Chapter 7

〈 Episode 7 〉Quest 2 – Survival ~ Quest 3 – Subjugation

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“Shit…”

With even her last resort blocked, Asha gave up hiding and focused on escaping the monsters as much as possible. How long had she been running? Asha felt a faint vibration, realizing that the riders were still following her. It seemed she hadn’t gotten far enough away for them not to detect her.

[Quest 2: Survive for 30 hours Remaining time 0H]

Asha had to endure for a time that could be as short as 5 minutes or as long as an hour. As the monster approached Asha, it took out a spear from its back and threw it.

Swoosh–!!

The spear, thrown with a force as powerful as its large physique, tore through the air and flew towards Asha. Initially, Asha tried to block it with her shield, but her face changed at the ominous sound, and she gave up blocking, rolling to the side.

Whoosh– Bang! Rumble-

‘Hah…’

The sound of earth being dug up and rocks being shattered sent chills down her spine. The rider nonchalantly took out another spear from its back and began another throw. The spear struck down like lightning on Asha, who hadn’t yet regained her stance.

Crack-

She hadn’t managed to dodge it, covering her body with the shield she had grabbed with her left hand, but the spear not only tore through the shield but also shattered Asha’s left arm.

“Kkyaaa!”

Asha screamed, her voice tearing, from the pain that reached her very marrow. A wolf that had run up to her as she rolled on the ground pounced on her. Asha reflexively put out her left arm, and the wolf’s teeth completely severed and tore it away.

“Eugeuk, keueueu…”

Now Asha couldn’t even scream, trembling uncontrollably. The rider, clutching its empty left shoulder socket, prepared to finish her off, aiming at her as she suffered from shock. At that moment,

[Quest completed by surviving for 30 hours.]

Along with the message that only Asha could see, her figure disappeared. The bewildered monster quickly brought its axe down on the spot where Asha had been, but there was no one there. In the empty field, the monster’s roar of frustration at losing its target echoed.

[Physical condition will be restored upon returning to the waiting room.]

[Receive rewards for achieving Quest 2.]

[9D 23H remaining until Quest 3 begins.]

Asha’s body was almost wrecked from the injuries she had sustained in the battle and the loss of her left arm, but as soon as she returned to the waiting room, her body was back to normal, without a single scar. Even after returning to the waiting room, she huddled, trembling, clutching her left arm.

“Heueuk, hueu, heuk…”

Asha’s body was fine, but the pain she had experienced remained in her mind, shaking her. Only after a considerable amount of time did Asha manage to pull herself together and get up. Barely regaining her senses, Asha checked the skills she had acquired during this quest.

“Weapon Mastery, Sprint, and Pain Reduction?”

Sprint was a skill she had gained while fleeing on the battlefield, and Pain Reduction seemed to be something she had gotten from being severely injured by the wolf. Sprint was a decent skill that allowed her to run faster and longer, and Pain Reduction was a skill that reduced pain that could cause serious impairment or even death.

It was a useful skill for combat and necessary for Asha’s mental health. Despite being the first skill she had acquired, Pain Reduction was already at level 2, showing just how extreme the pain Asha had just experienced was.

[Character Name: Asha]

Strength: 10

Agility: 8

Durability: 8

Stamina: 12

Magic: 6

Asha’s stats had increased considerably despite the short battle. She now had stats that were good enough for her to hold her own, but Asha couldn’t rest easy.

“That monster… how much stronger do I have to become to catch that bastard?”

The monsters that had appeared at the end of the second quest were shocking to Asha. It was the first time she had seen monsters, but what surprised Asha more than that was their strength.

It was already difficult to resist a pack of wolves, but on top of that, there was a monster stronger than the wolves riding on them, which was just adding insult to injury. This terrible 1+1 made Asha question the shield that she had used so well in this quest.

‘Okay, maybe I can keep the wolves in check with the shield somehow. But not that monster… I couldn’t even block the spear properly, but the axe that bastard was holding would definitely have split me in two even if I had a shield.’

The shield was only effective against humans. When facing monsters that were far stronger than humans, it was right to avoid their attacks, and it was foolish to confront them head-on.

Asha decided that she would refrain from using the shield head-on when fighting monsters, except in battles against humans. So, the skills that Asha had acquired up to this quest were as follows:

-Weapon Mastery LV.3, Sex LV.4, Hospitality LV.3, Sprint LV.1, Pain Reduction LV.2, Stat Enhancement LV.2

Weapon Mastery, which had dropped to level 2 due to the use of the shield, had risen back to level 3, the same as the level of her initial swordsmanship. Now Asha checked the reward details of the quest she had been looking forward to.

[Quest 2 Achievement Reward]

1000 Tokens

Stealth Skill

First Aid Skill

Small Healing Potion x 2

“Wow!”

Asha couldn’t hide her joy, grinning at the fairly diverse rewards. The newly acquired Stealth and First Aid skills were immediately added to the skill window at level 1. Both skills seemed useful for quests.

Among them, the Stealth skill was a cooldown-type skill with a duration, currently usable for 15 minutes every hour.

“I think this is about all I need to check…”

After finding out everything she could check right away, Asha, overwhelmed by fatigue, lay down on the bed and fell asleep as if she had fainted.

During the 9 days remaining until the quest started, Asha strengthened her stats and raised the level of her Weapon Mastery. When it was time to enter the portal again, she was given the same shabby armor and sword as before. It was never a trustworthy armament, but unlike before, Asha wore a triumphant smile.

“Hehe… I’ve saved up some money now!”

Asha additionally purchased chainmail and a shield from the store. She spent 500 tokens, but Asha, who had tasted the bitterness in the previous quest, didn’t regret the expenditure at all. Having purchased new equipment, Asha entered the third quest again.

[Quest 3: Monster Subjugation]

Asha was summoned to a small village in the mountains. In the village, which didn’t seem very wealthy, the person who spoke to her was a young girl with freckles on her face.

“Mercenary, please save my sister!”

Asha, who was gradually getting used to the way she was dropped off without context or explanation, answered the girl’s question without awkwardness.

“Where did your sister go?”

“She went to pick mushrooms because there was nothing to eat at home, but she hasn’t come back even though it’s past evening…”

“Where are your parents?”

“They went to another village a few days ago, but they haven’t come back yet.”

Asha felt sorry for the girl, who seemed anxious because her parents and sister were not by her side.

“Okay, I understand. I’ll definitely bring your sister back. Where should I go?”

“She went to that mountain over there.”

“What’s your sister’s name?”

“Kate, her name is Kate… Heueuk…”

The girl said her sister’s name and then began to sob, worried about her missing sister. Asha immediately started walking in that direction.

“Please, please find my sister!”

Asha waved her hand and hurried on her way at the child’s tearful cry.

Asha, who had come deep into the mountains, was moving in the direction the child had told her.

“But the quest isn’t rescue, it’s subjugation…”

In other words, the life or death of the girl’s sister did not affect the quest’s completion. Still, there was no need to let an innocent person die, so Asha was thinking of saving her sister if possible.

“But will I be able to find her?”

Of course, Asha had never learned how to search separately in her life. She was searching diligently, and she was able to acquire the Search skill right away, but she couldn’t just blindly search, relying only on the skill that was still at level 0. Moreover, the increasingly darkening forest was also an obstacle to the search.

There was no separate time limit for the quest, but the longer the time passed, the lower the probability that Kate would be alive, so she wanted to resolve this as quickly as possible.

Screeching–

Squeak!

“Is it there!”

At the sudden noise, Asha sensed that there was a monster she was looking for. Running towards the sound, she saw dozens of monsters attacking a huge boar.

The boar, which was about 2 meters tall, was as big as a military truck. The green monsters, smaller than humans, clung to the boar’s legs in a swarm, making it difficult to move, and stabbed the pig’s flanks and buttocks with spears.

Monsters that had died without leaving a complete shape were piled up at the boar’s feet, but the other monsters were rushing in without regard for the corpses of their comrades. Watching the scene, Asha was confused about what to do.

‘Who should I kill?’

[Quest 3: Monster Subjugation Remaining number: 88]

‘Surely they’re not telling me to catch dozens of boars the size of trucks, are they?’

Asha, who was doubtful, was convinced when the remaining number of the quest decreased to 87 as the boar’s hoof crushed the head of a monster struggling under its legs.

‘Instead of just watching, I should fight with them.’

She decided to lend a hand to the boar in this quest. It seemed impossible to face such a company-sized group of monsters alone by fighting normally.

“Haaaat!”

Asha checked her equipment and immediately jumped in, smashing the head of a monster stabbing the boar with a spear with her shield.

“Kkue!”

The monster collapsed with its head dented from the heavy blow that didn’t match her physique, and soon the other monsters became aware of the intruder’s appearance.

Squeak!

Only after Asha quickly dealt with the three monsters nearby by swinging her sword were the monsters able to pounce on Asha and prevent her from continuing to massacre their comrades.

“Okay, I’ve killed 4.”

Soon, several monsters surrounded and attacked Asha, but most of the attacks failed to penetrate Asha’s armor and shield. The combination of chainmail and cloth armor provided her with considerable protection.

She lowered her stance, leaned against a tree, and defensively endured, taking down the monsters one by one. When she failed to kill a new enemy, some of the panicked monsters rushed in to deal with Asha for sure, but that action unleashed the beast that should not have been unleashed.

Kkuuuuu!

As the number of monsters suppressing it decreased, the boar swung its tusks and pierced the monster next to it, lifting it up.

Kkeue-

Squeeeeak!

The roaring boar shook off the monsters’ restraints and charged. The monster in the straight line was crushed under its hooves, and the monsters that were grazed were knocked away like bowling pins.

Thud!

“Wow, that size is a gangster. Good job!”

Asha subtly dealt with the monsters and cheered for the boar. The monsters, unable to stop the boar, were swept away like leaves by the charging giant boar, and eventually, half of them were killed before they began to scatter and run away. Asha, who had been happy to see the monsters dying, was startled by the sight.

“Uh-oh? Hey! You can’t run away, you bastards!”

Asha, who had to kill everything here to complete the quest, was flustered and started killing the fleeing ones, but she couldn’t stop them all. Asha, who had missed the monsters, met the boar’s murderous gaze.

“Eut…”

As she flinched at the glaring eyes, the boar shook its head, throwing the monster impaled on its tusks far away, glanced at Asha once, and then ran off somewhere again, shaking the ground. Asha checked the quest window again.

[Quest 3: Monster Subjugation Remaining number: 56]

She had been able to deal with a considerable number of monsters, but there were still many enemies left. As she was wondering how to carry out the quest in the future, she heard a collapsing sound.

Kkeuek!

Along with the sound of something being crushed and the screams of the monster, Asha turned her head in the direction of the sound. Confirming that the sound was coming from the direction where the boar’s large hooves were imprinted, she realized that the boar had gone to deal with the remaining monsters.

“If I do this right, I might be able to get this quest for free…”

Even after coming to another world, her love for freebies remained the same. Asha excitedly followed the footprints and destruction in the forest, running quickly.

[Quest 3: Monster Subjugation Remaining number: 47]

[Quest 3: Monster Subjugation Remaining number: 45]

[Quest 3: Monster Subjugation Remaining number: 42]

While Asha was following the boar, the remaining number of monsters continued to decrease.

‘Wow, this is no joke.’

Thinking of the boar, which was now grinding the small green monsters like a mixer, she clicked her tongue. At the end of the boar’s trail, the sight she faced was a monster rampaging and flattening a small monster village.

Thud!

The small huts where the monsters had been living were shattered and disintegrated into the air with the sound of a bomb exploding as the boar rammed into them with its heavy body. The bodies of the monsters inside were also torn to shreds.

Screeeeech!

The village, which was on fire in the midst of the chaos, brightly illuminated the darkened surroundings. The monsters in the village didn’t even dare to confront the boar and were in a state of confusion. As the boar was rampaging in the middle, Asha chased after and dealt with the monsters fleeing outside the village without having to step in herself.

Tap- Cheee-

As the burning village was completely burned down and the flames subsided, the boar’s rampage also stopped. There were no more monsters left in Asha’s quest window either. The boar, which had killed all the monsters, found something in the village and approached Asha with it in its mouth.

“Ah…”

Seeing the dead baby boar held in the boar’s mouth, she felt a little somber as she seemed to know why the monster was rampaging. The boar, looking at Asha with a calmer gaze than before, quietly left the village. Asha, who was watching the boar disappear, suddenly thought of the village girl’s sister.

“Kate! Oh my god… I wonder if I can even find her body…”

Asha was bewildered by the miserable appearance of the village, which was more like it had crumbled than collapsed. In order to deliver at least the body to her family, Asha entered the village and began searching. She wandered around the village to find the body, but the huts were all smashed, and all that remained were the burnt corpses and remains of the monsters.

“I’m sorry…”

Asha left the village, offering a silent prayer to the girl who had been horribly murdered.

“Excuse me…”

“Hiyat, you scared me! Oh my god… Are you perhaps Kate?”

Asha, startled by the voice from the side, saw a woman who looked exactly like the girl she had seen in the village.

“Yes, how do you know my name…?”

“I came at the request of your sister. How did you survive there?”

“I wasn’t there. While I was being captured by the monsters, that huge boar jumped in and killed them all. If I had been captured a little earlier, I would have died there.”

“That’s a real stroke of luck. Let’s go back together. Do you know the way?”

“Yes. I’ve never been here before, but I know where the village is.”

Asha, who had met the girl’s sister who had survived by luck, returned to the village following Kate’s guidance. Watching the sister who ran to her sister and hugged her as soon as she returned to the village, Asha disappeared from the spot.