Chapter 107
Chapter 107
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: The Poison Grove
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"Everyone, you've all worked hard!"
Those were Raffaello's words.
It was after the hidden trial's reward selection had ended, and all the surviving players had returned to reality.
Once back, following Raffaello's greeting, the others chimed in, congratulating each other on their efforts.
Then, amid all that.
Lee Sang called out to Hae-jin.
"Hae-jin hyung."
"Yeah?"
"So, you picked the Thousand Poisons Immunity Pill... Does that mean the next Trials' Arena is poison-related?"
Thousand Poisons Immunity Pill.
Thousand Poisons Immunity referred to a state of immunity to a thousand different poisons.
The "pill" at the end indicated it was a pill.
In other words, the Thousand Poisons Immunity Pill was a pill that granted immunity to a thousand poisons for a certain period after consumption.
Hae-jin had told his party members—anyone without their own way of handling poison—to absolutely choose it as their hidden trial reward.
Nodding at Lee Sang's question, Hae-jin replied.
"Yeah, it's poison-related."
That was when.
Anna, sensing something off, jumped in.
"But... have you two always talked like that?"
"Pardon?"
Lee Sang reacted to Anna's sudden interruption, right after Hae-jin's response and as he was about to ask more.
Anna clarified what she meant by her words.
"No, didn't you two always use formal speech?"
"Oh? We decided to drop the formalities during this Trials' Arena, like with Ra-el."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
When Lee Sang explained they'd agreed to speak casually with Hae-jin, Anna immediately asked about Na-ye.
"What about Na-ye?"
"I've decided to be friends with him too."
When Anna asked her directly, Na-ye explained how she planned to interact with Hae-jin going forward.
At Na-ye's revelation that they'd be friends, Anna's eyes went wide.
"Friends?"
"Yeah, Hae-jin... no, Hae-jin is the same age as me."
As Na-ye explained why she'd decided to be friends with Hae-jin, she caught herself adding "-ssi" to his name when speaking to Anna and corrected it.
Anna then glanced at Hae-jin.
"Ah, then I want to drop formalities too."
"Casually?"
"Yeah! Can I call you oppa?"
Anna asked if she could call him oppa.
But Anna calling Hae-jin oppa wouldn't work either.
"Not oppa—you're a friend to me too, Anna-ssi."
"A friend? Are we the same age?"
"Probably?"
"How old are you?"
"Twenty-two."
"No way—both you and Na-ye?"
"Yeah."
Anna was shocked to learn Hae-jin and Na-ye were the same age as her.
Hae-jin asked in response.
"Why? Did Na-ye and I seem older than you?"
"No, I thought Na-ye was younger than me. And Hae-jin-ssi, I naturally assumed you were older."
"What kind of..."
Hae-jin stared at Anna, utterly exasperated.
He looked old, while Na-ye looked young? It was ridiculous.
He didn't think he looked that prematurely aged.
Seeing Hae-jin's reaction, Anna waved her hands frantically.
"Ah, no, no. It's not that Hae-jin-ssi looks older on the outside—it's just that the way you usually act toward us made me think you were definitely older."
"Well, that could be."
Na-ye had thought something similar, so Hae-jin let it slide.
Anna then asked him.
"Right, that makes sense. So, you'll be friends with me too?"
"No reason not to."
"Then you drop formalities first, Hae-jin-ssi."
"Sure, Anna."
"Got it, Hae-jin."
And so, aside from Manager Kim and Park Bo-young, Hae-jin was now on casual terms with everyone.
Afterward, Hae-jin explained the twelfth Trials' Arena to his party members.
"The twelfth Trials' Arena drops us in a forest. The format is solitary survival."
Solitary survival format.
Just like the eleventh Trials' Arena, no grouping allowed.
A format where everyone had to survive on their own.
That's what Hae-jin called the "solitary survival" type.
Resuming his explanation—interrupted midway by Anna's interjection—he described how the forest setting would be filled with countless poison-related threats tormenting the players.
Poisonous insects, venomous snakes, toxic bugs, and so on.
They'd be entering a forest teeming with everything that used poison.
At that explanation, Lee Sang asked.
"So, the survival condition for this Trials' Arena is waiting until a certain number of survivors remain?"
"Right."
"Then, if we can stockpile food like we do, wouldn't staying put in one spot be the best for survival?"
Others entering a solitary survival trial had no choice but to venture out for survival activities.
But Hae-jin's party didn't need to.
Why?
Because they could stock everything needed for survival in their inventories via Hae-jin and Raffaello.
As long as it wasn't a completely naked-drop survival trial, they could just use those supplies to survive.
If the goal was simply to outlast until the survivor count dropped, why not hunker down with survival gear?
Hae-jin shook his head.
"That's not possible."
"Hm?"
Lee Sang tilted his head at Hae-jin's claim that even survival supplies wouldn't let them stay put.
Hae-jin explained to the puzzled Lee Sang.
Why holding a fixed position for survival was impossible.
"Stay in one spot too long, and poison mist builds up."
"Poison mist? Like fog made of poison?"
"Yeah, and the toxicity ramps up the more it builds."
"So, holding position means getting trapped in increasingly lethal poison mist and dying."
"Exactly."
At the mention of dying to poison mist, Lee Sang recalled something from earlier.
"Then, does the Thousand Poisons Immunity Pill we got make us immune to the mist too?"
Thousand Poisons Immunity Pill.
A pill granting temporary Thousand Poisons Immunity.
But even it had limits.
"Unfortunately, at max intensity, Thousand Poisons Immunity isn't enough—you need Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity to endure."
"We could hold out for a while, but eventually, we'd die to the mist if we keep bunkering down?"
"Yeah."
"Hm, but we won't just stay put anyway, right? Gotta clear the hidden trial."
"Right."
"So, what do we need to do in the twelfth Trials' Arena to clear the hidden trial?"
Lee Sang asked what condition achieved the hidden trial in the twelfth arena.
Hae-jin opened his mouth to answer.
"That is..."
*
[Twelfth Trial]
Content: Survive in the Poison Grove!
- Zone 166 Participants: 4,991
"It's in hanja now."
It had switched to hanja.
Hae-jin said that upon seeing the twelfth trial's description.
Poison Grove.
A term for a forest of poison.
What used to be something like "a certain forest" was now using hanja.
It was practically announcing they'd crossed into the Central Plains.
Of course, only those Hae-jin had explained it to noticed the change.
'Well, the other players will catch on soon enough.'
The other players would notice soon too.
The reason was simple.
It was right there.
"Still, starting off with something sharp instead of poison—mantises, huh."
A sharp one had appeared, said Hae-jin.
Across from him loomed a massive green creature.
A green entity wielding scythe-like blades on both arms.
It was a "mantis."
Unlike real-world ones, this mantis was larger than Hae-jin.
In the poison-dominated Poison Grove, it was a monster that survived without poison.
Lacking poison made it easier than other Poison Grove monsters, but that didn't mean it was weak.
Surviving in a habitat of poison-adapted lifeforms without poison meant exceptional combat prowess.
The mantis charged at Hae-jin the moment it spotted him.
Dodok!
It rushed on four slender legs compared to its weaponized front limbs.
But those slender legs moved with incredible lightness.
Thus, it closed in on Hae-jin at terrifying speed.
A normal player might panic at the sight and eat a hit.
But.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Hae-jin swiftly dodged the mantis lunging to smash his head with its forelimb, retorting as he did.
Slicing down with his twin swords.
Chwaaak—!
"Kieeeek!"
The mantis screamed and collapsed, cleaved in one strike by Hae-jin.
After dispatching it, Hae-jin muttered.
"Hm, hope the others are doing okay."
Truth be told, Hae-jin wasn't worried.
He'd inherited everything from Joo-hyuk, growing immensely strong—not to mention inheriting "Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity," rendering the Poison Grove's poisons harmless to him.
So the twelfth trial was a breeze for him, but he wondered about the others.
Though he wasn't too concerned.
'I told them everything—if they can't survive after that, they've got problems.'
Thinking that, Hae-jin pressed onward.
Along the way, he summoned two companions.
"Q, Kyo."
[Q!]
[Kiyo!]
He summoned the Sea Serpent Q and Phoenix Kyo.
The reason for summoning them was simple.
They didn't need to fight.
Hae-jin was strong enough.
Since Chaos soldiers leveled up from Hae-jin's EXP gains anyway, there was even less need.
That's why he didn't bother summoning them around others.
But alone, Hae-jin actively summoned the pair.
There was a reason.
Addressing the summoned Q and Kyo, Hae-jin said.
"Take good care of things today, you two."
[Q!]
[Kiyo!]
Q and Kyo responded affirmatively to his request.
As he moved, Hae-jin simply slashed through every monster, venomous animal, or bug that attacked.
Ignoring any item drops.
The reason was simple.
It was this.
[Q Q Q Q Q Q!]
[Kyo Kyo Kyo Kyo Kyo!]
To others, divine beasts like Q and Kyo were prime combat assets.
But Hae-jin used them fully.
For picking up items dropped by the monsters he slew.
That's right.
To Hae-jin, Q and Kyo served as auto-loot pets.
[Item acquired! 'Mantis Scythe Blade']
[Item acquired! 'Venomous Fang of the Serpent']
[Item acquired! 'Poison Spider Silk']
......
Hae-jin smiled contentedly at the steady stream of item acquisition windows.
'Convenient. Real convenient.'
Using Q and Kyo for effortless hunting, Hae-jin thought.
'That said, it should be about time for "that guy" to show up.'
"That guy," as he pondered.
Lost in thought while sprinting, Hae-jin suddenly halted upon spotting something.
It was a "cave."
From within, he sensed it.
A potent yin energy unlike any Poison Grove monster he'd faced—a venom spirit's aura.
A venom spirit was a spirit beast harboring poison.
And the condition for clearing this trial's hidden trial was hunting the venom spirit inside that cave.