Chapter 28 : Manners maketh man (3)

“Kobolds are easy, as expected.”

As he finished off the last remaining monster, one of the hunters shared his thoughts.

His gaze turned to the party he was with.

Four in total.

The number of members wasn’t important.

What mattered was who was in that number.

‘Larkia Vels. She’s strong, as expected.’

Her origins were quite famous.

A woman who could be called the legitimate successor of a massive tribe from a world renowned for its aggression, a tribe that worshipped

the Black Dragon and followed the absolute principles of power.

“Hmm, they’re weaker than the monsters in my world, as expected.”

“Hehe, you’re amazing, Lady Larkia Vels.”

“It seems you hunted monsters outside as well.”

“It’s a daily occurrence in ‘Kar Matia’.”

Larkia Vels replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

Kar Matia.

One of the worlds that had established itself as a named entity among hunters.

And Larkia Vels was displaying outstanding performance befitting such a background.

She had already dealt with over ten Kobolds.

“Let’s move on to the next.”

“This is where it really begins!”

They stood at the entrance of the Forbidden Zone, making their final preparations.

From the entrance of the Forbidden Zone, mana resistance intensified, and symptoms of mental derangement also grew stronger.

It meant that if one wasn’t a sufficiently skilled hunter, they could be steeped in the Tower’s madness without even realizing it themselves.

“If you’re a nuisance, I’ll abandon you.”
“Follow me well on your own.”

‘Sh*t, the world is so unfair.’

The hunter who had been groveling in front silently left an assessment of the unjust world in his mind.

Larkia Vels looked back at the groveling hunters.

Hunters who had matched her pace without any particular trouble so far.

They were aware of the clear difference in power and were showing proper conduct.

“..Tch.”

However, she felt a strange displeasure.

The source of the emotion was a memory of a certain man.

The man who had nullified her mana with a cowardly trick and made her feel humiliated in front of everyone.

‘Cowardly brat. I’ll show you the difference in class.’

But that was as far as it went.

From the Forbidden Zone onwards, one had no choice but to prove oneself purely through a hunter’s skill.

The monsters in the Forbidden Zone would be stronger, imbued with mana, and above all, the mental burden would be so significant that the

weakling hunter wouldn’t be able to withstand it.

‘…With an overwhelming gap.’

She planned to completely crush that impertinent hunter’s nose this time.

It was said that neither mana nor monsters existed on Earth.

Therefore, to Larkia Vels, who had fought for her life since childhood, there was no other world as weak and insignificant.

That was why she couldn’t acknowledge the man, ‘Kim Do Yoon’.

Larkia Vels, having easily dispatched another monster, muttered as if it was pathetic.

The party continued to advance towards the center of the Forbidden Zone.

“…Where could the object be.”

“According to my sisters’ information, we should look for altars and structures in the Forbidden Zone.”

“Uh, your sisters, you mean…”

“No way.”

“You mean those who are in the upper echelons of the Tower-“

“Yes.”

At Larkia Vels’ affirmation, the party members gasped.

The high-ranking hunters who were performing remarkably were like idols to them.

‘…Somehow, make a connection here.’

While one hunter was racking his brains trying to make some connection here–

Another hunter took an interest in the location of the object Larkia Vels had mentioned.

“The Theme Stage is a story made of the Tower Master’s memories, right?”

“That’s right.”

“When the object is discovered, the ‘story’ unfolds immediately, and the trial begins.”

“The key would be to absolutely not approach it, then.”

Larkia Vels nodded.

Even though she usually had a fiery temperament, she knew how to distinguish right from wrong.

‘If you attack the object, you die.’

It was information her sisters had personally warned her about.

The object was not a monster that would be in that stratum, and one must never antagonize it.

Memories of past days flashed through Larkia Vels’ mind.

‘Youngest. You have such a d*mnable personality, youngest. Still, I trust you’ll listen to your sisters’ request. We don’t want our youngest to

die, you see.’

Under the gaze that looked down on her with cool eyes, Larkia Vels had no choice but to nod.

‘Hmph, useless worry.’

Larkia Vels dismissed it all as useless worry.

Because she wasn’t weak enough to be broken in a mere stratum like this.

“Well, then.”

“Let’s continue searching for the altar…”

Just as she said that and was about to take another dignified step, Larkia Vels discovered something.

A part of the deeply overgrown forest.

-Rustle.

Something white was peeking out.

“What is it.”

“Yes? What…”

At Larkia Vels’ questioning sound, the other party members’ gazes also turned that way.

“Hohe.”

The white thing wriggled and made a sound.

Looking closely again, it was the crown of someone’s head.

Hair that seemed to hold the pale moonlight.

With an innocent laugh like that of a child, ‘it’ finally revealed itself.

-Rustle.

“Ah.”

Larkia Vels instinctively aimed her weapon.

It wasn’t due to the sudden situation.

Instinct.

The instinct from a life lived alongside battle began to wary of the opponent.

“O-object.”

“That, why is it here.”

Hunters are not fools.

Everyone was familiar with the information about the object.

A part of Jinjo’s memory, her fragmentation.

It was said to take the form of a young girl, with pale white hair and eyes that held the color of blood.

“R-run.”

“L-Lady Larkia Vels.”

“That’s really dangerous.”

“We must evacuate quickly.”

“…No, it’s already too late.”

Larkia Vels desperately calmed her trembling heart and glared at the object.

The story had already begun.

For some reason, the object that should have been asleep in the altar’s underground prison had been activated.

And it had wandered to where her party was.

“Th-then.”

“We need to join up with other hunters.”

“Or we die.”

“Will that thing just watch us leave…?”

Jinjo’s memory still exuded a chilling composure.

It was so peaceful that it felt rather unsettling.

In the middle of the Forbidden Zone, where monsters could pop out at any moment without it being strange.

In the form of a child, a smiling face, as if out for a stroll, was looking at the hunters.

“Hey.”

“Are you guys cultists too?”

“Shall we play taggg?”

As if about to pounce on its prey at any moment, something that had taken shape in the darkness rose behind Jinjo.

And.

“…!!”

Facing Jinjo’s mana that ensnared her legs before she could even collect her thoughts was Larkia Vels’ last memory.

“The story has begun?”

At Do Yoon’s question, the terrified hunter nodded his head frantically.

“Th-that woman was taken.”

“In an instant, she was dragged away without any resistance…!”

“She must be going through something terrible.”

“Aah, what do we do?”

“I-if that happens to us too.”

“I don’t want to die!”

“I don’t want to die!”

At the sight of the hunter whining like a child, Do Yoon frowned and smacked him hard on the crown of his head.

“Stop sniveling and think about calling the other hunters right now.”

“Wh-what are we going to do by calling them now?! Even if 100 low-level hunters like us gather, we can’t face the object!”

“Idiot.”

Do Yoon finally let out a harsh word.

“Who said we’re fighting the object?”

“Where did you sell off the information we got in the first meeting room?”

To clear the Theme Stage, it’s necessary to proceed with the ‘story’.

The subject of the story is the object, and ultimately, they had to resonate with her.

He didn’t care what happened to the woman who had been rude to him.

He was just curious about the movements of the object that had left its place.

“…Do Yoon.”

The Fox Beastkin hunter with fox ears approached him from behind.

“This is dangerous.”

“Let’s fall back for a moment…”

“And after we fall back?”

“…What?”

“The trial has already begun, and we don’t even know where the activated object went.”

“If we can’t find the object anyway, we’re all screwed.”

“But, didn’t you just hear the news?”

“The object attacked a hunter.”

“Right now, it’s a situation where we can’t appease it or ask for cooperation.”

“But anyway, all the other hunters have entered the Forbidden Zone, right?”

“Do those hunters know?”

“Do they know that the object has been activated and is attacking and abducting other hunters?”

Fall back immediately for safety?

It wasn’t a bad idea. But such a judgment had no future.

What if other hunters similarly provoked the object?

‘I have to save them.’

It was true he didn’t like them, but he couldn’t just let the lives that had come this far be wasted in vain.

“So, you’re going to enter the Forbidden Zone in this state?”

“If you’re not going, just stay here.”

“I’m going in to save the other hunters.”

“Cr-crazy.”

“You’ll die by the object too!”

“Do you want to die?!”

“It seems you don’t quite understand what I’m saying.”

Do Yoon grabbed the terrified hunter by the scruff of his neck.

“You have to guide me.”

“..Wh-what?”

[-Hoe-eh-eh…! If, if you meet me in the Theme Stage, be sure to remember this…!]

Recalling the information from the original owner of that object, Do Yoon entered the Forbidden Zone.