Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Among the Gray Folk
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"Ugh..."
Do-jae groaned, slowly regaining consciousness.
The rich scent of phytoncides filled the air, clearing his head.
After savoring the aroma for a long moment, Do-jae gradually opened his eyes.
He blinked several times, his dry eyes adjusting, and his blurry vision slowly sharpened.
The first thing he saw was an unfamiliar ceiling made of logs.
*'Where am I?'*
Do-jae slowly sat up and looked around.
It was a space of about 350 square feet.
Inside, various daily necessities and furniture were arranged in a cozy, compact manner.
The peculiar thing was that there were no electronics; every piece of furniture was made of wood.
*Thump, thump.*
Do-jae got out of bed and slowly walked toward the window, where bright sunlight was streaming in.
He needed to figure out where he was.
"Hah."
Do-jae gasped involuntarily.
The sight beyond the window almost made him collapse in shock.
*'On a tree?'*
Outside, a dense forest stretched out before him.
Towering, majestic trees filled the landscape, and atop them were numerous houses built from logs.
The house Do-jae had woken up in was also built on a thick tree.
Do-jae slowly backed away, trying to piece together his memories.
*'How did I end up here?'*
He rummaged through his mind, trying to connect the fragments of his memory.
But he couldn't for the life of him remember where this place was.
It made sense, as his memory had cut off after he collapsed.
*'I remember taking out the potion.'*
Just as he had escaped the Mana Accelerator research facility, a quest failure message had appeared before his eyes, and an unknown force had pulled him away.
When he opened his eyes again, he was in a place with barren land stretching out before him.
It was a place that reminded him of where he had obtained the Heart of the Golem and fought the harpies.
After that, a wave of relief at having escaped Rishun washed over him, followed by excruciating pain and dizziness.
Do-jae had hastily opened his Subspace to get a potion and took just one sip.
*'That's my last memory...'*
He had lost consciousness and collapsed.
Having already reached his limit, the moment he thought he was saved by the potion, the tension left him, and he fainted.
After that, he had somehow woken up here.
*'Rishun... he was too strong.'*
Do-jae pictured Rishun's face.
Rishun, who exuded an overwhelming presence as he swept his hair back.
He was one of the strongest people Do-jae had ever met.
No, he was the strongest.
His speed and power surpassed Kang Young-chan's, and his skill with a sword far exceeded Kim Hwan-soo's.
In particular, the mana chunks he fired by swinging his blade possessed a truly fearsome destructive power.
*'Kim Hwan-soo is an A-rank Awakened, so that's understandable, but if Rishun is stronger than Kang Young-chan, is he one of China's S-rank hunters?'*
Of course, Do-jae had never seen Kang Young-chan or Kim Hwan-soo at their full strength.
His one fight with Kang Young-chan had ended before it truly began due to his eccentric personality, and he had only glimpsed Kim Hwan-soo's abilities while learning the sword; it couldn't be called his true skill.
But he knew instinctively that Rishun was stronger than them.
He was definitely stronger than Kim Hwan-soo, at the very least.
While Kim Hwan-soo's sword only held a faint trace of mana, Rishun's blade had been visibly shimmering with it.
*'I've been nothing but a frog in a well.'*
He had thought he'd held his own in this world for a long time, but seeing Rishun made him realize how much he didn't know.
He knew of the hunters who were famous through media appearances, but he didn't know how many S-rank hunters each country had, nor who they were.
Realistically, what chance would an F-rank hunter like him have had to meet an S-rank hunter?
Back then, he didn't need to know about the S-ranks he would never cross paths with in his lifetime, but things were different now.
The stronger he became, the more likely he was to encounter them.
He needed information for the day they would meet, whether on good terms or not.
*'I should ask Kim Soo-kyung for a list. Anyway...'*
*Bang-!*
Do-jae slammed his fist on the bed.
The memory of his defeat at Rishun's hands made anger surge within him.
That vile man who treated human life so lightly.
And his own failure to kill him in the end.
Do-jae clenched his fists so tightly his palms turned red.
*'Is strength justice...?'*
Because I'm strong, I can use people as test subjects.
Because I'm strong, I can kill people.
It was a mindset straight out of the Stone Age.
Then what about the low-rank hunters who braved dungeons just to survive?
Having seen countless hunters burn away their one and only life while living at the very bottom, Do-jae couldn't help but feel incensed.
"Kirku?"
At that moment, an unfamiliar voice startled Do-jae, and he whipped his head around.
Standing there, holding a basket, was a gray-skinned humanoid figure, about the size of an elementary school student, with long, flowing hair.
"A Gray Folk?"
Do-jae mumbled, blinking his eyes.
Why was a Gray Folk child in this room?
And holding a basket full of fresh fruit, no less.
*Fwip-!*
Do-jae immediately got into a stance and drew upon his mana.
The Gray Folk were a powerful race.
Even a child's strength was not to be underestimated.
"Cough."
But Do-jae couldn't even summon half his usual power and coughed up blood.
He hadn't fully recovered yet.
"Kiriru krata..."
The Gray Folk child pointed a finger at Do-jae.
Do-jae tensed, assuming a defensive posture, but the child made no other move.
"Krata!"
The Gray Folk child pointed at Do-jae again.
Do-jae followed the tip of the finger with his eyes.
Only then did he see his own body.
His shirt was off, and a yellowish cloth was wrapped around his torso from below his neck to his waist.
A dark green, finely minced substance was applied to the wounds inflicted by Rishun, and red blood was seeping through, staining the cloth around it.
"Hmph..."
While Do-jae was looking at his body and groaning, the Gray Folk child carefully placed the basket on the desk.
Then, it opened a drawer, took out a small candle, and set it down.
A moment later, the candle lit itself, and a gentle fragrance filled the room. The Gray Folk child then slowly backed away and left the room.
*'What in the world is going on?'*
Left alone in the room again.
If a fight had broken out in his current state, he couldn't have guaranteed a victory even against a Gray Folk child. It was a relief.
Do-jae kept his guard up, staring at the door for a while, but when no sound came, he slumped onto the bed.
*'Was that a sleeping scent...?'*
His eyelids grew heavy.
The Gray Folk, who were extremely territorial, had retreated without any particular action, which suggested they had no hostile intentions.
He didn't know what their intentions were, but there must be a reason they kept him alive.
Images of Rishun, Shim Young-jin, and the Chinese children flashed through his mind.
But unable to fight off the drowsiness any longer, Do-jae gradually drifted into a deep sleep.
*'Right... the quest... but... I don't know... so sleepy...'*
***
"Kya-reul. Kiita!"
"Kua-reul eukat."
Do-jae was awakened by a clamor of voices.
Opening his eyes and scanning his surroundings, he leaped from the bed with agile movements and stood with his back against the wall.
*'What are all these things?'*
As Do-jae reflexively took an attack stance in surprise, the gazes of the Gray Folk, who had been chattering amongst themselves, turned toward him.
One of them, a young Gray Folk, slowly approached Do-jae and spoke.
"Kaata atakui."
*Thump, thump-!*
"Tkai akaka."
The Gray Folk raised both hands, showing them to Do-jae.
It seemed to be a gesture to show that they were unarmed.
*'First that child, and now this one. They have no intention of attacking at all, do they?'*
Do-jae carefully observed the four Gray Folk in the room.
At first glance, they all looked identical, like twins, but upon closer inspection, there were quite a few differences.
Aside from hairstyles and clothes, the positions of their eyes, noses, and mouths, the shade of their skin, and the amount of body hair were all different.
The one who had approached him, in particular, had very thick eyebrows and a well-developed jaw, giving him a strong impression.
*'Considering the one that spoke to me last time, I suppose this is to be expected.'*
The Gray Folk who had saved him right after he defeated the Red Orc Shaman.
One of them had even spoken to him.
It wasn't direct communication, but they had conveyed their will into his mind.
Even before that, when he had hunted the Gray Folk Salreuma, it had also said something to him.
Ever since, he had been questioning the nature of the monsters known as Gray Folk.
Since these ones seemed capable of conversation, Do-jae cautiously asked them.
"What are you?"
Do-jae's question was both comprehensive and concise, a paradoxical query.
It encompassed why they had brought him to this room and treated his wounds, what their intentions were.
It was a question about what kind of beings the Gray Folk were, and by extension, what monsters were and why they attacked humans.
"Krirta akatu!"
Unfortunately, they just tilted their heads, unable to understand his words.
Do-jae and the Gray Folk continued to exchange words, attempting to communicate, but the languages they used were too different.
*'There's no communication at all.'*
Do-jae gave up on continuing the conversation and decided to check his quests instead.
He thought it might at least tell him what he needed to do right now.
*'Check quests.'*
...
*'Check quests.'*
...
*'Check quests. Check quests? Check quests!'*
...
No matter how many times he repeated it in his mind, the quest window wouldn't appear.
Panicked, Do-jae tried to check his other status windows.
"Check info! Check skills! Subspace list!"
...
No matter how much he shouted, nothing appeared.
Though it hadn't been long, the status window had become so natural and familiar to him.
Now that it was gone, he felt a suffocating frustration, as if he had gone blind.
*'What happened? Don't tell me my skills are gone too? No, I definitely opened my Subspace.'*
If he couldn't even use his skills, he might as well have been killed by Rishun.
But he had opened his Subspace as soon as he was brought here.
He didn't remember it clearly since he was on the verge of passing out, but he had intensely pictured the Subspace in his mind. Do-jae once again recalled the feeling of opening it and repeated it in his head.
*'Subspace... Subspace... Subspace...!'*
*Vmmm-.*
"Thank god!"
The Subspace appeared, tearing through the air.
It had responded to Do-jae's call.
"Kata? Katahra?"
As a rift appeared in empty space, the Gray Folk muttered among themselves with surprised expressions.
But Do-jae was just relieved that he could still use his skills.
This time, he tried to use Eye of the Golem.
But no matter how hard he stared at the Gray Folk, no status window appeared.
Instead, he thought he could see a hazy smoke swirling around them, but it was too faint to tell if it was just dust or something else.
Realizing he couldn't get any information this way, Do-jae turned to the Gray Folk and tried asking with hand gestures and body language.
"Is there any Gray Folk who can talk? Talk, words, you and me. Where is this place?"
"Kreua hakkukaku?"
But there was still no progress in their conversation.
Do-jae was starting to get anxious.
He had failed the quest and hadn't properly sealed away Rishun.
He was worried about Young-jin, who had to escape with the children, and Kim Soo-kyung of the MID, who must be waiting for his call.
Just then, the majestic sound of a horn echoed from somewhere.
*Bwooooo-.*
*Bwooooooong-.*
The Gray Folk exchanged words and then began to leave the room one by one.
The last one remaining was the one with the strong features.
The man walked over to the table, took a piece of fruit from the basket the child had left, and handed it to Do-jae.
*Tap, tap-.*
Then he tapped the bed where Do-jae had been lying a few times before following the others out of the room.
"What was that... Sit and wait, maybe..."
Do-jae stared at the closed door and took a large bite of the unfamiliar fruit.
*'Surprisingly tasty.'*