To think I’d Awakened.
Even with the translucent Status Window floating before my eyes, I was too stunned to believe it.
“H-hyung...? Can you see this?”
“What? I don’t see anything... Wait, you Awakened! Hey, congratulations, Si-hyeon!”
Kim hyung somehow figured it out.
He realized what I was looking at as I pointed into empty space.
“Hey, I guess there’s a reason they call it a Newcomer Intake Event instead of a kidnapping event, even with all the people who die in one. You Awakened! You’ve got it made now!”
Even with poison spreading through his body and leaving him barely able to move, Kim hyung sincerely congratulated me.
The sight snapped me out of the relief and elation that had swept over me.
‘This isn’t the time. If that poison does more than just paralyze him....’
Ugh, I didn’t even want to imagine what came next.
There would be plenty of time to savor my joy after we escaped the Tower alive and well.
For now, survival remained our highest priority.
“Thank you. But I’ll accept your congratulations after we get out, hyung.”
I first helped Kim hyung, who had collapsed from the poison, sit comfortably against a tree.
‘The wound...!’
In that brief span, the wound had turned black and begun to rot.
The injured man himself couldn’t see it, so he made a reckless suggestion.
“Si-hyeon, I’ll endure it like Guan Yu, so can you pull this arrow out? It’s really getting in the way.”
What a reckless thing to say.
Had this man never watched a single medical drama?
“No. If I pull it out now, you could bleed to death.”
“Is it that serious...?”
“I’m leaving it alone because I can’t be certain. I know it’s uncomfortable, but bear with it.”
“Hmm... all right. It can’t be helped.”
Good. Then what should I do first?
What did I have to do to get us out alive?
I began by surveying our surroundings.
Front, back, left, right, and up... Huh?
Everything had happened so urgently that I hadn’t noticed it before, but a translucent window floated above the densely wooded forest.
[Tower’s Guidance: Defeat ‘Ruler of the Swamp’.]
‘Ruler? Is that this floor’s boss? If it says defeat, it looks like we have to kill that thing to get out....’
Thanks to that, our objective was clear.
But Kim hyung promptly threw cold water on it.
“Good. We’ve made it through the worst of it. Si-hyeon, go join the others. You’re an Awakened now, and you even have a decent Skill, so it shouldn’t be hard.”
“How could I go anywhere and leave you like this? If I go, you’re coming with me.”
“I can’t even walk. What are you talking about? I’m really fine, so hurry up and go. You can join forces with the others and kill the boss. You know the one that got away earlier? It’ll tell the others there are dangerous enemies over here and warn them to stay away....”
“And what if it isn’t warning them? What if it brings reinforcements to get revenge?”
“....”
Kim hyung clamped his mouth shut after I struck the heart of the matter.
“Don’t tell me to leave you behind again. I won’t even respond.”
“...And you have a plan?”
“There’s always a way. You know me. Have you ever seen me say I couldn’t do something in my business?”
“Uh... no.”
“Exactly. So sit there and wait for a moment, hyung.”
Having silenced Kim hyung, I sank into thought.
What should I do?
What I needed immediately was a cord to secure Kim hyung to my back.
Just then, a thick vine caught my eye.
‘That looks promising.’
Judging by its appearance, it passed muster.
If I cut and wove it properly, it would make a decent cord.
The instant I approached the vine, however, I remembered something the herbalist who sold potions in the plaza had once casually told me.
— Si-hyeon, wherever you go, avoid vines whenever you can.
— Vines? Why?
— Snakes love vines. I make my living off the people who disturb a venomous snake that way and come to buy an antidote, you know?
A chill ran down my spine.
‘If I get poisoned too....’
Then the situation truly would become hopeless.
So I rejected the idea of making a cord from the vine.
Then what else could I....
‘Ah! I’ve got it!’
The moment a solution came to me, I took off the tracksuit top I was wearing.
I used it as work clothes, so the outside was covered in stains that wouldn’t wash out, but the fabric was still sturdy.
“Good. This should work.”
Then I carefully cut the top apart with the sword and tied the pieces firmly back together into a single length.
I knew more knot-tying methods than I could count on one hand, so it was as easy as eating rice cake while lying down.
‘Done. That takes care of the cord.’
Next, I dug into the ground with a dead Goblin’s sickle and gathered soil heavy with moisture.
“What are you going to do with that?”
Kim hyung had waited quietly while I made the cord, but seeing me suddenly dig at the ground must have roused his curiosity.
“I’m going to mask our scent.”
“Oh, like animals do?”
“Yes, exactly. I think it would be best to avoid combat as much as possible.”
Having some water would have made the job easier, but unfortunately, we had been abducted without warning and didn’t even have drinking water.
I considered using Goblin blood instead of water, but decided against it because the drawbacks seemed greater than the benefits.
‘Trying to avoid them might only lure in Goblins looking to avenge their own. And there might be something even more terrifying that preys on Goblins.’
With no other choice, I settled for covering our bodies with as much damp soil as possible and rubbing it in.
The sweat we had shed would have to serve as water, inadequate though it was.
‘This should mask our scent to some extent. I don’t know how effective it’ll be... but it’s better than doing nothing.’
Before long, the two of us were covered in mud like children who had been playing in the dirt.
“Are we done now?”
“No. There’s one last thing. Excuse me for a moment, hyung.”
“Hmm?”
This really was the final step.
I gathered some of the fine soil I had noticed while digging and applied it first to Kim hyung’s face, then to mine.
Only below the eyes.
‘I have to avoid the area above the eyes. If sweat runs down and obstructs my vision, this alone could get me killed in battle.’
It was a form of camouflage.
I was doing it to increase our odds of survival, even if only slightly.
I couldn’t let the guest take the host’s place and turn the camouflage itself into a danger.
“Where did you learn all this? Oh, was it in the military?”
“No. You know I was exempt because I’m an orphan. I wouldn’t say I learned it. They always do this in nature documentaries and movies, don’t they?”
Most of this was actually my first attempt too, but perhaps thanks to my dexterity, it looked passable.
“All right, now we’re really ready. I’ll carry you.”
“Si-hyeon, it’s not too late. Are you sure about this...?”
Just as I had said earlier, I didn’t even answer.
I simply hoisted Kim hyung onto my back and let that serve as my response.
“Whew, all right. I shouldn’t have said anything. Let’s give it a shot.”
I finished our preparations by firmly securing Kim hyung to my body with the cord I had made.
‘Ugh, I talked big, but this won’t be easy.’
I was used to looking after only my own body. With a grown man on my back, I could feel my movements slowing.
But I had already steeled myself for this.
‘I still have to do it. If only for the people waiting for Kim hyung.’
This was the weight of someone’s son, one woman’s husband, and a man who would soon be the father of two children.
Yes. When I thought of it that way, this much weight felt light.
“Here we go.”
I took my first step into the unknown.
The first Tower raid of the Awakened Kim Si-hyeon—my first Tower raid—had begun.
***
We moved carefully for a long time, our progress slow as we kept ourselves as concealed as possible.
Fortunately, all our earlier efforts seemed to have worked, and we encountered no notable danger.
About fifteen minutes had passed when—
“Kerererek!”
“What do we do, oppa?! There are too many!”
“We can do this! Focus!”
A Goblin’s shriek.
Then the urgent shouts of two people.
Kim hyung, still tied to my back, reacted immediately.
“Si-hyeon, that sound...!”
“Yes, I heard it too.”
It didn’t sound very far away.
“Let’s join them!”
I couldn’t readily answer, ‘Sure!’
Both my life and Kim hyung’s were at stake.
We couldn’t charge in blindly just because someone seemed to need help.
“No. They’re already in combat. We need to assess the battle carefully. If we try to help, we could end up in danger too.”
“That’s not wrong, but wouldn’t it be better to increase the number of allies we have somehow? To be honest, I’m no help at all in this state.”
“I’m still against it. Defeating the boss is everyone’s common objective, so even if we don’t take this risk, we should meet other people as we get closer to it. Capable people who survived this chaos.”
For a moment, Kim hyung and I were divided over what to do.
In truth, the greatest reason I opposed his suggestion was Kim hyung himself.
The poisoned arrow buried in his shoulder—and the damned poison on it—was the problem.
‘I don’t know when or how the situation might change.’
Of course, Kim hyung had a point, so I couldn’t ignore him entirely.
I chose a compromise between our two positions.
“Then let’s observe the situation from a distance first. If helping them looks like the better choice for our survival, it won’t be too late to reveal ourselves then.”
“Good. Let’s do that.”
Kim hyung smiled, apparently thinking I had begun to lean toward helping them.
I hadn’t, but I saw no need to let it show.
‘If it’s more than we can handle, we abandon them without hesitation.’
We headed cautiously toward the source of the noise.
With every step, the noise drew closer.
Before long, I could see the backs of a man’s and a woman’s heads beyond the short shrubs.
‘Of all places, we ended up right behind them.’
I had only followed the noise, but by coincidence, we stood directly behind the man and woman in a formation divided cleanly in half between the humans and the Goblins.
‘It’s not the worst position. If we do join them, we can merge with them immediately, so this side isn’t bad either.’
I quietly held my breath and assessed the situation first.
Shouts flew back and forth, blades tangling between them.
They must have already clashed several times, because two or three Goblin corpses lay sprawled on the ground.
‘Five left, is it?’
The man, armed with a sword and shield, was barely holding out while fighting almost single-handedly. The empty-handed woman behind him looked utterly exhausted.
What caught my attention was the blackened wound on the man’s leg.
It looked exactly like Kim hyung’s arrow wound.
‘Was he poisoned too? Their situation doesn’t look good.’
From what I could see, both of them would die if we left them alone.
Join them or ignore them?
It was time to decide.
“It doesn’t seem worth taking such a risk.”
“....”
“Hyung?”
Kim hyung didn’t answer.
I reflexively turned my head to check his complexion.
Had he fallen asleep?
His breathing and expression somehow looked more peaceful than before....
Ah.
My heart dropped.
‘No...! His breath—his breathing has grown weaker.’
It was so faint that I could barely tell whether he was breathing at all.
We had to defeat the boss and get out quickly, no matter what it took, so he could receive proper treatment.
‘I have no choice. Kim hyung comes before strangers.’
Just as I was about to turn away—
“Healing Touch!”
The woman’s voice rang out.
Warm rays of light poured from her hand and enveloped the man’s wound.
The wound, which had been black and dying, healed in an instant as though it had never been there.
‘The wound...!’
The color alone had made it clear the wound was abnormal, yet the Skill did more than simply restore it. Smooth, pale new flesh grew over it.
‘It healed and detoxified him...! That’s it!’
With that healing Skill, I could save Kim hyung.
The one complication was that we first had to fight the Goblins.
‘Five Goblins remain. The man is already exhausted, and the woman is a Healer, so I can’t expect much direct offensive power from her.’
The best move I could make here was....
‘First, I leave Kim hyung with them and run wild to draw their attention. If that man can take care of just one or two of them in the meantime... that’ll be enough. I can do this.’
The answer had been decided from the moment I saw the healing Skill.
‘We’re joining them!’
Rustle!
I immediately emerged from behind the undergrowth where I had been hiding.
Everyone entangled in the battle turned to look at me at once.
“Oh, oh...!”
Hope spread across the faces of the two people who had been on the verge of defeat.
“Keruk?”
The five Goblins, who had been solidifying their advantage, merely rolled their eyes around as if they still didn’t understand what was happening.
“....”
For a moment, a strange silence flowed among the three sides.
The woman’s urgent shout broke it.
“I-I’m a Healer! I don’t know exactly what did this to the person on your back, but I’m certain I can help. So please help us! Please...!”
Exactly what I wanted.
But there was something I needed to make clear first.
“All right. I will help you. That is why I revealed myself in the first place. But remember this.”
“...Yes?”
“This is not goodwill. It is a transaction. I will help the two of you, and in return, you must save this man.”
“Yes, of course! We will! I promise!”
The two nodded almost simultaneously.
With that, the deal was struck.
I immediately joined them and lowered Kim hyung to the ground between the two.
“Then rather than joining the fight, please focus on protecting him as much as possible.”
“...Will you be all right alone?”
Their gaze was filled with doubt.
The look reminded me of the people at work who had asked, ‘You can do this?’
It was a look I knew very well.
‘At times like this....’
There was no need to wear my mouth out explaining.
Showing them with actions was faster than using words.
SHING.
Instead of answering, I drew Kim hyung’s sword from my waist and stepped forward.
I didn’t hesitate.
This wasn’t recklessness.
I had felt it clearly when I cut down the Goblin earlier.
As I was now, I could do it.
‘Five ahead.’
I launched myself straight at the nearest Goblin.
Only one thought filled my mind.
‘End it quickly!’
Kim hyung’s ‘Flash Cleave’ unfolded from my hand once more.
FLASH─!
A streak of light split the green nape.
The Goblin crumpled without so much as a scream, let alone a counterattack.
A gush of blood sprayed up and brushed my cheek.
It was warm. Proof that the creature had been alive only moments ago.
‘One down.’
I wiped the blood from my cheek with my left hand and slowly turned my head. Two pairs of eyes stared back at me, wide with shock.
“...!”
Had they asked if I would be all right alone?
I think I will.
Probably.