Chapter 19
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: The Carriage Runs
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It didn't seem like the arrows had been fired from all that close. Most of them lodged into the carriage or nearby objects.
"Th-this… what's going on?!"
"What's happening, Aden?!"
"Seong-ho! Hey, Jin Seong-ho!"
Two of the party members, excluding Baek Sang-gyu and Seo Jin-cheol, had been hit by arrows.
One of them had an arrow pierced straight through his throat.
Pssshhh…
A few hissing sounds like air escaping, and then the party member named Jin Seong-ho rolled back his eyes.
Just like that, he lost his life.
"Aaaah! He's dead! He's dead!"
"Aden! What do we do?!"
The group, who had committed murder once before, panicked like children in the face of death right before them.
Kang Seol observed Aden's expression.
Aden's face flushed red then turned pale.
Then, as if he'd made a decision, he shouted to those around him.
"There's a canyon nearby! We'll shake them off there and head into the Great Forest—they won't be able to find us! Hurry and drive the carriage!"
"B-but… that's not easy…"
"Shut up! Forgotten who paid to hire you?"
Aden berated the others aggressively, like a completely different person.
Kang Seol knew his actions weren't appropriate.
Normally, merchant caravans formed a defensive wagon circle in such situations to counter ambushes.
Either Aden had never been on a merchant caravan before, or the pursuers were on a level they couldn't resist.
Either way, the situation wasn't looking good.
Aden now shouted at Baek Sang-gyu's group.
"How long are you going to cling to the dead guy and whine? Get on the carriage!"
"What? You, what did you just…"
Swish.
Aden pressed a dagger to Seo Jin-cheol's throat.
It was so fast that Seo Jin-cheol couldn't react at all.
"Hup…"
"Do as I say if you don't want to die. I'm done playing nice."
Seo Jin-cheol's eyes widened as he slowly nodded.
Baek Sang-gyu's group left Jin Seong-ho, who had died instantly from the arrow, and helped the other wounded man onto the carriage.
Kang Seol followed them onto the carriage.
"Fuck… fuck… what the hell is going on…"
"Wasn't this supposed to be an easy adventure?! Why are we the ones suffering?!"
Death comes to everyone, always preceded by its harbinger: fear.
Baek Sang-gyu's reduced group was soaked in terror, their eyes darting wildly.
"It hurts… hurts so much…"
"Gyeong-mo!"
The other man, lying with an arrow in his chest.
He groaned continuously, but now his movements were slowing.
"Am I… dying like this…"
Thud.
Baek Sang-gyu's group was down to two.
Neighhh!
The horses, startled, galloped even faster.
Psssh.
Splat!
"Eek…"
The sound of arrows piercing the carriage canopy.
Everything was chaotic beyond comprehension.
Even in this, Kang Seol remained calm.
'We'll get caught at the canyon's edge.'
Both his first and second characters had met the same end.
There wouldn't be any major dangers until they reached the canyon's edge, so no need to panic like Baek Sang-gyu's group.
Seeing that, Baek Sang-gyu yelled in rage.
"You acted like it was an easy adventure, but it's not!"
"…What?"
"Damn it… how do we escape this?"
Seo Jin-cheol snarled at Kang Seol.
"Hey, we stick together until we get out of here."
It was common sense for a normal party, but since this group didn't trust each other, it needed saying.
Seo Jin-cheol believed Kang Seol would comply.
There were two of them and only one of him.
Whether their plan was exposed or not, he figured Kang Seol couldn't escape alone.
But Kang Seol's response left Seo Jin-cheol and Baek Sang-gyu flustered.
"Why should I?"
Wait? Me?
LOLOL facepalm
These guys scream murderer lol why go with them~
Fell for the rice bowl cosplay huh?
Baek Sang-gyu, eyes bloodshot, reached for the curved sword at his waist.
Shing.
"You're slow on the uptake. My words didn't sink in… huh?"
"Wh-what… my body… ugh…"
Baek Sang-gyu and Seo Jin-cheol's bodies no longer obeyed them. It felt like they were slowly hardening into concrete.
Clang.
The curved sword slipped from Baek Sang-gyu's hand and rolled to the corner of the carriage.
"D-damn it, why won't my body…"
"Me too!"
Apparently only from the neck down, as their tongues kept wagging.
Kang Seol looked at them and said,
"You're slow on the uptake."
"What? You bastard! This is your doing!"
"Let us go! Whatever you did, I'll kill you!"
"You shouldn't eat food handed to you by strangers."
At Kang Seol's words, Baek Sang-gyu and Seo Jin-cheol realized what happened.
Something had been done to the drinks they'd accepted earlier.
"Damn… shit! In on it together?"
"No way… Aden! Aden, what's with this bastard?!"
Pssshhh!
"Chase them!"
Thud thud thud!
The sound of pursuers on horseback.
The carriage group was already exiting the canyon.
Kang Seol straightened his clothes and prepared.
Whoosh…
Black energy gathered in his hand, then dispersed, summoning a massive figure inside the carriage.
Whirrrl…
"Th-that guy…"
"A troll! It's a troll! No, that's…"
They recognized it.
What Kang Seol summoned was Jamad, the chieftain of the Rock Fang Tribe, whom they'd only glimpsed from afar in a previous adventure.
How could they forget that terrifying form?
Baek Sang-gyu muttered in disbelief, thinking,
'He defeated that Jamad?'
Even a full party couldn't have taken down Jamad.
Of course, Kang Seol had slain the monster alone, but Baek Sang-gyu couldn't even imagine it.
Jamad looked at Kang Seol and said,
"…The situation isn't good."
"Seems that way, but let's watch for now."
"Hmph. I'll protect you."
As Kang Seol moved to leave the carriage, the desperate Baek Sang-gyu and Seo Jin-cheol called out.
"H-hey! Take us! Take us with you!"
"Where are you going?! If you leave us like this, the Predators won't let you off!"
Kang Seol replied without turning.
"That's why I said why should I."
Baek Sang-gyu's group would be shackles dragging him down, not help.
They'd obviously meet an end fitting for them here.
'They're coming.'
Suddenly, armed people with rope obstacles burst out right in front of the carriage line. All had tattoos like Aden's on their faces.
"Hold tight!"
With Aden's shout, the front carriages began tumbling.
The formation broken, the others couldn't advance and flipped too.
"Wh-what?!"
"No!"
As Baek Sang-gyu and Seo Jin-cheol screamed, Kang Seol was already gone from the carriage.
Kang Seol had successfully detached from the group under Jamad's protection just before the carriages hit the rope obstacles.
The impact of the ground shook him, but Jamad's guard prevented serious injury.
A few pursuers broke off to chase Kang Seol, but all were crushed by Jamad.
Now, Kang Seol watched the collision site from his position.
"Just watching?"
"Yeah. Jumping in now would just waste energy."
"Fine, do as you like."
Aden regrouped his forces amid the wrecked carriages, preparing to face the ambushers.
"Damn… how did they know to come here? Hey, battle stations."
What Aden said that wasn't a lie was that there really were caravan guards.
Stronger ones than Baek Sang-gyu's group.
"Looks like about twenty ambushers. Survive on your own."
"Damn it… this wasn't part of the deal!"
Whoosh… whoosh…
Someone approached from afar, spinning a curved sword.
He had the same tattoo as Aden.
"Aden… no, KuJo. Thought you could escape us?"
"How would a fleeing rat know that, idiot."
"Heh heh… still got that sharp tongue. Should've used it to serve Lord Borgo."
"The pay wasn't great, so I was planning a big score… Want to partner up? I'll treat you better than Borgo."
"Can you protect me from Lord Borgo's pursuit?"
"Think so?"
"Then die quietly. Got the map and translation?"
"Of course! Right here. Come take it if you can!"
"Then farewell in advance. The map will return to its rightful owner."
"Bullshit. Sound like Borgo found it. I did, you bastard!"
Claaang!
KuJo's outnumbered group—not Aden's—clashed with Borgo's vanguard.
Meanwhile,
Kang Seol was closely examining the updated adventure details.
‘The Carriage Runs’
The carriage caravan bound for Novira has been ambushed. There seem to be unknown circumstances. You must survive the ambush.
📍 Goal: Survive and shake off pursuers
⏰ Remaining Time: [None]
Kang Seol had known the truth of this adventure from the start. Naturally, including how it changed moment by moment.
This adventure was far more complex than it appeared.
Borgo, a ruin hunter with a big name in Novira (same personality and role, just different name).
KuJo, a subordinate harboring resentment toward Borgo, obtained a map to another ruin during exploration and secretly pocketed it, attempting to decipher it away from Borgo.
Borgo noticed and pursued, but KuJo had already fled to Kongori. Borgo's group set camp near the Great Forest, waiting.
The translation KuJo received stated that five mountain sacrifices were needed to open the ruin's entrance.
'In other words, my group and Baek Sang-gyu's weren't guards—we were the sacrifices being transported.'
That was why Aden tampered with the drinks.
To ensure the group couldn't move and became sacrifices willingly.
Clang!
Claaang!
Kang Seol quietly watched their clash.
He'd experienced it twice already.
He knew the outcome.
Soon, the battle's shape emerged.
"Gah… haah…"
"Heh heh… keep going if you want to die."
"Retreating means Borgo kills us anyway."
"True. Then hurry up and die."
It was a ridiculous situation, but no one from either group survived the clash. As expected, the same was unfolding before his eyes.
'No, the sacrifices survive.'
His first character, Snowman, chose to use mana to recover from the wrecked carriage and fled the scene, surviving.
'The second character chose differently.'
Kang Seol waited for their battle to end, then approached as it wrapped up.
"Haah… haaah… Borgo?"
KuJo, blinded, gasped on the ground. Black blood smeared his body. He'd lost so much blood he seemed moments from death.
"No, that smell… Snowman. Save me."
"You're already dead."
"Keh heh heh… right. This much blood… how could I live. Hey, want to hear something interesting?"
Aden's real name is KuJo. The dying man is about to share something intriguing. How do you respond?
1. A story? What kind?
2. Don't need it.
3. Who were the ones chasing us?
4. What does the tattoo mean?
5. [Req: Intimidate] Spill everything.
…
"Don't need it."
"Ha! Haha! Fine, one thing then. Soon, a massive monster not even human will arrive. Then you're dead anyway… hey?"
Rummage, rummage.
Kang Seol rifled through the gasping KuJo's pockets, pulling out whatever he grabbed.
[Acquired a ruin map.]
[Acquired ruin translation.]
Kang Seol glanced at the map and checked the translation.
The translation was arguably as important as the map for ruins.
'Tch…'
His brow furrowed.
'This translation's only good as kindling.'
The content matched what he knew superficially, but details showed a completely different interpretation path.
Either his memory was wrong or the translation was—Kang Seol trusted his memory more.
"Kuh… kuhahaha!"
KuJo laughed maniacally at Kang Seol's actions.
Like a prophet, he cursed Kang Seol's future.
"Yeah, you'll crave the ruin's treasure. I did too. But cough… the ruin's already marked by Borgo."
"So?"
Acquiring the map brought up another choice prompt.
Identified ruin location from map: near the Great Forest. What will you do?
1. Return map to KuJo and find a way to save him.
2. Stay here and wait for Borgo.
3. Return map and flee to Novira.
4. Head to the Great Forest.
…
His choice among these was obvious.
KuJo left final words before dying.
"…You'll end up succumbing to desire like me."
He replied to the already-departed KuJo.
"No. I dominate desire."