Chapter 124

Without hesitation, Taewoon swung his spear, severing the old man’s leg. The man let out a groan of agony and collapsed onto the ground.

“I will treat you. Please bear with it for a moment.”

“Urgh, th-thank you. I should have done it myself, but my judgment was too slow…”

The phrase ‘spreading lacerations’ he had seen in the journal must have referred to exactly this.

Fortunately, the man’s life was saved, but two members of the Exploration Team had already been forced to drop out.

As the Team Leader, Yerseka had no choice but to make the decision to withdraw, and thus, the short yet intense exploration of the first day came to an end.

‘…It’s quite exhausting.’

After returning to his assigned tent, Taewoon took some time to organize the day’s events and reflect on the information he had acquired.

The contents written in the journal seemed remarkably accurate, and because of that, he couldn’t stop a single question from shaking his mind.

‘The Exploration Teams that came here… I don’t think we’re the first.’

The fact that exploration had been carried out several times was not strange in itself.

However, despite the existence of predecessors, the leadership had not conveyed any of those facts or the information they had gathered to the team members.

No matter how he thought about it, this was not normal.

‘If we had the information, there wouldn’t have been so many casualties.’

The atmosphere of the Exploration Team camp was incredibly gloomy. Then again, with the number of casualties exceeding dozens from the very first day, it wasn’t surprising.

‘As I thought, does the leadership have some other objective?’

At the very least, it didn’t seem like conducting a normal exploration was what they wanted.

Depending on the situation, he might have to judge them as enemies rather than allies.

“Whew, I’m exhausted. If the things pushed out of the food competition are that bad, then what kind of monsters are lurking further inside?”

“….”

Kelvin, the man with the scars, spoke up jokingly, and Taewoon nodded slightly in agreement.

Looking at the journal alone, he could find records of monsters that would make Bullet Lizards or Lightning Bears seem trivial.

‘The number of people falling behind will only increase, and eventually, only those with the actual capacity to explore the New Continent will survive.’

Perhaps the leadership would only reveal their true intentions after that.

There were many things to consider, but none of them were certain right now.

Ultimately, for the time being, the best course of action seemed to be surviving the ongoing exploration and becoming accustomed to this New Continent.

The next day, Taewoon’s group merged with another group that had also suffered casualties, setting out for exploration again with five members.

Yerseka was still the Team Leader, and perhaps because she had confirmed the dangers of the area on the first day, she conducted the exploration much more cautiously.

“Enemy! Stay alert in all directions!”

It seemed that the Bullet Lizard was the most populous creature in the coastal forest; less than an hour into the exploration, they had already encountered their packs twice.

The members had grown accustomed to their attacks, so no further casualties occurred, but it was inevitable that their mental strength was drained just by staying vigilant.

“Damn it, do those cursed lizards never get tired? Or do they just lack the ability to learn?”

“You shouldn’t judge them by the standards of ordinary creatures. Even if they look like that, their habits might be closer to those of ferocious predators.”

However, even predators have the knack for identifying threats to themselves and do not pick fights so indiscriminately.

From that perspective, their way of thinking was certainly far from ordinary.

‘…Moreover, it seems a fairly dangerous one is following us this time.’

Since the exploration began, Taewoon had been periodically casting Thousand-League Perception to grasp the surrounding trends, and for a while now, there had been an entity secretly following Taewoon’s party, drawn by a curiosity triggered by that perception.

With such a sensitive Qi Sense, there was a high possibility it was the Hypervibration Hedgehog mentioned in the journal.

It was recorded as a Magical Beast about the size of a large dog that resembled a hedgehog and possessed the ability to manipulate vibrations; it was dangerous enough that three members, who had become somewhat accustomed to the exploration, had been sacrificed to it.

After maintaining a secret standoff for a moment to assess the situation, Taewoon stopped the party and announced the enemy’s appearance as the creature approached within a certain distance.

“Wh-what? Where is the enemy?”

“It’s coming. It has an ominous feeling, so please be careful.”

Soon, the sound of rustling bushes was heard, and a creature covered in dark brown spines revealed itself before the members.

At first glance, it didn’t look that dangerous and had an appearance far from ferocious, but the minute vibrations and unknown resonance felt since a while ago were inducing anxiety.

“Damn it! I’ll kill it before it can pull any more weird tricks!”

A spiky-haired man who had recently joined the group, showing full hostility, fired a uniquely shaped arrow, which soon cut through the air like a meteor, aiming for the hedgehog.

However, just before impact, the arrow drew a bizarre curve, missing the hedgehog and flying past it, eventually piercing through a few trees before losing its momentum.

At that strange sight, all the members became alert and began to observe the creature carefully.

“Just now, that was…”

“Is it wearing some kind of Defensive Shield? It definitely felt like something deflected the arrow.”

Once again, a strange resonance echoed, and sensing something coming through his skin, Taewoon hurriedly threw himself to the ground and rolled.

Glancing back, he saw that the upper body of the woman, who had been analyzing the opponent with a relaxed expression, had completely vanished.

Simultaneously, the members who had escaped the immediate area began to distance themselves quickly.

“Spread out! An invisible attack is coming!”

Yerseka shouted loudly, but seeing her trembling eyes, it seemed unreasonable to expect anything more from her.

Furthermore, considering the movements of the creature that had tracked Taewoon’s party while suppressing its presence, it was right to assume it had already marked them as prey.

Even if it was a bit reckless, it would be better to deal with it here to avoid future trouble.

“Hey! Come back!”

Ignoring the instruction, Taewoon quickly kicked off the ground to close the distance and rapidly deployed Thousand-League Perception to carefully observe the flow of the surrounding atmosphere.

‘It was ambiguous to judge with just the word “vibration”… but I think I get the general feeling now.’

Although there was no visible form, there was definitely a precursor to the creature’s ability.

The moment the flow of the atmosphere twisted again, Taewoon shifted his path several times, dodging the creature’s attacks and closing the distance with irresistible momentum.

Then, visibly flustered, the creature abandoned its composure and began to trigger formless explosions indiscriminately, the scale and aura of which were reminiscent of a modern air raid.

‘…Damn it, this thing is more monstrous than I thought!’

He had been using the power of Remegethon for a while, but absorbing just one explosion consumed nearly half a page.

That meant the power of the attack was significant.

【Condition Fulfilled】

【Cinema Skill: The Red Man】

Eventually, Taewoon brought out the Wax Mask, added the subtlety of the Flying Ring Step to instantly slip behind the creature, and thrust his spear while circulating his Magical Power.

‘Eight Ghost Spear: Fifth Form, Soul-Severing Whirlwind!’

In an instant, Taewoon widened his stride, and his Barata began to rotate rapidly, entwined with wind.

Several Spear Strikes extending in all directions battered the hedgehog’s body, but perhaps because its defense was as substantial as its appearance, it didn’t inflict a fatal wound in one go.

Simultaneously, with a sound like a bomb exploding, the creature’s spines shot out in all directions, causing sporadic explosions.

“Urgh!”

He quickly slammed his spear down to cast the Final Rampart skill, but he couldn’t withstand the entirety of that massive power.

However, the creature had lost its Last Resort, and Taewoon was still standing.

Dispelling the barrier, Taewoon used the Red Man’s movement method once more and, without hesitation, pierced the creature’s neck.

Purple blood splattered, and the hedgehog, with a hole in its neck, finally collapsed to the ground and stopped moving.

One death, but if Taewoon hadn’t been there, it wouldn’t have ended with just that.

Sensing this fact, the members also remained silent with grim expressions.

“…Damn it, this much chaos on only the second day.”

“I came prepared to some extent… but honestly, I don’t even feel like doing this anymore.”

Except for Yerseka, the members seemed completely disgusted by this place after this battle.

Indeed, it wasn’t strange. Massive rewards were great, but they only had value if one could preserve their life.

“…We move for now. Surely you aren’t thinking of ignoring the contract with the Empire?”

“Damn it, I know that much.”

Since they had to fill the minimum quota, the members continued the exploration following Yerseka’s instructions.

However, it went without saying that their movements were more passive than before.

‘In the end, no special gains today either.’

After finishing the exploration and returning to camp, Taewoon let out a small sigh and walked around the entire camp to check the status of the exploration members.

The number of deaths had decreased compared to yesterday, but it was still high.

It was an environment that didn’t feel like a situation where long-term exploration could be carried out.

‘A month at most? No, maybe they won’t even last that long.’

Taewoon had thought the owner of the journal was just a reasonably skilled person, but looking at it now, he wondered if they hadn’t been one of the strongest individuals within the Exploration Team.

And even such a strong person couldn’t last a month here.

The implication of that fact was very simple and clear.

‘…This Theater is definitely not for a long-term war.’

At first, he intended to observe the situation with some leisure, but he changed his mind.

Whatever it took, Taewoon had to take action.

And… as quickly as possible.