Chapter 22 – The Vanguard

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Roar—!

“Don’t stop no matter what!”

As we ran into the cave, I shouted at the top of my lungs. The path inside the cave was uneven. My steps were unstable, and the hand I had been tightly holding onto slipped away.

The only way to confirm Isolin’s survival was the sound of her footsteps and the occasional short scream.

We ran, fell, got up, and ran again. Our bodies and clothes were a mess, but we didn’t have the energy to care about that now.

In the midst of our frantic running, my leg suddenly gave way, and I began tumbling forward.

“Eeeek!”

Roll roll roll—

My small body rolled uncontrollably down the slope. Isolin, who I briefly saw, was also rolling, and behind her, the massive bear was sliding down with its mouth wide open.

“Everyone, move aside!”

At that moment, a bright light and a loud shout erupted from the bottom of the slope. The warm, comforting glow of holy energy enveloped my injured body. It felt familiar. This light was undoubtedly holy energy.

The source of the holy energy was none other than Reinhardt. He drew his holy sword, glowing with divine power, and charged up the slope.

It was as if he was defying gravity. Isolin and I rolled past him.

Roar—!

A brilliant light and a deafening roar filled the cave. Each time the holy sword shined, it tore through the thick skin of the gray bear, but the bear didn’t retreat.

Instead, it advanced, dripping with dark red blood.

Roar—!

[Level 20]
[Gray Bear]

The bear fought well. But its opponent was just too strong. The level 80 paladin slaughtered the bear blocking his path.

Slash slash—!

The swiftly swung holy sword carved through the bear’s body. The bear, which had been pushing forward with its thick skin, collapsed.

Roar—

“Phew…”

After the battle, the light from the holy sword slowly faded.

Only then did I turn to check on Isolin.

Like me, she was lying flat on the ground, tears and snot streaming down her face.

“Sniff…”

“Is everyone alright?”

At Reinhardt’s question, I got up and checked my condition.

Despite running through the uneven cave and tumbling down the slope, I had no injuries.

Isolin was also fine, aside from her tear-streaked face.

We were unharmed thanks to the holy energy Reinhardt had emitted.

“It was my mistake… I didn’t expect the bear to be outside. I should have been more careful…”

I stayed silent at Reinhardt’s apology. I couldn’t bring myself to say it was okay. I forced an awkward smile.

“Um, is the bear definitely dead?”

That was Isolin’s question.

Reinhardt answered with action. He jumped onto the fallen bear.

Thud thud—

Reinhardt’s heavy kicks prodded the bear’s body. Still, the bear didn’t move.

“It’s definitely dead.”

“Phew…”

With the bear’s death confirmed, Isolin slumped to the ground, exhausted.

I sat down beside her and let out a long sigh.

Isolin and I got up about five minutes later. Reinhardt patiently waited for us.

“Alright, let’s go find the stolen honey and the prayer book.”

Reinhardt pointed deeper into the cave, his holy sword in hand. It seemed he had no intention of leaving the cave until we recovered the stolen items.

Gulp—

I swallowed hard as I looked into the dark cave. Even though we had witnessed the gray bear’s demise, I couldn’t bring myself to take a step forward.

I thought this would be a simple item delivery quest, but who knew it would turn into a chain of dangerous tasks?

If I had known it would be this dangerous, I wouldn’t have accepted it in the first place.

I sighed and stuck close behind Reinhardt.

There were no additional dangers inside the cave. We soon reached the bear’s treasure hoard.

“This is…”

“It seems the bear really loved honey.”

(tl: honey cave)

Before us were countless jars of honey. Occasionally, half-destroyed beehives rolled across the floor.

The stolen prayer book was lying nearby, sticky with honey.

“Found it. This is the book.”

Reinhardt handed me the sticky, honey-covered book. I looked up at him, my eyebrows twitching.

Was he seriously expecting me to carry this? This sticky thing?

But I kept my complaints to myself. How could I defy a level 80 paladin? I didn’t want to end up like the gray bear—minced meat.

I shoved the book into my inventory.

The honey stored by the bear was undoubtedly stolen from the village. There were only a few apiaries in the mountain village, after all.

And so, hundreds of jars of honey were returned to the village. Isolin and I received three jars as a reward.

The new skill I learned, [Goddess’s Blessing], was a skill that removed status ailments from party members.

After completing two class quests and surviving two crises, Isolin and I took another week off.

Of course, we couldn’t rest forever. Our gold was running low.

“Sigh…”

I got up with a long sigh. If only I hadn’t fallen for that shallow provocation, I could’ve rested a bit longer. The lost 30,000 gold was a bitter regret.

I left my inn room and headed straight to Isolin’s room. On days without hunting, she usually stayed quietly in her room. She was probably there now.

Knock knock—

I knocked with a smile on my face. But no matter how long I waited, there was no response.

“Isolin?”

Just in case, I called out to her through the door. The inn’s soundproofing wasn’t great, so she should’ve heard me.

But again, there was no response. Isolin wasn’t there.

“Hmm…”

I walked down to the inn’s first floor, stroking my chin. It seemed I’d have to go hunting without Isolin today.

I quickly ran through the list of potential party members in my head.

Zeblin and Palm Tree.

No way.

Our relationship had been awkward since the Goblin Dungeon incident. Just as Isolin and I avoided them, they avoided us too.

Sky Shrimp.

The guy who put the party in danger. I never wanted to party with him again. I shook my head.

Neukmom and Han Chanseong.

They had left Foxtail a while ago. There was no way to party with them. Another pass.

“Hmm…”

I couldn’t think of anyone else. It was then I realized how narrow my social circle was.

No choice. I’d have to form a party on the spot.

I pushed aside my unease and headed to the city gate, where players gathered the most.

At the city gate, many people were forming parties and chatting.

Here, too, the divide between noble and commoner classes was evident. Warriors were in high demand since there were always fewer people willing to draw monster aggro.

On the other hand, archers and martial artists were avoided. Archers had accuracy issues, and martial artists had low attack power.

In fact, low-level martial artists were stronger using the initial iron sword than their class-specific weapons.

Cleric classes were a different story. They didn’t actively seek parties, but if you approached them, they’d join in under ten seconds.

Just as I was about to approach people to form a party, I overheard a conversation.

“You can escape this world?”

“Isn’t that just another rumor? Like how dying sends you back to the real world…”

“What’s the final boss’s level? How are we supposed to defeat that?”

Amid the murmurs, a clear voice stood out. I listened more closely.

“It’s true! A few vanguard parties got wiped out yesterday and quietly returned. I heard it from them.”

I wasn’t the only one listening. As time passed, the topic of conversation shifted.

My body, which had been moving to form a party, stopped. I stood alone, staring blankly at the crowd.

Just a rumor about returning to the original world had spread, and yet, smiles of anticipation filled everyone’s faces.

A sharp pang struck my chest.

Rumors were just rumors. I frowned and shouted.

“Looking for a party to hunt bears!”

But I couldn’t form a party. Everyone’s attention was elsewhere. They rushed off to verify the rumor.

I was left alone, watching them go.

Vrslop_translator