Chapter 123

When he opened his eyes, Taewoon found himself in a room that gave him a strange sensation of floating.

‘Is this… a bedroom inside the ship?’

The space was reasonably organized, with a few empty beds placed around.

Unless there was some mistake, the place Taewoon was currently standing on was none other than the ‘Tristan.’

▶【A Word of Advice: Which number are you?】

‘…….’

Staring at the single line of message that appeared before his eyes as always, Taewoon cleared his thoughts and carefully opened the door to step outside.

‘I expected it, but… it’s a massive ship.’

In the space that appeared to be a corridor, he encountered several members of the Exploration Team, and he had to cross multiple floors just to head toward the deck.

Shortly after, hearing an announcement that they would soon arrive at the New Continent, Taewoon returned to his room following the instructions of the broadcast.

There, he met the other exploration members who shared the same room.

“Whew, are we finally there? I thought I was going to die of boredom.”

“Tell me about it. Well, the real hardship starts now… but I’m just grateful to be getting off this tedious ship.”

There were four exploration members in total sharing the room with Taewoon, but except for two of them, the others maintained a silence, not even speaking to one another.

‘I guess we’re just employees hired for the same job?’

Seeing that each of them was equipped with well-maintained armaments and possessed an unusual Aura, it seemed clear that only those with proven skills had been gathered here.

Eventually, the ship stopped, and as the announcement played again, Taewoon silently headed out of the starship, blending in with the others.

Thus, he was finally able to set foot on the soil of the New Continent.

“Form groups according to your assigned numbers! After meals, the first exploration will commence at 2:00 PM!”

Whether the room assignments and the exploration group formations were unrelated, the people Taewoon ended up grouped with were all faces he was seeing for the first time.

‘I wondered… but as expected, those two aren’t here.’

If so, it seemed more likely that the Exploration Team itself was divided into several groups, or that there were differences in the sectors they were assigned to.

After finishing his meal quickly, Taewoon took advantage of the remaining time to skim through the ‘Unknown Exploration Journal’ he had obtained as a Special Prize.

[Day 1 of exploration: Encountered a small lizard with colors similar to plants. Possesses Stealth ability. Can shoot its tongue out at the speed of sound. 1 team member dead, 1 lightly injured.]

[Day 2 of exploration: Encountered a monkey with grotesquely protruding muscles and a bear whose entire body is made of lightning. The lightning inflicts continuous lacerations on everything it touches. 2 team members dead.]

[Day 3 of exploration: Encountered a bipedal mole-like creature that slams the ground with both hands as if enraged. Every time it slams the ground, gravity is added to a designated target. 1 team member dead, 1 seriously injured.]

The contents of the exploration journal were strange yet monotonous.

It recorded the characteristics or abilities of the creatures encountered during each exploration, followed by a brief list of the casualties.

According to the explanation he heard earlier, one group consisted of five people; he suspected that whenever a group suffered casualties, they were merged with others to continue the next exploration.

‘Even so, isn’t the mortality rate too high?’

In Taewoon’s estimation, even the weakest exploration members seemed sufficient to be classified as Level 3-rank or higher.

However, if such people were dying so helplessly, it meant that the danger of this ‘New Continent’ was that overwhelming.

‘The journal… ends on Day 14.’

Looking at the number of exploration members who died during those two weeks, the author of this journal must have been an exceptionally skilled individual.

Yet, even such a person could only endure 14 days here, and Taewoon could not be certain if even he could survive for a month.

It was a point that allowed him to guess that the task ahead of him was by no means easy.

“Everyone, gather round! We will finish final preparations and commence the first exploration now!”

The person raising his voice before everyone was a middle-aged man with sharp features and a beard; even at a glance, he felt like a considerable powerhouse.

However, he didn’t seem to be participating in the exploration himself, as he left a few instructions and returned to the campsite near the ship with his subordinates.

‘In short, he’s part of the command line?’

He might become one of the important witnesses in this Theater.

Therefore, Taewoon firmly memorized his impression and appearance in his mind before setting out on the first exploration with his assigned team members.

A red-haired woman named Yerseka, who served as the Team Leader, spoke to the members.

“I assume you all know the rules of exploration?”

“We do.”

“Is there anyone who doesn’t?”

Additional rewards are given whenever a part of a New Continent creature’s body is secured, a location with distinct characteristics is discovered, or other meaningful information is recorded.

In other words, setting aside the basic rewards, it meant that one had to engage in the exploration diligently to get their hands on vast amounts of money.

‘But looking at the mortality rate in the journal… there probably aren’t many who leave this place after obtaining meaningful rewards.’

Even though not a full day had passed, Taewoon had already discovered several suspicious circumstances regarding the command layer leading the Exploration Team.

Sensing that it was a time to gather information while prioritizing his own safety rather than overextending himself, Taewoon carefully began to follow the group.

The sound of rustling leaves.

Near the tree trunks across the valley, Taewoon felt a strange sense of dissonance based on intuition. His judgment was instantaneous.

Taewoon quickly threw his body to the left. Unfortunately, one of the team members failed to react in time.

Bracing himself with his left arm on the ground to slide and reduce the impact, Taewoon glanced over to check on his fallen comrade.

He saw a chest with a hole the size of a Go stone, blood leaking out profusely. The body was twitching, but it was effectively instant death.

“A-An ambush!”

Everyone, including the Team Leader, drew their weapons and stared in the direction the projectile had come from, focusing their minds with wide eyes.

However, the enemy could not be captured by the naked eye, and only the occasional rustle of leaves could be heard, further amplifying their anxiety.

‘The projectile was too small and fast to confirm exactly, but…’

This attack possessed characteristics similar to the ‘Bullet Lizard’ described in the exploration journal.

Certain of the enemy’s identity, Taewoon immediately shouted to the group.

“The enemy attacked us by shooting something and can hide its appearance! Use any detection means you have!”

“…I see, so this is a land swarming with these kinds of monsters, huh? Let’s give it a go!”

A scarred man, who was the first to pull out a strangely shaped net, threw it into the air and focused his mind.

Then, light permeated the net, and giant threads covered the sky, beginning to track the positions of allies and enemies with blue and red lights.

“Well done! Two enemy entities! Split into pairs and handle them quickly!”

As Team Leader Yerseka gave the order, Taewoon kicked off the ground with her and moved to chase the flustered lizard.

Perhaps because it had no other specialties besides a tongue as fast as the speed of sound and Stealth, the lizard moved between trees a few times before seemingly giving up and beginning to shoot its tongue at Taewoon’s group.

‘It’s fast… but that’s all.’

An expert of Taewoon’s caliber could react even to a surprise attack, and now that its position had been revealed, it could hardly be called a threatening attack.

In the end, the lizard met a futile end, its throat slit by Yerseka’s dagger.

“We lost one person right from the start… this is painful.”

Although a casualty had occurred, since they had only just begun their actions, the group agreed to continue the exploration and pushed further into the forest toward a deeper point.

And there, they encountered the ‘Lightning Bear’ mentioned in the journal once again.

Just as the journal described, the creature, whose entire body was composed of lightning, emitted an aura that looked extremely dangerous.

Furthermore, near the creature lay the corpse of a beast, burned black and cracked to the point where its original shape was unrecognizable.

It was an entity that certainly held a formidable position in the ecosystem of this forest.

“What shall we do? We could avoid the encounter if we do it now.”

“…There’s no point in being picky about prey from the first day. If anyone objects, speak now.”

Since that was indeed the logical conclusion, all the members nodded in agreement without much hesitation, despite their reluctant expressions.

“I will draw its attention; I’ll leave the rest to you.”

The oldest member of the group, an old man with a ponytail, stepped forward holding a long staff. As he swung the staff, it transformed into a whip of light, striking the bear’s abdomen from a distance.

The bear let out a fierce scream and was knocked back, but it soon stood up and began charging toward the old man, stomping the ground heavily.

“…Hmph, it’s unnecessarily sturdy.”

Evading the lightning that began to shoot toward him with light footsteps, the old man swung his staff several times, moving as if intentionally stealing the creature’s attention.

“…Now is the chance. I’ll signal, so aim for the neck simultaneously.”

At Yerseka’s words, Taewoon and the scarred man nodded, and soon enough, a sufficient opportunity arrived.

【Condition Fulfilled】

【Cinema Skill: The Red Man】

As he coordinated his strike with the other two, the bear, whose surroundings were blocked, crouched its body with trembling eyes, trying to protect itself.

However, two daggers thrown by Yerseka created a strange resonance that froze the creature’s movements, and with the following attack, its neck finally fell to the ground.

“Whew… is it over?”

“Three in total… not a bad result for the first time.”

The group showed satisfied reactions upon confirming the battle was over, but the old man alone did not join them, staring at his leg with a trembling gaze.

“Th-This is strange. Why on earth is this…”

As everyone looked at the old man in surprise, a wound that had clearly been nothing more than a small scratch began to spread wider, increasing in size as if it were to cover the old man’s entire leg.

Seeing this, Taewoon quickly kicked off the ground and rushed forward.