Ch.121A New Beginning NPC. (4)

Shouldn’t life just not be this way?

The sun has set, and it’s bedtime, so shall we get some sleep now? Hmm?

“KYAAAAH!!! Why, why do you keep following me?! Why don’t my attacks work?!!!”

-BANG!

My veteran mountain keeper skill. Its presence detection has picked up on the spotted white tiger beastkin who’s now screaming with an almost tearful expression as she dashes across various parts of the mountain.

Wait, where on earth did she drag a [Wraith] from?

[Wraith: Level 156]

[HP: 1,560]

[Physical Attack Immunity]

An undead ghost monster. Its level is even comparable to the [Native] field level after finishing the tutorial.

Normally, this trash monster would die with one hit of a [Holy Attribute Potion], but it seems certain that Miho doesn’t have that knowledge yet since the invasion period hasn’t begun.

Miho, who’s fleeing while throwing useless punches and kicks, has started to genuinely cry as she narrowly avoids the Wraith’s attacks.

“Huaaang!! No!! Unnie! Help me!! Dying to a ghost!! This is too much!!!”

Her acrobatic movements while crying as she escapes are almost like a circus performance.

This is insane. It’s not even a monster I could defeat if I went over there. Plus, if I remember correctly, Wraiths pursue living beings to the bitter end.

In the game, unless you ran away to the field boundary where the loading screen would appear, the monster’s aggro wouldn’t reset.

If that applies to reality too, where exactly is the loading screen in this world? I’ve never seen one. Could it be the afterlife? Wouldn’t it be a disaster if we loaded there?

[Keeeeeeeec!!!!!]

“No!! Save me!! Somebody!! I don’t want to die!!! Unnie!! Jack!!!”

“…Sigh.”

The Wraith, looking like a masked murderer from some movie, attacks Miho with its translucent body flailing, leaving massive holes in the surrounding trees.

And she’s truly in such a state that I can’t tell if what’s flowing down her face is sweat or tears, and she’s started calling my name.

It’s obvious that she was following me, right?

“Oh, for crying out loud.”

“KYAAAH?!!!”

-CRACK!!

The attack aimed at Miho’s clearly exhausted body misses, and instead creates a massive hole in the tree, like it had been gripped by the monster’s hand.

Shit, it ignores physical attacks against it but uses physical attacks itself? Is it crazy? Where did it sell its conscience? Did it leave it with its physical body when it was alive?

-TAP TAP!!

“J-Jack!!”

“Stay still, shut your mouth, and be quiet. If you babble, I’ll leave you behind.”

-NOD NOD NOD!!

Just as the Wraith’s massive grip was about to turn the beastkin into a separated upper and lower body model, I snatched her up and climbed onto a tree. The Wraith, confused by Miho’s sudden disappearance, began looking around bewilderedly.

[Keeeeec?!!!!!]

Then, spotting Miho and me being carried like luggage, it immediately let out a terrible scream and flew toward us.

Hmm, its speed is just average?

-CRAAACK!!!

The problem is its power. The sturdy branch that didn’t even bend under my and Miho’s weight gets torn apart like a toothpick.

More precisely, it starts twisting and tearing even before the monster’s grip touches it.

Could it be? Some kind of spiritual force? Some twisted netherworld something?

I was never good at horror games. This is a bit scary.

As expected, without a [Holy Attribute Potion] or related skills, it seems impossible to defeat it here.

“Respect nature, you naturally dead bastard.”

-BANG!!! CRAAACK!!!

To avenge the branch that the monster tore apart, I step back and swing my fist, toppling a tree right in the monster’s direction.

Tree, I’ve avenged your branch!!

[Keeeeec!!!!!]

The monster backs away frantically at the sight of the falling tree. Idiot, it has physical attack immunity, so why is it afraid?

The timing of its retreat is so late that the tree passes right through it—the scene is almost comical.

Hmm, you’re not qualified to be a horror game ghost. Rejected!

-BANG!! BANG!! BANG!!!

While it’s floundering, I break more surrounding trees to make them fall toward it. The monster, startled by the sudden sight of trees seemingly flying at it, begins spinning in place.

This should be enough to block its vision. And it’s revenge for the trees that got holes punched in them. Satisfied, I immediately set my legs in motion.

-PAT PAT PAT!!

While the Wraith is still trying to assess the situation, I start running at full speed across the mountain.

As I mentioned earlier, in the game, once a [Wraith] locks onto its target, it pursues until either it or its target dies. The only way to reset its aggro was to move to a map where loading occurs.

‘I don’t know where that would be in reality, but for now, I need to run.’

My status window has been warning me of danger all this time, and I have no means to defeat that thing.

I glance sideways while running at full speed and realize one more thing.

‘Damn. That thing doesn’t trigger the [Veteran Mountain Keeper] detection?’

The creature, which had been floundering among the falling trees, starts flying after us.

Wow, looking at just that, it’s like a horror game. But after seeing its earlier antics, it seems more like a stupid ghost with bad AI, so I’m not that scared. Moreover…

“It’s flying, but it’s slower than me even though I’m carrying luggage.”

The monster is chasing us with even louder screams than before, but the distance between us is only growing.

It would be nice if we could reset its aggro like this. I wonder at what point it will give up and turn back?

I don’t want to play tag in the middle of the night like this.

With such thoughts running through my mind, I ran aimlessly for several minutes.

“J-Jack.”

“Hmm?”

Miho, who had been covering her mouth with both hands since I told her to shut up, spoke.

“I-It’s gone.”

“Hmm? Where did it go? Did you see?”

“It, it suddenly vanished into thin air, like it evaporated.”

Hmm, was this a loading area? At the mention of the monster’s disappearance, I stop and look around tensely, but I don’t sense any killing intent or eerie feeling.

Plus, my status window is quiet. It seems we really did lose it, but to drop aggro after running this far…

“Um, Jack?”

“Yes?”

“G-Ghosts… they can’t be active in the morning, right?”

“Well, they can be in dark places even during the day. Why?”

“Maybe… it disappeared because the sun is rising now?”

What?

Miho, who’s being held upside down like luggage, points to the sky with her tail. The sky isn’t black anymore but has turned slightly bluish, like just before sunrise.

…Damn, how long have I been running?

“Based on my rough sense, we’ve been running for about four hours without stopping.”

“…Goddamn shit-for-brains.”

“Pardon?”

“Not talking about you.”

Shit, how much was I thinking for time to pass like this?

I was certainly devising various strategies in case it didn’t drop aggro, but still, four hours? What’s wrong with my software?

Sighing at my unbelievable stupidity, I let go of Miho. She didn’t crash into the ground like a cartoon character but landed properly on all four limbs(?) like an agile cat.

Sigh. I was trying to drop one bomb, but here comes another bomb from elsewhere. Is this really a player?

This should be screenshot and posted on the forums as a troll, seriously.

“How did you end up meeting that thing anyway? And I told you to go your own way. Did you follow me?”

“W-Well…”

Miho explained that as a nocturnal species among beastkin, she moves faster and consumes less energy in the evening. So she ran hard to close the distance that had opened between us during the day.

And as she was following my scent, she suddenly heard a man’s scream.

In the middle of the night on the mountain, a man’s voice echoed, and since the direction of the scent was similar to where I was, she ran toward it.

She thought it was my scream, and when she arrived, there was no man, but that Wraith appeared and suddenly started attacking her.

Wait, if I screamed, shouldn’t you run away rather than toward it?

“…I thought you might need help. I’m sorry.”

To be honest, if an enemy appeared that could make me scream, ten more Mihos wouldn’t be of any help right now. A single Gore or Ragni Rey would be 100 times more helpful.

However, seeing Miho speak as if she’s genuinely sorry and worried about me, it feels awkward to respond with my usual harsh words.

Hmm, I’m also in a dazed state from lack of sleep.

“From now on, if you think I’m screaming, call out and ask from a distance.”

“Huh? What should I ask?”

“…Ask if my hair is being pulled out.”

Honestly, I can’t even imagine a situation where I’d scream.

It would be more believable if I woke up to find clumps of my hair falling out due to stress and screamed because of sudden baldness.

And Miho, after hearing my explanation, nods vigorously as if she’s understood something in her own way again.

Wait, it’s fine to respond, but what if a player does something that even Rey wouldn’t do?

I wondered if she might have some troll skill like Rey’s [Can’t Stand Injustice], but when I checked, there was no such skill.

In the end, I was too sleepy to say anything more to Miho and just started walking. If I fell asleep somewhere now, it might be sunset again by the time I woke up.

And as a result of that movement…

“…Hey. Didn’t you say we ran for about four hours earlier?”

“Um, yes?”

“Isn’t that [Aigram] and its nearby village over there?”

“…Probably, I think?”

Looking down from the end of the mountain ridge, I see a village.

It’s a village near the [Trade City Aigram] that would take a day to reach even by leisurely carriage ride, and I grab my forehead in disbelief.

…Damn. Maybe I should have just carried Miho and run from the beginning?

The distance I expected would take at least 5 more days of moderate running has been reduced to just a few hours. I really have no idea what my stats are anymore.