Episode 47: A Fun Second World

A forest called Geumeum, where trees were so dense that only night existed in place of the sky.

In that place, a bolt of red lightning soared.

The owner of the lightning was Aransul.

She was hunting Jakijong, small, goblin-like phantasms that sprung up between the trees.

Jakijong fight by applying poison to their awl-like swords.

As such, even a single hit from their swords is fatal.

But the opponent is Aransul.

She unleashed her sword skills to the fullest, skills she had been training until now.

The Jakijong’s swords couldn’t touch Aransul even once.

Rather, when they made contact with Aransul’s sword, they trembled from the electric current and had their necks cut off.

Seeing this, I understand why attribute awakeners receive so much attention.

Just by adding an attribute to her sword, Aransul’s combat power has more than doubled.

At that moment, a flame passed through the air.

The small fireball incinerated the head of a Jakijong just by racing through the sky.

The fireball didn’t stop there.

Even as Aransul fought, it freely intervened, searing and passing through the Jakijong with fire.

Flame magic, Red Breath.

Until now, I thought fire magic was all about making things explode.

But there were also flames that could be wielded so freely.

Of course, the one controlling the flames was Babiyen.

With her outstanding magical skills, she eliminated only the Jakijong without causing any damage to the forest.

Seeing this, I understand why Fire Dog Ajussi kept shouting himself hoarse about the importance of orthodox mages.

The neatness of the magic was on a completely different level from the mages I saw on the streets.

,What do you think? Does this young lady look a bit impressive now?

As Babiyen gloated, I turned my gaze away from her.

Then, I looked at Horizon, who had slipped past Babiyen.

The Jakijong were trying to aim for the mage’s blind spot by any means possible.

Horizon shot out like an arrow towards them and drew her sword.

With a clean sword draw, the Jakijong’s head soared into the air.

Horizon didn’t stop there, piercing through the heart for a final confirmation and then slicing apart the next Jakijong as well.

Small but fast.

Her fluffy black hair appropriately concealed her in the darkness.

Strong.

I could see why Aransul highly valued Horizon as a swordsman.

In an instant, the Jakijong group was annihilated.

Horizon chased down and eliminated even the fleeing Jakijong in advance with her shadows.

In the meantime, I dug out and collected the magic stones and eyeballs from the Jakijong.

The Jakijong’s eyes were used as medicinal ingredients, so I had to collect them.

,I, I’ll help!

,No. Just rest. I don’t have much to do anyway.

When Horizon, who had moved all the Jakijong with her shadows, tried to help, I waved my hand.

Earlier, I had also tried to get Aransul to help, but she didn’t know how to dismantle them, so she only caused losses, and I held her back.

Babiyen made an ‘eugh’ sound and didn’t even try to help.

I will definitely make this girl learn how to dismantle things later.

I felt proud after filling my bag with Jakijong.

That’s all money. Money.

As I picked up my luggage, I suddenly had a thought.

Why do I feel like I’m playing the role of a porter even in this team?

Wait, that’s strange.

I’m clearly a precious, high-level asset, a Saint Magic user.

My eyes landed on the team members who were taking a breather.

Although I gathered these team members, our team is strong.

At the very least, each one is at the level of a Silver-rank pioneer.

So much so that the Second World was more pleasant than when I came with Fire Dog Ajussi.

And that point was fading my existence.

Saint Magic users are most effective when team members are injured.

But Aransul, Horizon, and Babiyen rarely get injured.

Even now, it’s already the fifth time we’ve encountered a Jakijong group.

Yet, none of us have been injured.

,Is anyone hurt anywhere?

,No, not really.

,Even a slight scratch?

,I’m telling you, there’s really nothing?

,Babiyen looks like her head is cracked. Let’s heal her right away.

,Kyaa! Don’t come at me with those eyes!

A team where my existence is fading.

In the end, even here, my job was that of a porter.

I finally became a Saint Magic user, but why am I still a porter?

With such bitter thoughts in mind, our team cruised along.

Still, perhaps because it was such a smooth pioneering effort compared to my first time entering the Second World.

I felt a sense of comfort for the first time in a long while.

Yes, this is a normal life.

If some incident were to break out again, God would hate me to the point of abandoning me.

,I wish it would just be like this from now on.

,Harua-ssi gets strangely caught up in a lot of things, after all.

Aransul said that as she handed me a warmly heated tea.

We were huddled together in a nearby tree cave for a rest and a meal.

After handing me the tea, Aransul sat down next to me, sticking her butt to my side.

,The First World isn’t quite done with summer yet, but the Second World is turning to night, so it’s cold.

,Because the locations are completely different.

With Aransul next to me, I could feel the warmth.

Ever since I became certain that I didn’t have a heart, I feel like I’ve become more sensitive to the cold.

Actually, it still doesn’t make sense that I’m alive and moving even without a heart.

But this world is so full of nonsense that I’ve come to accept it.

Maybe magic is circulating the blood remaining in my body, or something.

,Aren’t you less cold when I’m next to you?

Aransul smiled knowingly, as if she knew what she was doing.

The average body temperature of Outer Clan members is higher than that of humans.

Thanks to that, being with Aransul felt like having a large, oversized dog next to me.

,If you’re cold, this young lady can set you ablaze, you know?

Then, Babiyen taunted me while twirling her staff.

,How did Babiyen become so twisted? Little Baby Babiyen was so kind back then.

,Isn’t it because you keep telling those stories that this young lady became like this!

The same old Babiyen.

,I, It’s done!

In the meantime, Horizon had finished making the soup.

I felt like I could live by slicing dried meat into the soup she handed me and dipping hard bread into it.

My body relaxed as something warm entered my stomach.

I could feel the others’ faces relaxing as well, as if they felt the same way.

For both Babiyen and Aransul, this was practically their first time properly venturing into the Second World.

So, they must have accumulated fatigue from external activities without realizing it.

It would be good to have a sufficient meal.

That’s when it happened.

Horizon, who had her mouth full of bread, paused and put down her soup bowl.

As soon as I saw that, I realized it based on my experience over the past few months.

,Horizon.

,Yes, someone is approaching.

Horizon’s eyes changed.

It was the look of a pioneer that she occasionally showed, different from her usual timid self.

As soon as we heard that someone was approaching, we entered combat readiness.

I put out the fire I had lit for the food.

In the meantime, Aransul drew her sword, and Babiyen finished preparing her casting.

Horizon also tapped the ground with her foot, quietly surveying the situation.

Ba-sak-

Soon after, three figures appeared from within the bushes.

All of them were suspicious figures wearing robes.

Axes and swords were strapped to their waists.

The bloodstains on the ends of the axes and swords.

It was unclear whether they were humans or phantasms.

,We’ve already claimed this spot, so what’s the matter?

When I asked the question, the eyes within the robes stared at me intently.

,Transfer.

He called me and quietly murmured.

,Have you ever seen a transfer woman with black hair, purple eyes, and wearing unique boots?

A serial killer who had been actively working for a while.

It was about that crazy woman I had killed once.

These were avengers.

I heard that the Regular Army had captured most of them, but there were still some left.

,I haven’t seen her.

,You’re not protecting her just because she’s a fellow transfer, are you?

One of the avengers asked with a venomous attitude.

Aransul’s eyes narrowed slightly.

It was because she sensed the indiscriminate murderous intent towards transfers.

It was a common behavior among those who had lost family or friends to transfers.

I didn’t particularly care and opened my bag to show them.

It was full of Jakijong eyes and magic stones that I had obtained today.

It was proof that I had been diligently working as a pioneer.

,We’ve only come here to work as pioneers. I hope you don’t misunderstand.

,The words of a transfer…

,Enough.

The one who seemed to be the leader of the avengers stopped the one who was trying to argue.

,I apologize for the intrusion. Sorry for disturbing your rest.

,It’s alright.

,I’ll tell you something in return for your cooperation.

He glanced at the forest and announced.

,Among the pioneer teams this time, there are those who came from the Radiant Faith Society, although it’s not widely known.

My body paused.

Those damn cult bastards.

They never get tired of it and crawled all the way here.

,They are also looking for the serial killer like us. I recommend not trusting them just because they are fellow pioneer teams.

The avengers seemed to have acquaintances on the Radiant Faith Society side.

Well, the avengers are also chasing the No-Name transfer serial killer.

There must have been some avengers who converted to the Radiant Faith Society.

The Radiant Faith Society is the group that hates transfers the most, after all.

,Thank you for the advice.

,Let’s go.

The avengers turned around and left.

It seems that the leader was originally a pioneer.

That’s why he left us advice as fellow pioneers.

,Harua, what are you going to do?

Aransul asked me for my opinion.

I have been involved with the Radiant Faith Society in various ways.

That’s why she looked at me with worried eyes.

I’d like to catch them and ask about Fire Dog Ajussi, but.

If a transfer does something like that, they’ll just rush in to tear me limb from limb.

It’s best to wait for Karuang to gather information.

,Let’s not worry about it. Since their goal is also the serial killer, they won’t bother us anyway.

More than that, the serial killer, that woman.

It’s amazing that she hasn’t been caught yet, even though so many people are chasing her.

I knew she had the ability to become invisible back then, but I didn’t know she could hide this well.

The avengers must be so frustrated that they’re searching the entire Second World.

,Let’s rest a little more and then move on.

Due to the nature of the Second World, it’s not good to stay in one place for too long.

At my suggestion, we finished our unfinished meal, digested it to some extent, and then began to move.

We earned a decent income by hunting Jakijong along the way.

I thought about aiming for higher-grade phantasms, but I decided not to push ourselves.

There are two people who are new to the Second World.

Unexpected problems could arise.

It was better to come again next time than to take unnecessary risks.

About three days had passed in the Second World, with occasional rests and sleep.

Aransul, being a swordsman, was relatively fine, but Babiyen showed signs of fatigue from camping out for three days.

She didn’t show it because she was the one who wanted to come to the Second World, but it couldn’t be helped that it was visible.

She was a mage in the first place, so it was natural that she lacked stamina.

This is enough.

,Horizon, let’s slowly head back. Please try to avoid fighting phantasms as much as possible.

,Ah, yes! I was just heading that way anyway.

The recommended stay in the Second World is a maximum of 5 days.

So, Horizon was also taking the hint and heading that way.

Thanks to Horizon’s quick-witted response, we were able to head towards the Moss Flower Cave smoothly.

This Second World trip was a great success.

We earned enough money to satisfy Babiyen as well.

Next time, it might be okay to aim for higher-grade phantasms.

That’s what I was thinking when it happened.

,H, Harua-ssi, there’s a commotion near the entrance of the Moss Flower Cave.

,A commotion?

,Yes, yes, it sounds like someone is fighting.

I covered my face with my hands.

I knew it.

Something always has to happen at the very end.

I’m tired too, having been paying attention to various things for the past three days.

I just wanted to quickly deal with it and go inside.

,Could you go and see what’s going on?

When I asked Horizon, she quickly grasped the situation with her shadows.

Soon after, I heard a ridiculous answer.

,The transfer I saw at the Pioneer Association and Archel-ssi are having an argument.

What the hell is that supposed to mean?