Chapter 29
“Se-un, this is…….”
“Exactly what it sounds like. It’s time to leave this place.”
[Tutorial Second Stage – Movement]
-You must move along the plains to reach your destination.
-Time remaining until arrival: 167 hours 59 minutes
The second stage of the tutorial had begun.
The objective was simple: move to the destination.
The remaining time was 168 hours, meaning we had to arrive within a week.
‘Moving along the plains’ might sound vague, but an arrow-shaped figure was floating above, so even if the plains ended, we just had to follow that arrow.
Compared to the monster wave, it seemed simple enough, but the reactions weren’t great.
“Leave?”
“We were just starting to settle in…….”
“I thought we could rest after the monster wave.”
The theme of the first stage of the tutorial was ‘Adaptation’.
True to its purpose, people had thoroughly adapted to this place, even in this wilderness where monsters attacked daily and there were no proper amenities.
Moving required new adaptation, so it was natural for people to be troubled.
‘How should I explain this to them?’
Yoo Seo-ah seemed slightly embarrassed, seeing that people weren’t calming down for quite a while.
Se-un knew this situation, but he couldn’t mention his past life, so he couldn’t think of a way to lead the people.
In this situation, two unexpected figures began to shift the atmosphere.
“Waaah! My buildings! My fences! I worked so hard to build them!”
“They were mostly destroyed in the last wave anyway, right? Isn’t building new ones more fun than fixing them?”
-The Constellation, ‘Black Bird,’ nods, saying there are limits to building here.
-The Constellation, ‘Great Bird,’ hopes its contractor will move to a wider place, saying this place is too small.
“That’s true!”
The twin sisters were the ones who contributed the most to forming a camp-like structure, in charge of construction.
Now that they had to abandon the camp, they were the ones who would be most upset.
Yet, the two were radiating positive energy and leading the people.
“Where are we going? Oh, maybe we’ll find a village or something?”
“Ooh! If we go to a village, I want to take a hot bath first thing!”
“But what if monsters appear on the way…….”
“Hey, so what? We’ve done so well until now.”
The two exchanged words quickly, like a comedy act.
Because the news of the second stage of the tutorial had dampened the atmosphere, their voices spread throughout the camp.
People couldn’t help but pay attention to their conversation.
And finally.
“Right? Sisters and brothers?”
“Y-Yeah, right!”
“I mean, we’ve been through this ridiculous situation, what problem could there be with anything else?”
The two began to win people over with their energy.
Since the twins, who would have had the hardest time, were taking the initiative, people were naturally drawn to the positive atmosphere.
In the midst of all this, Se-un saw it.
Wink!
The twin sisters were giving him clumsy winks.
* * *
Thanks to the twins’ efforts, the situation quickly calmed down.
Some people were worried, but most accepted the new tutorial and started moving. They skinned the hunted monsters and handed them over to Go Chang-seok, and cut the meat to hand over to the cook. In addition, the weapons and monster bones that the Red Monkeys had brought were also handed over to Go Chang-seok.
The number of monsters that appeared during the tenth wave was so large that Go Chang-seok and the cook had a hard time.
Well, fortunately.
“I’ll help too!”
“Thank you! Then, can you carry those meats over there? I’m going to smoke them so they can be stored for a long time!”
“Elder, is there anything I can help with?”
“Hehe, thank you. If you have time, can you disassemble those monkey weapons over there? They’re not that complicated, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.”
People were diligently helping them with their work.
Most people usually rested or trained to fight monsters in their free time, so now that the monster wave had disappeared, they suddenly had nothing to do.
Watching the busy camp, Se-un approached the broken fence.
The twin sisters were there, looking at the fence with regret.
They had shown a cheerful appearance in front of the people, but this must be their true feelings.
They were so focused that they only turned around after Se-un cleared his throat softly right behind them.
“Oh? It’s Blood Wolf!”
“Wow, it’s Blood Wolf!”
Blood Wolf, huh.
Se-un felt a throbbing pain in his head.
‘At this rate, my epithet might become fixed.’
An epithet isn’t just a nickname that people give you.
It’s a part of the saga that the system recognizes, built up from the achievements a player has accumulated since the tutorial. That’s what a real ‘epithet’ is.
As recognized by the system, it often directly affects the direction a player takes.
Some players planned ahead and artificially crafted their own saga to get the epithet they wanted, but very few actually succeeded in shaping their saga and obtaining the desired epithet.
However, the current situation was different.
If he was called by an epithet from the starting point of the first stage of the tutorial and acted accordingly, the system would have no choice but to nod in agreement.
‘Well, it doesn’t seem like a bad epithet.’
There were many uncomfortable epithets that players wanted to hide, such as Black-Clothed Beggar, meaning a beggar in black clothes, or Dirty Face.
“But what brings you here?”
“Did you come to play with us?”
The twin sisters, who had perfectly hidden the regret they had while looking at the fence they were about to leave behind, approached him.
Se-un avoided their gaze shyly and muttered softly.
“Thank you.”
“Huh?”
“Eh?”
Both of them looked surprised, as if they hadn’t expected that answer at all. However, they quickly understood the situation and smiled brightly.
“Hey, it’s nothing!”
“Since we have to leave anyway, it’s better to let go of our attachments quickly, right?”
“That system thing can even spit out monsters, who knows what will happen if we don’t listen!”
“And it’s kind of a reward for cutting down all those trees before?”
“Hehe!”
The twin sisters brushed off Se-un’s thanks as if it were nothing.
They were probably trying to avoid making Se-un feel burdened by calling it a reward.
Se-un smiled at the twins’ consideration and changed the subject.
“Is there anything you need?”
“Need…… Oh! There is one thing we’re worried about, will you listen?”
“Eh? We had a worry?”
“You know, that thing, that thing!”
“Ah, that thing!”
Se-un tilted his head at the word ‘that thing’.
He had only asked to change the subject; he hadn’t expected what they would need now that they were leaving the camp.
“This way!”
“Follow us!”
The twin sisters grabbed Se-un’s wrists from both sides.
Se-un, who suddenly had both hands occupied, was dragged by them to a corner of the camp.
“That!”
“……Leather?”
“Leather? It’s a sleeping bag! Made from monster leather!”
“That’s right, Blood Wolf Oppa always slept somewhere else, didn’t he?”
When they arrived, there was a pile of leather sleeping bags.
Not only that, but there were also various daily necessities such as water cups made by weaving grass and branches, and cutlery made by carving wood.
‘Come to think of it, I always slept on the opposite side.’
Getting too close to people makes it difficult to make cold-hearted decisions. Also, many people were uncomfortable with Se-un because of his cold behavior so far.
Because of this, Se-un had been subtly avoiding people.
He knew they were adapting better than he thought, but he didn’t expect it to be to this extent.
“But why this?”
“That’s not all. The blacksmith’s tools, people’s equipment, emergency food, etc. Even if we leave the camp, there’s a lot to pack!”
“It’s only been a few days, right?”
“We even thought about making leather into bundles to carry…….”
“But if we carry them like that, it would be difficult in many ways if a monster appeared!”
Se-un seriously considered the twins’ words.
Indeed, they were right. In Se-un’s past life, there weren’t many survivors, and the atmosphere wasn’t good. So they had to leave the camp without a proper plan.
‘Thanks to that, a hellish march began.’
Of course, the second stage of the tutorial isn’t just about moving.
As the twins expected, there are monster attacks, and as soon as the plains end, treacherous terrain welcomes the players.
The temperature is also low at night, so people’s condition is always at its worst.
The speed of movement gradually slows down, and they almost didn’t arrive at the destination on time.
“So we’re trying to make a wagon…….”
“Even if we make a wagon, we can’t pull it!”
“It would be difficult without Han-cheol Oppa!”
“Pushing it together would only hinder our movement!”
The twins’ expressions became quite serious. They weren’t just chattering lightly; they were seriously worried.
Seeing that, Se-un couldn’t help but feel good.
Until now, he had been worrying alone about how to lead the camp, but without him realizing it, people had emerged to share his worries.
“You’ve thought a lot about it.”
“Hehe, did we do well?”
“But Unnie said that all those things would be too heavy…….”
“Ah, stop it! Be quiet! The atmosphere was good!”
Since the situation has come to this, he couldn’t help but meet their expectations.
Something to pull the wagon.
A suitable method flashed through Se-un’s mind.
“Can you two make the wagon first?”
“Yes? How are you going to do it?”
“Don’t tell me, Oppa is going to pull it himself? Even if it’s Oppa, it would be hard to pull a wagon for a week.”
“That’s not it. I have a way, so make the wagon first.”
“But…….”
“Unnie, what are you worried about! If Oppa says that, he must have a way.”
“Right? Then, we’ll trust Oppa!”
“We’ll make it sturdy, so look forward to it!”
-The Constellation, ‘Black Bird,’ glares at you, saying it won’t stand still if you disappoint its contractor.
-The Constellation, ‘Great Bird,’ hurriedly covers ‘Black Bird’ with its wide wings and begins to make excuses to the Demon God.
-The Constellation, ‘Crow Who Bows Its Head,’ looks forward to your actions.
Se-un moved to another place.
People were busy making smoked meat there.
‘The method is one of two things.’
The first method is to tame a monster. Se-un, who has reached the 2nd Circle [a level of magical proficiency], is capable enough.
Besides, Mamon’s treasure vault also had a ‘leash’ used to train monsters.
However, the problem is that there are no more monsters here.
That’s because the monster wave stopped as the first stage of the tutorial ended, and all the monsters in the Wolf Forest and hills have already been subjugated.
Then the only thing left is the second method.
Swish.
Se-un raised his hand.
Towards the monster bones left over from skinning the leather and meat.
Then, he familiarly opened Mamon’s treasure vault.
-The Treasure Vault of Greed has been opened.
[ Raise Skeleton ]
– A magic representing the necromancers of the Black Tower, it infuses mana to raise white bones.
Creak!
Under Se-un’s hand, the monster’s corpse began to stir.