"Save… me, please."
When I approached the female player who had slumped to the ground, the first thing she said to me was, "Please save me." I looked down at An So-Yeon with an indifferent gaze for a moment. Then, letting my sword droop, I slowly bent my knees. When our eyes met at the same level, I saw her flinch. Looking at the terrified archer player, I spoke in a calm voice.
"Do you want to live?"
"Yes…"
She nodded faintly, but her voice seemed to carry a fierce will to survive. From the start, I had intended to spare one person—I was curious about some things regarding the vagrants' behavior. With that in mind, I offered her a gentle smile and continued speaking slowly.
"I have a few questions I'd like to ask you. Will you answer them?"
"What kind of questions…? I'll answer everything."
"Good. You're smart. Then I'll ask: How is it that the vagrants are here right now? And why didn't you just attack immediately—why go through all this trouble?"
"Well…"
I could see An So-Yeon's Adam's apple bobbing nervously at my question. Then, moistening her lips, she began to answer each question in a trembling voice.
"Hmm."
I paused for a moment after hearing An So-Yeon's answers, deep in thought. It didn't seem like she was lying.
First, these weren't true vagrants. To be precise, they were hanging with one foot in the world of players and one foot in the world of vagrants. Most of the time they acted like regular players, but when it suited them, they'd revert to vagrant behavior. It looked like no warrant had been issued for them yet—charitably, they were ingenious; less charitably, they were downright malicious.
Her answer to the second question was even more astonishing. These guys had been watching us for far longer than I'd expected. Not only did they learn that we were year 0 players, but they also obtained information that we had graduated from the Player Academy just recently. And every time we returned from a caravan expedition having upgraded our gear, they decided it was time to make their move.
"We wanted to learn if any of you had a special knack or method for succeeding on expeditions."
"So you're saying that if I'd actually had some expedition‑related ability, you would've killed everyone except me?"
"..."
An So-Yeon averted her eyes instead of answering. I let out a long sigh and stood up. She looked back at me then, her expression pleading.
"So… then will you let me live?"
I hesitated, contemplating how best to kill her. After all, I had no intention of sparing her. At that moment, a good idea struck me. I nodded slightly, raised a finger to point in one direction, and spoke.
"Because you answered so diligently. But lay down your weapon and run off in that direction. You'll have to run for your life. Otherwise..."
I deliberately trailed off, and a flicker of hope appeared in An So-Yeon's eyes. She was indeed agile—she instinctively knew what to do to survive. Before I could change my mind, she sprang to her feet, carefully laid her weapon on the ground, and clutching her trembling legs, began moving in the direction I'd indicated.
She glanced back at me as she ran, but when she saw I remained standing there, she broke into a full sprint. Soon she slipped into the dark underbrush and disappeared. I pulled a cigarette from my cloak and placed it between my lips. I'd just finish this one before following her.
Sizzle… sizzle…
A scream. A thin, high-pitched shriek echoed somewhere ahead. As I inhaled and exhaled two or three slow drags, I watched a dark shape part the bushes and step back into the clearing. It held aloft the severed head by its hair, the neck cleanly sliced. An So-Yeon's lifeless head.
I stifled a laugh, drew deeply on my cigarette, and exhaled. In the end, she didn't survive. Not that I ever intended to let her live.
"Seriously. Are you doing this on purpose? Just to get me to kill her."
When I didn't say anything, a grumbling voice reached my ears. The speaker was Go Yeon-Joo. I shrugged at her question and then calmly closed my eyes. My head was spinning slightly, but it felt oddly pleasant. All the frustration that had unknowingly weighed on my mind lifted away, leaving only the exhilaration of having dealt with the vagrant.
After savoring the afterglow for a moment, I spoke in a cheerful tone.
"Well, I did leave one alive. You should at least get a taste."
"What the—? By the way, you really went all out, didn't you? I never imagined you'd go this far…"
She brushed off my remark, glanced around, and let out a deep breath. I, too, looked around to see vagrants sprawled across the ground. The most striking was a mage player whose limbs had been severed and an arrow lodged in their neck. Go Yeon-Joo's gaze lingered there for a long moment. We shared an awkward silence, but then she broke into a sly smile and spoke to me.
"Did you really have to go that far? And that one looked so young. Well, I killed her, but it felt like you were the one telling me to do it."
"Pretty much. By the way, I have a creed I live by—'Under no circumstances will I compromise with vagrants.' In any case, if you, Go Yeon-Joo the player, hadn't killed her, I would have."
"You're not wrong. But still, it's such a contrast to how you normally treat people."
I couldn't help but let out a small laugh before speaking softly.
"Keuk. So, are you disappointed?"
At my words, Go Yeon-Joo fell silent. She fixed me with a subtle expression and stared intently. I met her gaze calmly, removed the cigarette from my mouth, and flicked it free of ash with my fingertip.
Then I saw a deep smile spread across her lips as they slowly parted.
*
The next morning, I ordered the group to break camp, then calmly opened the map. In two or three days, it looked like we'd reach the "Cave Of Wailing" point. Just as I was humming and plotting our route, I sensed someone slipping up beside me.
"Su-Hyeon-ssi. Is something good happening?"
"Hm? Oh, Ha-Yeong-ssi. Why do you say that?"
The one who'd approached was Jung Ha-Yeong. With her usual bright expression, she linked her arm through mine—though it was more like lightly grasping my elbow. After studying my face for a moment, she gave my arm a couple of curious squeezes.
"You look so calm today, so relaxed. Just like when I first met you, Su-Hyeon-ssi."
"Ha ha. So I must've seemed different until yesterday?"
"Yes. I actually hesitated about mentioning it, but since we began this expedition, you've seemed burdened—anxious and uneasy."
I wore an outwardly calm expression, but inside I felt a prick of unease. Lately I've come to feel that women seem to have some sort of radar for understanding a man's heart. How can they detect and pinpoint things so eerily? Perhaps someone in our group knows that Ha-Yeong and I slept together and shared our love. At least one person, maybe. Just as a cold sweat began to break out on my back at the sudden thought, I heard Vivienne grumbling beside me.
"Ugh?! What the—why is my bag so heavy?"
"..."
"Ugh~ geez. Damn it. That's weird. It was definitely light just yesterday."
Vivienne kept complaining as she adjusted her backpack, and Yeon-Joo gave me a faint, subtle smile. There was absolutely no need to leave those vagrants lying around after dealing with them last night. Some of them had fairly good gear, so I stripped them bare except for the damaged equipment. Then I shoved all of it into the bag Vivienne was carrying.
Yesterday—or should I say this morning at dawn? I'm confused. In any case, I thought of the girl named An So-Yeon. Under normal circumstances she'd be attending high school in the modern world and enjoying a beautiful youth. Those would be the thoughts a normal person might have, but I didn't feel anything of the sort. All I could do was keep weighing and measuring her purely in terms of stats, abilities, and whether she would survive.
Honestly, it would be a lie if I said I wasn't disappointed. Never mind the stats—she had a unique skill, plus other abilities, and on top of that she was a female player specialized as an archer. Her tracking skill looked pretty good, and above all, the fact that our caravan currently has no archer was what weighed most heavily on my regret.
But in the end, I chose to kill her. That's why I deliberately sent her to the place where Yeon-Joo was hiding and watching, and I was certain Yeon-Joo would do the killing. Even if she hadn't killed her, I intended to follow and kill her myself. If she hadn't been a vagrant, I might have tried to recruit her somehow.
In any case, that was no longer my concern, so after putting any lingering feelings to rest, I turned my gaze back to the map. Of course, I didn't forget to add a word to Ha-Yeong.
"I've been feeling a little frustrated lately. But it's resolved now, so you don't have to worry too much."
"I see. But I want to worry—what should I do?"
"Hmm. Then later you could give me a lap pillow, that'd be fine."
"Hehe. You're lewd."
"Hmm? I was just asking for a lap pillow. What's lewd about that?"
"Oh my. Would you say the same if you thought about a lap pillow at an inn?"
Ha-Yeong poked me in the side and shot me a gentle glare, and I had no words to say, so I awkwardly focused more on the map. However, I could tell that Jeong Ha-Yeong was giving me a bright smile. She usually always had a calm and cold expression, but the fact that she only showed such a beautiful smile to me made me feel somewhat strange. It was a contradictory and confusing feeling—on one hand, it was a bit relieving, but on the other, I felt a sense of frustration creeping back. I couldn't shake the thought that this didn't quite suit me.
"Oppa, I've finished setting up the camp."
"Hey, I told you! How can you beat me to it when you're so small?"
"Hehe. The one who speaks up first is the winner."
"Agh. You're making it hard for me to argue. Fine then."
I finally let out a sigh as I watched Yun-Jung, who was stretching her cheeks, and Sol flailing her arms around. After that, I folded the map and calmly ordered the group to line up. The kids had no idea that I'd been fighting vagrants last night. They'd just slept soundly. And I didn't plan to let them know about the trail left behind either.
The rite of passage that the angels had set was over by now, but my own rite of passage hadn't ended yet. Now, it was really just a matter of heading to the Cave Of Wailing, and this would probably be the last practice before the real deal.
*
Before we could get past the final mountain peak, we encountered a group of monsters. These creatures had several horns on their heads and the form of an ostrich, with powerful leg muscles. They were called LadolRofs. On their own, a single LadolRof wasn't such a tricky monster. However, the fact that we were in a mountainous terrain, that they lived in groups, and their high mobility made them far from easy prey.
The LadolRofs in front of us had all three of those qualities in full. Back in the first life, there were times when people tried to tame and ride LadolRofs, but because of their strong wariness toward humans, it was nearly impossible. Especially now, the LadolRofs were very alert and cautious, clearly aware of our presence.
The horns on their heads grow anywhere from one to four. The fewer the horns, the less mature the LadolRof is, and the one with a single horn at the center was surrounded by three or four others. It was a fight we couldn't avoid, and one we didn't intend to back down from. I immediately raised my hand to signal readiness for battle.
"It's a LadolRof. They likely perceive us as intruders in their territory. We can see a few young ones among them, so they could be much more aggressive than usual. If they charge and use their horns, the impact could be substantial, so everyone stays alert. This time, we will use a defensive formation. Don't rush in without orders."
The last part was directed at Yun-Jung. I could hear the sound of everyone quickly drawing their weapons, and I turned to Ha-Yeong to give one additional command.
"Ha-Yeong-ssi, is it possible for you to use a rapid-fire technique with spear-type magic spells?"
At my question, she tilted her head slightly before speaking calmly.
"Rapid fire? It's a high-level spell, but it's possible. However, it's usually used for one-hit kills. While it's powerful, it puts a huge strain on both vitality and mana."
"Don't overdo it, just use as much as you can. Use the type you're most confident with."
At my words, Ha-Yeong nodded and, as she started chanting, began forming hand seals with one hand. I could see the blue light gathering around the staff she held, and her necklace was also sparkling. It seemed like she was preparing something significant.
No, you didn't really need to go that far.
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