As I raised my head, I saw the sun, tinged with the colors of the fading sunset. I paused for a moment and looked around at the lush bushes and dense trees. Perhaps because of a recent rain, the grasses along the path were adorned with small, round dewdrops hanging delicately from their leaves. These dewdrops, reflecting the light of the sunset, enveloped the entire meadow. It was a truly beautiful scene.
Strictly speaking, the road heading east from Mule wasn't entirely uncharted, but it felt somewhat ambiguous to call it fully explored. To the west lay the Forest Of Midnight, and to the north, a barren wasteland. However, the path we were walking now straddled the line between the road connecting the eastern city and an area that could be classified as uncharted. It wasn't a route frequently traveled by players, but it wasn't completely devoid of explorers either.
"Hyung, are we almost there?"
Noticing me standing still, An-Hyun, curious, spoke up beside me. I shook my head and pointed toward the horizon, which stretched out endlessly.
"No, we just need to cross this meadow. Once we get past it, the Blue Mountains will come into view. That's when we'll reach the checkpoint."
"The Blue Mountains?"
"They say when you see them from a distance, the mountains have a bluish hue, so they're called the Blue Mountains. It's marked that way on the map too. And while it's not set in stone, I've heard that's the boundary separating the uncharted regions between the small city of Mule and the northeastern small city of Eden."
At my explanation, An-Hyun nodded once or twice and then fell silent. It didn't seem like he didn't understand; rather, he just accepted it as it was.
Anyway, it felt like we were on the right track. I had been a bit anxious since the
The party waiting behind me was silent. Having just fought a fierce battle against fourteen Stone Margoils, everyone looked worse for wear. Their desire to rest was palpable, but I decided to keep marching. Once we crossed this meadow, the Blue Mountains would be right in front of us. The Cave Of Wailing wouldn't take long to conquer, and the faster we moved now, the sooner we'd return to Mule.
With my mind made up, I spoke quietly without looking back.
"It's about time to set up camp, but we'll continue marching. I also plan to march through the night, so everyone, prepare yourselves. We'll take a 20-minute break here. If you have anything to sort out, make sure to handle it within that time."
Surprisingly, not a single member of the party complained and all followed my orders. The other players aside, the kids exchanged quick glances before sitting down on the damp ground without hesitation.
While the kids may not have grown much physically, it was hard to say they had matured significantly mentally either. However, starting with this expedition—or more precisely, the battle against the LadolRofs—they were beginning to change little by little. In the past, I had taken on most of the fighting myself, but in recent battles, they had started to pull their own weight, contributing at least their fair share. At first, they seemed awkward, but once they realized their current strength was enough to hold their own against monsters, it must have sparked a lot of thoughts. Namely, they were no longer rookie players.
On top of that, there was a subtle sense of rivalry forming. If they continued to grow like this, I couldn't help but smile faintly at the thought that by the time we left Mule, they'd have become much more capable players. I sat down, pulled a cigarette from my pocket, and lit it. Occasionally, Jung Ha-Yeong would gently urge me to quit, saying it was bad for my health, but that was absolutely out of the question.
Chik. Chiiiik.
"Hoo."
Despite my announcement of a night march, the caravan was bustling with activity, probably because everyone was on edge. Some might say traveling at night is madness, but honestly, in an open meadow like this, day or night made little difference. Besides, the frequency of monster encounters seemed to increase the further we went, so even if we camped now, it was unlikely we'd wake up to a peaceful morning.
Just yesterday at dawn, for example, while we were sleeping in the mountains, we were ambushed by monsters for the first time. Though the attackers were mountain goblins and were obliterated by the alarm and trap spells painstakingly set up by our three mages, the fact remained that we had been ambushed. (As a side note, Sol and Vivienne, who were supposed to be on watch, were found cozily leaning against each other, fast asleep.)
In an open meadow like this, the effectiveness of defensive spells that rely on terrain, as we used in the mountains, was greatly diminished. Goblins might be manageable, but if a horde of Margoils or accelerated LadolRofs came charging in, we could find ourselves in serious trouble. So, to reach our destination quickly and avoid unnecessary hassle, I decided on a night march.
As I finished burning through my cigarette, I sensed someone quietly approaching from behind. Soon, I heard the soft rustle of grass being stepped on, followed by a slight weight leaning against my back. A player—no, a resident—rested their neck against my shoulder and spoke to me in a slightly drowsy voice.
"Kim Su-Hyeon, I have something to ask."
"Go ahead."
"Really? Thanks. Then I'll ask."
"No need to thank… Hey, bite my shoulder and you're dead."
Vivienne, who had opened her mouth wide to chomp on my shoulder, clacked her teeth shut at my warning. I lightly flicked her forehead with my finger, and she twisted her body with a look that practically begged for another hit. I immediately regretted flicking her.
After some playful bickering, Vivienne finally spoke in a serious tone.
"My bag was too heavy."
"…"
"So I checked its contents, and there was a pile of equipment I'd never seen before tucked away in the corner."
At her question, I briefly turned to glance at the kids. An-Hyun was busy massaging his legs, Yun-Jung was tossing and catching Sculepf, and Sol was struggling beside An-Hyun, rubbing her feet. After observing them, I responded in a low voice.
"We were being tailed."
"When? Where? And what did you do?"
"Three days ago, by my count. While we were sleeping in the mountains. I killed them all."
"Hmm. I see. I had no idea. But why stuff it all in my bag?"
"Because I didn't want the kids to know."
"Heh. Protecting and looking out for them?"
"No."
I firmly shook my head, denying her assumption. My words carried a different meaning. The kids were in the midst of a mental shift, transitioning from immaturity to something more solid, and I didn't want any unnecessary variables interfering. They weren't strangers to killing, but someone like Sol, for instance, might waver if exposed to something like this. I tossed the burnt-out cigarette away and continued.
"They're finally starting to get the hang of things. I don't want to throw in a new variable now. They're at an age where even a slight misstep could send them spiraling. And you might not realize, but it's only been two months since they truly stepped into Hall Plain. They got a taste of it before, so monsters are enough for now. Too much isn't good. They're not ready to handle all that yet. And above all…"
Vivienne tilted her head, clearly not fully grasping my words. I didn't mind, as I was practically talking to myself anyway. It seemed nearly 20 minutes had passed since we started resting. I pushed Vivienne, who was still leaning against my back, away and stood up, speaking as I did.
"Anyway… they'll get their fill of killing soon enough. players, vagrants, whatever. It's coming, and it's coming soon."
As if to prove my worries were unfounded, our night march proceeded without any interruptions. Today marked the momentous 10th day. Since I had boasted to Go Yeon-Joo, I maintained an exceptionally fast marching pace. As a result, we successfully crossed the targeted meadow.
When I saw the towering blue peaks rising in the distance, I let out a sigh of relief inwardly. The majestic mountains before us shimmered with a beautiful blue hue, as if submerged in the middle of an ocean. Having seen them a few times before, I was unfazed, but the kids, seeing them for the first time, were momentarily entranced by their beauty before hurriedly scrambling to catch up with me, their footsteps echoing behind.
By now, the party had fallen completely silent. It was clear they were all feeling extreme fatigue. The toll of the forced march was unavoidable. Even Jung Ha-Yeong's face was etched with exhaustion, and charging into the
After about 40 minutes of a tedious journey, we finally arrived near the mountain range. From there, I slowed the marching pace, and the moment the sea-like forest came into clear view, I brought the group to a halt.
We had marched through the entire night, and now the sun was peeking through the clouds. I looked up at the sky for a moment, nodded a few times, and spoke.
"Everyone, well done. The mountains you see before us are the Blue Mountains. I'd love to head straight in, but some of our party members are clearly exhausted, so we'll rest here. Feel free to eat or sleep. And… player Go Yeon-Joo, player Jung Ha-Yeong."
The moment I finished speaking, the sound of people collapsing in exhaustion echoed around me. Of the two players I had called, one approached with a light, graceful step, while the other trudged over sluggishly. I pulled out the map, looked at the two women who had come to me, and spoke calmly.
"I'm going to scout the surroundings for a bit. I need to find the entrance that matches our planned route. In the meantime, I know it's a hassle, but player Go Yeon-Joo, please take charge of preparing the meal, and player Jung Ha-Yeong, please oversee setting up the camp."
"Can I come with you?"
"You're going alone? Isn't that dangerous?"
"No, I'll be fine on my own."
Though their questions were different, a single response was enough to address them both.
Leaving behind their pouting and concerned gazes, I immediately set off. If I could just find the entrance, the
The entrance was easy to find. It wasn't exactly the same as when I'd been here before, but back then, I clearly remembered that massive trees formed a twisted triangle in front of the entrance, with bushes spread out in a U-shape on either side. I recalled it being quite distinctive. The caravan leader at the time, spotting that scene, insisted it wasn't something to overlook and recklessly dragged us inside, ultimately leading to the discovery of the cave. Well, that leader ended up getting one-shotted by that thing inside the cave, but that's beside the point.
In any case, by piecing together the direction the caravan had come from, along with my memories of the bushes and trees, finding the entrance wasn't all that difficult. I didn't even need to use my Third Eye.
When I returned after roughly mapping out the route, I found most of the party already fast asleep. Remarkably, Shin Sang-Yong was keeping watch alone. It was obvious he'd volunteered because no one else wanted to. He was desperately fighting off sleep, shaking his head back and forth as his eyes kept drooping.
I quickly approached him, placing a hand on his shoulder and speaking.
"Go get some rest."
"Huh? Leader, you're back… Haha, no way. The leader guiding the caravan must be twice as tired as the rest of us. Since I've already taken it on, I'll keep at it. Oh, and we were supposed to have two people on watch, but player Go Yeon-Joo assured us the area is safe, so…"
Every word out of his mouth was so earnest, it was hard not to like him. I gave Shin Sang-Yong a gentle push on the back, speaking in a warm tone.
"It's morning now, so the number of people on watch doesn't matter as much. We've got clear visibility. Anyway, let's call it a shift change. You did well with the night march."
"B-but…"
Shin Sang-Yong kept declining, and it wasn't until I started showing signs of irritation that he finally, reluctantly, crawled into his sleeping bag. He bowed deeply to me and pointed to the food Go Yeon-Joo had prepared. I told him I'd eat on my own and then slowly scanned the surroundings.
We were now truly on the verge of entering the
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