Chapter 8 : A giant enemy

“What is this, really?”

My body has gotten faster.

And the strength of my muscles has definitely increased.

‘Jumping this high.’

An average adult male’s vertical jump is only about 40 cm at most.

When you push off the ground and leap into the air without bending your legs, your feet would be about 40 cm above the ground.

I heard that the national team’s top jumper can jump about 110 cm.

But even when I’m not trying too hard, I can almost reach my chest level with a vertical jump.

Thinking back to the fight I just had, I can definitely jump higher than my height.

‘A 2-meter vertical jump? That’s a monster.’

My vision seems a little strange too.

When I plucked a dew-covered blade of grass and held it high, a drop of dew fell toward the ground.

Skwark

Unfortunately, it hit the surface, but my hand-eye coordination has improved to the point where I could almost catch the falling dew.

The difference from daytime is clear.

Something from the wolf side has definitely affected my body.

The biggest difference is definitely in my right forearm.

I haven’t had a happy time recently.

Wouldn’t my strength have decreased?

“Ah, I’ve swung the sword quite a lot.”

The fight on the 3rd floor was the first time I held the sword hilt in the middle of the night.

The fight continued immediately, so I didn’t feel it properly, but I can clearly tell now.

‘My grip strength has definitely increased.’

The strength going into my grip is completely different.

While I can feel a significant increase in strength in my left hand as well, it can’t compare to my right forearm.

Thinking back, that makes sense.

After losing my eye, the direwolf’s pupil took its place.

The lost blood was replenished with the direwolf’s blood.

And what about my worn-out arm?

“The direwolf’s muscles…?”

But aside from the increased strength, I don’t feel any particular discomfort.

Does that mean if another part of my body gets injured, it will turn into a direwolf’s organ?

Whatever it is, it’s definitely having a beneficial effect on me right now.

My body feels full of energy, and my vision is bright.

Even in battle, I could quickly catch and react to the movements of the creatures.

It’s like… the senses of a wild animal.

“Phew, have I become a werewolf?”

I was lucky that the place I fell to on the 4th floor was a forest.

I was worried that the mountainous area would be too wide.

Ting!

When I infused the explorer’s card with mana, it was pulled tightly toward the portal.

The forest here is a bit different from the one on the 3rd floor, and from this point on, other creatures that have absorbed mana are starting to appear too.

“Water? Check.

Energy bar? Check.”

I refilled my water bottle.

Even though it was night, I wasn’t feeling sleepy.

The trees on the 4th floor grow farther apart, but because thick-stemmed trees grow here, the visibility is slightly shorter compared to the 3rd floor.

Monsters like weak but mana-infused horned rabbits appear more frequently, and creatures like the money-making blue-horned deer show up.

I’d like to catch one if I can.

Sash

Even though there’s a slight breeze, my footsteps have become quieter due to the absence of plants that used to grow up to knee-height.

The overall noise has decreased, and my senses are sharper.

‘It’s really quiet now.’

I don’t sense anything nearby, but that makes me even more vigilant.

I can’t tell whether it’s completely empty or if something is just hiding so well that I can’t even feel it.

The 4th floor is the only place where I’ve ever brought an explorer with a tracking skill.

Since I’m unsure whether my own tracking sense is comparable, it’s hard to say for certain.

Thinking back to that time, I’d say it’s not present now.

Even though the direwolf is causing trouble at night just like on the 3rd floor, the biggest difference with the 4th floor is that it’s dangerous even during the day.

My vision is also narrow.

The tree trunks are thick, so I can’t see far.

Maybe I overdid it with my pace on the 3rd floor.

I’ve delayed some time.

I started running a bit faster.

“Phew, phew.”

I feel the energy in my body.

Running is definitely better than walking.

Once I reach the portal on the 4th floor, I’ll immediately move on to the 5th, and once I reach the 5th floor, my goal will be complete.

It’s better to use up more energy now.

After about 30 minutes of adjusting my speed, I saw a plain.

“There aren’t many plains on the 4th floor. I’m lucky.”

The moonlight that had been blocked by the leaves was now shining brightly, fulfilling its role over the vast grassland.

It’s a little more hilly compared to the plain on the 1st floor, but it’s not an issue.

“That’s a good time to replenish calories.”

Thanks to the cool air, I didn’t sweat much.

After drinking water from my bottle, I took a grain cube from my bag and slowly chewed it as I walked.

The plain wasn’t very wide, so after a few minutes of walking, I was back in the forest.

“That’s the sound of water.”

I hear the sound of flowing water.

It’s probably not a pond, and judging by the lightness of the sound, it might be a stream.

I don’t need to go there right now.

Before entering the forest, I turned my head to check my surroundings.

Thankfully, there was no high mountain range in the direction I was heading.

The mountainous area is far away, so I don’t need to worry about detouring.

I just need to run toward the portal.

After about 30 minutes of entering the forest again,

I detected something.

‘There’s something in the right direction. The footsteps don’t sound particularly light…’

It’s the footsteps of a four-legged beast.

Its feet have hard hooves.

‘Shit… It’s a tank.’

It’s the blue-horned deer I’ve only heard of by name.

I had imagined it like a roe deer with antlers, but it’s huge, like a reindeer from the extreme north.

Excluding the horns, its height is almost 2 meters.

The thick trees and high branches make it unlikely for the horns to get caught.

I’ve heard it’s aggressive…

‘Can I catch it?’

If it charges at me with those horns, it’ll be a disaster.

Even if by some miracle its stomach skin doesn’t tear, it’ll be a mess with my insides mixed up.

It’s almost 100 meters away.

Its large size means I can only see its body, but the long horns clearly have a blue hue.

I’ve heard that it makes good staff material due to its magical properties, but…

‘That’s not happening. Let’s just go.’

I don’t want to risk my life just to make a few bucks.

But why has it stopped moving all of a sudden?

‘No way.’

Just to check, I took a slight step back.

‘Oh no.’

The creature also moves the same way, then stops.

No matter how I look at it, the way it moves is unnatural—I can definitely feel it’s on guard against me.

Shit.

I’ve been found.

Are deer usually this sensitive?

I made sure to move carefully and quietly, even though I was far away.

Well, since I’ve been spotted, I might as well try to talk.

“Dear deer. I just want to pass through peacefully.”

No response.

Its snorts grow stronger and it stomps its hind legs—it feels like it just wants to say, “Screw it, let’s fight.”

Fuck my life.

Even if I’ve gotten faster and stronger, I’m not confident I can beat a deer that big—it’s practically the size of a truck.

It feels like I’m about to square off against a Damased truck.

Sure, if a Damas nudged me, I’d probably fall over, but still—it’s a vehicle.

You can’t ignore the raw power that comes from weight class.

“Shit, it’s coming..!”

―Thud thud thud thud

Its massive hooves slam against the ground, sending out ominous vibrations.

A blue-horned deer charging forward at a surprisingly quick pace, leading with its huge antlers.

It can’t run straight because of the thick trees, so I’m using them as obstacles to dodge around and somehow escape.

They say explorers lure it out to open fields to fight it just to preserve the antlers—are they insane?

Right now, I couldn’t care less about preserving the antlers.

I just want the damn thing to smash into something and break its horns already…!

Thunk!

‘That’s insane.’

The massive trunk of a tree it slammed into now has a deep scar from the antlers.

Deeper than anything a sword could leave.

That gives me an idea of just how powerful that impact was.

Like a drunk person shaking its head side to side, it pushes forward through the trees.

If I keep running like this, forget reaching the 5th floor—I’ll run out of stamina first…

‘Stamina..!’

That’s it.

I’m not the only one who loses stamina.

If I wait for it to wear itself out with all this wild charging, there’ll be an opening.

Humans have great endurance, after all.

Thud!!

Look at that.

It keeps ramming trees with its horns—even if it’s cleverly weaving around with its head swinging side to side, an animal will always start to slow down and make mistakes once it takes enough hits to the head.

While running, I duck down and pick up a rock that my foot kicked.

As it starts to slow, I slow down too.

There’s only one thing I’m aiming for.

‘Just a little closer..!’

When it charges with its horns, it tends to lift its head from bottom to top.

If I use that…

“Come at me, you bitch!”

I throw the rock toward its head.

Enraged, it charges at me full force.

There’s a tree behind me, and I’m leaning against it.

Now.

The moment it lunges at me with its antlers—

“Huuk..!”

I drop down flat as fast as I fucking can..!

Since its antlers don’t lower enough to scrape the ground,

I manage to avoid them by lying completely down.

CRASH!!!

Its massive horns slam full force into the tree trunk.

Because it lifted its head while ramming, its neck is now completely exposed.

‘This is it.’

I grip the sword tightly in my hand, and as I rise from the ground, I thrust it toward its neck.

“Straight through the spine…!”

Crunch

Luckily, the blade slips through the cartilage between the thick and tough cervical vertebrae.

Deer can’t see directly in front of them—so it probably couldn’t even see me stabbing it.

Snap

As I hear the tearing of the skin on the back of its neck,

I twist the blade and yank it out to ensure a good bleed.

Shhhhk

“Urgh, shit.”

Thanks to that, I got showered in a fountain of blood from its deeply stabbed neck.

Other than the fishy smell, it’s warm and actually kind of pleasant.

I dodged quickly, so I didn’t get completely soaked.

The real problem is when the blood starts to cool.

This is the terrifying blue-horned deer they say only someone of Iron Rank or higher could defeat alone.

And I just took it down by myself.

The old me would’ve been gored before I could even drop to the ground.

No—actually, I wouldn’t have even lasted thirty minutes running around like that.

“So this… is the labyrinth..?”

I can actually feel myself growing.