Chapter 19 - Monster of the Deep Forest (9)

"I do have an idea. But surely that can't mean..."

"No. To be precise, I don't have any concrete plan yet. I was just personally interested."

For a split second, I flinched—then his next words cooled me right off. Well, of course. I hadn't actually done anything yet, so there was no reason for a first-tier team to go looking for me.

"If you're planning to keep looking for a team, you'll probably keep grinding the game, won't you? In that case, may I make a condition?"

"A condition? What's that supposed to mean..."

"If you make it into the top ten of the rankings and hold that position for more than a week, I'll recommend to my superiors that they give Lee Hajin a test."

But Director Kim Seok-ju, the scout, followed that up with a proposal that was frankly shocking. A tryout for a first-tier team—an opportunity like that was not something you could grab easily.

And especially not for someone like me, a worn-out secondhand veteran, not some young prospect with a bright future.

Of course, these days I was lucky to stay in the top hundred, let alone the top ten, but there was no reason to turn him down just because the goal looked absurd.

"If you're not joking, I'll do it. Top ten."

"Good. Personally, one thing I've learned doing this job is that mentality is what matters in the end. Talent and effort are important, naturally, but first and foremost you need the will to do it. You've been in the military, Lee Hajin, so I'm sure you understand what I mean."

"...Of course."

At his words, my grip tightened around my phone without me even noticing.

What he was really talking about, in the end, was hunger. He was asking whether I had that hunger. And it was such an obvious thing that it wasn't even worth thinking about.

"Shut up. More than that, I need more Mythic Essence right now."

"Then move. Move, find events, and complete quests. It is only natural that the diligent prevail. If you work hard at the game, you'll eventually get what you want."

With Agares' softly amused voice in my ear, the avatar began moving and choices rose up before me. I carefully selected every option.

And only then, as I saw Lena—whom I'd nearly forgotten because of Director Kim Seok-ju's call—still asleep, did I remember something else.

My dream. It had been unsettling, sure, but it was just a dream. I hadn't even picked up the phone with the game on it.

The smiling emojis floating above Lena's head as she slept with that stupid little grin were impossible to ignore.

She was definitely having a "good dream."

***

"What do you mean, Donald's team disappeared? That's impossible."

"Damn it, it's true, Hex! The deadline was already blown by yesterday!"

Inside a tavern on the outskirts of the city, one visibly irritated man was venting to another who looked utterly unconcerned.

"It's obvious. Those bastards used monster hunting as an excuse to run off with the money."

"I can't understand it. From what I heard, you had collateral from them..."

The man called Hex didn't seem able to sympathize with his complaint. Donald had borrowed money from him, yes, but he'd left collateral in exchange, which was why Hex had agreed to the loan in the first place.

"Th-that may be true, but I never thought they'd actually run. Ha!"

The man opened and closed his mouth in confusion, then slapped his own chest. Hex clicked his tongue and shook his head.

"Then why the hell are you coming to me to complain? Are you seriously thinking of blaming me? I only handled the middleman work."

"Kgh..."

At Hex's words, the man flinched.

Hex was a broker with a solid foothold in this city, and the center of gravity for mercenaries who needed information. If you made enemies of Hex's people, you wouldn't be able to work in this city anymore.

"You'd probably be better off thinking of it as a loss and finding some other way to recover it. From what I hear, that 'collateral' doesn't seem completely useless, at least."

"Even so... no, forget it. I'll make my own arrangements and get it back somehow. Anyway, I just came to tell you that Donald asshole is someone you'd better avoid."

With a sigh, the man rose from his seat and left. Hex only snorted, watching his retreating back.

"Ruso is going out to search personally? Hm."

And the next morning, he was already preparing to leave the city in search of Donald and his men, who had lost contact.

"Yan. You go. Follow them and see what happened."

"Yes, boss."

Hex sent one of his subordinates after Ruso's departing party. Like the information broker he was, he only meant to find out what had happened and nothing more.

"They definitely said they were going to use the village near the northern forest as a base for monster hunting. Let's go!"

"Boss, wait. I heard something."

Just as Yan, the loyal subordinate given Hex's order, quietly trailed behind them, Ruso's group, which had been heading out of the city, came to an abrupt halt.

"I heard it by chance too, but the hunters who were supposed to come from that village yesterday to sell hides never showed up. Could something have happened?"

"...Something happened to the village they were staying in? Then we'd better check it out even more."

But Ruso, eyes gone wild at the thought of the money he'd been cheated out of, didn't listen to his companions. In the end, they set off toward the village in the forest, and Yan quietly followed in their wake.

"There's nothing here at all."

As they moved farther and farther from the city and drew closer to the forest, there was still nothing to see, just as Ruso had said with a derisive laugh.

...Something feels off.

But Yan, who had been following behind them with his sole focus fixed on catching Donald's party, sensed the strangeness instinctively from the atmosphere alone.

It was the northern forest, where people rarely came, but there should still have been signs of human activity in the area. And yet the only signs he could see were traces; there was no actual sign of people anywhere.

"What is this trail?"

It was then that Ruso's group, which had been leading the way, stopped in the middle of the forest path heading toward the village.

"...Bloodstains, and signs that someone struggled."

The expressions on everyone's faces as they looked down slowly hardened. At the same time, they reflexively put a hand on their weapons.

The rough marks carved into the ground alongside the bloodstains were clearly signs that someone had writhed in agony and clawed at the earth in desperation.

Maybe in some other place that would have been nothing, but on a forest path leading to a village, it was absolutely not normal.

"Should we just go back...?"

Ruso swallowed dryly and spoke in a trembling voice.

They were not knights on a noble mission, nor soldiers who had volunteered to defend their homeland. They were merely mercenaries. Above all else, their own lives mattered most. So there was no obligation to go throwing themselves into suspicious trouble.

"Who's there!"

"To the right!"

"No, left! No, wait—straight ahead?!"

But at that moment, a faint rustling sound came from somewhere. Startled, they hurriedly drew their weapons and huddled together, guarding their surroundings.

No. Up there.

Frozen by the sight of his companions flailing about, Ruso slowly raised his head. The canopy of the forest, packed with giant trees that must have stood dozens of meters tall, was so thick with leaves and branches that almost no sunlight could get through.

"Ah."

"Welcome."

She ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had been hanging from a tree by tendrils sprouting from her back. Lena met Ruso's eyes and grinned.

"And die."

But only for an instant. The spear in her hand pointed downward as Lena leapt straight at them and charged.

"G-gyaaah! Up there! Above—kgh..."

Lena hurled herself down at full force and smashed into the ground, unleashing a tremendous shockwave that sent the mercenaries, who hadn't been prepared for it, staggering and rolling across the dirt.

"It's dangerous. Dodge!"

Ruso barely survived long enough to shout, but it was already too late. Bursting through the cloud of dust, tendrils whipped out in every direction, piercing one mercenary body after another before they could block or evade.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"You insane monster bitch..."

"I'm in such a good mood right now. So don't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ruin it and just die quietly!"

Lena, having impaled one of them through the chest with her spear, laughed as she rushed at Ruso. He raised his sword to block, but the spear bent ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at the last instant, slipped past his blade, and pierced straight through his stomach.

"Is that all?"

Meanwhile, the other forces that had been waiting nearby thundered in and began attacking the others as well. The men were already in chaos from Lena's ambush, and they had no hope of holding out. Seeing that, Lena laughed at them.

With his vision fading, Ruso stared at it in stunned disbelief. One of the enemies, those grotesque creatures flailing their tendrils, looked strangely familiar.

That familiar build, that familiar equipment, and all the rest. Donald—the very man they had been searching for—had long since become a hideous monster.

What in the world happened in this forest...

Even as consciousness slipped away against his will, Ruso trembled with fear. Something no one could have possibly anticipated was happening in a forest he'd treated like some ordinary back hill of the neighborhood.

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