episode_0070

Cooon

The heavy monster’s body falls to the floor.

The soldiers, who had succumbed to the overwhelming power and were unable to resist and were trembling at the death they faced, rubbed their eyes at the unbelievable sight.

“Huh?”

“Are you alive?”

“He died..? No, how on earth?”

It was an incredible sight to see the monster’s head being cut off cleanly and its head being severed.

The soldiers kept checking their own eyes as if they could not believe it even though they had seen it with their own eyes.

I thought he was dead, but something like a miracle happened, so it was worth it.

“Oh, he’s really dead!”

“Who did it?”

“That girl over there!”

“Girl??”

The soldiers found out who had caught that enormous monster.

Then, the small body that I had seen at first glance quickly disappeared before my eyes.

Of course.

I hid it because I didn’t want my identity to be discovered.

‘Stealth, secret, secret, secret!!!’

Please stay hidden!!

“Who is it? “It’s not a military uniform?”

“Hey, where do you belong? Thanks to you, I survived. thank you.”

“But you’re slowly backing away?”

“What is it? Are you hurt anywhere?”

The soldiers who did not know the circumstances kept expressing interest in me, as if they were just happy that I was alive.

I felt much more tense than before I killed the monster.

‘Will it fly? ‘It’s just a matter of sticking out, right?’

As soon as he decapitated the monster, he tried to hide himself somehow.

It’s small, so it could have been possible if done well!

But unfortunately, the flashy technology had caught people’s attention.

Since it was already within their field of vision, it was impossible to escape without being detected by the soldiers.

At least it was trying to cling to the dead monster’s body so that it wouldn’t see me.

‘Go away…go away…!’

But the cold-hearted soldiers seemed to have noticed something strange and were slowly approaching me.

‘Danger! Complete crisis!!’

I wanted to at least cover my face to avoid the worst.

But all I have in my hand is a dagger!

As I looked around, something round and large caught my eye.

I ran over frantically, picked it up, and covered my face.

“Oh my gosh, of course you should take the loot. None of us were greedy.”

However, rather than covering their faces, they seemed to be taking loot.

It was nice to have the misunderstanding taken care of.

“you’re right. “We have no greed.”

“I survived thanks to you. Thank you!”

“I thought I was going to die without making a move, but I endured it for ten years.”

As I laughed and said something, my heart started pounding.

You must never be caught.

“Now, wait!”

“Eh?”

“Until there. Don’t come any closer.”

I spoke lowering my voice to change it as much as possible.

“It’s dangerous to come close.”

First of all, I tried to act as if there was something there to prevent them from coming closer.

“omg!”

“A special unit that I only heard about?”

“Then won’t it be a big problem? “You saw something you shouldn’t have seen!”

And as expected, this time they also had a strange misunderstanding among themselves and fell into an illusion.

It seemed that the soldiers were afraid that they might be processed to silence them.

‘I just said a few strange words…’

It seemed like I could defeat them easier than I thought!

“If you keep what happened here today a secret for the rest of your life, there won’t be a problem.”

“!!!”

It’s not that I’m a real special force, but it was overwhelmingly advantageous for me to misunderstand them that way.

If I use this misunderstanding, I will be able to hide my identity.

‘Let’s pretend as much as possible that there is something there.’

It would be harder for those people to believe their true identities in the first place.

Who would believe that an academy student was in a contaminated zone?

“I trust you will keep this secret. I will leave then.”

“Huh? Uh…!”

“I haven’t even been able to say thank you properly yet…”

“Shh, just let him go. He’s doing it for us.”

He backed away, covering his face as much as possible with what he was holding in his hand, and then ran away at high speed.

‘You couldn’t see it, right? You haven’t seen it, right? ‘You don’t know, do you?’

I couldn’t even pay attention to the direction I was running.

What was more important was that I should not give the soldiers any information that could lead them to guess my identity.

…I shouldn’t have done that.

When the distance widened to a certain extent and I came to my senses, I began to feel that something was wrong.

“Hehehe…Wow~ I was so shocked. I survived!”

I don’t know when I last ran so hard that I was out of breath.

Since he ran in hiding from the middle, there would be no one chasing him.

I let out a sigh of relief and flopped down on the floor.

Then I woke up to the pleasant smell coming from my arms.

“Ay! “Why did you bring this!”

He quickly realized that what he had used to cover his face was the monster’s head that he had cut off, and threw it on the floor.

It was nice when they showed up and said they would take care of this guy, but after that, they went through a lot of trouble and I just feel resentful.

“It’s all buried.”

There was a lot of monster blood on both his clothes and his dagger.

Because of the strong smell and dirt, I picked up a blade of grass and wiped it here and there.

Of course, it is not a bloodstain that can be wiped off with a blade of grass.

I guess it’s in the bag…huh?

“My bag!!”

We’re in big trouble!!

I remembered throwing the monster on the floor to catch it.

In order to focus on dealing with monsters, I put all my belongings in my bag.

A compass, food, and even a tracker are all included there.

Never go without a bag.

My mind became dizzy.

“What should I do? ruined!”

Now that I think about it, there was no way to know my location without my bag.

I was running so frantically that I couldn’t even remember which direction I was going.

I should at least know the direction I was running from, but even that became ambiguous as I sat down on the floor without thinking about it.

Where is north and where is south.

How would you know if you don’t have a compass?

“Did I really get into trouble?”

I shook my head and denied the unbelievable reality, but it was not something I could change.

No matter how hard you look around, all you see are the same trees and the same grass.

“Why did you unpack your bag? fool! idiot!”

Among the situations that the mercenary boss gave advice on, there was no situation like this.

About what to do if you lose your bag!

The mercenary boss didn’t seem to have expected this situation either.

‘I think it would be better to get out of the contaminated area first.’

The problem was deciding on a direction.

When you don’t choose the right direction, so you end up heading west.

I remember the warnings the mercenary boss gave me.

“But I can’t just stay here forever.”

In order to get help from the mercenary boss, I had to somehow get out of the contaminated zone.

Ultimately, it’s a situation where you have to make a choice.

While thinking about it, I picked up a tree branch that had been left on the floor, placed it on the floor, and then took my hand off.

Since there was no sense of direction, I thought it would be easier to just rely on the tree branches to determine direction.

Tuk –!

“Ha…is it over there?”

Even if it’s wrong, there’s nothing you can do about it.

You can’t stay still like a child just because you’re lost.

I walked in the hope that this was the direction where I could find my bag.

If it’s not a bag, I hope it’s at least a direction to escape the contaminated area.

“Please, just one of the two!”

I hope it’s not the worst.

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

“Okay.”

As expected, what I was worried about has happened, right?

Two days have passed since Ariando disappeared, but there has been no news.

The fact that there has been no news even after this much time means that one thing is certain.

“I think I’m lost.”

“Uhm… then what should we do? We can’t just wait, can we?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to go to the city and form a rescue team? Let his family know.”

The mercenaries who came with us expressed concern over the current situation with no news coming.

Since the place itself was dangerous, it must have been burdensome to hold out for longer than planned.

“He’s probably not in danger. The problem is that he’s lost. I’ll just wait here a little longer.”

In a situation where it was almost certain that Ariando was lost, there was no reason to take him with him.

Moreover, the luggage did not want to take any risks.

“Everyone, please pack your bags and go back. If we continue to wait together, we will run out of food.”

I was both happy and embarrassed by the mercenaries’ decision to leave me alone.

“You’re staying here? How are you going to live by yourself…”

“I can endure it long enough. I went out to kill monsters in the first place, so there’s no way I can survive this much. Don’t worry, just pack it up and leave.”

If it weren’t for food, we could have lasted a few more days.

However, it was not a good idea to keep dragging these people away when we did not know how long the search would last.

‘It’s not like it’s going to help these people search.’

If there is anything I have learned while working as a mercenary, it is that what needs to be thrown away must be thrown away clearly and resolutely.

After throwing away what I wanted to throw away and being left alone, I headed north and moved.

‘First go north.’

I also wondered why they didn’t even send out firecrackers.

At least if I only used that, I could go rescue it somehow.

‘Well, he doesn’t know that I’ve awakened.’

I guessed that he might have tried to escape the contaminated area somehow while he was lost.

‘You’re not going round and round in the same spot, are you?’

When walking through the forest, you often lose your direction because of the trees that are too thick.

So what I brought with me was a compass.

“Was breaking through the contaminated zone too difficult for a beginner?”

Still, I prepared hard…

I was worried that the child might be too scared.

The good news is that I had plenty of food in my bag, so I wouldn’t starve.

‘I bet he didn’t just scoop up and eat everything in the bag without any sense.’

When in distress, you must eat sparingly.

I’m not sure if they told me that or not.

“Whoa…”

How long did it take to head north?

We finally reached a place where we could see the contaminated area with our own eyes.

Contaminated areas were easy to distinguish because the color of the ground was clearly different.

If you cross this line, monsters that you couldn’t even think of before will be everywhere.

How many people are frustrated because they can’t get over this?

A place where only selected people can enter.

Nevertheless, it is a place where despair and death coexist.

I finally took my first steps into the contaminated zone.

To save Ariando.

Rustle- Rustle-

Blades of grass brush past my entire body.

To the average person, this blade of grass is no different from being coated with poison.

When it touches your skin, your entire body turns bright red.

And if you don’t detoxify it right away, it turns blue, and that blue color begins to spread throughout your body through your veins.

Isn’t it scary to even imagine?

My skin only brushed against a blade of grass.

“You’re fine.”

Although it has a musty smell, there is no problem in breathing.

I had no idea that stepping on contaminated land would be this easy.

Somehow, it was only after entering the contaminated zone that I felt that I had finally found complete freedom.

“If the land turns into a 100% contaminated zone, the only people who can survive will be the awakened people.”

Wouldn’t those people come together again and somehow continue human life?

Just like plants and animals that have changed their bodies to adapt to the miasma in order to survive in polluted areas, we humans may eventually have to adapt to this miasma.

‘Of course, we have to prevent the world from being destroyed before that happens.’

To do so, Ariando is a child who must be safely rescued.

Although it is difficult to know where to find children in this vast contaminated area.

“It would be best to find the traces and follow them.”

Since I don’t have a tracker, that was the only way.

Let’s show off our skills as a mercenary and track down monsters.

“There are traces… there seem to be some faint traces of footprints.”

I opened my eyes wide and looked around.

Since I knew for sure which direction I was going, finding the faint traces that remained was surprisingly simple.

The problem was that this trace remained much blurrier than expected, and as time passed, even this trace would disappear.

Why is there a scroll for finding monsters but no scroll for finding people?