Chapter 19

1 Th-then good luck, everyone. Hee-hee-hee-hee. With that, the goblin disappeared. A food penalty and a survival fee. I’d known about the first part. The second penalty was typical of TWSA, but it hadn’t been in the original story. I could only suspect that my contract with Bihyeong had affected the storyline. “Dokja, I’m asking you this just in case. Did you know this would happ—” “Just a lucky guess. I was thinking about how the goblins could make our lives miserable.” “…You should become a fortune teller.” I gathered Hyeonseong and the others. It was time to make a move. “Give back our food!” “How…how could this happen?” The people of the minor group were crying out in despair. Inho and the rest of the major group were also panicking. Inho bit his lip when our eyes met. [Wait…Did he know this would happen? No, that’s impossible.] [You have accurately deduced character Inho Cheon’s thoughts.] [Your understanding of character Inho Cheon has increased.] …My understanding went up from that? I tried to guess other people’s thoughts by reading their expressions, but I didn’t receive the same message again. Meanwhile, Inho gathered the people to calm them down. “Everyone, please gather around. I have an urgent announcement.” His announcement was simple. The situation had gotten worse, so he was going to enlist more people for recon duty. I was sure he was anxious, since there was no food left in the station. “From here on, there will no longer be rations for people who don’t volunteer.” Despite the severity of his statement, no one dared to object. One by one, people hesitantly signed up for recon duty. Despite the disappearance of food, there was still hope in Inho’s face. The more desperate the situation grew, the more power the major group would wield. Watching the scene with concern, Hyeonseong spoke up. “Dokja, what should we do now?” “We have to go get food, of course.” My companions tensed up. Getting food. That could only mean one thing. “Should we join the recon team? We’ll have to venture outside to get food.” “No. If we go aboveground, we’ll die.” I looked at the gas masks lying on the ground. Those flimsy things would do little against the poisonous fog outside the station. “But that’s the only place we can find food—” “Hyeonseong, the world has changed, and so must our diet.” I looked at the tunnel going to Yaksu Station. “Wait, Dokja, are you saying—?” “Yes.” Humans were no longer the apex predators of this world. But that didn’t mean we had to be prey, either. “We’ll hunt monsters.” A few moments later, my companions and I stood in front of the tunnel going to Yaksu Station. “I see. You’re going into the tunnels?” I thought Inho would call us out for not joining the recon team, but it seemed he was happy to get me away from his little kingdom. He must’ve deemed me a threat to his power. “Well, in the long term, I suppose we do need a team dedicated to clearing the scenario. You may go.” Sly bastard, talking like he’s our leader. Well, it wouldn’t be long before that smug look was wiped off his face. [Your understanding of character Inho Cheon has increased.] [Your understanding of character Inho Cheon has reached a certain threshold.] Ah…I see. In order to increase my understanding of a character, I had to meet either of two conditions. One, earn that character’s trust or favor. Two, accurately guess what they were thinking. This time, it was the latter. [Character Inho Cheon is suspicious of your intentions.] Depending on my level of understanding of them, I was able to see their thoughts and feelings. “Oh, right. Would you mind if someone from our group tagged along? We’d like to get some information about clearing the scenario.” I knew it. He wouldn’t let us go without any strings attached. A familiar face reluctantly emerged from the back of the group. Of course, it had to be him. Unlucky bastard. “D-do I really have to go with them?” “Come now, Mr. Han, this isn’t the time for that. You’ve been nagging me since last night that you wanted to make nice with Mr. Dokja Kim, haven’t you?” “Th-that’s…” The one joining us would be none other than Manager Myeongoh Han. “Uh…Dokja, if you don’t mind, can I…?” “Sure. Come along.” My response seemed to surprise Myeongoh. He’d probably thought I was going to say no. Hyeonseong looked worried, but I had a plan. Either way, we were ready to set out. Hyeonseong, Gilyeong, Sangah, Myeongoh, and me—in other words, the car 3807 crew had reassembled. “Can I go with you guys, too?” “…You haven’t fully recovered yet. Are you going to be okay?” “This is nothing.” And then Huiwon joined us, bringing our total to six. It could’ve been considered a small party or a large one, depending on how you looked at it. Grrrr… Not that it’d matter, considering what crisis awaited us. [A new sub scenario has arrived.] <Sub Scenario - Hunting for Food> Category: Sub Difficulty: E Mission: Hunt and prepare a monster that can be used as food. Time Limit: None Reward: 500 coins Penalty for Failure: ??? As soon as we stepped inside the tunnel, a sub scenario was triggered. Hunting for Food. A must-do sub scenario prior to the second main scenario. [A small number of constellations are looking forward to your performance.] The tunnel was pitch-black before we were ten steps in. Even with flashlights, we couldn’t see properly. It was evident that there was a barrier blocking the light. The real problem was beyond that barrier. “Dokja, hang on. It’s gonna get dangerous from this point on.” Huiwon, who was walking beside me, stopped. “Walking in blind like this would be suicide. Besides, Gilyeong is here, too.” “Dokja, I agree with Huiwon. It’s not too late. Why don’t we send Gilyeong back? And while we’re on the topic, the ladies should also…” “Excuse me? I may not be as strong as you are, but I know how to fight, okay? I used to do kendo.” “Still…” I interrupted them before this grew needlessly heated. “Hyeonseong, I told you earlier. The world as we knew it has completely changed. There’s no longer any reason to assume women are physically weaker, because anyone can get stronger by increasing their stats. And, Huiwon, by that logic, you’re also wrong.” “…What do you mean?” “Just like we shouldn’t assume women are weaker, we shouldn’t assume the same thing about children. Gilyeong, show them.” The boy stepped up. He sat down on the ground and stretched out his hand. Huiwon’s eyes widened. “Goodness, what is that?” “Sh-shit! A cockroach?!” Myeongoh freaked out. A cockroach skittered toward us, tethered to Gilyeong’s hand by a faint thread of light. Like a well-trained dog, the insect listened to Gilyeong’s orders and disappeared into the dark. “My attribute is Insect Collector.” Insect Collector. Gilyeong Lee had a rare talent that allowed him to communicate with insects through “Interspecies Communication.” “It says there’s nothing up ahead. We should be safe for a hundred paces or so.” The rest of group looked astonished by Gilyeong’s impressive reconnaissance. The boy continued with a confident look on his face. “Thanks for the concern, but I’m not here to freeload on you grown-ups.” “Ah, right.” Huiwon nodded reluctantly. The boy scurried back to my side, and I patted him on the head. I’d never seen the Insect Collector attribute mentioned in TWSA. Saving him at the beginning had been the right decision. We passed through the barrier and walked into the darkness inside. [You have entered a dangerous area.] “S-Sangah! It’s dangerous, so hold my hand.” “…I think you’re more scared than I am, Manager Han.” “N-no, I’m not!” The air inside the barrier was heavy with humidity. “Dim the light.” The flashlight didn’t have a dimmer, so Sangah covered it with her hand. “Urgh, please don’t point the light down.” Huiwon gagged after seeing what was on the ground. Half-eaten corpses. The bodies of those who’d tried to move to Yaksu Station were strewn about. Sangah winced tightly, and Myeongoh shuddered. Even the fearless Hyeonseong looked shaken. Surprisingly, it was Gilyeong who was most composed. There was no hint of fear in his face. His nonchalance made me feel a bit uncomfortable. Does this boy think it’s all some kind of game? “Some of these bodies aren’t human.” As he’d said, there were other corpses on the ground, too. Monsters about the size of fully grown wolves. Their forepaws were shaped like a mole’s. The level-9 subterranean species, the ground rat. The name made them sound rather harmless, but these monsters were like underground piranhas. They moved in groups, tunneling through the ground to relentlessly hunt down their prey. Dead ground rats were strewn about like the entire pack had been bombarded. Huiwon sounded incredulous as she spoke. “Who on earth could’ve done this?” Of course, there was only one person who could have done this to these ground rats. Junghyeok Yu. He had gone through this tunnel on his way to the next station. It puzzled me. According to the novel, third-loop Junghyeok should’ve moved out of Geumho Station tonight or tomorrow. Why had he left earlier than he was supposed to? Was he in a hurry? What for? “Dokja, can’t we get meat from these to clear the scenario?” “It says we have to hunt a monster ourselves, so probably not.” “Yeah, they don’t look good to eat, either. On that note, how do we prepare the meat? Roast it over a fire?” Roasting was good. The problem was that it had to be a special kind of fire. “Never mind that for now. Huiwon, you said you were good at kendo, right?” “Well, ‘good’ might be a bit of a stretch…but what’re you doing?” I began to use the Stone Hog’s Thorn like a knife on the corpse of a ground rat. It was much harder than I’d imagined when I’d read the novel. But I eventually managed to skin its tough hide and cut out its spine. This was my first time doing this, so it got a bit scratched up, but it seemed to be serviceable. “What’s that for?” “You need a sword, right?” It may not have been as good as a Stone Hog’s Thorn, but a ground rat’s spine could be used as a weapon. If you fit the joints together in a certain way, it could turn become a trusty tool to get you through the early scenarios. Once I cut off the cartilage that connected the spine to the legs, it finally took on a proper shape. The result was a pretty good sword. I gave it to Huiwon. “Thanks. It feels like we’ve gone back to the stone age.” “You’ll have to sharpen the blade some more before it’s of any use. Try grinding it with a rock or something.” “Hee-hee, got it, chief.” Huiwon seemed excited as she ground her new blade. Hyeonseong looked a bit envious as he watched. “Should I make one for you too?” “Oh. Can you…?” “Everyone gather around. You might as well learn to do it yourselves. I’ll show you.” I said that, but this was also my first time. I wouldn’t have been able to do it at all if TWSA hadn’t included detailed descriptions of using monster parts. Why had TWSA been such a flop? The answer was simple. The author was way too obsessed with writing these meticulous details. “…Dokja, for your first attempt, these weapons are surprisingly good.” We squatted down and made weapons together. Spears rather than swords this time. Since the rest of the group didn’t have the “Kendo” skill, I thought spears would be easier to use thanks to their long reach. I gave Hyeonseong the one made from the largest spine, and average-sized ones to Sangah and Myeongoh. For Gilyeong, I crafted a mace-like weapon made from the skull of a young ground rat. [You have successfully fashioned your own weapons.] [A very small number of constellations are interested in humanity’s primitive roots.] [They have donated 100 coins.] We all received the same messages this time. “They give coins for this kind of stuff, too?” “We take what we can get. You all have some coins saved up, right?” “Yes.” “Leave just enough for the survival fee and invest the rest into strength, stamina, and agility. Otherwise, you won’t stand a chance.” “Okay, understood.” After the preparations had been made, we moved forward. We had nearly gone the hundred paces Gilyeong had mentioned. [Sub Scenario - Hunting for Food has begun.] Ground rats crawled out from the dirt. I did a quick count. One, two, three…There were exactly thirteen of them. More than I’d expected. Grrrr… An invisible line formed between our group and the pack of ground rats. Once anyone crossed that line, the battle would begin. “There’re no fancy tactics here. It’s our first time, and this may sound harsh, but realistically speaking, I don’t expect all of you to make it.” “What…?” “But still, try to survive, everyone.” Myeongoh was the only one panicking. The rest of the group looked nervous but determined. The look in Huiwon’s eyes, especially, was a sight to behold. “Fine. Let’s do this. We’re all getting out of this alive.” Just as Junghyeok had tested me, I had a certain level of expectations for these people. One did not survive on determination alone in this world, even with a great adviser. Eventually, you had to save yourself. They needed to realize that now. “Let’s go!” And I’ll find out who among these people I should take with me. We took one more step forward, and the ground rats made their move. The battle had begun.