Chapter 13 – LV.One Warrior Kim Ak – [Three]

Even in his exhaustion, Kim Ak’s eyes snapped wide open.

“Everyone, drop your packs. Weapons ready.”

After giving the order, he asked Seo Yun again.

“A monster?”

Seo Yun answered.

“My necklace is shaking right now.”

Kim Ak looked at Seo Yun’s chest. The flame pattern on the necklace she wore around her neck was shaking unnaturally—clearly a magical phenomenon.

“That’s the Detect Soul spell activating, right? It’s shaking like crazy. Must be something with a high Challenge Rating…”

“Yes. There’s probably a Gutworm tunnel nearby.”

At Seo Yun’s words, Kim Ak raised one eyebrow.

“A Gutworm?”

“Yes.”

“How do you know that?”

“See that collapsed building over there?”

Kim Ak turned his head to follow Seo Yun’s pointing finger. He saw the wreckage of a building that was almost completely destroyed, as if explosives had been set off inside and the rest smashed to pieces with a hammer.

These days, it was just a common part of the scenery. Weren’t all the other buildings around here in the same sorry state?

“What about it?”

In response to Kim Ak’s question, Seo Yun said.

“That building was perfectly fine six months ago? It collapsed recently… It’s the work of a Gutworm.”

Three years ago, the meteorite that fell on the American continent began transforming this planet into a fantasy world. New flora and fauna, and magic that shouldn’t exist, appeared on the planet.

And the meteorite was not only enthusiastic about creation, but also about deletion—specifically, the work of removing elements that didn’t fit the fantasy world setting.

For example, modern apartment buildings don’t suit a medieval fantasy setting. To make this world a medieval fantasy setting, such things must be eliminated. How?

In the Immortal Kingdom, there is a monster called a Gutworm. A monster resembling an earthworm. They range in size from small ones a few meters long to super-sized ones over a hundred meters. The lore says they crawl underground and devour any rock they take a liking to.

From the meteorite’s perspective, it seems they were a very useful monster.

In the Rulebook, they weren’t particularly described as numerous, but in today’s world, they’ve appeared in strangely large numbers. Countless Gutworms crawled underground, destroying the ground and demolishing all sorts of buildings. The apartment buildings of Happy Village were also swallowed and collapsed by giant Gutworms. The current village was formed by clearing away the debris and setting up tents.

And what was important to Players was something else: the tunnels created when Gutworms emerged to the surface.

The deep, interconnected tunnels underground are relatively warm. Lost monsters often go inside to endure the cold.

The monsters in the tunnels are often hibernating or half-starved. They’re ideal for ambushes and are weakened, making them optimal Prey.

“So, a Gutworm was probably active here recently, meaning there should be a tunnel. And probably a monster inside it too…”

Kim Ak pondered whether to leave this place or not, then looked at Kim Jihyeok.

“Kim Jihyeok? Want to go scout for the tunnel?”

“Yes.”

“Use Invisibility just in case.”

Kim Jihyeok nodded and moved his lips. The color of his entire body was erased from the air. Soon, only an outline like a ripple in the air remained. The Rogue’s Invisibility spell.

Kim Jihyeok, having concealed himself, headed off somewhere for reconnaissance.

While the remaining members waited, Kim Jihyeok returned about twenty minutes later.

“I found it.”

Everyone headed to the location Kim Jihyeok guided them to.

What was there was one giant hole and a thick trail leading from it. A trail that looked like it was made by a massive snake heavy enough to crush the ground under its own weight.

Searching his memory, Kim Ak’s eyes widened.

“That looks like a Basilisk…”

Kim Ak said that and then sought agreement from those around him.

“Right?”

“It seems so.”

When Seo Yun nodded, gaining confidence, Kim Ak muttered.

“A Basilisk… Challenge Rating Level 8. Because of its Petrifying Gaze, even high-Level characters can die if they encounter it carelessly. But conversely…”

Lee Jongho continued.

“Even Level 1 newbies can kill a Basilisk. A Basilisk’s physical defense is quite weak. If you just neutralize its eyes, it’s a piece of cake…”

Right, the training instructors taught that too. A piece of cake. If you just blind it, it’s a piece of cake.

Kim Ak remembered clearly. The training instructors emphasized that if you encounter that snake monster, you should either kill it immediately or inform another Party so they can earn Experience Points. Because the strategy is so established, it’s an unusually large Experience Point reward for its difficulty.

‘If we just catch it, we’ll probably all Level Up…’

Kim Ak was in the middle of dividing the Basilisk’s Experience Points from the Rulebook by the number of people.

Lee Jongho spoke.

“Should we head back to the village and report it?”

“Huh?”

“Just reporting that such a monster exists can earn us a reward, right?”

Kim Ak thought. Yeah, that’s a valid point too. But…

After closing his eyes for a long moment and hesitating, he reached a conclusion.

“Let’s… catch it ourselves.”

Everyone looked at Kim Ak. Kim Ak explained.

“I know, I know. Going hunting suddenly during a march training? It’s a dangerous thing we weren’t ordered to do. We might get chewed out if we go back and report it… but I’ll say it was my unilateral decision then.”

“Wouldn’t it be safer to go back?”

When Seo Yun voiced her opposing opinion, Kim Ak faltered but stubbornly spoke.

“In my view, this is safer.”

Seo Yun looked at Kim Ak as if demanding an explanation.

Kim Ak said.

“If we officially start hunting, we’ll have to fight Goblins and Skeletons and such. Since we have many people, we’ll have to fight a lot, dozens of times… right?”

“Probably, right?”

“The more we have to fight, the greater the chance someone dies in the process. Shortening that process quickly is actually safer Leveling.”

After saying this, Kim Ak looked at Seo Yun. Was she convinced by this? He couldn’t tell. Seo Yun didn’t voice further opposition, but she also didn’t praise it as a good idea.

Kim Ak grew even more uneasy. Why had he made such an uncharacteristic decision? Was it because of a sense of duty as a leader to make some groundbreaking decision? Or was it a reward mentality—that since they’d walked all this way with difficulty, they should return having gained something?Either way, from Kim Ak’s perspective, this decision was the right one. In today’s world, the experience points gained from defeating monsters were a precious resource worth risking one’s life for.

From what he had learned, reaching level 2 in a game might take only tens of minutes, but reality was different. He had heard that to reach level 2 through ordinary hunting now would take over half a year.

This was because in games, the GM would appropriately send monsters suited to the players’ levels, but reality was not like that.

In reality, the monsters players encountered were often not such sweet prey. Most of the time, players faced monsters either too strong to fight or too low-level to gain experience from.

He had learned that a situation this sweet was truly rare…

After organizing all his thoughts once more, Kim Ak did not reverse his decision, even amidst intense anxiety.

In the end, it was decided. They would hunt that damn monster.

“Jihyeok? You brought the poison, right?”

“Yes.”

Everyone applied poison to their spear and blade edges. It was the poison Kim Jihyeok carried as a Rogue. The two Priests finished casting various spells on the party members, completing the party buffs as well.

Finally, everyone gathered dry grass from around them and piled it in front of the burrow entrance. When they lit the grass with a lighter, smoke began to rise.

“Now, soon…”

As thick smoke seeped into the burrow, Kim Ak swallowed.

This was his first real battle. It was only natural to be nervous, but as the leader, he couldn’t show he was scared. With a forced expression of overflowing confidence, Kim Ak glared at the burrow.

Soon, a vibration was felt. A massive vibration.

“It’s here!”

From within the dense smoke, a huge head emerged. A snake’s head that looked to be at least 1 meter long.

That’s it. The Basilisk. Seeing the red eye light visible even through the smoke confirmed it.

In the smoke where nothing could be seen, that thing’s gaze was powerless. It wouldn’t be able to unleash its Petrifying Gaze. However, their magic spells would work.

Kim Ak shouted.

“Cast the spell!”

Under Kim Ak’s direction, the two Priests chanted spells.

And the moment the Basilisk’s head emerged from the smoke, the first spell to take effect was Park Taeyang’s.

It was a Blinding Spell. A spell that blinds the eyes for about twenty minutes.

With just this one spell, the Basilisk’s most powerful weapon, the Petrifying Gaze, would be neutralized. It was an overly simple but equally certain method of hunting Basilisks. Having two Priests in one party who could cast this spell was truly an opportunity not to be missed.

Like a flashbang, a pure white light flashed before the Basilisk’s eyes.

As if unable to withstand the glare, the Basilisk closed its eyes. Sparks flew immediately after, and Kim Ak clenched his fist.

It seemed the spell worked. If so, it’s Plan A.

“Spell successful! Attack!”

Since snakes cannot move backward, there was no need to worry about it retreating into the burrow to hide. They only needed to block the sides and front.

Kim Ak went around to the left, and Seong Juri went to the right. Lee Jongho and Jeon Sangguk stood at the front. The two Warriors advanced toward the Basilisk.

“Good, stab with your spears while maintaining distance. If you get too close, it might attack even while blinded…”

The plan was to keep shields forward, extend spears, and stab repeatedly. It was the tactic ancient gladiators used with high success rates against bears and lions. It was also the basic tactic when fighting beast-type monsters.

Lee Jongho stepped forward with confident strides and extended his spear.

It was right then that the Basilisk, which had its eyes closed, opened them. And its reptilian eyes shone red like rubies.

Kim Ak, positioned on the left, didn’t face that light head-on, but he could see the flash. And he knew what it was.

Petrifying Gaze.

Lee Jongho and Jeon Sangguk’s movements stopped. The two halted as if their entire bodies had been solidified with hard adhesive, and their whole bodies instantly turned into grayish stone.

Petrification, a status effect treated as identical to instant death, except that there were ways to reverse it later.

Amidst the sensation of his mind going blank, Kim Ak thought. They definitely blinded its eyes, so why?

He looked at the Basilisk’s face. Looking closely, the snake’s head somehow resembled a human’s.

The corners of its mouth were raised. An expression impossible with pure reptilian facial muscles, an expression only a human could make.

Come to think of it, the rulebook had a setting that Basilisks possessed intelligence as high as a human’s. Did it use that remarkable intelligence to pretend the spell worked? To make the enemies approach defenselessly?

Of course, realizing this after being hit was of no use.

“Blinding Spell again…”

It seemed Seo Yun was already chanting the spell even before the instruction.

“—Embers!”

Sparks glowing crimson flew before the Basilisk’s eyes. The Hearth Priest’s Blinding Spell.

This time, it seemed to have definitely worked. The Basilisk, with embers embedded in its eyeballs, shrieked. Its face even contorted in pain.

Even looking again, it was a face resembling a human’s.

With that contorted expression still in place, the Basilisk charged forward with its eyes closed.

Kim Ak was flustered once more by its charge.

In games, monsters afflicted with Blindness cannot attack except for enemies at very close range. If enemies keep their distance, they don’t budge from their spot. He had learned that in reality, they showed roughly similar reactions.

Of course, the instructor who taught that also added this:

‘Still, don’t feel reassured thinking they’ll act exactly as taught… There are individual differences, right?’

It seemed this Basilisk was an exceptionally intelligent individual. Even with its vision paralyzed, the Basilisk knew the direction it needed to go.

The Basilisk was charging toward a position it had seen beforehand. Toward the spellcasters who had cast spells on it, the most threatening ones.

The two Warriors struggled to block its advance.

“Look at me!”

Seong Juri attacked the Basilisk’s flank. Indeed, it seemed the saying that monsters had weak endurance wasn’t wrong. Seong Juri’s spear blade dug into the Basilisk’s side.

However, it wasn’t a fatal wound. It didn’t stop the giant snake’s charge either.

The Basilisk advanced with the spear still embedded. Seong Juri, who had lost her grip on the spear, hurriedly tried to draw the sword hanging at her waist. In her panic, it seemed it wouldn’t come out easily, and her face fell in distress.

Kim Ak also rushed belatedly and stabbed with the spear in his hand, but the snake was faster.At the forefront of the party, facing the Basilisk, was Park Taeyang.

“Dodge!”

But Park Taeyang couldn’t move to evade. His body had stiffened. If he collided with it or was struck, it would be the end.

He could almost see the tragedy that would unfold in a few seconds.

Just as Kim Ak was screaming internally, the girl who had been motionless until now moved from behind.

Seo Yun advanced in front of Park Taeyang. It seemed less like a slow action and more like a move timed for the perfect opportunity.

Seo Yun planted her feet firmly, facing the Basilisk’s serpentine head. In both hands, she tightly gripped a single Longsword.

Seo Yun’s Strength Stat is only 3, but her Dexterity Stat is 8.

The moment the Basilisk came within striking distance, Seo Yun thrust the sword forward.

Now, Seo Yun held the sword’s hilt with one hand and the pommel with the other. Even at a glance, it was clear this grip was meant to put her entire body’s weight behind the thrust.

The tip of the blade pierced the Basilisk’s eye.

A scream erupted from the serpent’s maw. It was far louder and more agonizing than before.