chapter 6
006. Carmella’s Forest (2)
“Jin Yu-ha… …. Sweeping out the goblins?”
Lee Yu-ri raised one eyebrow and expressed her doubts.
“Ah, I’m not saying I won’t detect it. I plan to continue reporting on the appearance of Niki. But, on top of that, I want to help wipe out the goblins.”
“Um… …. You don’t have to…….”
“As you know, a trait is an ability that consumes mana, isn’t it? To be honest, up until now I hadn’t been out for a walk.”
This was sincere.
The only thing I used while coming here was my neck and legs.
The neck tells you the location of Niki,
For the feet to walk all the way here.
Yuna, the porter, looked more aggressive than me, the dealer.
Walking in sweat with a bag the size of my body
Even when I tried to share some of it, she was rejected saying, ‘This is my job!’
“Jin Yu-ha. First of all, let me tell you so that there is no misunderstanding. The reason I’m hesitating right now isn’t because I don’t trust Jin Yu-ha.”
Lee Yoo-ri chose her words with a um ─ then she opened her mouth again.
“First of all, Yoonseo, Soyeon unni and I have been working together as a team for quite some time. And before Jin Yoo-ha came, the dealers had been together for a long time.”
“So, I was watching the team leader from behind. Continue.”
“…… You said you were watching. Me. Continue.”
“Yes, there are moments when there is an empty space in the middle of the battle. Especially when the team leader hits the goblin with a shield and passes it to the dealer. At that time, maybe the dealer who had run away the day before hadn’t dealt with the monsters……. It was usually at that time that Go Yoon-seo got hurt.”
Then, Lee Yu-ri’s mouth opened in surprise.
“Hut! Did you notice that!?”
“I told you that I like people’s eyes.”
“No, I don’t think those eyes are these eyes… ….”
“I will not disturb the party.”
I cut her off and said strongly.
“So, give me one chance.”
When we met her eyes seriously, Lee Yu-ri averted her gaze.
“Are all the male cadets at Velvet Academy the only ones like this… …. Ha, really. It bewitches people.”
Lee Yu-ri, who was muttering to herself in her small voice, let out her wide sigh and nodded her head slowly.
“Yes, you said that… …. All right. Instead, it’s ‘Only on the way back’. At that time, monsters rarely appeared, so I can afford to accept even a little mistake.”
“…… Yes? Way back? Are you going back now?”
When I asked in bewilderment, Lee Yu-ri tilted her head as if asking for something obvious.
“Because I came. Should I go back?”
“Ah.”
This was different from the game again.
Clearing dungeons in the game is only about moving forward, not going back the way you came.
Just defeat the boss and the 【STAGE CLEAR】 message will appear and you’re done.
“…… Uhm, but I don’t know what will happen.”
“Yes?”
“Ah, for now, I will accept Jin Yu-ha’s participation in the battle. However, other than that, there are some things that need to be agreed upon with the party members.”
While doing so, Lee Yu-ri opened the plastic bag that had been messing around.
There was a delicious mixture of red pepper paste and various side dishes.
She had a small smile on her face.
But she quickly recovered her face, and then she spoke again in a businesslike voice.
“Then Jin Yu-ha. I’m sorry, but can you go and finish your meal now and call the party members? I’ll finish eating soon too.”
“Yes, I understand.”
I left behind Lee Yu-ri, who had started eating.
And after I finished my meal, I summoned the party members.
“Huh? Gukbap convened? Why?”
“Yes, there is something else.”
“Maybe it’s because Yuha oppa is trying to take care of you?”
“Yuha… brother!? You bastard! When did you become so close by yourself!”
“Ah, ah, it hurts!”
I waited for a while while watching Go Yoon-seo and Yuna’s mandarin talk, and soon Lee Yu-ri returned.
Then, everyone’s eyes turned to her.
“First of all, today’s clearing goal has been achieved. Even though there were uncomfortable situations like this and that, everyone did a good job.”
Lee Yu-ri opened her mouth with a face that wasn’t bad.
At that word, clap clap clap- a small applause broke out.
“By the way, we have more time left than we thought. So we now have to make a choice.”
A word she suddenly uttered out of nowhere.
Time is running out.
What does this mean?
The Carmella Forest route we entered today was originally a 10-hour round-trip route.
It took about 5 hours one way, so the goal was to film this base camp and return.
By the way, today I arrived at the base camp in 3 hours and 30 minutes thanks to my use of detection and not caring about Niki.
In other words, the 10-hour round trip was reduced to 7 hours.
It was an astonishing achievement considering that one dealer was empty.
“…… Wow, crazy. Somehow, today’s meal time was early! Aren’t you crazy? Jin Yu-ha, what the hell are you!”
Go Yoon-seo is creepy—! He said and stroked her stretched arm.
I laughed out loud when I saw that. Now I’m slowly getting used to it.
“Hmm, hmm.”
Lee Yu-ri cleared her throat and drew her attention again.
“Now I am satisfied here and it is good to go back. The sweeping will be over soon. It is also a way to go home and rest.”
“By the way… …. If that happens, three hours will be gone.”
Choi So-yeon said while touching her lips.
“Yes, sister. So we need an agreement. Shall we end the sweeping here? Or will you move toward the unexplored route, the ‘unknown’?”
Unknown.
Basically, exploring an unexplored route is accompanied by risks.
Under normal circumstances, it is normal not to try.
I had already used up a lot of stamina to come here, but since it was unfamiliar, few people wanted to do it by force.
Because I didn’t have enough time or space to do that in the first place.
However, there is plenty of time left to recover your stamina.
It was also a very attractive option if there was still time to invest in exploration.
“The unknown, the unknown… …. Gukbap-ah, if you pioneer an unknown route, will you give me more performance bonuses?”
Go Yoon-seo, who was thinking with her arms folded, said to Lee Yu-ri.
“Yes, it is.”
“It’s big—to be honest… …. The pace is faster than usual, so it’s a bit difficult, isn’t it? But what worries me……. There are hardly any monsters on the way back anyway, right?”
“Yes, and on the way back, Mr. Jin Yu-ha also decided to participate in the goblin eradication.”
“Eh, really? Jin Yu-ha?”
The late Yoon-seo turned his head and looked at me with his eyes wide open. I nodded and replied.
“Yes, attributes don’t consume mana, so I haven’t used much stamina until now. So I asked the team leader separately.”
“Wasi, if you do this for a second, I will leave… …. This is a notice even if you can’t eat it. Let’s go! Unknown Kazuah!”
The late Yoon-seo raised his arm and shouted.
Then, he expressed his affirmation to see if he thought Choi Min-yeon, who had been thinking hard about it, was also worth doing.
Yuna, who was tidying up her bag that was already full, made an empty space in her bag, saying, ‘I can take more with this!’.
If you see me willing to go to battle, you accept it without saying anything.
Now, it seemed that they didn’t trust me or say that I was a man.
I felt pretty happy that I was recognized as a party member.
“How is Jin Yu-ha?”
Lee Yuri asked me this time.
“I’m fine too. As I said, I have a lot of stamina left.”
When all the party members agreed to the unknown exploration, Lee Yu-ri nodded her head calmly.
“Okay. So, I’ll decide to explore the unknown route for the rest of the time. Then, everyone, from now on, take enough rest and replenish your stamina.”
And let’s recover some of the party members’ stamina through rest.
Lee Yuri raised her shield and shouted.
“Everyone, line up! Let’s start exploring the unknown route!”
* * *
“I’m sorry Jin Yu-ha, but I think you have to play the same role as before on the way back from the unknown route.”
Lee Yu-ri said as she held up her shield and moved forward.
“Yes, it is fine. It is better to reduce the variables in unexplored areas.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
“By the way, I don’t see any goblins. I don’t even have Nicky.”
It’s already been 30 minutes since I raised my nerves and started to advance on an unknown route.
Except for the two goblins we found at the beginning,
I couldn’t even meet a single monster.
Even those two ran away straight into the woods as soon as they saw us.
After that
The scenery of the green forest just continued.
The heartbeat and footsteps of the party members as if nervous in an unfamiliar place,
Only the sound of leaves rustling in the wind filled the silence.
‘This is too quiet.’
“Kuh, if this happens, even exploring the unknown will be eaten as a reward, then isn’t today a bad luck day?”
At that time, Ko Yun-seo broke the silence and spoke.
‘Sweep, it’s even more disturbing to set up a flag like that.’
Even a little while ago, I had an unpleasant feeling that something was tickling in my head.
I didn’t have any specific symptoms, so it wasn’t because of the senses.
‘It’s just an unfamiliar place, and everyone is nervous, so maybe I’m just feeling the same way.’
Then suddenly,
‘Oh, wait a minute. Is this……. Isn’t that intuition?’
The random traits I got from the three ‘character recommendation letters’
《Perception》, 《Opening Eyes》, 《Intuition》
There were three of them.
Among them, the detection is the ability to recognize the monster of a 100m radius in advance.
[Opening Eyes] Is an ability that allows you to see as if it were daytime even when the surroundings are dark.
And the last 《Intuition》.
‘A feature that warns you before boss monsters appear in the game.’
Even now that Velvetsra has become a reality, it is unknown whether intuition will be the same as the game.
We don’t know yet how it works, unlike the way it warned the boss to appear on the screen.
Maybe it’s just an exaggeration.
However, it could not be ignored.
Now everyone is tired of excessive tension.
There is not enough preparation, personnel, or physical strength to deal with the boss monster.
I thought it would be the right thing to do this time.
Talk. Tok. Tok.
I tapped on the shoulder of Lee Yu-ri, who was walking ahead.
“Jin Yoo-ha?”
Just like that, the moment she turned her head towards me.
Jerbeok─
‘f*ck.’
From far away, a red goblin caught my eye.
The moment I saw him, my intuition set off an alarm.
At the same time,
Monsters began to get caught in the detection of excellent water everywhere.
Let’s open our eyes and look around
At some point.
We were surrounded by goblins with all sorts of weapons.
“… ….”
Let me look around with a distant face.
Yuri slowly turned her head.
Lee Yoo-ri looked around at the monsters surrounding them with a bewildered face.
Soon, she hardened her face.
And.
Sup─
He took a deep breath.
“…… All of them—————!”
I fixed the tight shield and gripped it.
“Retreat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
With a loud roar, he ordered everyone to retreat.
While calling out to his comrades to retreat,
She is
I ran forward alone.