episode_0091

“Growl!”

Fighting with a snowfield bear isn’t that difficult. You just need to keep two things in mind.

“Where are you going!”

First, don’t take a single hit. As I’ve said before, bears are stronger than humans. It’s better to be struck by a sword than by a bear’s fist. You must always avoid being hit by a bear.

Their paw strikes were so powerful that even a knight in full armor would suffer serious injuries if directly hit. A blow to the head meant instant death, regardless of armor.

In other words, engaging in a physical confrontation with a bear was like offering oneself as a meal for them to consume at their leisure.

In the original world, of course, but even in this world, where beings stronger than bears abound.

Here, simply through repeated combat training, one could become strong enough to break steel with their bare hands. Isn’t that surprisingly worth trying compared to Earth?

Knowing one thing and not knowing the other.

Where else can one endlessly grow stronger through training if not for humans? Bears, too, naturally become endlessly stronger through fighting.

Unlike humans who can heal wounds with potions or miracles, if injured, they have no choice but to rely on natural recovery. So, they often die before becoming strong…

“Growl!”

A snowfield bear is a beast that can crush the heads or torsos of most enemies in a single blow.

Unless it’s a human well-equipped with armor, they won’t be injured by other animals.

…Well, to put it another way, in front of thoroughly prepared and cautious humans, it’s highly likely that they will be injured and die before becoming strong.

◆◆

“Growl!”

“Slow!”

Bending my upper body to the point where my left arm touches the ground, I dodge the snowfield bear’s foreleg aiming for my head.

With a swooshing sound, its claws pass through the air leaving a trail. If it had hit, my head would have been gone, but since it didn’t, it means nothing.

“Haaat!”

I rose, pushing the ground with my left hand and swiftly thrusting the sword I gripped into the lower jaw of the roaring snowfield bear.

– Whoosh!

“What…?!”

The black iron blade pierced through the bear’s jaw without hesitation, delving into its skull. Gripping the hilt with both hands and twisting the tip of the sword back and forth, the bear convulsed, frothing at the mouth and rolling its eyes as its brain turned to mush.

Remember the second rule: aim for the vital spot and kill in one strike. A wounded beast is the most fearsome and dangerous prey. If you merely wound it by targeting its legs or body, you’ll have to endure the frenzy of a more ferocious beast driven mad by pain.

If you make a mistake in this situation, you’ll soon find yourself on the receiving end of a fierce blow, crossing the River Samdocheon. Therefore, when hunting a snowfield bear, it was crucial not to give it the chance to retaliate after delivering a fatal blow.

Most inexperienced adventurers who didn’t know this ended up becoming companions on the journey to the afterlife, falling victim to the frenzied attacks of the beasts.

Don’t be complacent just because you’ve stabbed the bear’s heart or intestines; there have been numerous cases where the bear hugged its assailant, regurgitating their entrails and causing their death.

A real bear hug from a bear was literally a deadly embrace. Once you were in its grip, there was no way to survive.

You had to resist with all your might to avoid being crushed, as being bitten by the bear would lead to an even more horrific fate.

It was like offering oneself as the last supper the night before being crucified. Instead of bread and wine, you offered real flesh and blood, but from the bear’s perspective, the latter was probably a more proper feast.

“What…?”

The snowfield bear staggered as if losing strength, swaying forward. Whether it was a counterattack or a frenzy, the head needed to be intact to attempt anything. With the brain reduced to a mushy stew, attempting anything was out of the question.

I quickly drew my sword, drove it into the ground, and boldly shouted, “That makes two!”

I’ve already caught two bears. What are you doing, Freide?

“Um, well… is that so…?”

Freide turned his head and glanced at me before answering.

Pointing the tip of his greatsword at the bodies of three split snow bears.

Wait, three?

You caught three snow bears? Already?

“This can’t be happening, right…?”

Cold sweat ran down my spine.

◆◆

A cave found after thirty minutes of tracking. Inside the cave, which was longer and larger than expected, there were a whopping ten snow bears.

It seemed as if an entire family had moved here, as their sizes varied greatly. From adults reaching a height of 3 meters to cubs the size of just myself.

If they had all attacked at once, it would have been quite a predicament, but fortunately, we managed to take them down scattered throughout the cave before reinforcements arrived.

“Three…!”

“Haaaah!”

I fought with quick movements, narrowly avoiding the bear’s claws and teeth, thrusting my longsword whenever I found an opening, while Freide mercilessly hacked down anything within reach with his greatsword.

“Dangerous fight.”

“The strong have special privileges. But if they die, they become fools.”

While Freide and I competitively hunted the bears, Amy and Kikel supported each other and calmly fought on.

“Mordax Lapis!”

Amy cast her newly mastered binding magic, Rock Gnaw.

As she aimed her staff at the snow bear and chanted the incantation, the cave floor split open, creating a hole the size of a human head in front of the creature’s foot.

Then, as the snow bear stumbled with its ankle caught in the hole…

– Clang!

“Grrraaaww!”

It firmly clamped down on its ankle like a hunting trap.

Not magical binding, but physical restraint.

Since the trap was nothing more than a stone, not metal, it could easily be broken and escaped from with enough force, but for now, it was sufficient.

“Help, good!”

Creating a momentary opening, Kikel’s explosive spear pierced through the snow bear’s head or torso, causing an explosion of flames.

– Raaaargh…!

No matter how strong a beast might be, it cannot endure the shock of its skull or abdomen bursting and rotting. A snowfield bear, with its ruptured belly, let out a desperate death cry and collapsed.

Indeed, it was a good decision to borrow that window.

To kill a snowfield bear in one blow. At this level, he may only be a top-notch warrior, but his strength is definitely at the level of an advanced warrior.

Isn’t that just an explosion of equipment?

Well, it’s kind of like that… but so what?

In the original world of games, there is a trend to mock those who excel through the power of their equipment, calling them “equipment suckers,” but that’s just because it’s a game.

What meaning does it have to mock adventurers in this world who risk their lives every day? Relying on powerful equipment in this world is not something to be mocked; rather, it is a natural virtue.

Even if you win by relying on your equipment, a win is a win. In a world where you become meat as soon as you lose, as long as you can win, the means are irrelevant.

If you lost because of your equipment, you shouldn’t feel unjust, but rather blame yourself for not having good equipment. You end up being a half-eaten piece of meat.

◆◆

After exterminating the snowfield bear family that roamed the cave, we stayed in the cave for a while without leaving.

We had taken care of the snowfield bears inside the cave, but there was a chance that another one might be hunting outside the cave.

So, we planned to wait here for about two hours. We scavenged the inside of the cave, collecting anything valuable, and skinned the snowfield bears, piling their hides.

“There’s nothing special. Even the rings and necklaces are all cheap junk.”

Unfortunately, the only thing worth mentioning was the snowfield bear carcasses.

We found about six human and animal corpses in what seemed to be their dining area, but they didn’t leave behind any valuables.

Seriously rusted and broken farming tools, cheap rings and necklaces that might fetch a few coins if sold. There were no real gems, armor, or money pouches to be found.

Well, if someone is eaten by a bear here, they are probably people from the village below or wanderers.

Such people wouldn’t carry things of value with them.

“Let’s bury them properly. Seeing bodies like this, it would be best to take them back to the village.”

Miserable corpses with rotting flesh boiling with maggots on their bones.

The fact that some semblance of their former selves remained only made the bodies look more gruesome.

Telling the families that this was their loved one might just shock them into fainting, not that it would be surprising.

“…Yes, that would be good. Leaving them like this… feels wrong.”

Frid nodded as if it were a good idea. Then, as if suddenly remembering, she turned to me and added a word.

“Oh, by the way, I caught one more… did you know?”

“…Yeah, I did.”

I sighed deeply and replied reluctantly.

In the end, I took down three snowfield bears. Frid took down four, one more than me.

The remaining three were taken care of by Kikel and Amy.

…In other words, I lost by one. Damn. Did I really think it would end at ten?

If Amy and Kikel had just handed over the last one to me, we could have at least ended in a draw.

“I’m sure I dried it out? Don’t blame yourself.”

“…I know.”

No way.

Amy had tried to hand it over to me discreetly, but Kikel, caught up in the excitement of battle, pierced its body without hesitation.

“Crack! You brought this upon yourself!”

Aren’t you the one who brought this upon yourself, not me?

I wanted to say something, but Kikel had done his best as a party member in the fight, so I couldn’t really criticize him.

“Sigh…” A sigh escaped involuntarily.