Chapter: 19
Very carefully.
Like a cat sneaking a treat without its owner’s knowledge.
Isia slowly approached the Sulfur Deer that was peacefully grazing alone, separated from the rest.
…Something’s weird.
She rubbed her eyes.
Was something wrong with her sense of distance?
Even though it was still quite far away, the deer looked unnaturally enormous.
Ah…
After blinking a few times and looking around, she finally realized.
It’s just huge!
Were deer supposed to be that big?
Or was it because it was a monster?
It was so massive that “gigantic” was the only word that came to mind.
Even its presence was completely different from what it had looked like from afar.
Its antlers glowed as though they were burning, and pale yellow smoke constantly poured from its nostrils.
The smell of sulfur.
There was a reason it was called a Sulfur Deer.
That yellow smoke was unmistakably sulfur gas.
Ugh!
The horrible stench made her stop breathing at once.
I… I can’t get any closer.
The nearer she got, the stronger the smell became.
She was still about twenty meters away from the Sulfur Deer, but getting any closer seemed impossible.
I’ll lure it from here.
She could have shouted to get its attention, but Isia chose another method.
She was worried that the others nearby might get aggroed as well.
Can I actually hit it?
She picked up several stones from the ground.
There was no chance they would actually hurt the Sulfur Deer, but at the very least they should make it look her way.
Of course…
That was assuming she could hit it.
“Hoo…”
Holding a stone, she took a deep breath and focused.
It would have been nice if she had a ranged attack skill or an item…
Still, the sword isn’t bad either.
Isia had only drawn her sword twice before.
The first time was when she encountered that insane lunatic.
The second was when she attacked the man swinging an axe at both Park Jihoo and herself.
Only those two times.
Yet somehow, it felt as though she had wielded a sword for decades.
It felt so natural that she even wondered,
Did I learn kendo when I was little?
Of course she hadn’t.
As she unconsciously stroked the hilt of Crimson Lotus [E], her tense heart gradually calmed.
“Hoo…”
Taking another deep breath, she drew her arm back.
A moment later, the hand gripping the heavy stone whipped through the air.
Whoosh!
The stone was heavier than expected, and she doubted it would even reach.
Yet unbelievably, it struck the Sulfur Deer’s antlers perfectly.
She hadn’t expected to hit it on the first try, so instead, Isia herself froze.
Slowly, the Sulfur Deer raised its head.
Straight toward the direction where Isia was standing.
“Eek!”
Blood-red sclera.
Three pupils.
The moment their eyes met, her heart seemed to shrink from sheer terror.
Run!
If she hesitated, those antlers overflowing with murderous intent would surely pierce straight through her body.
Isia immediately spun around and sprinted away.
Frrrrrr!
The Sulfur Deer, which had been watching her retreating figure, suddenly charged after her like a mad beast.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
With every step of its gigantic body, the ground shook beneath her feet.
“AAAAAAAH!”
Glancing back over her shoulder, Isia screamed as she pushed herself even harder.
It’s… it’s way too fast!
They had been about twenty meters apart.
Yet in the blink of an eye, the Sulfur Deer had already closed the distance to ten meters.
At this rate, it would catch her almost instantly.
And if it did…
It definitely wouldn’t end with just, “Ouch, that hurt a little.”
It would feel like being hit by at least a one-ton truck.
One going at full throttle.
With Isia’s Level 1 body, she would be shattered to pieces.
“N-Now!”
Her pale face twisted in panic as she shouted at the top of her lungs.
At that very momentā
“WAAAAAAAH!”
Her companions burst out from the bushes, throwing themselves between her and the Sulfur Deer.
Whether they were battle cries or terrified screams was impossible to tell.
BOOOOM!
The man carrying the shield stepped forward first and blocked the Sulfur Deer’s charge.
“Ugh!”
The impact was far beyond anything he had imagined.
His eyes widened, and a thin stream of blood trickled from between his lips where he’d apparently bitten his tongue.
“I stopped it!”
Filled with adrenaline, the shield bearer let out a triumphant shout.
Unbelievably, he had actually halted the Sulfur Deer’s tremendous charge.
“A-Attack!”
Seeing that, Isia didn’t even pause to catch her breath.
She drew Crimson Lotus [E] and spun around.
The first to move was the man with the spear.
Because the weapon had such long reach, he thrust from a safe distance.
Stab!
The spearhead pierced through the Sulfur Deer’s hide.
It went in!
She had worried…
What if our attacks don’t work at all?
After all, the Sulfur Deer wasn’t an ordinary beast.
It was a monster.
She couldn’t be certain that Level 1 players using equipment obtained from the Tutorial Floor could deal any real damage.
But it pierced.
Not deeply, but that didn’t matter.
The fact that it had penetrated the creature’s tough hide was enough.
If their weapons could hurt it…
Then they could kill it!
“Jihoo!”
“Y-Yes!”
As Isia rushed toward the Sulfur Deer and called his name, Park Jihoo immediately threw himself into the fight as though he had been waiting.
The timid, weak-looking boy from earlier was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, he radiated a fierce determination to crush his enemy.
BANG!
His massive metal gauntlet smashed into the Sulfur Deer’s jaw with a deafening metallic crash.
Got it!
Unlike the equipment most players possessed, Park Jihoo’s gauntlets were of exceptionally high quality.
Didaskalia had personally given them to him on the Tutorial Floor.
There was no need to explain how powerful they were.
The Sulfur Deer’s jaw exploded.
Broken bones burst through flesh, making it obvious just how devastating the blow had been.
A miserable scream erupted from the monster’s mouth.
“Everyone, move!”
The finisher was Isia.
Her faintly crimson swordā
Crimson Lotus [E]ā
Descended toward the Sulfur Deer’s skull.
A perfectly straight line.
A sword path so flawless it looked as though it had been drawn with a ruler.
The kind of strike only a master who had trained with the sword for a lifetime could perform.
She felt the blade forcibly cleaving through the air.
The sensation traveled from the sword into her fingertips.
Her mind filled with exhilaration and liberation.
Thenā
CRAAACK!
The blade tore through the tough hide.
Shattered the even harder skull.
And sliced straight through the brain.
A flawless sword strike that no one would believe had come from a Level 1 player without a single combat skill.
Crimson Lotus [E] entered through the top of the monster’s head, exited through its shattered jaw, and buried itself in the ground.
“Huff… Huff…”
Everyone, including Isia, watched the Sulfur Deer with tense expressions.
They feared it might survive and attack again.
But…
Nothing like a cheap horror movie happened.
Thud!
The Sulfur Deer, blood and brain matter pouring from its wounds, collapsed to the ground.
Isia stared with wide eyes at the incredible result her sword had created.
She had killed a monster.
The thrill was far greater than when she had killed the man swinging an axe inside the city.
ā You have won the battle against the normal monster, Sulfur Deer.
ā Level Up.
ā Achievement Unlocked: “A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step.”
ā Achievement Reward: Skill “Basic Swordsmanship [D]” has been granted.
She had even leveled up.
And unlocked an achievement.
It even rewarded her with a skill.
It might only be D-rank…
But the difference between having a skill and having none at all was enormous.
Everyone, including Isia, erupted into excited cheers.
“We did it!”
“W-We killed a monster!”
“Hahaha! Aren’t we the first players to do this?”
“Maybe we are. Honestly, I don’t think any other players have even started hunting yet.”
Excitement filled every face.
Isia was no different.
She had only reached Level 2…
Yet she already felt several times stronger than before.
There was no way she could stay calm.
“It was easier than I expected. At this rate, we’ll clear the top floor in no time.”
“They said there are a hundred floors, right? At this pace, we could finish within a month.”
“There’s a reason Korea is famous for gaming. Nobody can beat us Koreans at stuff like this.”
The tension that had been wound so tightly finally disappeared.
They completely relaxed.
“Next time, let’s take on two of them. With teamwork like ours, I think we can definitely do it.”
The shield bearer enthusiastically made the suggestion.
“Sounds good!”
“I’m in!”
“M-Me too.”
No one opposed him.
Whether it was one monster or two…
They were convinced they could handle it.
“Hm?”
Eugene raised his head and looked around.
“I thought I heard something.”
He listened carefully.
But the only sounds reaching his ears were the groans of the Red Goblins.
“Guess I imagined it.”
Finding nothing unusual, Eugene quickly lost interest.
After all, there wasn’t anything nearby capable of threatening him.
Even the Earth Dragon, the boss of the First Floor, had ended up as sashimi in his hands.
No matter how many ordinary monsters came at himāeven if they arrived by the dump truckloadāthey wouldn’t frighten him.
“Let’s get back to what I was doing.”
Shrugging, Eugene looked down at the Red Goblin whose collar he was gripping.
It had been beaten so badly that its face had completely lost its shape, and it was barely clinging to life.
“Hey.”
Eugene waved a hand in front of its face, waking the unconscious Red Goblin.
“U… Ugh…”
As consciousness returned, the unbearable pain in its mangled face made it writhe in agony.
Eugene immediately leaned in close and whispered,
“Hey. I’m going to let you live, so go bring your parents here. Got it? I’ll stay right here without moving an inch, so make sure you bring them.”
Red Goblins were monsters capable of communicating with humans to some extent.
Understanding Eugene’s wordsāwhether they were a threat or an act of mercyāthe Red Goblin nodded frantically, terrified of being beaten any further.
“Good. Off you go.”
The moment Eugene released its collar, the creature crawled away from him.
“Why are you crawling? Run. If you make me wait too long, we’ll start all over again.”
Flinch!
The Red Goblin immediately forced its battered body to its feet and ran off as fast as it could.
Grinning, Eugene quietly watched it disappear into the distance.
“Normally, letting even one Red Goblin escape while hunting would be the last thing anyone should do.”
“But that doesn’t apply to me.”
If even a single Red Goblin escaped during a hunt, players would normally have to return to Terra immediately.
The reason was simple.
A catastrophe would descend upon the area.
A disaster so overwhelming that even a Level 30 playerānot just a Level 10 oneāwould be devoured in an instant.
But Eugene thought differently.
To him…
The real catastrophe wasn’t the Red Goblins.
It was himself.
“Come on already.”
“I’m getting bored waiting.”
As Eugene watched the fleeing Red Goblin, his eyes gleamed with greedy anticipation.
