Chapter 22

The village had fallen to the Gulak Ants in a matter of moments. The only silver lining was that the villagers had narrowly managed to hide. Thanks to the relentless rain and the thick fog blanketing the area, the ants’ senses weren’t functioning at full capacity, either.

This might actually be a blessing in disguise. I’ve got time to recover

, Do-Jin thought.

Leaning against the fence of a random house, he stayed hidden while his health and mana slowly regenerated. Just ahead, the crumpled bodies of three Gulak Ants lay in the mud. They were scouts from a patrol, searching for prey, and Do-Jin had quietly taken them out before they could become a problem.

He flexed and clenched his free hand, testing for any stiffness or loss of mobility from the cold. Since LOST prided itself on its near-perfect realism, which extended to combat, cold weather was capable of sapping stamina and weakening reflexes. Do-Jin made sure everything was still in working order before pressing on. Thankfully, his high stamina stats kept him from suffering any major physical drawbacks like chills or exhaustion.

The sound of something slogging through the muddy ground reached his ears.

Already? Or maybe they caught the scent of these dead bastards.

Finding the humans hidden underground would’ve been like searching for a needle in a haystack, but the stench of ant blood? That was an entirely different story.

Do-Jin’s eyes flicked to the corpses he’d left behind as the thought crossed his mind. Without making a sound, he began preparing another spell, the same one that had worked on the earlier patrol.

The sharp snapping of mandibles echoed faintly through the fog, growing louder and more frantic by the second. It was joined by the unmistakable sound of scurrying as the creatures closed in on his position. Then they appeared, their shapes emerging from the mist like shadows ripping through a curtain.

[Frozen Arrow]

Do-Jin’s spell shot out in a blur, with each arrow finding its mark. The enchanted projectiles tore through the ants’ heads, ripped clean through their torsos, and burst out the other side.

The ants let out a sharp, piercing cry and collapsed, their lifeless bodies skidding across the muddy ground. It was textbook execution, a flawless blend of raw magical power and razor-sharp aim.

I’ve recovered enough. Time to get back in the game.

He added three more to the growing pile of fresh corpses and slipped away into the storm.

The rain poured in sheets, the fog clung to the ground like a smothering blanket, and the pitch-black night made it impossible to see more than five meters ahead. Do-Jin didn’t even know where the hell he was in the village anymore.

Using Night Vision would’ve been a no-brainer, but his mana reserves were already running on fumes. Every last drop had to be saved for killing. Even so, the bad weather was working in his favor. It was way easier to pick off scattered ants here and there than to deal with a full-blown swarm.

Do-Jin prowled through the drenched streets like a predator, hunting and taking down every ant he encountered with cold efficiency. Then, as he slashed through yet another group, he heard a faint scream cutting through the storm.

Sophie!

His head snapped toward the direction of the sound, his instincts kicking into high gear. Even with the storm raging around him, there was no mistaking that voice. It was Sophie, and she sounded scared out of her mind.

Then came a sharp crack, like something was breaking or collapsing. Without hesitation, he spun around and bolted toward it.

“Move!”

As soon as the ants scuttled out from between the crumbling walls, their heads went flying. The precision of Wind Blade, prepped and ready to fire, was merciless. Each blade struck at the joints, slicing through the ants like a hot knife through butter. Their heads hadn’t even hit the ground before Do-Jin was already rushing past their lifeless bodies.

“Shit...”

The house where the sound had come from was already overrun. The outer walls were smashed to hell, broken beyond recognition, and the ants were digging furiously into the ground beneath it.

Do-Jin’s jaw clenched as rage bubbled inside him. Wind mana gathered along his blade, swirling violently as his emotions surged. He let loose a barrage of Wind Blades, the attacks cutting through the swarm around Sophie’s house like they were paper.

The ants screeched to no avail. They were already as good as dead, fated to join their comrades in the dirt. In mere seconds, nothing but corpses surrounded the house. Do-Jin strode over to the likely spot for the burrow entrance, where an ant corpse lay slumped. With a flick of his hand, he used Psychokinesis to toss the body aside.

When they were alive, the mana field surrounding these creatures gave them natural resistance to magic, making them tough to manipulate. In death, they were nothing more than hunks of meat. The corpse floated up, limp and unresisting, before being flung aside like garbage.

They’re already inside... Damn it.

His face darkened after seeing the widened burrow. Evidently, the ants had forced their way in.

When Do-Jin heard a faint, muffled sob from somewhere inside the tunnel, he called out, “Sophie?”

Although there was no response, the crying continued, and that was all the confirmation he needed. She was still alive.

Do-Jin gritted his teeth and squeezed into the burrow. The emergency shelter, dug in preparation for a situation like this, was an L-shaped tunnel. As he descended, the narrow passage opened into a slightly larger space.

At the far end of the burrow, he saw Sophie, clutching a dagger in her trembling hands. Next to her, Hanolz and Jenny lay collapsed, both unmoving. Nearby, the corpse of a Gulak Ant lay sprawled, its body twisted and lifeless.

“Do-Jin...”

Sophie’s voice was barely a whisper, choked with fear. As soon as her tear-filled eyes landed on Do-Jin, her legs gave out, and she crumpled to the ground.

Her gaze flickered to her parents. All she could do was open and close her mouth, as if she was trying to speak but no sound came out. She was paralyzed, frozen by the sight of her father bleeding from his head and her mother lying unconscious with a deep wound in her side.

“It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay,” Do-Jin said firmly.

He moved quickly, stepping between Sophie and her parents. If either of them was already dead or on the brink of it, the last thing Sophie needed was to see it. A sight like that could haunt her forever.

Do-Jin hated this. These moments where he had to check if someone’s parents were still alive while their terrified child looked on were the kind of shit he could never get used to.

A faint groan snapped him out of his thoughts. Jenny had let out a weak, labored breath as she bled heavily from her side. Relief washed over him as he realized she was still alive. Injuries like this could still be healed with a potion.

Wasting no time, Do-Jin pulled out a healing potion and poured it over Jenny’s wound. The liquid hissed as it worked its magic, sealing the gash and stopping the bleeding. Administering another potion orally could wait. First, he had to check on Hanolz.

Thank god. He’s got a pulse.

Relief hit Do-Jin like a truck, but the tension had taken its toll. The moment he confirmed that both Hanolz and Jenny were alive, his head spun, vision blurring for a split second.

Shit. Maybe I burned through too much mana.

Whatever the case, they were alive, and that was what mattered. As he took a moment to catch his breath, a small hand tugged at his robe, the touch hesitant and trembling.

“Are... are Mom and Dad going to be okay?”

Do-Jin glanced down to see Sophie, her tear-streaked face filled with fear. He placed the half-used potion on the ground, pulled out a fresh one, and gently pressed it into her hands.

“They’re both going to be fine. No need to worry, okay? Stay here and keep an eye on them for me. Give them this. It’ll help them heal.”

“What about you? Are you going outside? What if you get hurt? Can’t you just stay here with me?” Her voice cracked, thick with tears, as she clung to him with pleading eyes.

Do-Jin reached out and ruffled her hair. “I’ve got to help the others too. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure no ants get anywhere near you. You’ll be safe here.”

Sophie couldn’t even answer. Her lips quivered as tears spilled down her cheeks.

“Don’t worry,” Do-Jin said again, his voice firm but gentle.

Though the low ceiling forced him to hunch awkwardly, he did his best to straighten up and turned toward the exit. But as he moved, his gaze fell on the corpse of a Gulak Ant lying nearby. Its head had been split cleanly in half, the cut unnervingly precise. In fact, it was too clean, and there was no way some random villager with a blade had managed that.

Wait a second. Sophie had been holding a dagger earlier, hadn’t she?

Do-Jin turned back toward her. By now, the dagger was discarded on the ground. Sophie, holding the potion he’d given her, was carefully administering it to her unconscious parents, her hands shaking but steady enough to get the job done.

No way...

A sinking feeling settled in his gut. Do-Jin quickly inspected the hands of all three family members. At first, he’d assumed Hanolz had been the one to kill the ant before collapsing.

Huh, not a drop of blood.

Hanolz’s hands were spotless, and so were his sleeves and arms. The only one covered in the ants’ sticky, foul-smelling fluid was Sophie. Suddenly, Do-Jin was pulled from his thoughts by a quest update, which he read with narrowed eyes.

[

Gulak Village’s Young Survivor

]

Grade: Fate

Objective: Prevent Sophie’s misfortune.

Reward: Experience, gold, and a special bond.

Tonight, driven by the vile greed of one man, an entire village faces the brink of annihilation. Within this threatened village lies a child with untapped potential, a spark waiting to ignite. Protect her from despair and guide her toward a brighter future, so Lostania may move one step closer to hope.

The moment Do-Jin realized the truth, the quest updated. The person he absolutely had to save in this mission wasn’t the villagers or even Sophie’s parents. It was Sophie herself.

But now’s not the time to dwell on this.

Do-Jin dismissed the quest window hanging in front of him. The fact that the ants had gathered at this burrow’s entrance despite the heavy rain could only mean that other people were in danger. Even though he now understood Sophie’s importance, it didn’t mean she was the only one he had to save.

“I’ll be back soon.” Do-Jin forced a smile for Sophie, who was staring at him with wide, terrified eyes.

As soon as he stepped out of the burrow, Do-Jin cast an improvised Earth Spear, blocking the entrance with jagged stone to keep the ants out. No sooner had he sealed it than another scream pierced through the rain.

“Jesus, can’t catch a damn break,” he muttered under his breath.

Through the relentless downpour, Do-Jin fought his way across the village, cutting down ants and rescuing those who were still alive. As he did, he couldn’t help but notice how much sharper, faster, and more powerful his magic felt. Firing off magic like a madman in the heat of combat made for the perfect training ground.

His magic wasn’t just raw power. It was a direct extension of himself, drawn from the Grimoire of Truth. Every spell cast fed into the grimoire, enhancing its capabilities. And as the grimoire improved, it allowed Do-Jin to record, refine, and cast spells with even greater efficiency.

The feedback loop was absurdly advantageous. For other mages, learning a new spell meant days, even weeks, of grinding just to master the basics. Do-Jin, on the other hand, had the luxury of skipping that crap. His progress would’ve made those mages froth at the mouth with envy.

Wait a sec... that mana pulse...

Lost in his thoughts, Do-Jin froze mid-step. It was faint, but he could feel the same mana signature he’d sensed just before the village was attacked.

That building over there.

A small swarm of ants had gathered outside the structure. He made quick work of them, his blade and spells tearing through the oversized bugs like they were nothing. Inside, the room was filled with scattered potatoes and sacks of grain, clearly a storage area for the village’s food supplies. The mana pulse was coming from within a pile of grain sacks.

“Son of a bitch...”

Beneath the sacks was a metallic orb etched with intricate magical runes, its core embedded with a mana crystal. It was a Lure Orb, a device used to attract monsters. They were infamous for being cheap, inefficient, and a pain in the ass to use. They only worked on low-level monsters, had limited uses, and were finicky as hell to activate.

Of course... No wonder this thing’s got such a bad rep.

The Lure Orb consisted of two parts: the orb itself and a trigger device. For the orb to emit mana pulses, the person with the trigger had to remain within a certain range. In other words, whoever was behind this mess wasn’t far away. Do-Jin closed his eyes to focus, activating the Grimoire of Truth and pushing his mana sensitivity to its limits.

Gotcha.

What he’d initially perceived as a single pulse actually split into two distinct trails. One led straight through the canyon, the obvious trail meant to lure the ants. The other, veering slightly northwest, was subtler but unmistakable.

That must be where the bastard who set this up is hiding.

The golden glow of the grimoire faded, and the room plunged back into darkness. Outside, the sound of countless footsteps echoed through the rain-soaked night. The ants scattered across the village were converging on the Lure Orb.

Good. Let’s bring this mess to a head.

“Yeah, that’s it. Come on, you ugly bastards. Someone’s been dying to see your faces,” Do-Jin murmured in a low, cold voice as he sprinted toward the northwest trail, slicing through the oversized insects that got in his way.