"The more you know, the more frightening it is."
Unlike the other cabins, this one was a large two-story structure with several rooms inside.
As soon as Seowoon stepped inside, he flinched at the sight of a lantern illuminating the interior. Alarmed, he quickly pulled the crossbow from his back.
Trying to quiet his heavy breathing that had risen to his chest, he moved carefully, step by step, sweat pouring down his face.
"Damn it, I let my guard down. I should've checked more carefully for any presence inside before entering…"
He cautiously scanned the living room where the lantern was lit, then glanced at the two tightly closed doors on either side of the hallway, hesitating.
"Should I leave now? No… whoever's here probably already sensed my presence and is camping. If I turn my back and get caught off guard, I'll be dead before I can react."
Still, confronting another player—especially one as monstrous as the others he'd seen—wasn't exactly a good option with his current abilities.
Just as he was trying to figure out what to do, something caught his eye—a very small ring lying on the floor in the hallway.
Seeing the ring deepened his dilemma.
"A trap?"
In roguelike games, it wasn't uncommon to drop an item in a house and pretend it was empty, luring players in to ambush them.
Seowoon, who had experienced this before, knew better than to fall for it and die instantly.
"They're using tricks like this already? Damn, what should I do? Sneak out quietly? Or charge in? Either way, I have to choose…"
After much deliberation, Seowoon made up his mind and slowly walked toward the stairs leading to the second floor.
He moved with extreme caution, all his senses heightened, muffling his footsteps with each step. Sweat gathered more heavily on his forehead.
"If that ring was dropped as bait, then the ambush is likely on the first floor. I'll go to the second floor where the view is blocked."
The second floor was designed with a turning staircase that completely obscured the view of the first floor from above.
Preparing for a possible ambush, Seowoon climbed the stairs with his finger firmly on the crossbow trigger. He decided to check the two rooms upstairs, one by one.
"The living room is clear. Next are the rooms. If there's an enemy, they would've searched both."
Creak…
Even though he tried to move silently, a loose floorboard screamed underfoot. Seowoon instinctively froze and swung the crossbow toward the stairs.
His heart pounded wildly, as if someone would rush up the stairs any second and go for his life.
The thundering beat of his heart echoed in his ears like rolling thunder.
Despite the panic and fear that someone might leap out from behind, Seowoon kept his gaze locked on the stairs, not even blinking.
Who knows how long he stood there?
When his arm finally began to tremble, Seowoon exhaled quietly in relief and turned toward the door.
He carefully gripped the rough wooden handle and opened the door. His brows twitched at what he saw.
On a small table inside the room lay a single scroll, further complicating his thoughts.
"If there's an enemy in this house, it's one of two things. They heard me and hid in a downstairs room shortly after entering, or they still don't know the item exists."
The latter was unlikely. If the enemy was a mage, they couldn't possibly be unaware of the scroll. Even if they were a martial artist, just touching it would prompt a notification and description in their head—making ignorance nearly impossible.
"If it's neither, then… is there really no one in the house?"
Then who turned on the lantern?
"Was it already on?"
Only then did Seowoon slowly recall the three cabins he had looted earlier while the sun was still up.
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember whether the lanterns had been on.
Everything had been so urgent—he'd looted them hastily, without reason to check the lanterns in broad daylight.
As he cautiously collected the scroll, a familiar notification chimed in his head.
[Ding! You have acquired a Tier 1 Recovery Scroll. Would you like to use it?]
Seowoon quickly hit the X button and shoved the scroll into the one remaining pocket he had.
Then he moved on to the next room.
He burst through the door, crossbow at the ready, scanning every corner of the room for danger. Seeing it was clear, he slowly inspected the dark room.
"This is…"
He lifted a small leather pouch and felt its heavy weight.
Opening it, he found about twenty sharp throwing needles, each about the size of his index finger.
"Perfect timing."
Tightening the pouch string, he hung it from his belt and took a few throwing needles to fasten directly through it for quick access.
Somehow, having the needles ready to grab at a moment's notice gave him a reassuring sense of security.
"This size is perfect for Black Star Needle Art."
That was no ordinary throwing technique. The Black Star Needle Art used a special grip, where the needle was worn on the fingers and thrown with a flick to amplify the force—particularly suited for small weapons like beads or shuriken.
It wasn't a huge gain, but he was satisfied. Calming his pounding heart, he began to descend the stairs.
He had made up his mind. It was time to face whatever came.
"If there is an enemy, the worst case is encountering a martial artist. If they look like one, I'll fire my bolt and throwing needles and run without looking back."
But if the enemy wasn't a martial artist, Seowoon believed he might stand a chance.
Fireball-hurling mages and ironclad warriors were intimidating too, but at close range, his crossbow might just be effective.
"If it's a warrior in armor, aim for the head. If it's a mage, aim for the heart."
Determined, he stopped in front of the first room, steadied his breath, aimed the crossbow with one hand, and opened the door with the other.
"Hoo…"
Seeing the room completely empty, he let out a long sigh.
Only one room remained.
This time, he drew a throwing needle in his off-hand and kicked the door open, charging in.
Finger tense on the trigger, ready to fire, he soon collapsed to the floor in relief.
"Haah… it really was empty."
When he saw the leather pouch earlier, he had already started to suspect the house was abandoned.
Still, he couldn't let his guard down.
Ambushes always came when you least expected them.
"How long was I putting on this one-man show?"
With no clock or phone, he couldn't be sure, but he had likely spent over an hour on edge, afraid of an enemy who wasn't even there.
Finally shaking off his anxiety, he quickly searched the room.
Then he stepped out to the living room, grabbed the brightly glowing lantern, and began to loot the place in earnest.
"This room's empty, at least."
Returning to the first room, Seoun grabbed the leather pouch and opened it to check inside.
When he shone his lantern into the dark pouch, a familiar shape and a pleasant smell reached his nose.
"Jerky!"
It wasn't exactly the smell he was used to in Korea, but the thickly dried appearance and the salty, slightly off-putting meaty odor left no doubt — it was jerky.
He pulled out a piece and sniffed it before shoving it into his mouth.
It was the first meal he had since being dragged into this unknown world.
The salty taste and the slightly rancid meat smell made him grimace, but it wasn't bad enough to be inedible.
Not knowing when he might find more food, Seoun couldn't afford to throw this away just because of a bit of a smell. Gritting his teeth, he chewed the tough jerky piece over and over.
As if to show his resolve to eat it no matter what, he kept chewing until his jaw ached. Finally, he swallowed it down, and his hunger eased a bit.
Counting the remaining pieces, he tore off another large chunk and walked outside with the lantern.
"It should've been around here…"
As he swept the lantern back and forth, his eyes finally spotted the silver ring he had been desperately searching for.
[Ding! You have acquired the Ring of Subspace.]
"Subspace?!"
As a fantasy and martial arts novel fanatic, Seoun knew exactly what that word meant.
Quickly slipping the ring onto his finger, a notification echoed in his mind.
[Touch the item you want to store and say or think "subspace" to store it.
To retrieve, touch the ring with the hand not wearing it and say or think "subspace" to open a small portal.
If you think of the item you want while reaching inside, it will appear in your hand.
If you leave the subspace open without inserting your hand for 5 seconds, it will automatically close.
Items too heavy to be lifted by the player cannot be stored.
If the subspace is full, no more items can be stored.]
"So that's how it works? I guess you can't check how much space is left?"
Musing aloud, Seoun tried storing the leather pouch with the jerky and two scrolls into the subspace. He stared at the silver ring on his middle finger in fascination.
'If I could take this back to the real world… it'd be incredibly useful.'
Of course, that was unlikely. But still, how amazing would that be? Thinking so, he tried retrieving an item from the subspace.
'There's no noticeable delay. This has potential.'
Ideas flooded his mind — throwing bombs stored in subspace, secretly pulling out weapons or tools mid-combat — before he shook his head.
'The players I saw in the waiting room wouldn't fall for something like that…'
"Sigh…"
Just recalling their extraordinary abilities was enough to make him sigh.
'I really needed a martial arts manual.'
In this game, once you obtain a manual, the time it takes to learn the technique is compressed into just a few seconds.
In other words, if you get the manual, you can instantly use the martial art.
Since no such manual had turned up in this rather large two-story house, it was understandable to be disappointed.
"Wait…! If there are manuals, maybe there are elixirs too? Or… maybe even magic tomes."
It wasn't impossible.
In his understanding, martial arts required mastering complex movements and using inner energy stored in the danjeon to unleash superhuman strength.
But simply learning martial arts wouldn't suddenly grant him inner energy.
Now that he thought about it, even the Heukbyeolgisoo had a method for channeling inner energy, but he didn't have even a trace of it.
"If I learn magic or martial arts here… would I be able to use them in the real world?"
The thought made his hair stand on end and sent chills down his spine.
The excitement was electric — just the idea made his heart race.
The only martial artist or wizard in the real world?
That would be the ultimate cheat code. He didn't yet know how he'd use such power, but if it were possible, he wouldn't have to drag himself through boring TOEIC classes or follow everyone else into mindless job prep.
Until now, his heart had been pounding from fear and anxiety — but now it beat with pure excitement.
This newfound hope was heating him up from within.
"Map."
At his shout, a map appeared before his eyes, and Seoun paused to think.
'It's getting dark… should I keep looting? Or just rest here for today?'
Normally, he would rest, but thoughts of manuals and magic made him restless.
The hope that one more house might have something valuable spurred him on.
'Most players are probably staying put for the night… Damn! If only I'd confirmed who else landed nearby!'
It was his biggest regret. If he'd checked for nearby players, his decision would've been easier — now he was just annoyed with himself.
'Wait, is there no way to check how many people are left?'
In the roguelike games he'd played, you could always see the number of remaining players, including yourself.
Given the similarities to those games, maybe this mysterious survival game had such a feature too.
He started calling out phrases one by one.
"Remaining players. No? Game status. Still nothing… Survivors?"
-Ding!
At the word survivors, a small window popped up.
– 99/100
Jeokhwajin → James (Killed with sword technique).