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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Day One in the deeper layers.
A welcoming committee of monsters greeted me. A giant anaconda three times my size, a pack of starving wolves, a massive boar with a taste for human flesh.
The mutated beasts of the mid-level layers were still present, only stronger and more ferocious.
But it was still the outer edge of the deeper layers. The monsters weren’t overwhelming. They attacked one at a time, mostly, so it wasn’t too dangerous.
But their levels were far higher than even the Owlbears. I had to use my abilities.
To the powerful monsters of the deeper layers, humans were easy prey. They were drawn to any commotion, any scent of blood.
I fought constantly, unable to venture deeper. I was stuck in the outer edge, barely surviving.
It was a brutal initiation.
Day One ended.
Covered in blood, I dug a shallow hole beneath a tree and slept. The scent of the earth, thankfully, deterred any nocturnal predators.
Day Two.
“There he is!”
I woke to the sound of voices. Otherworlders. Scouts.
The Knights, with their limited lives, wouldn’t risk venturing too deep. But the otherworlders, with their respawn ability, were expendable.
The scout tried to take my picture.
I captured her and interrogated her briefly. She’d expected to die, but she hadn’t expected to be captured and questioned.
The Knights were advancing slowly, cautiously eliminating any threats.
It wasn’t surprising. It just reinforced my need to move deeper.
My location was compromised. I logged the otherworlder out and continued my journey.
More monsters attacked. The initiation continued.
Day Three.
The relentless attacks subsided. The monsters had learned their lesson. I wasn’t easy prey.
It ended sooner than I’d expected. Maybe the monsters had their own communication network, like the otherworlders.
I made good progress, thankfully avoiding any encounters with the Mountain Lord or other high-level monsters.
I hoped my luck would continue.
It didn’t.
Day Four.
A massive monster blocked my path.
A Twin-Headed Ogre. Twice the size of a normal ogre, with two heads.
I’d fought ogres before, so I charged without hesitation.
Wham!!!!!
“Holy shit.”
I saw its massive club and ran.
I’d expected it to be strong, but not this strong. Its raw power rivaled even the Mountain Lord.
A direct hit would be fatal. A glancing blow would take off a limb. I fled.
Thankfully, it was slow. I easily outran it.
It was probably one of the few apex predators in this area.
My path was blocked. I considered turning back, but decided against it. There might be even stronger monsters deeper in. I couldn’t keep running.
I retreated for the day, finding another tree to sleep under.
Day Five.
Another unusual visitor. Another otherworlder, venturing deep into the forest.
I was about to attack when I hesitated.
“Damn, you look rough. Have you even bathed lately?”
It was Shin Han-byeol. Our relationship was… complicated.
She was friendly with the Knights, and we’d fought when we first met.
We’d shared a… unique bonding experience when I’d kept her as a pet, but we were still awkward around each other. Aside from our holy water trades.
“…Why are you staring at me?”
“I’m deciding whether to kill you or not.”
“What…? You’re kidding, right?”
“Maybe. So, why are you here?”
I assumed she was a scout. She was connected to the Knights, her personality wasn’t exactly friendly, and the timing was suspicious.
But her answer surprised me.
“Um…”
Her voice was barely a whisper.
“It’s been almost a month since our last trade…”
“So?”
“I brought more holy water…”
I stared at her, wondering if she was serious. It seemed absurd.
The Knights were surrounding the forest, the otherworlders were divided… and she’d risked entering the deeper layers just to trade holy water?
‘What’s her angle?’
It sounded like a flimsy excuse, so I used Dantalion’s ear. It had limited uses, so I’d been saving it, but I needed to know what she was thinking.
Was this a trap, or was she being genuine?
– Did I look stupid? But I needed an excuse…
Her thoughts were a jumble of emotions.
– Why did he have to be targeted by the subjugation force… I don’t want him to die… He’s… kind of cute…
– But I can’t betray the Knights. We have a good relationship… Should I just give him the holy water and leave? It might help him, even if I don’t know what he’s using it for.
– I’ll just tell the Knights I couldn’t find him.
She was clearly conflicted, torn between her loyalty to the Knights and her… concern for me.
Her thoughts were messy, almost pathetic, but that made them more believable.
I chuckled.
“Pfft.”
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing. So, you’re here to trade holy water?”
She nodded. And I heard a silent cheer in her thoughts.
– It worked!
I deactivated the ear. It was draining my energy.
I accepted the two vials of holy water and thanked her. I’d been using my blood abilities a lot lately. I was worried about the side effects.
I had nothing to offer in return, so I promised to repay her later.
“Thanks. I’ll pay you back double.”
I tried to send her away. It was too dangerous here.
But she hesitated.
“Um… can I ask you something?”
“What?”
Her question surprised me.
“You use your blood as a weapon, and you use Sword Qi, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Why don’t you imbue your blood with Sword Qi?”
“Huh?”
I tilted my head, confused.
But the answer came quickly. I felt a strange sense of trust towards her, so I didn’t hesitate.
“Because I can’t.”
“Really? Why?”
“Why…? I don’t know…”
I was momentarily speechless. I’d always assumed it was impossible. I’d never questioned it.
I’d just assumed it didn’t work.
I tried to come up with an excuse. Maybe the impure demonic energy in my blood clashed with mana…
But then I remembered.
‘Seere used Sword Qi just fine.’
The demon had been surrounded by demonic energy, and he’d used Sword Qi expertly.
“…I don’t know.”
That was all I could say. I hadn’t been formally trained. My Sword Qi was crude, self-taught.
Han-byeol spoke again.
“Well, according to the Knights…”
We talked for a while. Her explanation gave me a lot to think about.
Day Seven.
I killed the Twin-Headed Ogre. I kept my distance, pelting it with daggers and blood projectiles. Even a powerful monster was vulnerable to ranged attacks.
I crippled it, taking out a leg and an arm, then finished it off. It couldn’t fight dirty, like a human.
“My next Berserk episode is going to be hell.”
I’d used a lot of blood.
But I wasn’t too worried. It just meant I’d need more holy water.
I continued my journey.
Day Eight.
I found a lake!
I was running low on water. Perfect timing.
I bathed for the first time in days. The ogre’s death had deterred other monsters, thankfully.
“These damn mosquitos…”
But the night brought a new challenge. The monsters, drawn by the scent of my clean skin, or perhaps emboldened by the darkness, attacked relentlessly.
I couldn’t understand their logic, but my sleep was disrupted.
Monsters lurked in the shadows, waiting for me to fall asleep.
I couldn’t rest properly. I kept Amdusias’s enhanced hearing active, constantly vigilant.
Day Nine was similar.
Day Ten.
The situation worsened. Two sleepless nights had taken their toll. I was exhausted.
And the monsters showed no mercy. They attacked whenever I tried to rest, whenever I tried to find a safe place to sleep. I fought them, my body heavy with fatigue.
I felt weaker than when I’d fought the ogre.
I was forced to retreat again.
Day Eleven.
I had a stalker. Not a human, but a beast.
A black jaguar, twice my size.
What didn’t this forest have?
Twice my size wasn’t particularly large, by deeper layer standards.
But it was fast, and cunning. It knew how to get under my skin.
I constantly heard its footsteps. It would even appear within eyesight when I woke from my brief naps.
I tried to chase it, but it was too fast. It was a nuisance.
I relied on Amdusias’s enhanced hearing, constantly listening for its approach.
Day Twelve.
I was tired. I wanted to sleep. To rest properly.
Day Thirteen.
Amdusias’s enhanced hearing was a blessing and a curse. It amplified every sound, every rustle of leaves, every footstep. It was mentally exhausting.
And the jaguar was still there, lurking in the shadows, waiting for me to weaken.
It must have been exhausted too, but its patience was remarkable.
It was a waiting game. One of us would break eventually.
Day Fourteen.
I was at my limit. My vision blurred, my body ached, my mind was foggy. I was reaching my breaking point.
“…”
But I also experienced something strange.
I felt everything with heightened clarity. The monsters’ movements, the jaguar’s presence, my own body…
It was like an out-of-body experience. My senses and my body were disconnected.
Was it from the constant stress? Or was I dying?
Whatever the reason, I knew the final confrontation was near.
The jaguar’s presence grew stronger, bolder. It sensed my weakness.
The end was near.
Day Fifteen.
I survived. There was no other way to describe it.
I’d won. The fight itself wasn’t long or dramatic, unlike the days of relentless stalking.
I’d simply been smarter, and more ruthless.
I pretended to sleep for two hours. The jaguar, sensing an opportunity, approached. Even with my eyes closed, my heightened senses pinpointed its location.
When it was close enough, I lunged, thrusting my spear with all my might.
It tried to defend itself, swiping with its claws, but I ignored the pain.
Slash!
My chest burned, blood gushing from the wound.
But my spear had found its mark, piercing the jaguar’s throat. It hadn’t expected me to attack while injured.
I feasted on its flesh, then found a relatively safe place to sleep. The pain from my wound was intense, and I worried about other monsters, but…
It was the deepest sleep I’d had in days.
Day Sixteen.
“…It tastes good. Guess it was worth the effort.”
The deeper layers, aside from being a living hell, had another characteristic.
The monsters were incredibly nutritious. Their flesh, infused with mana, invigorated me.
The Mountain Lord’s meat, when I’d given it to Shin Han-byeol, had even boosted her stats.
It wasn’t just my imagination. The wound on my chest was healing rapidly.
But I was still curious.
‘Why are there no spirit herbs?’
With such a high concentration of mana, there should be spirit herbs everywhere.
But there were none. The mid-level layers had more medicinal herbs.
And the deeper I went, the stronger the demonic energy became. An unnatural concentration.
I remembered Dantalion’s visit. The bone in his hand had pointed deeper into the forest.
I hadn’t understood then, but I understood now.
Something was hidden in the depths of the deeper layers. Something Lemegeton was searching for.
What was it?
“I’ll find out eventually.”
I chuckled and continued my journey. Deeper into the darkness.
Day Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen.
Time passed.
I advanced, retreated, rested when I could.
A giant tortoise, with an impenetrable shell, tested my offensive capabilities. A venomous snake tested my agility.
Every day was a dance with death, but every day I grew stronger.
Day Twenty.
A familiar face appeared.
Grrr…
A ferocious growl, a partially healed wound on its flank.
The Mountain Lord.
Its territory was vast. It had taken longer than I’d expected.
Was the wound from our last encounter?
That was good.
I still felt a primal fear in its presence. The hairs on my arms stood on end.
But I didn’t run. I didn’t flinch.
“Hello. We’ve met before, haven’t we?”
It was time to settle our score.
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