Chapter 7
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Adventure 2-1. The Abandoned One
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Pointed Rock Mountain is home to several tragic fates. They are beings exiled from the Rock Fang Tribe for various reasons.
You have made contact with one of these exiles, who is suffering from a vicious endemic disease. Through long years of research, the exile discovered that overcoming the disease requires Corpse Finger Mushrooms, which grow wild along the cliffs of Pointed Rock Mountain. If you bring him this item, he will offer his help.
Adventure 2-1. The Abandoned One
📍 Objective: Acquire a Corpse Finger Mushroom and deliver it to the Abandoned One.
⏰ Time Remaining: 10:59
'Did it work?'
The Abandoned One standing before Kang Seol trembled as if struck by lightning, overcome with emotion at the promise to step up for him.
Kang Seol nodded and slipped out of the hut.
This was another mechanic in Eternal World, commonly known as a side quest or hidden quest.
They often triggered within adventures and could significantly impact the main flow.
But the Abandoned One side quest stood out from the rest.
'It rewards an ally.'
Allies.
During adventures, players sometimes encountered NPCs and could recruit them as allies.
Allies assisted based on their affinity level, actively or passively.
Allies had ranks too, and the one Kang Seol remembered for the Abandoned One was exceptionally high.
That was why he was investing his precious time, down to the second, to help him.
Kang Seol planned to use this side quest to turn the current crisis around.
After accepting the side quest, he checked the main adventure's time limit.
It was just past 3 p.m.
Any delay, and the sun would set, making it impossible to get what he needed.
His heart raced, so he climbed the mountain even faster.
Some time passed, and the midday warmth faded unnoticed.
The sun still shone, but dusk and darkness would follow soon.
'No time until tomorrow... but I've found the spot anyway.'
He had to take down the Rock Fang leaders by noon the next day.
So this was his only window to fulfill the Abandoned One's request.
After much struggle, Kang Seol reached the cliff.
Nothing here.
Nope.
Over there... no sign of any mushroom or whatever. Right?
He's really thrashing around. What the hell is he doing? We're already short on time.
LOL upper comment rushing it, no way. Even the youngest of the 5 Brothers, Makgata, is wiping 5-man parties. How's he soloing that? LOL
It's a shame, such a shame! With that physicality and judgment, dying here...
The onlookers, full of pity, muttered words Kang Seol couldn't see.
Their concern wasn't unfounded.
Around the cliff where Kang Seol had arrived, there wasn't a single mushroom in sight. Aside from one stubborn tree that had barely pushed through the rock, not a blade of grass grew.
Had he come to the wrong place?
At that moment.
This seems to be the cliffside the Abandoned One mentioned. But there's no Corpse Finger Mushroom anywhere. What will you do?
1. Wait.
2. Search the vicinity.
3. Return and tell the Abandoned One the truth.
4. [Req: Biology 1] Check if the environment is suitable for mushrooms to grow.
5. ......
Kang Seol skimmed the message and sat down on the spot.
Donated 100 Madness!
[Sorry, but where's my room's AC remote?]
Why ask that here? LOL
Doesn't know this? LOL
Just got here, and he still hasn't infiltrated the tribe? Game's busted for real.
Unlike the many worried viewers, Kang Seol gazed calmly at the sky. He was lost in brief contemplation.
'That's why it felt so familiar...'
Not the space itself.
This situation, this adventure.
'My first horse did this adventure too...'
Among the countless adventures in Eternal World, some only appeared in early player adventures 1 through 10.
The Friendly 5 Brothers was one, and Snowman's first character had experienced it.
'And died...'
Kang Seol had poured his heart into that first character.
Not knowing the dream would last 17 years, he gave his all every moment.
That effort extended beyond adventures into rest areas.
In his naive passion, that first character died during the Friendly 5 Brothers adventure—specifically, the Abandoned One side quest.
He'd slipped and fallen to his death while trying to harvest the Corpse Finger Mushroom from the cliff.
It was inevitable, really.
A caster with low agility and strength dangling from a sheer cliff to pick mushrooms—no amount of luck could save him.
Kang Seol had chosen wrong.
The young Kang Seol was devastated, bursting into tears like a waterfall upon waking from the dream.
At that age, his horse dying from his mistake, unable to progress further, was heartbreaking.
Even now, the thought ached.
Though he'd grown far since then, his heart tougher too.
That was why he'd never forgotten the Corpse Finger Mushroom info.
Lost in thought, the air began to chill.
The sun sank slowly, painting the sky in watercolor sunsets.
Then, the awaited sound began.
Crack...
Uh, what's that?
What sound is that?
Something... something's happening...
The reason Kang Seol had waited motionlessly revealed itself.
Rumble-crack...
Something was emerging from the cliff.
Like life sprouting from barren ground, elongated mushrooms grew. But their grotesque shape—black stems topped with nail-like caps—ruined any beauty.
Five stems as one: the Corpse Finger Mushroom, appearing only in the dim twilight at sunset.
'Now!'
Kang Seol activated the Shadow Summoner's basic ability, Shadow Hand.
Shadow Hand
Basic Shadow Summoner ability
Swoosh...
Two black arms extended from his shoulders.
The fun part of Shadow Hand? It had some physical force.
'Though that's about all it does.'
True to a basic ability, simple functionality.
Before first summons, it was handy for subduing monsters.
Kang Seol hadn't needed it since his first adventure was the trap-filled Forgotten Moon Ruins.
'Like holding an egg...'
Shadow Hand! They say controlling it's insane.
What's it feel like?
Description says it feels like a tail suddenly sprouts.
Ugh... but what can he even do with that?
Adapting to the odd sensation, he slowly lowered the black hand.
First try, might fail, but if it got dicey, he could use Karuna.
Slither...
The Shadow Hand crawled naturally down the cliff.
After a few fumbles, it grasped the mushroom.
Squeeze...
Pop! Kang Seol pulled the uprooted mushroom up, smiling faintly.
Doctor Octopus! There you are!
Offended!
First time and he's this good??
How, just how?? Scary
But as Kang Seol stood happily with the mushroom...
Flash!
Something flashed in his peripheral vision.
"Light?"
Kang Seol instantly knew: reflection from the tree he'd ignored earlier.
'What's that?'
The reflective object dangled precariously from the tree.
Kang Seol used Shadow Hand again to retrieve it.
Slither...
Thud!
He easily pulled it up.
He recognized it immediately.
"A watch... pocket watch?"
It was a pocket watch suitable for a necklace.
Its glass face had a small crack.
As Kang Seol eyed the odd item, a message appeared.
Hidden adventure 'Ownerless Pocket Watch' has been triggered.
Adventure 2-2. Ownerless Pocket Watch
📍 Description: This pocket watch was found in a deep spot on the lowest peak of Pointed Rock Mountain. The eagle emblem on its surface suggests a story behind it. Perhaps someone in Free City Kongori knows about it.
⏰ Objective: Find someone who knows about the pocket watch.
⏰ Time Limit: None
'A side quest too?'
Uh... so that watch... um... no info?
Not even in the setting book?
Eventide?;
Merging, bug?
Free City Kongori was near Pointed Rock Mountain.
Meaning he'd learn about it after this adventure anyway.
Kang Seol decided not to headache over something he couldn't resolve now.
Clink.
He tucked the watch away and left.
"Can I trust him...?"
The Abandoned One muttered.
Soliloquies were daily for this troll.
Cursed body.
Even his tribe and mother had abandoned him, but he hadn't abandoned himself.
They don't know.
They abandoned me because they don't know.
So he believed.
Ignorance isn't sin, but wrongs stem from it.
The Abandoned One had rifled through merchants' luggage discarded after hunts.
Rock Fang trolls took most intact goods, but one thing they always left: books.
He brought them to his hut and read.
At first, the unfamiliar script was gibberish.
But using his mother's sorcery tome, he awakened sorcery himself—and naturally learned to read them.
Language-acquisition sorceries helped.
Thus he grew, devouring knowledge, grasping truths as time passed.
He learned his illness was Pointed Rock Mountain's endemic disease, with a cure.
'Corpse Finger Mushroom.'
Yes... if only that mushroom.
But he couldn't get it.
His body too weak to dangle from cliffs, no one to fetch it for him.
He was alone.
Then human Kang Seol appeared.
Compared to other trolls, he felt less aversion to humans.
Thanks to books on their culture and history.
Kang Seol listened and left to fetch the mushroom.
"No way he'll get it... no way..."
The Abandoned One hated false hope.
How much time wasted on hopes of recovery.
False hope hurt worse than despair.
Yet why did he await that figure?
Now he realized faith springs not from ignorance, but longing.
Rustle.
"...Huh?"
Rustle.
Rustle.
Footsteps snapping twigs.
The Abandoned One focused all senses on the sound.
Soon, someone emerged from that direction.
Kang Seol.
"......"
The Abandoned One frowned.
Kang Seol's face was covered in wounds.
In that short time, he'd caught the disease.
The endemic was fearsome.
He probably hadn't even reached the cliff.
But then, Kang Seol grinned and pulled something from his bosom.
Unfamiliar, yet he knew what it was.
The long-desired Corpse Finger Mushroom.
Thud...
The Abandoned One collapsed, sobbing.
"Thank you... thank you, stranger. I am saved."
After a while, Kang Seol helped him up.
They entered the hut together. Amid endless thanks, Kang Seol briefly explained his plans.
The Abandoned One listened quietly, pondered, then replied.
"Understood. I'll do my utmost to help you."
You have saved the Abandoned One.
As reward, the Abandoned One will aid you.