't women-only. Women might even have it better—they could survive. Horrific as birthing monster spawn was, at least their guts wouldn't burst from eggs hatching inside and larvae eating organs, like men.

So hatchery, breeding ground, settlement. Hero slang—hatcher-lair-hive—got translated and adopted by the angels. Difference was scale. Common thread: birthing monster young, like the woman I'd put to rest.

Truly horrific.

Goblin Forest: Shows humans can be killed by monsters.

Orc Settlement: Shows humans can be forced into monster breeding.

Thank the angels' setup—orcs don't rape aspiring heroes. But witnesses get shocked. Next stage shows Demon King's army wars—

"Urgh..."

As I caught my breath, lost in thought, the man I'd saved started coming to.

"Wh-where...?"

"You with us?"

"!!"

He jolted at the sight of me. Armored, but his plain short two-block brown hair screamed Earthling—like me.

"I'm Yoo Si-woo. You?"

"Uh, well... Kang Dae-han, 22 years old..."

"Guess that makes me hyung."

Better preempt annoying shit—act like we're tight.

"22? Prime military age. You serve?"

"Uh, exempt..."

"Huh?"

Unexpected.

"What for?"

"......"

"Don't wanna say? Fine. No army for you anyway... wait, this is the army now?"

Light joke to drop his guard. I offered Kang Dae-han a hand.

"Up. Cleared the locals, but stray orcs could rush back ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠anytime."

"Orcs... ah!!"

"What?"

"No time for this! There's an orc hatchery nearby...!"

"Hatchery? That one?"

I pointed my bloodied axe backward.

"That it?"

"......Urk!"

I'd tried to make it clean, but lined-up orc corpses were gross. Especially the pale-skinned otherworlder woman plopped in the middle.

"Tried saving her, but she begged for death—so I did. Right call? Side quest progress ticked up from the angel."

"Th-that... cough... are you..."

He blurted without caution, then eyed me up and down like he'd figured it out.

"Hyung... you're that 'knight,' right?"

"Knight?"

"Yeah. The one [Chekhov Group] talks about."

"...Chekhov Group?"

I could guess. But their naming sense sucked.

"Losers' bracket survivors from Chekhov's Arena called themselves 'Corpse Squad.' They say a knight saved them. Said to pass it on if I saw him."

"Who? Wait, a group? Who's the leader?"

"Leader? Kinda stretching it."

Kang Dae-han scratched his cheek.

"Choi Yu-jin."