I walked at nearly a run with Rion on my back. I wanted to sprint, but whenever the shaking grew too severe, she coughed up blood, so I moved as fast as her condition allowed.
“Huff, huff.”
When my breathing grew ragged, Miyu climbed out of my clothes and began running beside me.
Good girl.
At least you were helping.
Had this side path always been this long? No matter how far I went, it felt as though the distance never decreased.
“Kryak?”
We encountered a single Common Goblin. As it tilted its head, Miyu charged.
“Meow-!”
Miyu leapt and slashed the goblin with her claws. Perhaps because her species stats belonged to a black panther, a single clawed paw strike turned the goblin into glowing dust.
It was a strange sight, but… later, she would grow strong enough to bite crocodiles to death.
On the way in, we hadn’t encountered a single monster. We had only seen one water deer.
Why were there so many creatures on the return trip?
“Hiss-”
A snake sprang out. I didn’t know whether it was venomous, but I ran ahead of Miyu, swung my blade, and cut off its head.
I had torn apart the clothes I was wearing and fashioned them into a sling like a baby carrier for Rion. I couldn’t free both hands, but I could at least swing a sword with one.
‘Is that the end?’
This game was obsessed with screwing over the player by any means possible.
Either that, or my fate was simply that vicious.
Based on the big data I had accumulated from playing this game for years and the life I had lived, could this really be the end of the Bad Event?
“Of course not.”
My conclusion was that there was no way a Bad Event would end with only this much.
Then all that remained was determining the worst-case scenario and how to respond to it.
‘What’s the worst thing that could happen right now?’
The worst-case scenario was that the monsters would pursue us.
I had wasted too much time fighting that Orc. Even after that, Rion’s condition had deteriorated so severely that I hadn’t been able to finish it off properly.
‘Would the goblins even have the presence of mind to chase us?’
Creatures important enough to be called officers had come to rescue the captain goblin, who had nearly been trampled to death by the Ogre.
That meant the captain was important.
It was probably the commander of that training ground—or base—that appeared to serve as their headquarters.
‘If the leader who gives the orders is in that condition, there probably won’t be a pursuit party.’
The goblins in the game were narrow-minded and suspicious.
If another goblin took command while the leader was critically wounded, the recovered leader would probably find some way to kill it later.
I knew that because I had once played after a curse transformed my playable character into a goblin.
‘I died pretty quickly that time.’
I rose all the way to become the tribe’s Great Warrior, but after issuing orders in place of the tribal chief, the chief returned and subjected me to a witch hunt.
Goblins were stupid but treacherous.
That was why you always had to remind them of the hierarchy with overwhelming strength.
“…I tried being nice to raise their affinity, only to get stabbed in the back and killed.”
Before I knew it, we had left the Canyon and entered the grassland.
‘The sun is setting.’
The sun was already sinking. It looked as though it would disappear in roughly two hours.
Even if I had to push myself, I would leave through the portal and enter the Black Forest.
Then I would walk toward the territory without resting.
And—
“Ugh.”
Rion groaned, apparently regaining consciousness on my back.
“Rion, are you all right?”
“…I-I’m fine. Put me down.”
Her voice sounded as though she were dying, but the fact that she had regained consciousness meant she had probably passed the worst of the crisis.
“Haaah.”
Rion climbed down from my back.
Her complexion was still pale. Fortunately, the bulging veins that had appeared on her face and neck were gone.
No.
Some traces seemed to remain.
“Can you use magic or spirits?”
“I think so.”
“You only just recovered. I’m sorry, but use the Sylph to check whether anyone is following us.”
“…All right.”
Rion took a deep breath, summoned the Sylph, and made her request. The spirit immediately disappeared into the air.
We decided to rest briefly until it returned.
Fweeeee. FLASH—!
‘……!’
With a faint sound, an incredibly bright light exploded in the sky.
My head naturally rose to follow it.
Atop the Canyon cliff stood Orcs mounted on a wolf the size of a bull and a hyena.
‘Right. There was no way it would end with only this much.’
The Canyon, which had begun to darken, became as bright as noon for an instant before returning to normal.
Rion looked up at the cliff in alarm.
‘Are you bastards the Bad Event?’
Panicking or raging at the situation wouldn’t change anything.
It was more important to identify them and decide how to respond.
I stared closely to see them better.
At that moment, the wolf standing atop the cliff began descending.
“C-Crazy.”
It raced down as though the cliff were flat ground, stepping on the small stones jutting from the rock face.
What the hell was that creature?
“Rion! Summon the Spirit Beast. Now!”
“All right! But I can’t maintain it for long. I don’t have enough Mana.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
Fortunately, Rion didn’t say anything frustrating like, “How?” or “I don’t know how.”
She concentrated just as she did when summoning a spirit.
A geometric pattern appeared on the ground in front of her and formed a magic circle.
A translucent creature identical to the mutant emerged from within it.
“Grrrr.”
“…Your name is Mungchi from now on.”
“Grrk?”
The mutant Spirit Beast snapped at her, either because it refused to recognize Rion as its master or because it disliked the name.
CRACK! CRACK! THWACK!
After seeing the wolf racing down the cliff, Rion brought her staff down repeatedly on Mungchi’s head.
Watching her establish the hierarchy immediately confirmed that she really was a Druid—a Violencémon Master.
“We’re in a hurry, so save the beat—no, bonding for later. Let’s get on.”
Mungchi’s back was just large enough to carry two people.
I placed Miyu, who was glaring at the approaching wolf, into Rion’s arms. At the same time, I took the Hand Crossbow and bolts from her.
Whooosh.
We rode the spiritual body of the mutant Hobgoblin—Mungchi—and raced toward the portal.
Each time Mungchi kicked off the ground, one or two meters of space slid backward beneath us.
The Orc Rider was chasing us.
He was damned fast.
“Kain.”
“Yes.”
CLICK.
I loaded a bolt in preparation for the worst.
Only a few minutes passed before the hill containing the portal was already directly ahead.
“I don’t think I can use magic or spirits anymore.”
“…That’s fine.”
A Druid had the second-largest starting Mana pool after a mage.
If merely maintaining the summon prevented her from using any other magic or spirit arts, then a Jar Warrior who consumed the Soul Wisp would probably exhaust all his Mana before even finishing the summoning circle.
‘If I’d consumed it, I probably wouldn’t have been able to summon it until around Level 30.’
“GRRROWL.”
At that moment, the Orc Rider approached from our right.
Unlike ordinary bald, green Orcs, he had long black hair. He also looked larger than the Soldier Orc I had fought earlier.
‘An Elite Orc.’
They belonged to a fundamentally different bloodline from Common Orcs.
Elite Orcs were born with higher base stats. Even when both became mutants or higher variants, the difference in their starting point made Elite Orcs far stronger.
Put simply, he had been born with a golden spoon.
“And he’s more troublesome.”
TWANG.
The instant Mungchi leapt, I fired a bolt at him.
The Elite Orc casually swept it aside with one hand.
If I had been using a proper crossbow instead of this one-handed model, it might have pierced the back of his hand and buried itself in his face.
‘No. With a proper crossbow, I wouldn’t have hit him while moving like this.’
THUD-THUD-THUD.
He drew closer.
Even when I fired again, the bolts only left scratches on his thick hide.
CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.
I knocked aside the axe he swung from beside us with the longsword.
Every impact chipped the blade.
If we had been standing on solid ground instead of racing like this, that strength would have split both the longsword and my body in half within moments.
“Not happening.”
I kicked the wolf in the face as it tried to bite Mungchi’s leg.
“BWAHAHAHA!!!”
The Elite Orc burst into laughter as though this were the most entertaining thing in the world.
He seemed to be letting his guard down.
Should I use it now?
No.
It wasn’t time yet.
“Let’s see whether you find this entertaining!”
When we had nearly reached the hill, I threw the Smoke Bombs obtained from the Hobgoblin scout at the faces of the Orc and wolf.
BANG! BANG!
The Smoke Bombs exploded, and we charged toward the portal.
Blinded by the smoke, the creature ran past the hill.
I could only hope it delayed him for even a little while.
Soon, light filled my vision.
“Stop chasing us already!”
We had crossed the portal and were now running along the forest road toward the territory.
The Elite Orc riding the wolf pursued us from roughly ten meters away. Behind him, the female Orc on the hyena was also charging after us.
Her face held a trace of irritation.
‘She’s the one who used that magic earlier.’
“Kain.”
“Yes.”
I kept glancing backward, waiting for a chance to fire the Hand Crossbow, when Rion called me.
“…I’m sorry. I can’t maintain it anymore.”
“What do you meaaaaaan—?!”
Mungchi was unsummoned.
The ground rapidly rushed closer.
Before I could fully wrap Rion in my arms, we rolled across it.
I didn’t think about the pain or what action I should take next.
I only felt dizzy.
‘Empty.’
Rion, whom I had been holding, lay sprawled on the ground nearby.
Her already pale face had lost all color, and the blue veins stood out even more clearly.
She looked as though she were going to die.
-Useless woman. Let’s abandon her.
‘Shut up. She still hasn’t paid me for the summoned beast.’
-Liar. Do you like her?
‘Bullshit.’
-Ah, you’re projecting onto that burden. You’re both useless and abandoned, so you feel some kind of kinship? You pathe—
“Grrrr.”
I drove the shitty voice from my head and pushed myself up.
Something descended over me from above.
“Oh, fuck-!”
It felt like the first day I joined a gym and confidently attempted a one-hundred-kilogram bench press.
What did that mean?
I felt like I was about to be crushed to death!!!
[Human, is our game of tag over?]
The wolf brought its bull-sized head directly before my face.
Naturally, the wolf hadn’t spoken.
The Orc sitting on its back had.
“What…are…you saying?”
One of the wolf’s paws pressed against my shoulder, while the other pinned the hand holding the crossbow.
The longsword lay far away.
‘Is this where it ends?’
“Ghk.”
The warm breath leaving the wolf’s mouth brushed the tip of my nose.
I could see its sharp teeth and uvula.
Could I kill the wolf if I shoved my arm into its mouth, grabbed its uvula, and tore it out?
Separate from the desire to simply give up, my rational mind kept searching endlessly for a way out.
[Have you surrendered? I expected more entertainment.]
Why had this Orc bastard been talking to himself this entire time?
No matter what he said, all I heard was “Krwa, krara.”
I couldn’t understand a single damned wor—
‘Come to think of it, how did I recruit Orcs in the game?’
You could make monsters into companions in this game.
Not just any monster, of course. Only humanoids with a minimum level of intelligence or Named Monsters.
While hunting them, an option appeared at the exact moment they were on the verge of death, with only one percent health remaining.
Would they become a companion, or would you kill them?
The moment you added a monster to the party, most human NPCs deserted, so I only used it in the worst situations.
‘With Named Monsters, the reward was usually better than recruiting them. And they were effectively combat slaves rather than companions.’
They couldn’t enter human settlements, and if left alone, they ran away.
But Orcs were different.
They attacked while shouting about a warrior’s honor until the very brink of death.
There was only one way to make an Orc a companion.
“MAK’GORA!!!”
[?]
“I challenge you to Mak’gora, you fucking bastard!!!”
If you defeated one in single combat, it acknowledged you.
At my words, the Orc burst into loud laughter and gave an ugly grin.
[Bwahahaha! Good. That is more like it.]
***
The wolf that had been about to bite off my head withdrew.
The female Orc, who arrived later on her hyena, glared at me with her arms crossed.
She clearly disliked this situation.
They could’ve simply killed me, yet he had released me and even allowed me to prepare for battle.
Her magic could’ve ended everything with a single strike.
She was a rare intelligent and rational Orc.
“…Taisan. My name.”
The Orc, who was roughly twice my size, introduced himself in clumsy human speech.
In the game, it had only passed by in subtitles.
Was I supposed to give my name too?
But I didn’t know the Orc language.
“Kr-Kratapakon?”
I imitated something I had heard the Orcs say.
I had no idea what it meant, but the smile that had remained on his face the entire time vanished.
What?
Had I said something wrong?
I had merely copied something similar to what one of the search-party Orcs forced to face the Ogre in my place had said.
[You insulted my parents. I’ll have to teach you a lesson.]
“I don’t know what I said, but the first strike wins!”
I could tell from his greater size and the scars covering his body.
More than anything, his first impression alone said it.
This Elite Orc was fucking good at fighting.
My longsword collided with his axe.
The blade shook as though it might snap and was knocked backward.
‘Fuck.’
It felt as though my palm were tearing open.
Perhaps it already had.
The playful axe swings he made with one hand sent me staggering from side to side.
CLANG.
When I finally lost the longsword, I abandoned it without regret and instead charged toward the chest he had left completely exposed while gleefully swinging his axe.
‘Forget the takedown.’
If I hadn’t fought the search-party Orc one-on-one earlier, I might have attempted a suplex or takedown followed by ground-and-pound.
But I had barely managed to slam that search-party Orc while it struggled.
There was no way it would work on this creature, who was twice that Orc’s size.
THUD.
I snapped out a left jab and struck the bridge of his nose.
Two consecutive punches landed cleanly.
The Orc covered his face with one hand and retreated.
“Uaaah-!”
I rotated my body to the left and brought my right fist down like a hammer.
I struck somewhere between the Orc’s thumb and wrist.
THUD.
Fortunately, movies hadn’t been complete lies.
His grip opened, and the axe fell.
I drove my shoulder into Taisan and pushed him back.
Now I only needed to pick up the axe—
“KRWAAH-!”
The bleeding Orc threw a punch with a battle cry.
I hurriedly raised an arm to block, but the impact tore through my guard.
It sent me backward as though I had been struck by an iron club—no, a sledgehammer.
I swallowed the nausea rising in my throat and planted my legs to stop myself.
“Ptoo.”
Taisan wiped his nosebleed and spat the blood that had entered his mouth.
The left arm struck by his fist wasn’t broken, but I could see it swelling in real time.
‘He’s a complete fucking monster.’
What level was this Elite Orc?
He seemed to be in his mid-twenties at minimum.
I used the thought to distract myself from the pain in my arm.
We circled each other while studying our opponent.
He moved first.
‘Did he learn boxing somewhere?’
He raised his arms to guard his chin.
Then came the jab.
I slapped aside his left jab with my hand.
His fist was the size of a pot lid, so avoiding it required too much movement.
I was already exhausted.
Using my absurd visual acuity and reflexes, I deflected the punch.
Then I countered.
Pretending merely to parry, I seized his wrist.
I pulled his arm, rotated my body, and drove my elbow toward his temple.
It was a chained sequence straight out of a martial arts novel—a Chin Na grab followed by a combination attack.
“Oh, fuck.”
The problem was that I wasn’t a martial artist who could use internal energy.
My elbow strike was easily blocked by his log-like forearm.
Then came his counterattack.
THUD.
A short, rotational punch struck my side cleanly.
I couldn’t breathe.
Its power was on a completely different level from a goblin’s attack.
My body folded on its own.
My stance collapsed, and my guard dropped.
GRAB.
He seized me by the collar.
The Orc wore a benevolent smile.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
A merciful smile alternated with merciless fists.
The first punch tore the inside of my mouth.
The second made my vision flash.
I turned my head at the right moment for the final punch.
Even while lights burst across my vision, I clung to consciousness and rolled with the blow to survive.
That worked?
‘You’re dead now.’
Driven by the single-minded desire to fuck him over, I seized the wrist holding my collar with both hands.
Then I stepped onto his thigh and jumped.
My ultimate flying armbar!
“Krgan?”
Ignoring the creature’s startled exclamation, I used every ounce of strength I had and bent its thick arm backward.
“AAAAAAAAH-!”
CRK. CRRRK.
Sounds that should never have come from the log-like arm rang out.
“KWAAAAARGH!”
The creature’s eyes turned red as it roared like a scream.
It seized my head while I hung from its broken arm and threw me into the ground.
I slapped the ground in a breakfall learned at a taekwondo academy in elementary school and sprang upright.
Then a hammer fist descended.
“Damn it!”
The creature clearly thought I was a nail.
It drove its fist down without mercy.
I crossed my arms to block, but they felt ready to break immediately.
CRACK.
A horrible sound came from my already swollen left arm, and all strength drained from it.
Before I could even feel the pain, I twisted aside and avoided the next descending fist.
‘Now.’
I pulled the [Poison Jar] I had been saving from the crossbody bag and swung it like lightning.
I had repeated the movement so many times that it now flowed naturally.
I felt the Orc’s eyes lock onto the jar in my hand.
SMASH—!
But the reaction of its broken arm was too slow.
The shattered jar fragments tore across its face.
The powder spreading from within was drawn into its respiratory tract.
Its body became paralyzed, and it collapsed sideways.
‘Paralysis didn’t even last ten seconds on a Common Orc.’
I would end it here.
I clutched the jar fragment remaining in my hand and slashed down toward the fallen creature’s throat.
This was my only chance.
Kill him.
[Magic Arrow.]
THUD—.
“Ghk.”
A Magic Arrow fired without warning struck my chest.
My breath caught, and the ribs the Elite Orc had struck throbbed.
More Magic Arrows hit me in succession and drove me backward.
[What are you doing?!!!]
The paralysis ended, and the Elite Orc rose with a roar.
He stepped between me and the Magic Arrows being fired.
Then the two Orcs began arguing.
More precisely, the Orc I had fought harshly reprimanded the female Orc who had used the magic.
[How dare you defile a sacred duel?]
[But Lord Taisan nearly died to that human!]
[Is that truly enough reason to defile a sacred duel? I am disappointed.]
The Orc lieutenant bit down on her lip.
[…Lord Taisan must not die here. As your lieutenant, I could not simply watch.]
[If this happens again, I will break your neck.]
[Understood.]
The Orc lieutenant lowered her head.
Turning his back on her, Taisan looked at me.
[I have no excuse, human. The duel was defiled.]
WHOOSH.
The Orc who had introduced himself as Taisan threw the hand axe at his waist.
It was a single-bladed axe with strange patterns embossed across its surface.
It possessed no special function, but showing it when encountering Orcs allowed you to avoid battle.
It was a ‘Warrior’s Token.’
It meant he had acknowledged me as a companion or worthy rival.
FLASH.
Taisan covered his broken arm with his right hand, and light erupted.
The arm, which had swollen purple from the fracture, returned to its original state.
‘Is this bastard a Priest? Not a Great Warrior or Berserker?’
Taisan approached Rion, who lay unconscious at the female Orc’s feet, and used Divine Power.
Light burst again, and Rion’s complexion rapidly relaxed.
[Human warrior, next time we shall have an honorable battle.]
With that, he climbed onto the wolf he had ridden during the chase.
Without looking back, he waved one hand at me and rode away.
The female Orc mounted her hyena, gave me a small nod, and followed Taisan.
Wait.
Didn’t you forget something?
“Heal me too before you leave!!!”
***
Scrrrape.
“Daaaaamn it. Petty bastard.”
Taisan, you bastard.
I was the one who fought him.
Why had he refused to heal me?
His body was enormous, but his heart was as narrow as a tiny anchovy’s.
“Ughhh.”
Rion’s complexion looked much better, though she still hadn’t regained consciousness.
Fortunately, the Mana Backlash didn’t seem to have caused the disaster of damaging her Mana Circuit.
Even in the game, mages required a long recovery period after suffering Mana Backlash.
‘Should I be grateful it ended with only this?’
She had forced herself to summon the mutant spiritual body after already suffering Mana Backlash once.
Because a spiritual body consumed Mana continuously while summoned, she might have become permanently disabled if Taisan hadn’t treated her.
‘I discarded a truckload of mages like that.’
Unlike the game, reality had no reset button.
I reminded myself of that fact once again.
Scrrrape.
I had placed Rion on a broken plank I found nearby, tied it to myself with vines, and was dragging her along.
Late at night, the sound of wood scraping against the ground disturbed the silence of the Trail.
“Krrk?”
Has the noise irritated the goblins?
Those damned bastards approached while licking their lips.
My left arm was broken, and one eyelid had swollen so badly that I could barely see.
My hands and feet trembled, and my stamina was nearly empty.
“HISS!”
Miyu, who had been walking beside me, threatened them.
After gaining confidence from the previous battles, Miyu could now pull her own weight against goblins and wild dogs.
“The problem is, those three count for more than one person.”
Staggering, I raised the hand axe Taisan had given me.
“You protect Rion.”
“Kerkon.”
Three goblins charged.
Perhaps I looked like an easy target on the verge of death.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
My body was in worse condition than at any other point since falling into this world.
But my will to survive was stronger than it had ever been.
SHHHH.
The goblins dissolved into light.
When they vanished, I saw the sun rising.
Sunlight illuminated the Black Forest.
The darkness lifted, and the vision that hadn’t extended even ten meters now reached far into the distance.
Scrape. Scrrrape.
I staggered forward once again.
Crunch.
Grains of wheat broke beneath my feet.
I passed through the golden wheat fields before the territory.
RUMBLE—.
The territorial gate was opening.
***
[Tutorial completed.]