On the afternoon of the seventh day - that is, about 80 hours after the moment we separated from the group in this damned forest - I was still there, wandering through the forest with a vacant stare, watching as the hallucinations worsened every fucking day.
This was the change that occurred at the beginning of the second day: We didn't speak unless it was necessary. Not because we were unwell or anything like that, we simply no longer had the strength to do so.
There had been another new development. I used a rope to tie Missha and me together with a knot that looked like weaving oysters with string. It was a skill I'd acquired naturally after living so long in the Witches' Forest. This way, even if one of us fell behind or fell to the ground, we could rely on the rope to find each other.
"Bjorn... slow down, go a little slower..."
"Okay." I slowed down.
This morning, Missha's condition had deteriorated rapidly. It wasn't due to illness or serious injury; her fatigue had simply reached its limit.
walk, walk.
I slowed down for her, but I still felt tugs in my waist. I couldn't even keep up with her at this speed. After a brief moment of contemplation, I stopped walking. "Get in."
"Hey?"
"You'll feel better when you get some rest."
"B-but…" Missha trailed off and looked at me. Honestly, it must have been funny. Judging by appearances alone, I was in much worse shape than she was.
I'm sure I've never seen a barbarian so badly mistreated.
My underwear was torn with holes here and there, and even my iron gear was corroded all over. These were all side effects of awakening Missha. The Corpse Golem's passive ability activated upon the removal of the Frost Spirit Ring. Abrasions from monster battles were commonplace, and my current state was the result of my acidic blood.
I'm going to break the bank just for the repairs.
I smiled bitterly. The lithium breastplate and shield were made of grade 2 material and were in good condition, but they had long since lost their former luster and pure white beauty.
But Missha seemed to misinterpret that smile. She opened her mouth in concern. "I'm fine. You should rest. I'll take you."
Thanks for the offer, but… do you think that's realistically possible?
"Just come here." Rejecting any further arguments, I grabbed Missha's waist and lifted her up. I could feel the lethargy in her light body. She didn't even have the strength to resist. "I'll wake you if there's any trouble, so rest a little until then."
"But..."
"Shut up."
"…Thank you." Missha threw her head onto one of my shoulders and finally gave in, but she couldn't fall asleep right away. She spoke to me in a low voice. "Bjorrrn?"
"What's happening?"
"You know what?"
"That?"
«Mmm, smells good...»
What smells good? At least finish your words.
I was curious what she was going to say, but... I was sure she was just talking in her sleep. It was impossible for a body covered in blood and dirt that had not been washed in several days to smell good.
Soon, I heard the sound of slow breathing, which made me laugh.
I tell you that you don't know how good you have it. No matter how many hallucinations come to you, if you are very tired, you can fall asleep anywhere. This is how the human body is designed. It has to be able to survive in any environment. So, let's keep walking.
I continued walking through the forest with Missha on my shoulder. I was tempted to leave her on the floor and rest too, but I couldn't do it.
[It's been 84 hours since you entered the Witch's Forest. Field Effect-The Witch's Forest has been strengthened. The Witch's Eye status anomaly has risen to level 5].
The Witch's Eye field debuff was the real reason why Witch's Forest was recognized only as a transit area. The effect was simple. If you stayed in one place for a certain time, the rank 7 Carnivaro monster would appear, and that time would gradually decrease as you leveled up. It started with an hour on the first day, and now...
It should be about ten minutes.
That meant we couldn't afford not to move right now. The problem was that there were two of us. Even if a Carnivaro appeared, there was no ally to stop them, and at this point once it appeared, we were more or less dead flesh, as it took at least 15 minutes to kill that monster, even when we had the stamina. In theory, another bastard would appear before the first one died.
walk walk.
That's why I kept walking. I wanted to faint from exhaustion, but I had to walk. Otherwise, it could be really bad.
Still, seeing that it hasn't appeared yet, does that mean I can stop worrying about them now?
Distracting yourself is the best thing you can do while you are tired. After finishing a thread of thoughts, I moved on to another topic. Today I had been lost in the Witches' Forest for four days. If that bitch Elisa had the means to find us, she would have done it by now. It seemed like we could be calmer now.
That freed us from the biggest problem.
I didn't know why they hadn't been able to find us, but if I could guess, they must have encountered an unexpected problem as well. Just like what had happened to me with Missha. Life was shit because you never knew what was going to happen when.
Anyway, how long did I walk to avoid those monsters? Hmm, it had to have been at least an hour.
Oppa, why are you leaving her alone?
I raised my head at the familiar hallucination.
You have granted her the wish of a lifetime... If you tempt her in the slightest, she will let herself fall completely for you.
A woman appeared next to a tree dressed in a white blouse and a suit skirt, and looked at me with her characteristic arrogant and harsh tone. She was my ex-girlfriend.
Is it because you are afraid of being abandoned again?
Ugh, damn... Until now it had been obvious that these were hallucinations, but this one was different. I felt that if he walked towards me, I could feel the heat coming from his body.
Oh, you are clever.
And now what? Because this hallucination came out of my head, her behaviors were exactly like her. Did that mean that all the hallucinations I had been hearing were actually based on my subconscious?
That's the problem with you. You always have to know everything.
I can't deny it, I agreed. The fear of ignorance was an instinct in all living beings.
Still, you are too much. When you don't even reveal anything about yourself, he said.
The same thing happened to you.
Sorry? What do you not know about me? You know every corner of my body, even better than I do, remember?
My eyes moved involuntarily at the flirtatious voice. There had been something new with visual hallucinations. A white blouse and a short suit skirt... It was the same as before, but now she was wearing black stockings on her long legs. Before they were flesh colored.
Your taste is the same.
Damn, was this the kind of person he was?
Get rid of that beast girl and come to me. You need to be with me. Others will never understand it, right?
Was true? Without realizing it, my feet moved forward. That was the moment.
Make me feel good-.
My ex-girlfriend's face, who was smiling shyly with open arms as if she wanted to hug everything, was strangely distorted. Not metaphorically, but truly.
¡A slap!
His facial muscles were crushed with a punch. For some reason Missha, who should have been on my shoulder, was crushing my ex-girlfriend's face with her fist. And repeatedly, like the agility character he was.
Hit! Hit! Hit!
What was this? Was it a hallucination too? I watched the scene unfold as if I were dreaming.
«Kyaaaaah!» A scream that sounded like nails on a blackboard rang out, restoring my sanity.
At some point, Missha, who had beaten my ex-girlfriend to death, came back and shook me by the waist. «You're OK! Bjorn!»
«Eh, si...»
«I got rid of the dryad, so wake up!»
That? The dryad? The rank 8 monster that Charm used and was very rare in the Witch's Forest? No wonder the hallucination was so clear.
[Has killed a dryad. EXP +2. If el Encanto of abnormal state is eliminated].
Suddenly I understood what had happened. I wasn't being affected by the field effect but by a Skill. «Thank you... If it weren't for you, it would have been a disaster».
«Hmm, this isn't it...» But at that moment, Missha stiffened and pointed somewhere. «Uhh? B-Bjorn? I think the disaster has already happened...»
After checking where he was pointing, I nodded involuntarily. «...It seems so».
Had it been ten minutes since he was in a state of Enchantment? Next to a bush not far away, the rank 7 monster Carnivaro was slowly walking towards us with killing intent shining in its eyes.
«Yo... tea... food ...»
Carnivaro was classified as an undead humanoid, and had a fairly high level of intelligence. The problem, however, was that he only used that intelligence to kill people.
«Blood... meat... give me...» The Carnivaro pointed a crossbow at us. Already salivating, his protuberant fangs glowed with fluids. I don't know Missha, but being a barbarian, I probably looked quite appetizing. Although, having little body fat, it would probably be a little difficult to chew.
«Missha, get behind me.»
«Okay!»
Sending Missha to the back, I blocked the gap with a shield. Now that we had met, it was no longer possible to run. The Carnivaro chased its prey to the end. In fact, his fighting style was similar to that of a hunter.
[Carnivaro has launched Mine of Mana.]
He set invisible traps in the surroundings. The moment we approached, a loud explosion would detonate. Therefore, it was difficult to hastily reduce the distance.
[Carnivaro has launched Chasing Arrow.]
The arrows flew with a power incomparable to that of a goblin archer, and with a high level of precision correction. Therefore, it was better to block than dodge.
¡Clang!
I received an arrow shot directly at me and bounced it to the side. Last time, I blocked the arrows while Missha threw stones around to detonate the mines.
Now we don't have time for that.
We had to kill this monster in ten minutes. Otherwise, another would appear and the process would repeat itself over and over again until we died. Now there was only one option.
«Missha, sube a mi espalda.»
«What are you talking about?» Missha was collecting stones that she could throw. She tilted her head, but I didn't have time to explain.
«Looks like we're going to have to work hard this time. So hurry up and do what I tell you».
When I spoke loudly, Missha climbed onto my back. Immediately, I lunged forward, protecting my head and upper body with the shield.
¡Kablam!
The mines scattered around exploded with every step, but I kept running.
«W-what are you doing?!» missha yelled at me, but to be honest, this didn't seem particularly strange to me. Since I woke up in the body of a barbarian, I had been able to overcome most of my crises with just my body. This was the same thing, the only option I could choose in this shitty situation.
¡Kablam!
The pain went through my Pain Resistance. Every time an explosion sounded, I could feel my legs shattering in real time.
[Carnivaro has summoned a Hound].
Meanwhile, the summoned wild dogs pounced on me. Arms, shoulders, thighs, legs: They dug their teeth everywhere and pulled their jaws from side to side hard.
¡Kablam!
Still, I didn't stop walking. I continued forward, defending myself from the flying arrows and pushing the hounds with the Meat Blast. It was at this moment that the tenth mine exploded, and my body suddenly swayed.
¡Bang!
I tried to stretch my other foot to find balance, but soon realized it was useless.
What fucking disgusting.
It was already difficult to describe the member under his leg as a foot. It was more of a crushed piece of meat.
Well, since we've come this far, I'm sure you'll notice.
As soon as I realized that moving further was impossible, I threw Missha away. «Take care of them».
No words returned. However, Missha's movement as she jumped into the air was the answer.
Stab!
Misha, who was doing some agile somersaults while floating in the air, inserted a spear into the Carnivaro's shoulder instead of his head, a mistake due to his lack of skill with the weapon.
Stab.
However, Missha made up for her mistake by turning her body with the spear as an axis, then taking out the dagger she was carrying around her waist and stabbing it into the monster's forehead. It didn't take more than five minutes. Anyway, we overcame another crisis. Satisfied with that fact, I collapsed.
[Warning: A loss has been inflicted on a part of your body. If not treated promptly, it can lead to permanent injuries].
***
When the battle was over, Missha ran towards me. She shouted: «Bjorn! What were you thinking?!» She seemed angry, but also on the verge of crying.
I briefly responded: «It was the best option». There was no other option. And from now on, what Missha had to do was not scold me or worry about me. «If that's enough explanation, can you give me a potion now?».
Missha's eyes rolled back when I lay down on the ground with crushed feet and she gave an order nonchalantly. However, my request had still entered his head, it seemed, and he served me the potion with trembling hands.
¡Chhhhhh!
It was an advanced potion that cost a whopping 200,000 stones per jar. No matter how expensive it was, it was an essential consumable that could even repair amputated limbs. But Missha was still worried.
«These types of wounds cannot be completely healed with a potion...»
Well, I wasn't sure about that.
[Your regeneration power is greatly increased with the Eternal Life effect.]
Between the Immortality Imprint, the vampire essence with a high natural regeneration stat, and the Eternal Life active ability, in terms of gameplay my natural regeneration level would already easily exceed 150. Even if it was not an advanced potion, with enough time, it was possible to recover from a limb amputation wound. If it weren't for this, I wouldn't have done such madness in the first place.
«W-what?! I-It's impossible for it to heal so quickly...» Missha was amazed to see that the effect of the potion caused the wounds to regenerate quickly. As far as she knew, she only had the essence of the Corpse Golem.
In less than a minute, the crushed leg was healed. Unfortunately, he was barefoot.
Should I have taken off my shoes before running? Those boots plus the potion would have sold for at least 150,000 stones.
It was too big a loss to consider an investment for a rank 7 monster, but there was no point in regretting it now. I opened the backpack, put on the leather boots I was wearing at the beginning and got up slowly.
Well, I think my toes feel normal again.
«Bjorn, what the hell are you?! Your potion doesn't even hurt!»
«It is the spirit of a barbarian.»
Was true. Ainar also did not moan when he took the potion. Although it was working purely with Pain Resistance. Well, it was just necessary for the results to be the same, right?