Choi Joo-Hyun cried bitterly for a while. However, when I neither offered comfort nor took any action, she gradually began to stop crying on her own. Listening to the slowly subsiding sound of her sobs, I fell into thought for a moment.
What should I do? When I first entered this place, I had anticipated being attacked or lured into a trap. But instead, they took a step back by sending one of their own to join us. I wondered if there was any need for them to do that, but regardless, I decided to slightly adjust my approach as well. They're probably watching silently from the shadows right now. If so, I'll have to force them to come out.
Choi Joo-Hyun wiped the tear stains from both cheeks and spoke in a choked, trembling voice.
"Up until just a moment ago, I was ready to die. Thank you so much for saving me. Now that I've been given a chance to live, as a human being before a player, I'm starting to feel a bit greedy. So, could you protect me just one more time? Those vagrants from earlier will definitely come back to attack. I'm truly sorry for what my group and I did, but I want to take revenge for my comrades who died so senselessly."
Perhaps noticing my troubled expression, Choi Joo-Hyun pleaded with an even more pitiful face. In other words, she was asking to be included in my group. Naturally, I had no intention of doing so, and thus, I placed my hands on both of her arms. Choi Joo-Hyun flinched slightly.
"I sympathize with your situation, but in a way, you're no different from those vagrants—another player. It's quite difficult to just accept a player like that into our group."
"But if I'm left alone again, I'll definitely be attacked once more. Or I'll fall to monsters without even putting up a proper fight. I know it's a shameless request, but at the very least, let me help out from the sidelines if those vagrants come back. I have some information about them, even if it's just a little, and I'm sure it'll be useful."
Watching her recite her lines as if reading from a script, I took another step forward.
Deep in the night. Deep in the mountains. And a naked female player. Perhaps because of the passionate encounter just moments ago, a subtle heat still lingered in the clearing. As we locked eyes, I slowly scanned her face and body from top to bottom. Choi Joo-Hyun's face could be considered quite pretty. In the modern world, she would easily be called a beauty. After appraising her for a moment, I spoke in a voice that might sound slightly sinister.
"Well, even without those things, I think there's something you could help with."
Grinning, I slid my hand down her soft skin. Unexpectedly, Choi Joo-Hyun's expression didn't change much. Had she calculated even this kind of behavior into her plans? She soon bit her lip tightly and slightly lowered her eyes. Then, her small lips slowly parted.
"A body already discarded. If you can guarantee my protection… fine. Do whatever you want."
Finishing her words, she slowly lowered the arms she had been using to cover herself. Her perky breasts and prominent boobs came into view. But, to be honest, I had no intention whatsoever of embracing Choi Joo-Hyun. If I had planned to recruit her, I would've at least given her some clothes to wear by now.
Thinking it was about time to get started, I continued in a gentle tone.
"There seems to be a misunderstanding. No thanks."
"What?"
"I said no. If I embraced a filthy body like yours, I'd feel sorry for my manhood. So, I don't want to."
"What… What do you mean? Then how—"
Choi Joo-Hyun stammered with a flustered expression. I stopped sliding my hand along her soft skin, gripped both of her arms tightly, and squeezed hard. She let out a faint groan, as if in pain, and furrowed her brow.
And then I whispered slyly into her ear.
"Like this."
As soon as I finished speaking, I gripped her arms with great force. "Rip!" A harsh tearing sound rang out, followed by a piercing scream that echoed through the clearing. Choi Joo-Hyun staggered, unable to maintain her balance due to the sudden violence. I dropped both her arms which I was holding in both hands and grabbed her by the hair, forcing her to stand upright.
"Ahh…! Aaaagh! Aaaaagh!"
"Ju, Joo-Hyun-ah!"
Choi Joo-Hyun's pain-filled screams reverberated, and at the same time, a dark figure leapt out from the bushes. It was Kim Seung-Beom, the one I'd seen before, rushing out with a frantic expression. He must have pretended to leave when I didn't follow, only to hide nearby.
Kim Seung-Beom pointed at me with trembling fingers, his face filled with shock and rage.
"You, you bastard!"
"Oh, you're back. vagrant."
"What the hell are you doing, you son of a bitch!"
"Hm? Oh, didn't you say she was the one following us? So I was about to kill her. What's the problem?"
"It hurts! It hurts! Help me! Seung-Beom, help meeee! Aaaagh!"
With a smug look, I asked, and Kim Seung-Beom stared at me, momentarily speechless. But as Choi Joo-Hyun's screams snapped him back to reality, he gritted his teeth and growled.
"You bastard…! Let Joo-Hyun go while I'm still being nice. If you lay even one more finger on her, I'll make sure you die in the most painful way possible."
"What's that? That doesn't sound like something a rapist would say. Don't tell me you've already grown attached to her?"
"Stop talking and send her over here right now. Argh!"
Kim Seung-Beom's face was flushed red with genuine fury. I shrugged my shoulders once and responded calmly.
"Alright. I'll give her to you."
I slowly moved my hand to Choi Joo-Hyun's neck. As my hand traveled, a strange expression crept onto the guy's face. The moment her deer-like neck was in my grasp, I clenched my fist with all my might, just as I had done with Jung Ji-Yeong. I poured every bit of my 94-point strength stat into it.
"Crack! Crunch!"
"Gack! Grrk!"
"Here you go."
"Thud. Roll."
Her neck, not just broken but utterly shattered, rolled toward him like a bowling ball as I let it go. The blood streaming from her neck painted a thin red trail across the grass as it tumbled. Kim Seung-Beom stared blankly at the rolling head, then slowly sank to his knees, his face contorted with shock.
"Ju, Joo-Hyun-ah."
"So her name was Joo-Hyun. Pretty name."
"N-no, this can't be. This can't be happening. Joo-Hyun-ah. Joo-Hyun-ah? Answer me, Joo-Hyun-ah. Joo-Hyun-ah. Joo-Hyun-ah…? Joo-Hyun… Joo-Hyun Aaaaaah!"
Like a man who'd lost his mind, Kim Seung-Beom kept calling the woman's name, then let out a gut-wrenching scream. His wild, darting eyes suggested he was about to charge at me. Humming a tune, I calmly raised my sword. The moment he came at me, I planned to shove it right through that screeching mouth of his.
That's when it happened.
"Don't act recklessly, Kim Seung-Beom."
A husky voice cut through the darkness, stopping Kim Seung-Beom just as he was about to charge at me. At the same time, figures began to emerge one by one from the rocks, trees, and bushes around us. The main event had finally arrived.
One, two, three, four, five. Including Kim Seung-Beom and Choi Joo-Hyun, that made a total of seven. Since I had already activated my Third Eye earlier and gotten a rough sense of things, I wasn't particularly surprised. Instead, I quickly scanned their classes and stats.
"Hm."
Nothing special. There were a few with decent experience and stats, but that was it. Strictly speaking, none of them were a match for me. This allowed me to relax even further. Was this how War God Cha Seung Hyun felt when facing 800 players?
While I was briefly lost in thought, Kim Seung-Beom was thrashing, trying to shake off the hands holding him back.
"That bastard, he killed Joo-Hyun!"
"I know. It seems our plan has been seen through. So calm down for now. He's already surrounded by us anyway."
The player in front of me had a gentle appearance but carried a dark shadow in one corner of his expression. Comforted by his words, Kim Seung-Beom took a deep breath and roughly stood up. Now that I looked, he had somehow equipped simple clothes and his original weapon. It didn't take long for his earlier wailing eyes to turn into a gaze filled with murderous intent.
I calmly surveyed my surroundings. One swordsman. One archer. One axe warrior. One mage. One combat priest. One regular priest. Including the now-deceased Choi Joo-Hyun, it was a decent caravan, all things considered. Soon, the mage player who had first appeared spoke to me with a grim expression.
"I never would've guessed you saw through our scheme. I thought something was off when you switched the night watch, but you had this trick up your sleeve."
"Heh. Your plan wasn't half bad either. The problem was your actors' shitty performance."
"You hypocritical bastard. I was going to let you go until we found a new haul, but there's no need for that now. Let's see if you can keep that smug look once we've got you."
"Got him? You're not just gonna kill him brutally?"
When Kim Seung-Beom sharply interrupted the grim guy's words, the latter let out a creepy chuckle. Excluding Kim Seung-Beom, the others seemed pretty calm, which confirmed they were definitely vagrants. And Kim Seung-Beom was probably something like Choi Joo-Hyun's lover.
"Don't worry. We'll kill them all eventually. But first, we grab this bastard and hit the others right away. Kill all the men, and the women… heh heh heh. I saw them in the city before—some pretty fine bitches. Those guys are lucky."
"Don't fuck around. I don't care what you think, but Joo-Hyun was my… ugh. I'm gonna kill him right now."
"Calm down, man. I'm not exactly emotionless about a dead comrade either. First, we cut off this bastard's limbs, then make him watch while we enjoy those bitches in front of him. And at the end, we slit their throats one by one right before his eyes. How's that?"
Seemingly tempted by this, Kim Seung-Beom paused, his face still twisted, and nodded a couple of times before grinding his teeth.
"Grr. Fine. That's not a bad idea. No, it's a damn good one. I'll pay him back the same way."
As Kim Seung-Beom raised his sword with a slightly softened attitude, the others, who had been quietly watching, started chiming in one by one.
"Just so you know, that whiny priest bitch is mine. The way she'll cry and wail is exactly my type."
"I want that feisty, sharp-tongued one. I'm curious what she'll scream when I've got her under me. Heh heh."
For the record, five of the six were men. The only woman was the one silently holding a bow, likely the archer player who had been tracking us. While the other male players casually traded lewd remarks, she kept her face covered with a hood and remained quiet throughout.
Anyway, I slowly raised my sword toward the bastards who were making a big show all by themselves. It seemed like all the actors had shown up, so it was about time to bring the curtain down. A movie where everything's already revealed isn't fun anymore. Noticing me raising my sword, the mage player, who seemed to be the leader, sighed and spoke.
"Trying to act tough, huh? I don't get why you came here alone even though you knew, but this time we'll teach you the true terror of Hall Plain. Alright, guys. Rough him up a bit. Just don't kill him."
"Raaagh!"
The moment the mage finished speaking, Kim Seung-Beom let out a roar and charged. A reckless rush relying purely on his superior stats, with no stance or technique. Dumbass. I snorted and swung my sword downward, timing it perfectly. He raised his sword to block and tried to close in, but of course, my blade sliced through his sword and cleanly split his head in two.
Kim Seung-Beom collapsed to the ground without so much as a whimper. In that instant, a wave of shock rippled through the vagrants who had been watching so confidently.
"Kim Seung-Beom! Damn it! A cut spell? Was he carrying a magic weapon…? Don't panic! Don't rush in recklessly—wait for my defensive magic! We've got the numbers advantage!"
"No, it's not a cut spell."
I muttered in a bored tone, slightly tilting my head to the left. At that moment, I saw an arrow whiz past my head. Just like I'd done with the scorpions in the Forest Of Midnight, I lightly grazed the incoming arrow with my sword.
The arrow, which had been flying straight, curved gently along the path of my force and perfectly pierced the neck of the priest standing there dumbfounded. Nice. Bullseye.
"Three down. Four left, huh?"
"Crazy bastard."
"An So-Yeon! What the hell are you doing!"
"N-no! I-I definitely…"
Without taking a single step, I'd dropped three of them in a row. Only then did the vagrants seem to grasp the situation, their faces flashing with panic as they started raising their weapons. But I had no intention of going easy on them anymore. I could probably take out at least one or two more before they got their formation together.
With that thought, I charged at the mage in front of me like a beast starving for blood.
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