-eujik, eujijik…….

With the sound of bones being crushed, the surroundings were instantly stained with blood—only to vanish moments later.

The insects had devoured not just the corpses but every last drop of blood as well.

Dokgo Jun merely stood at a distance, watching it unfold.

“I thought he was a bit questionable for a companion character, and I was right.”

Dokgo Jun seemed to believe that this world was part of a game or novel, and that he was the protagonist.

I recalled that during the Sect Integration Conference, he had treated everyone besides himself as supporting characters.

Shin Sooa had really disliked this guy.

Even now, she was staring at Dokgo Jun with a look of horror.

“Character?… What on earth are you talking about?”

“Let’s save that conversation for later. First, let’s deal with what’s urgent.”

Dokgo Jun turned his gaze toward the demon beast.

It was still engrossed in its meal, but little of the corpse remained.

I could see him gripping the steel pipe tightly.

“If I take this thing down, the tutorial should be over, right!”

The moment those words left his mouth, Dokgo Jun charged at the demon beast.

As he swung the steel pipe once more, the tearing screams of the insects rang out.

-kkiik!

At the sound, Dokgo Jun smiled quietly, but his expression immediately stiffened.

What fell to the floor were a dozen or so—at best, several dozen—insects.

The gaps were filled in an instant.

Though it was the same Insect Grade, it was an entirely different demon beast from the Geojam we had been fighting just moments ago.

═══════════════

[Name] Daegeojam

[Rank] First Insect Grade

[Description] A monster formed by countless silkworms clustered together. Each silkworm must be defeated individually. Its diet is identical to that of the Geojam.

═══════════════

The Daegeojam was low in rank, but it was a somewhat tricky type of demon beast to deal with.

Spears or dual swords barely inflicted any damage.

Crushing it with a blunt weapon or burning it all at once were the appropriate countermeasures.

Neither method was suitable for us at the moment.

“Seems like a type with bad compatibility. Though this much should be… Ugh!”

Just as Dokgo Jun tried to back away, several insects scurried up his legs.

Before he could dodge, the insects sank their teeth into his arm.

Shin Sooa shouted urgently.

“Mr. Dokgo Jun! Be careful!”

She swiftly picked up a piece of scrap wood lying nearby.

And swung it at the Daegeojam.

A dull impact rang out, but Shin Sooa’s face was soon colored with panic.

“What in the world…?!”

-gagak, gagak……!

As if they had been waiting, the insects clung to the scrap wood.

And then, as if they were a blender, they devoured the scrap wood in an instant.

Before the insects could latch onto Shin Sooa as well, I swiftly activated my special ability.

[Special Ability ‘Ten-Foot Blaze’ is activating!]

The moment I launched flames toward the insects, the stench of burning began to fill the air.

I could see the insects shrieking and writhing.

—kiiiik!

The insects that had been rushing at Shin Sooa and the ones clinging to Dokgo Jun all fell away.

I could see the Daegeojam startled by the flames and keeping its distance from us.

True to its Third Insect Grade ranking, Ten-Foot Blaze didn’t have much firepower.

It was barely the size of a golf ball, but it seemed sufficient as a deterrent.

However, it was literally just a deterrent—not enough to kill the Daegeojam.

“Mr. Dokgo Jun, are you okay?”

Shin Sooa asked, checking Dokgo Jun’s condition.

His right arm was riddled with holes, blood streaming down.

Dokgo Jun said, covering the wound with his hand.

“I’m fine. Thanks to you, I survived.”

Even with his clothes soaked through with blood, he was smiling.

Then Dokgo Jun turned his gaze toward me.

His eyes carried a peculiar gleam.

“You said your name was Seo Kangrim, right? Thanks to you too. You seem decent enough to have as a companion.”

Dokgo Jun was still spouting nonsense.

He glanced at the Daegeojam with a grin.

“Seo Kangrim, think you can kill that thing?”

“It would be better to retreat.”

Fire was certainly an effective weapon, but the firepower was too weak to bring down the Daegeojam.

My magic power was limited, constraining how much I could use.

For now, the Daegeojam was being cautious and keeping its distance, but if we clashed again, we would definitely lose.

For now, our only option was to flee and stall for time.

If we could stall just a little longer, the Fate Protection Bureau would arrive.

I quickly relayed the plan to the other two.

“Let’s get out of here now. I’ll try to create some more fire, so use that time to escape.”

The Daegeojam was still wary of my firepower.

It had eaten its fill, so there was a possibility it wouldn’t be interested in us.

In the meantime, Dokgo Jun was muttering something.

“Running away, huh. If that happens, the story progression would…”

Was he seriously lost in idle thoughts at a time like this?

When Shin Sooa nudged him, he finally seemed to snap out of it and looked at me.

“When I give the signal, run immediately. Understood? Each of us in a different direction to disperse its attention.”

He nodded.

I exchanged glances with Shin Sooa as well.

I ignited a small flame once more and hurled it at the Daegeojam.

-hwareureuk!

As the flames flew toward its head, I could see the Daegeojam shriek and coil its body.

At the same moment, we split in three directions and began running.

Just then, thousands of eyeballs fixed their gaze on me.

-kiiiik!

Perhaps realizing that this level of flame wouldn’t kill it, the Daegeojam soon twisted its body and began charging toward me.

It seemed to be prioritizing me, the one who had been shooting fire, as the primary threat.

Just then, Dokgo Jun’s voice rang out from the exit.

“Ah, so that’s the pattern.”

Looking toward the source of the voice, Dokgo Jun and Shin Sooa had already reached the exit.

Dokgo Jun was looking my way with an expression that said he finally understood.

“A powerful enemy appears, a companion dies, and the protagonist awakens because of it. That kind of pattern. This woman must be the heroine.”

Dokgo Jun’s voice was brimming with excitement.

As if he were watching something entertaining.

He said with a bright laugh.

“Seo Kangrim. I won’t forget your sacrifice.”

And then, dragging Shin Sooa along, Dokgo Jun immediately made his exit.

I could understand why Shin Sooa had disliked this guy so much.

If he had simply run away, I wouldn’t have thought much of it.

-kigigik……!

In the meantime, the Daegeojam was drawing closer and closer to me.

For now, I had no choice but to hold out until the Bureau arrived.

As I faced down the Daegeojam, watching for an opening—

A sharp voice rang out from the direction of the exit.

“Heroine my foot, you crazy bastard!”

With a cry of indignation, Shin Sooa came running back inside.

She shouted toward me.

“Kangrim, I’ll draw its attention, so run!”

When Shin Sooa appeared and began swinging the scrap wood, the Daegeojam seemed momentarily startled.

The moment it turned its body toward Shin Sooa—

I immediately launched flames at the Daegeojam.

-peong!

“Where are you looking? You should be looking at me.”

With attacks coming from both sides, the Daegeojam looked somewhat confused, but I knew.

This was only a temporary measure anyway.

In the end, the Daegeojam chose me as its target and bared its teeth.

-kyaaak!

The Daegeojam howled with rage and tried to bite off my shoulder.

I desperately dodged the attack, but I didn’t avoid it completely.

The insects embedded themselves in my arm, and blood immediately began to pour.

“Ugh…!”

I frantically used flames to peel the insects off, but my limit was approaching.

My magic power was nearly depleted.

I could manage to use Ten-Foot Blaze at most one more time.

-kiiiik……!

Perhaps sensing this as well, it began crawling toward me.

Was there anything I could use as a weapon?

I quickly scanned the surroundings, and a pile of construction materials caught my eye.

I urgently shouted to Shin Sooa.

“Shin Sooa! Use the Tree Leaf Seed Technique!”

“There aren’t any trees or anything around here…!”

“Try using the scrap wood!”

I recalled the silkworms that had just moments ago devoured the scrap wood like mad.

The Geojam’s diet consisted of beasts.

Humans.

And vegetation.

The Tree Leaf Seed Technique could be used when there was earth or wood nearby.

I wasn’t sure if it would work on dead wood like scrap wood, but if it was Shin Sooa, who was Third Divine Grade, there was a good enough chance.

Just then, the special ability notification sound rang out.

[Special Ability ‘Tree Leaf Seed Technique’ is activating!]

Her eyes seemed to flash for an instant, and then buds sprouted and branches began to grow from the scrap wood she was holding.

Not only that, but buds were also sprouting from the scrap wood scattered throughout the construction site.

-chwaak!

Countless wooden vines grew from the scrap wood and bound the Daegeojam.

Just before it could bite into me, the Daegeojam was caught by the wooden vines and thrashed violently.

Shin Sooa shouted urgently.

“That should do it! Now we just need to run…!”

-kiiiik!

The bound Daegeojam thrashed about, then quickly began gnawing through the wooden vines.

Her attack hadn’t inflicted the slightest damage.

If anything, the Daegeojam seemed to be recovering as it frantically devoured the wood.

“Kangrim! Dodge!”

Shin Sooa, her face filled with despair, was desperately trying to stop the Daegeojam somehow.

But I neither dodged nor despaired.

I had never expected the Tree Leaf Seed Technique alone to bring down the Daegeojam in the first place.

[Special Ability ‘Ten-Foot Blaze’ is activating!]

I gathered every last drop of my magic power, ignited a flame, and launched it at the Daegeojam.

In an instant, the fire spread to the wooden vines.

-hwareureureuk!

But the flames were still weak.

The Daegeojam also seemed unfazed by this level of flame.

But soon, it began to thrash about in panic.

The flames were growing larger than what would be expected from simply setting wood on fire.

Our abilities were based on Fortune.

The principles of Fortune applied to combat as well.

Metal and Wood formed a destructive cycle where Metal overcame Wood.

Conversely, there also existed a generative cycle.

Wood Generates Fire1.

Wood generates Fire.

No matter how small the flame, if there was wood to fuel it, it could grow immensely.

And at that moment, a notification window appeared before my eyes.

[The fates of ‘Seo Kangrim’ and ‘Shin Sooa’ are beginning to intertwine!]

[‘Shin Sooa’s fate generates ‘Seo Kangrim’s’ fate!]

[Special Ability ‘Ten-Foot Blaze’ temporarily evolves from Third Insect Grade to First Insect Grade!]