It was clearly watching us.

Could it be the one who threw the peach?

I grabbed my sword and stood up, but the gaze soon vanished.

【Hey, isn’t that the culprit?】

【Hurry up and chase after them, Kangrim!】

However, their presence had already disappeared.

I thought I caught a glimpse of a human figure, but it seemed as if they had deliberately shown themselves.

Were they luring me?

I looked back at the three sleeping people.

There was no telling what might happen while I was away.

Seeing as they scattered Magical Beast Peaches, it was certain these people were the target.

I sat back down on the ground, keeping my sword in hand.

I had no choice but to head back as soon as dawn broke.

The night felt particularly long today.

Only the campfire burned quietly, keeping watch by my side.

* * *

[Spirit Jade Acquired: 722/1000]

A Small Ogre was brutally slashed and collapsed to the floor.

Dokgo Jun wiped the blood from his face and looked down at the corpses with an indifferent gaze.

Dozens of bodies were scattered all around.

Both his hands and sword were slick with blood, and the ground itself was stained beyond recognition of its original color.

‘This is boring.’

He walked out of the forest with a bored expression.

He had acquired over 700 Spirit Jade, so he only needed to hunt about 30 more Human-grade beasts to successfully clear the realm.

However, this fact brought no joy to Dokgo Jun.

‘The plot development is utter garbage.’

He had entered the Room of Sword Tree and continued hunting, but he was feeling an excruciating boredom.

‘No rival, no ally, no adversary. No heroine either. I’m just hunting mediocre demon beasts.’

He had been a little excited when the voice of a god echoed from the sky, but even that had cooled down.

There was no god he particularly liked; they all seemed mediocre and unremarkable.

‘What is my role? And what about Seo Kangrim?’

It was one of the thoughts tormenting Dokgo Jun lately.

At first, he thought Seo Kangrim would be another protagonist or perhaps an ally.

However, Seo Kangrim had been defeated by Cheon Gunam in just the second room.

‘I had high expectations for Cheon Gunam, but…….’

Cheon Gunam was far too weak.

He had guessed him to be the type hiding his strength or a strategist, but he seemed to be neither.

The Cheon Gunam who clung to him in the Room of Cold Ice was nothing more or less than an ordinary human, no matter how he looked at it.

He had hoped he might return safely, but ultimately, he never made it back.

‘Seo Kangrim is more like a protagonist. Seeing him make clumsy mistakes, he doesn’t seem like a regressor, but…….’

As he walked away with heavy steps, lost in such thoughts, Dokgo Jun came to a halt.

A small campfire was burning by the riverside.

The people gathered there all had familiar faces.

‘Shin Sooa is there too.’

Seeing the twin siblings had joined them, it seemed an alliance had already formed among them.

Dokgo Jun looked around.

‘Is Seo Kangrim not here?’

Seo Kangrim was nowhere to be seen.

It was quite disappointing, but Shin Sooa was a major character too.

Dokgo Jun hid nearby for a moment and observed them.

‘Won’t something interesting happen if I stay close?’

As if answering Dokgo Jun’s expectations, as the night deepened, someone stealthily revealed themselves.

The figure was carrying an armful of Magical Beast Peaches.

Dokgo Jun watched the sight with interest.

‘Looks like they have that kind of special ability. And those peaches…….’

Once the figure laid out all the peaches and disappeared, Bush Bears soon emerged and began to surround the campfire.

And before long, Seo Kangrim rushed in and began slaughtering the demon beasts.

As he watched this, the corners of Dokgo Jun’s mouth began to rise.

‘He’s exactly like a protagonist.’

Appearing when the heroine is in danger to slay the demon beasts.

Even pointing a knife at the heroine midway, only for the heroine to understand.

Even standing the night watch alone after protecting everyone.

He had also heard that he saved someone stranded in the Room of Cold Ice.

‘A good-natured protagonist isn’t really my thing, but still, there’s no way a guy like this is a mere supporting character or an extra.’

He had been extremely disappointed when Seo Kangrim came out of the Room of Fire Bath in a mess.

It was also a letdown that he only cleared the Room of Cold Ice somewhere in the middle.

‘But what if all of that was planned?’

While Dokgo Jun was turning this over in his head, he saw Seo Kangrim stand up.

Seeing him looking this way, it seemed he had noticed his presence.

‘He noticed? Even that point is protagonist-like.’

If he had just sat there stupidly, he would have been disappointed.

As Dokgo Jun concealed his presence and moved away, Seo Kangrim soon sat back down.

Only after putting enough distance between them did Dokgo Jun stand up.

‘Alright. I should keep watching him a bit more.’

His eyes flashed from within his blood-stained face.

With a delighted expression, Dokgo Jun vanished into the dark forest.

* * *

Seo Kangrim was standing in the middle of the forest, holding the demon realm map.

Compared to the first day, many more locations were marked on the map.

About a third of it, perhaps.

As Seo Kangrim sat on a rock, staring intently at the map, he heard the gods clamoring.

【What are you doing, Kangrim?】

【Aren’t you going to hunt? You’ve only gathered 200 Spirit Jade so far.】

【Why do you keep looking at the map?】

【Hey, maps are my expertise. Let’s go get a Divine Descent.】

Seo Kangrim shot a glare at the sky.

“You didn’t even tell me who left those Magical Beast Peaches.”

【Uh-hum, ahem, uh-hum.】

【Ah, well, we didn’t see them either.】

【If we saw them, we would’ve told you!】

Seo Kangrim was about to rebuke them for not even being able to see that, but he turned his gaze back to the map.

‘There should be a weapon in this forest.’

Seo Kangrim’s most important goal was a weapon.

He knew there was a weapon somewhere in this forest.

The problem was that he didn’t know exactly where it was.

【But what are you looking for?】

【Should we help?】

【Don’t tell me… you’re looking for ‘that’?!】

【What’s ‘that’?】

【It’s a secret.】

If he asked for help from the local deity here, the ‘Guardian of the Sword Tree,’ he could probably find it easily.

However, Seo Kangrim decided against receiving help.

If he incurred a debt for no reason, there was no telling what might happen later.

Gods were less generous and benevolent, and more greedy and selfish like humans.

【The ‘Master of All Fire’ has used the item ‘Trace of Deity Name’.】

【Highlighted messages will be activated for 10 minutes.】

【The ‘Master of All Fire’ shouts that he has arrived.】

【The ‘Master of All Fire’ is getting excited, saying you must do a Divine Descent today.】

Agni was enthusiastically sending messages again today.

Seo Kangrim was not answering.

‘I don’t know what he likes so much that he keeps following me.’

Since Agni was a decent god, it would be easy for him to find another vessel.

Seo Kangrim couldn’t understand why he was so persistent in chasing after him.

Seo Kangrim glanced up at the sky and asked.

“Why are you following me so persistently?”

【The ‘Master of All Fire’ says he liked your flames.】

【The ‘Master of All Fire’ says he will help you grow even more.】

It seemed he took a liking to Seo Kangrim’s special ability, ‘Ten-Foot Blaze’.

While letting the god’s words go in one ear, he heard voices from afar.

‘Shin Sooa and… who else?’

Several voices, including Shin Sooa’s, could be heard.

They were faint, so he couldn’t grasp the exact details, but the atmosphere was bordering on a fight.

【Whoa, what’s wrong with them?】

【Why? Did a fight break out?】

【Ooh~ looks intense~】

【Watching a fight is the best kind of entertainment.】

【Hey, bring the popcorn!】

Seo Kangrim hurriedly followed the sounds and found Shin Sooa and the people of Zone 4 there.

Standing at the forefront of Zone 4 was Joo Hyeryung.

When they had run into each other last time, she wore a friendly smile, but her expression was not good now.

She was clearly hostile toward Shin Sooa.

Then, Joo Hyeryung spotted Seo Kangrim and spoke in a cold voice.

“We meet again.”

“What’s going on?”

There were some unfamiliar faces, but judging by the atmosphere, they seemed to be from Zone 4.

They were all on edge, looking at Seo Kangrim as if he were a demon beast.

Joo Hyeryung spoke with a resolute expression.

“Where is your gate?”

“Excuse me?”

“I asked where the gate your Zone 2 uses to come and go is.”

The person who had been treating his injuries last time was now threatening him.

As if she had suddenly become a different person.

However, Seo Kangrim was not one to be intimidated by this, and neither was Shin Sooa.

“Do you think I’ll tell you something like that?”

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll just have to beat it out of you.”

Joo Hyeryung said as she gripped her sword tightly.

The gods also grew rowdy at this situation.

【Whoa, are they finally fighting?】

【Hey, but why are they fighting? You should at least talk before you fight.】

【Who cares about the reason! Beat them all to death!】

As Seo Kangrim was glaring fiercely at Joo Hyeryung, Nam Yoojun, who was standing next to her, opened his mouth.

He seemed quite bewildered.

“Hyeryung. You should stop this. There’s no proof that the people of Zone 2 are the culprits……”

“Are you saying there’s a killer in our zone?”

“That’s not what I mean. There might be demon beasts that use weapons like humans.”

Hearing this, Shin Sooa and the rest of the group looked surprised.

A killer.

However, Seo Kangrim listened to the conversation with calm eyes.

‘It seems the killer has finally begun their activities.’

He glanced at Shin Sooa’s face.

Her eyes were shining sharply.

Shin Sooa silently listened to the two before asking.

“Has a killer appeared? Please explain what exactly is going on.”

Joo Hyeryung kept her sword aimed but scrutinized Shin Sooa’s face before lowering her weapon.

When she gave the signal, the rest of the people also stepped back.

Nam Yoojun spoke as if apologizing.

“You must have been very surprised, right? I’m sorry. On our side… a casualty was found.”

“It doesn’t seem like it was a demon beast.”

“There were knife marks on the body. B-but there might be demon beasts that use knives!”

At those words, Joo Hyeryung scoffed.

She looked at Nam Yoojun and spoke.

“Yoojun. Aren’t you being too naive? No matter how you look at it, a person did this.”

“B-but……”

“All the Spirit Jade the dead had on them disappeared too. There’s no one in our zone capable of murder, so it must be the doing of that zone.”

In his past life, a murder incident had also occurred, leading to severe friction between the zones.

Joo Hyeryung was also burning with suspicion toward the other zones, but even then, she wouldn’t be able to find the culprit.

‘Because the killer was ultimately someone from Zone 4.’