Ch.54Naba Forest Mountain+

# 54. Naba Forest Mountain+

“Ah, I’m so pissed! I’m seriously so fucking pissed, so fucking pissed, seriously!!”

“Yuri…”

“How many times have we reset after catching three monsters?! Why do I get the first three right but keep missing the last one?! Aaaaargh!”

Was our smooth start merely just a start?

As Glass-X screamed, we were already on our fourth attempt. And all three times, we’d been reset after finding the third monster.

I had to admit she had every right to be furious. I was annoyed too, though I wasn’t showing it.

“Sunghyun. This isn’t just once, but three times for the same reason. I think it’s reasonable to suspect that new gimmick you mentioned has been added.”

“No way… though we do have precedent for this.”

Someone might criticize us for being stupid, saying we should have suspected something after the second failure, not waiting until the third.

But who could have been suspicious after such a smooth start?

If things had been rocky from the beginning, that would be different, but we’d been spot-on until finding the third monster.

It wasn’t unreasonable to think the first two failures were just bad luck, and I wasn’t alone in that opinion. Even Cut-Kill-Me and Glass-X, who participated directly in the search, strongly insisted.

That it was just unfortunate coincidence. That they really had it this time. That we could do it.

So neither I nor Ye-Beopnojeong moved on to the second strategy.

It wasn’t anyone’s fault.

No, if I had to blame someone, it would be me. After all, I’m the raid leader, and whether by consensus or unilaterally, I made the final decision.

I tried to comfort Glass-X.

“Yuri.”

“Oh, oppa. Ah. I’m really… I must be an idiot. I should have given up after failing once or twice, but I was so stubborn. Ah. Am I really a barbarian?”

“Calm down. It’s not your fault.”

“Ah. I’ve been such a burden. I’ve done exactly what I hate most…”

“Yu Yuri!”

Glass-X is the type to get excited easily, regardless of her mental strength. She calms down quickly and doesn’t hold grudges, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t get hurt.

It’s not like she doesn’t develop scars or trauma.

From the beginning, our first strategy wouldn’t have been possible without her exceptional senses. And it wasn’t good to rely too heavily on just one person anymore. We had other options.

When words failed to calm Glass-X, I hugged her.

“O-oppa?!”

“Yuri. We’re just getting started. We’re newbies. This kind of thing will happen all the time. Are you going to blame yourself every time? Especially when it’s not even your fault?”

Glass-X’s body was hot. She had been moving intensely and was worked up, so that made sense.

“O-oppa.”

I patted her back until she calmed down. After staying like that for a while without saying anything, Glass-X, who had been breathing heavily in excitement, became as gentle as a lamb.

‘It’s a cowardly method.’

A weak fantasy that it might work because Glass-X likes me.

The fantasy became reality.

When I released the hug, Glass-X had calmed down, but her face was twice as red. Cut-Kill-Me was looking at us enviously, though that might just be my imagination.

Yuri.

Um, I understand you’re embarrassed, but why are you caressing your own body?

“Player.”

“What’s with calling me a virgin player, huh?”

Ignoring Ye-Beopnojeong’s diss, I once again rallied the raid team.

“We’re still okay. It’s more important not to make mistakes than to avoid resets, and in that sense, the foundation of our strategy wasn’t wrong. But repeating the same mistake would be inhuman. We’re going with Strategy 2. Seyeon, Yuri. Are you okay with that?”

“Yes, leader.”

“Y-yeah.”

We were back at the starting point. I tapped Glass-X’s shoulder.

“Yuri, focus.”

“Yes! Focus!”

Strategy 2 was a variation of Strategy 1. If Glass-X failed to find all four monsters, Ye-Beopnojeong would join the search.

But her method consumed an absurd amount of mana, spreading it like sonar waves, so it was a method I’d rather not use if possible.

If genius Ye-Beopnojeong hadn’t developed it herself, saying “it might be useful here even if it wouldn’t be in a game,” we wouldn’t even have this strategy.

“Forward again.”

We moved forward again. I was annoyed, but four attempts was nothing compared to raiding. I believed Glass-X would calm down and fulfill her role.

“Found one!”

“Found another!”

“That’s the third!”

Glass-X, who seemed to have entered serious mode, and Cut-Kill-Me, who was inexplicably focused, were terrifyingly efficient at finding the tree monsters.

They looked like they wanted to find the fourth monster too, but I stopped them.

“Subin.”

“Okay.”

Ye-Beopnojeong closed her eyes and began to concentrate. Though invisible, something seemed to spread out from her.

Everyone’s attention focused on her.

Expectation.

The expectation that Ye-Wiki, genius Ye-Beopnojeong, might succeed in one go.

But when she opened her eyes, no positive words came out.

“At least it’s not here.”

“Don’t tell me we passed it again?”

“I don’t know. I only saw part of what’s in front of me from where I’m standing. We need to go to where I couldn’t detect and try again.”

“So… that’s good?”

“Yes. We haven’t failed yet.”

Ye-Beopnojeong answered as if nothing was wrong. Cut-Kill-Me and Glass-X sighed in relief. But looking closely, Ye-Beopnojeong’s body was trembling slightly. It seemed to be taking a real toll on her.

I secretly handed her a mana potion.

“Stop pretending you’re fine.”

“…”

“Answer me.”

“…Okay.”

Ye-Beopnojeong quickly drained the mana potion, tossed the empty bottle into her inventory, and followed the front duo, afraid they might turn around.

‘She really hates showing weakness. Well, that’s Eun Subin for you.’

After that, we stopped again about 30-40 meters ahead and waited once more for Ye-Beopnojeong’s survey results.

‘I can’t make her do this three times.’

Unlike Glass-X whose face was flushed red, Ye-Beopnojeong had turned completely pale, but fortunately, this time she pointed to a tree.

“That one. It’s different.”

“Confirmed. Subin. Can you cast?”

“I can.”

“Good. Combat as before. Seyeon, Yuri. Let’s check.”

We suppressed our expectations. It would be extremely frustrating and disappointing if we celebrated prematurely only to find out we were wrong.

“This is just the first theme! Let’s get this over with already!”

The verification officer Glass-X shouted as she swung her axe.

-■■■■■!!!

“Correct!!!”

“Seyeon, Yuri, 6 o’clock! Subin, fire!!!”

This time it was really correct. The tree monster’s scream was so welcome for once.

Soon the tree monster became tree/wood/chips.

Then, at the end of what had seemed like an endless path, a tree door covered in vines appeared.

We had only cleared the first of four themes, but we were genuinely happy.

“Finally…!”

“We did it! We really did it!”

“Looks like the gimmick required using something like mana rather than just physical ability.”

“Yeah. Everyone worked hard! Let’s rest a bit before going to the next theme.”

Again, there was no explicit time limit. But strangely, even without a time limit, thinking about how the rewards might change made us feel rushed.

So I reminded myself once more.

Aiming for S-rank is good, but our safety comes first.

After resting enough to not completely relax our bodies, we passed through the door.

This time it was just physically passing through, so we skipped the verification process.

*Whoosh*

“Second theme: Wind. Everyone confirm your assigned directions.”

“North. All clear.”

“East is clear too!”

“West, nothing unusual.”

“Okay. South is clear too.”

If the first theme was about finding monsters disguised as trees, the second theme, “Wind,” seemed completely empty at first glance, to the point where you’d wonder what we were supposed to do.

At least on the surface.

“Since everything’s clear, let’s move forward. Just to remind everyone again: as we walk, you’ll hear subtle differences in the wind sounds from certain directions. We need to immediately turn in that direction, so not just Yuri, but everyone needs to walk with full concentration.”

“Speed?”

“Half.”

“Confirmed.”

We had to navigate by distinguishing wind sounds. On the surface, it looked like a vast plain stretched before us, but the reality was completely different.

If our direction didn’t match the wind sounds, we might be sent back to the beginning, hit a dead end, or encounter monsters.

In short, it was like a maze without walls.

After a few minutes of moving in a state of intense concentration, unable to chat and even breathing carefully due to having to constantly listen to the wind sounds…

Just when I could feel my body getting drained in real time, Glass-X, who was in charge of the east, and Ye-Beopnojeong, who was in charge of the west, both raised their hands simultaneously.

“…?”

What?

What’s going on?