Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 220

“Everyone, stay close. Getting lost in this forest will make it hard to find you.”

Bum-seok’s voice echoed through the narrow path, the forest pressing in on either side. He was decked out in a blue suit and helmet, a large hiking bag strapped to his back. Emma and Rapine, following close behind, were similarly dressed, though they’d camouflaged themselves with nets covered in leaves and branches.

Emma, sweating despite the shade, pulled a water bottle from her hiking bag and took a long gulp, a worried expression on her face. Their water supply was dwindling fast.

A week prior, Bum-seok and his team—minus Cassie—had left the villa without a word to the others. They’d packed light, taking only essential equipment and their suits, and immediately plunged into the forest. The initial goal was to acclimate Rapine and Emma to the environment quickly. However, Bum-seok had no intention of returning to the villa, their base of operations, to resupply. Consequently, their water reserves were critically low.

“Bum-seok, we’re running out of water. The game starts in 30 minutes; shouldn’t we swing by the villa to resupply?”

Bum-seok stopped and turned to face Emma.

“We won’t return to the villa until this game is over. We’ll resupply ourselves, just like we did with food.”

“Why?”

The reasoning was simple: the villa was a half-day’s walk each way from the LHN outdoor camp. If they were lucky, they could eliminate at least ten opponents in that same amount of time.

“It’s simple. It would take us a whole day to go to the villa and back, and we’d waste precious energy. There’s no point in wasting time just to get water.”

“Then let’s go to that valley we saw nearby. The water looked pretty clean from a distance.”

“No. As I said before, that place is off-limits.”

“Why? We’re desperate for water.”

“Pull out the map and see where that valley leads.”

Emma responded instantly, not even bothering to reach for the map. She’d studied it relentlessly for the past week, committing it to memory.

“Of course. The valley flows directly into the LHN outdoor camp, but we’re just going to grab some water and leave. Do you really think we’ll get caught?”

“Of course, we’ll get caught. But the reason I’m avoiding it isn’t just because our location will be revealed. That valley water acts like a neon sign pointing right to us. Enemies will swarm us in less than ten minutes.”

The economic group’s satellite was likely monitoring both the villa and the valley from above. Although Margaret had hacked the system and shared the information, she hadn’t yet gained full control. Simultaneously, LHN had detected the intrusion. Approaching the open valley in this situation would be like waving a flag in broad daylight.

However, Bum-seok’s primary concern was the valley water’s clear, one-way path. Even inexperienced players wouldn’t get lost following such an obvious route. The enemy could quickly approach and ambush them, putting them in serious danger. Therefore, approaching the valley was strictly forbidden.

“Really?”

“Yes. We’d be asking to get caught if we lingered in the valley.”

Emma sighed deeply, her shoulders slumping in dismay.

“Then where are we supposed to get water?”

“Don’t worry. It rained yesterday, so there are puddles everywhere. We can get water anytime.”

Emma’s eyes widened as she stared at a nearby puddle of muddy water.

“How can we drink that? What if we get sick?”

“We can purify it.”

“Is purification even possible out here?”

“Yes. So, let’s move back a bit. This place is too close to enemy territory to start purifying water.”

Though she remained skeptical, Emma gave him a trusting look. Over the past week of mountain training, he had consistently kept his word.

They set off again, moving about an hour deeper into the forest.

“Emma, Rapine, gather gravel, sand, soil, pebbles, and dry twigs. Also, find some large leaves.”

At Bum-seok’s command, they began searching for the necessary materials. Fortunately, they were able to find everything they needed in the mountainous terrain. But when they returned, they were met with a bizarre sight: Bum-seok was building a fire and grilling jerky.

Emma, horrified, rushed over to stop him.

“Bum-seok, what are you doing! If you make a fire, the enemy will find us!”

Bum-seok tore off a piece of well-grilled jerky and handed it to her, chuckling.

“I suppose so. They’ll see the smoke, even during the day. But so what?”

“Do you even have to ask? Don’t you think the enemy will see that and come to attack us?”

“Now that the game has started, they’ll come running. But why is that a problem?”

“Are you serious? You don’t think you can take on all 56 of them alone, do you?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why are you doing this?”

Bum-seok tore off another piece of jerky with his teeth and said quietly.

“They can’t get here in time.”

“What? What do you mean they can’t get here?”

“Even though gladiators are skilled in the Colosseum, they can’t even take a step in this forest without training. Besides, they rushed out here without even bringing a compass, driven by ambition, so they’ll be lost forever. So, we can relax here, resupply water, and then move on. Hehehe.”

Bum-seok chuckled and took the materials Emma and Rapine had gathered. First, he rolled the large leaves into a funnel shape. He placed gravel at the bottom, then sand, ash and charcoal from the fire, and finally soil. Then, he poured muddy water from a nearby puddle through the makeshift filter to purify it. Finally, he boiled the filtered water and poured it into a canteen.

After about two hours of work, he had resupplied two days’ worth of drinking water. They started moving again. He doubted whether the enemies would actually arrive at their previous location, but there was no point in staying there and risking it without a good reason.

“I’m going crazy. Where is the smoke coming from! Does anyone know where it is?”

“I don’t know! I don’t even know where the camp is. How am I supposed to know where the smoke is coming from?”

“Does anyone have a map and compass?”

“What are you going to do with it? Do you even know how to read it?”

Bum-seok and his team stopped and hid, listening as the voices of women echoed through the forest. It was a group of six, consisting of five gladiators and one martial artist, all wearing striped green suits, identifying them as LHN game participants. They were the enemy. Bum-seok continued to observe them. He should avoid them, given that he didn’t know their individual skills and they outnumbered him two to one. However, the geographical advantage of the forest ignited his predatory instincts, as they were the first prey he had encountered.

‘Come to think of it, I set up a log trap near here. I could eliminate them all if I moved about 200 meters.’

Bum-seok made an OK sign with his fingers to Rapine and Emma, who were crouching behind him, and signaled the number 2. It was a code indicating they should prepare for an arrow attack. Rapine and Bum-seok were skilled archers, and Emma had been training steadily, so her accuracy was now quite high. If they ambushed them properly, they could take one down.

Soon, they loaded their arrows and moved ahead to intercept their path, securing a good firing position. After a short wait, the LHN participants appeared 10 meters ahead, offering a clear shot. Bum-seok pulled back his bowstring and shouted.

“Now! Shoot!”

At the same time, three arrows flew like lightning toward the LHN participants. The attack was so sudden that they had no time to react and were hit directly.

Two arrows bounced off with a thud, while one arrow disappeared harmlessly into the forest. Emma and Rapine’s arrows struck the opponent’s chest and thigh, respectively, while Bum-seok’s arrow just grazed by.

He made a mental note to practice his archery and gave the next order.

“Everyone, move!”

As Bum-seok’s team moved quickly, four of the LHN participants who were still mobile gave chase. Bum-seok smiled. If he could lure them to the trap, it would be easy to wipe them out.

After a while, Rapine, who had reached a dense forest area, stopped and looked around, trying to locate the trap. After spotting the long vine rope, she shouted.

“Master, I found it. It’s this way.”

Bum-seok, who had quickly hidden behind the trap, ordered everyone to reload their bows and waited for the enemies to approach.

After a short wait, he raised his hand slightly as he heard the sound of people approaching through the bushes.

“Where are you guys! Where did everyone go!”

However, only one elf appeared. Due to the dense forest and thick bushes, the other three had gotten lost and disappeared while moving just 200 meters. Bum-seok frowned at this ridiculous situation. A golden opportunity to eliminate all six at once had been wasted. But there was nothing he could do. Since the situation was what it was, he had to eliminate at least one.

Soon, Bum-seok’s hand went down, and the bowstrings were released from Rapine and Emma’s hands.

“Okay, let’s go back to that place.”

Bum-seok, having eliminated the elf who had been chasing them, moved back to the first attack site to finish off the elf who had been injured in the thigh. According to the game rules, those who were partially incapacitated would return to normal after a day, so it was necessary to eliminate them completely.

“What the hell is going on!”

In the quiet evening, an unexpected shout erupted from the LHN’s outdoor camp. It was Aula’s cry. Smoke was rising from the forest, and a large number of gladiators had been dispatched, but 17 of them were now incapacitated. However, only 3 had been defeated by the enemy. The remaining 14 had given up the game because they couldn’t find their way back.

Now, the judges’ flying cars were hovering high above the forest, retrieving the gladiators who had been removed from the battle. Fortunately, the suits had a device that automatically sent out a location signal when incapacitated; otherwise, they might have had to abandon the game and launch a massive search operation to find the missing people. Their value was so high that the consequences would be severe if even one of them was lost.

Julian glanced at the outdoor scenery and scratched his head awkwardly, trying to make excuses.

“Well, they must have gotten lost because the forest is complicated.”

“Then you shouldn’t have sent them! Why did you send those kids in droves and subject them to such ridiculous losses!”

“How would I know? I really didn’t expect this to happen.”

Aula poked him in the chest and glared at him with sharp eyes.

“What are you going to do now! 17 people have been defeated! You know that this game is pointless now!”

“Don’t worry about that. We can’t do anything about the three who were defeated by them, but I bribed the judges, so I can bring back the kids who pressed the game-over button.”

If what he said was true, they could maintain their strength at 53 people. Then it was still worth pursuing. Aula managed to regain some composure.

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Of course. How much do you think I paid them?”

She sighed deeply and glanced at Julian.

“Then what are you going to do now?”

“We’ll probably have to move along the road to attack the villa.”

“What about the unidentified enemies hiding in that forest?”

“Don’t worry about them either. We have Tiela. She’s familiar with the forest terrain and was a strong player who was ranked S3 until recently. If we give her a few people, she’ll catch them soon.”

At that moment, a middle-aged man with red hair who had been standing quietly in the back stepped forward and joined their conversation. It was Dyson, the director of the Dark Hyena, a gladiator team belonging to the Hyena Group.

“Julian, I think you should reconsider sending Tiela.”

“Reconsider? According to the people who were incapacitated by the enemies, there are only three of them. Do you think Tiela can’t handle them with a few colleagues?”

“Of course, there’s no need to think twice on flat ground, but the place where they’re hiding is a dense forest where you can’t see an inch ahead in some places. Even Tiela could be ambushed and defeated unexpectedly. Then we’d lose the second-in-command of our team.”

“Director! What are you talking about! You said that Tiela is powerful in the forest terrain!”

Dyson, looking troubled, gazed at the forest in the distance and quietly spoke.

“That was just to say that she’s relatively more familiar than other gladiators, not that she’s better than experts. They leisurely made a fire near our camp, knowing that they would be discovered. Only someone with the intellectual level of a child or someone who knows the consequences of entering such a dense primeval forest without training would do that. But judging from the fact that they’re active in that forest, it’s not the former. From this, it seems that the opponent has recruited a professional hunter or a soldier familiar with mountain warfare as a free agent.”

Julian frowned and shouted.

“Director! Don’t talk such nonsense! Do you think we’re fools? We’ve already investigated their strength. There was absolutely no expert in this kind of battle!”

Dyson knew that too, so he had nothing to say. All the forces they were fielding were either professional gladiators or professional martial artists. No matter how much he considered it, there was no expert in jungle warfare.

“However, this area is the villa of the Chaplin family, who are members of the opposing team. They may have hired a manager who knows the area well.”

He was confident in that point. Although it was against the rules to bring in outside help, they would go to any lengths to do so because their pride was at stake.

“Yeah, that could be the case. Then what should we do?”

“We must actively protest and demand that the guide be removed. Otherwise, we’ll be at their mercy throughout this game.”

“Okay, don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of it. Then what are we going to do next?”

“I think we need to consider that carefully. This is my first time in this kind of game, so it’s difficult to come up with a strategy easily.”

Julian frowned but soon nodded. If he rushed and made the wrong decision, they would be finished. It had only been half a day since the game started, so there was a need to proceed cautiously.

============================ Author’s Notes ============================

Have a nice day, everyone. I’ll see you again tomorrow.