Chapter 4: All Sorts of Things Are Popping Up
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 4: All Sorts of Things Are Popping Up
The status window displayed more than just the number of survivors; it showed a kill log—who had died, by whose hand, and how.
‘Wow... someone’s already out, and it hasn’t even been a day? The map is still huge... Did they run into each other at the starting point?’
Seo-un’s intuition was spot on.
Two players, who hadn’t fully grasped the rules even after the briefing, had landed right next to each other at their destination and immediately come to blows. As a result, James was slain by Jeok Hwa-jin’s sword just ten minutes into the game.
‘It’s not bad for me. As long as I make it into the Top 90, I’ll get another chance. For now, I’ll just focus on quick farming.’
That was all he could do. Growing stronger while avoiding enemies as much as possible—that was the only way Seo-un could survive this game.
Having finished his thoughts, he decided to move.
When he opened the door and stepped outside, the mountain night was exactly as he expected: pitch black, making it hard to see even an inch ahead. He walked carefully, step by step, relying on the map to find his way. Progress was slow, but Seo-un didn’t rush.
‘There’s nothing stupider than getting hurt while walking alone at night and wasting a Recovery Scroll.’
He didn’t know for sure, but he had a gut feeling that a time would come when he’d desperately need that Recovery Scroll. He couldn’t afford to waste a precious healing item on a clumsy accident, so he moved with the utmost caution.
After some time, a small light began to flicker in the distance, piercing through the darkness.
Judging by how the location overlapped with the three cabins shown on the map, it was definitely his destination. Seo-un watched the light leaking from the windows and observed the cabin for a moment. Sensing no presence inside, he dashed into the first one.
After searching for a while and finding nothing, he extinguished the lantern in the first cabin and moved to the second.
The first thing that caught his eye was a leather pouch lying on the floor. He picked it up, opened it, and let out a small sigh before tucking it into his subspace. Since the pouch contained familiar hidden weapons, he would have much preferred finding food instead.
‘I’m picking this up for now, but... am I really just playing like a scavenger?’
Having played many online games since he was young, the thought suddenly occurred to him. When playing a new game, players often pick up every item they find due to a lack of information. In the early stages, when it’s hard to tell what’s valuable, players hoard everything. Veterans often mocked them, calling them "scavengers."
Seo-un wondered if he looked exactly like that right now.
‘No. Let’s think of them as bullets.’
Now that he could fire hidden weapons using the Black Star Finger Technique, the number of weapons he carried was no different from an ammunition count. Of course, he knew the number of hidden weapons and bolts he could fire in a real encounter was limited, but it wasn’t a bad idea to have plenty on hand just in case.
After stowing the leather pouch and searching the room for a while longer, Seo-un let out an annoyed sigh.
“Damn it, another bust.”
Only one cabin remained.
His frustration was understandable; he had braved the dangerous night to get here, yet two houses in a row had yielded nothing. He didn’t know when he might run into an enemy, and as time passed, the map’s restrictions would tighten. The probability of encountering others would only increase. As the weakest player in the game, his only hope for survival was to utilize every item provided.
Seo-un checked his map, quickly turned off the lantern in the second cabin, and headed for the third.
‘I hope this one isn’t a dud too...’
On the map, the distance to the next farming spot was far too great to travel in the middle of the night. This would be his last stop for the day, and a sense of anxiety washed over him—the feeling that he needed to obtain at least one more thing before the night was over. He had expected secret manuals and high-tier items to pour out, but coming up empty-handed made him feel rushed.
Just as he stepped into the last cabin, a faint sound reached his ears.
Rustle.
Instantly, Seo-un killed the lantern in the center of the cabin. He slumped against the wall beneath a window and notched a bolt into the crossbow he had been carrying on his back. He had kept the bolt unchambered to avoid an accidental discharge while traveling, but now that he was loading it, his heart hammered against his ribs.
‘Did I mishear it?’
As if mocking his hope, the sound grew louder and closer.
Rustle. Rustle.
At the sound of those bold, unhesitating footsteps, Seo-un squeezed his eyes shut.
‘Damn it! To run into an enemy here!’
It was despairing. He had no confidence that he could survive a fight against those monstrous players with nothing but a crossbow and the Black Star Finger Technique.
The footsteps grew louder as they prowled around the cabin, as if to pressure the intensely tense Seo-un.
‘Th-there’s more than one.’
There had certainly been players in the waiting room who seemed to know each other, gathered in small groups. Unfortunately for Seo-un, his first encounter was with a pack.
Silently, Seo-un crept toward a corner of the cabin. He pulled a shuriken from his belt, gripped it in his left hand, and aimed the crossbow at the door. This was a classic position often used in rogue-like games—the "blind spot" for anyone entering through the front door.
Even with the tactical advantage, Seo-un was terrified. If it were just one enemy, he might have stood a chance, but against multiple foes, he couldn’t see a way out.
Then, along with the prowling footsteps, a low, guttural growl reached his ears.
Grrr.
The sound, like the low snarl of a wolf, made Seo-un doubt his own ears.
‘What is that?’
Sensing a strange dissonance, Seo-un crawled back to the window and cautiously peered outside. He peeked over the windowsill, and as he scanned the area, he quickly clapped a hand over his mouth to stifle a gasp.
The figures in his sight were definitely not human. Though they walked on two legs, they had hunched shoulders and the heads of wolves. They were shadows baring sharp fangs and constantly sniffing the air—creatures Seo-un knew all too well.
‘W-Werewolves?!’
Seeing them prowling around exactly as they appeared in movies and games, Seo-un quickly tried to pull himself together.
‘I mean, if martial artists and mages exist, it shouldn’t be surprising that monsters show up too.’
Despite his logic, his racing heart refused to calm down. It was so dark he could only make out faint silhouettes, but the creatures were circling the cabin, their noses twitching incessantly.
‘Have they caught my scent? What should I do?’
It was hard to gauge whether he could win. However, with them lingering outside and liable to burst in at any moment, a preemptive strike might actually be the better call.
‘I don’t want to get into a pointless fight.’
If he could be sure they would just leave quietly, he’d avoid them at all costs. The problem was that they showed no intention of moving on.
‘Let’s wait for now.’
Grrr.
They were circling the cabin blatantly. Cold sweat poured down Seo-un’s body as the sound of their footsteps echoed, as if they were intentionally trying to pressure him.
‘Damn it!’
He had no other choice. He didn’t know why they weren’t coming inside, but they clearly knew he was there.
‘Wait, can they not come in?’
Since he hadn’t fully grasped the game’s systems yet, he couldn’t be certain, but he suspected that might be the case.
Seo-un organized his thoughts and resolved to attack. Moving to the opposite side of the room, Seo-un sat against the wall facing the narrow window and raised his crossbow, aiming outside.
‘Roughly this height...’
Estimating the height of a passing werewolf, he aimed the crossbow, closed one eye, and peered through the sight, waiting. Sure enough, before long, one of the sniffing creatures appeared outside the window with a low growl. The moment it showed itself, Seo-un held his breath and pulled the trigger.
Swish! Thwack!
The bolt buried itself deep in the creature’s throat. It couldn’t even let out a whimper before it stumbled and collapsed.
Seo-un quickly moved back to a corner, staying alert in case the others tried to burst through the door. He didn’t forget to reload the crossbow and notch another bolt as he moved.
Had they caught the scent of their comrade’s blood? He heard the sound of rapid footsteps.
Grrr!!!
Grrrrrrr!
At the snarling from outside, he shifted positions again, stood up, and fired the crossbow at the first creature that entered his line of sight. The moment their eyes met, the bolt flew toward the creature’s forehead.
Thwack!
“Damn it!”
The creature simply raised its arm and blocked the bolt he was sure would hit. At the same time, another creature that had been looking at its dead comrade stood to its full, massive height and began to turn toward Seo-un.
Using the Black Star Finger Technique, he threw the shuriken he had been gripping in his left hand. By a stroke of luck, it pierced the eye of the turning creature, killing it instantly.
He quickly ducked away from the window and reloaded his crossbow while the sound of the last remaining creature moving frantically echoed around the cabin.
‘I knew it!’
That confirmed it for Seo-un. For whatever reason, they couldn’t enter the cabin.
Emboldened, Seo-un threw the front door wide open and moved to the center of the room. He secured two lines of sight to the outside—one through the window and one through the door—and waited for the creature to show itself.
Grrr!
The creature appeared at the door, glaring at Seo-un with the bolt he had fired still embedded in its right arm. But as expected, it didn’t step inside.
Seo-un’s palms were sweaty as he kept the crossbow aimed at the beast. He wanted to pull the trigger immediately, but he suppressed the urge, facing off against the creature in a tense standoff. If there was even a slight chance the creature could enter through the open door, his life would be forfeit the moment he missed. He couldn’t afford to take risks against a creature with the reflexes to block a bolt with its arm.
‘One shot. I have to kill it with this one shot.’
He still had a shuriken gripped in his hand, but he had realized something the moment he threw the last one: the shurikens he threw were far less powerful than the crossbow. He had been lucky enough to kill one by piercing its eye, but there was no guarantee that luck would strike twice.
After a standoff that lasted about two breaths, the creature moved.
Seeing the creature crouch and lunge toward him on all fours, a terrified Seo-un fired the crossbow. He had been convinced it couldn’t enter, so when it actually leaped inside, he panicked. The bolt he fired in haste buried itself in the creature’s shoulder.
Despite the wound, the creature didn’t stop. It reared up its massive body and pounced. As the beast opened its massive maw to reveal its fangs, Seo-un reflexively threw a shuriken.
Crash!!
With a loud crash, the creature’s massive bulk slammed into Seo-un, and they rolled across the floor together.
Pinned beneath the motionless beast, Seo-un squeezed his eyes shut and tensed every muscle. When the creature showed no sign of movement, he managed to roll the body off and scramble out from under it.
“Haa... Haa...”
After confirming that the shuriken had gone straight into the creature’s mouth, killing it instantly, Seo-un finally caught his breath and slumped to the floor.