Chapter 66: Hunting Season (1)

[Stella: By any chance... Never mind... Where do you live in real life?]

Crockta let out a sigh of relief and lied effortlessly.

[Yi-An: Hahaha! I live in Busan. Busan. Come visit Busan sometime! Let’s eat doughnuts and pork and rice soup! Hahahaha!]

[Stella: Aha... I see. I met someone who has the same name as you, so I asked just in case. How are you doing these days?]

Stella had the name ‘Yi-An’ saved in the system, so to Stella, the sender was still Yi-An and not Crockta.

Crockta passed himself off vaguely as a man who lived next to the ocean in Busan and then quickly ended the conversation. The situation with Jung Yun-Ji was getting worse. He wanted to hide his true identity for as long as possible though.

“Why are you just standing there?! Let’s go, Crockta! To the north! The land of mystery!” shouted Tiyo while running around excitedly.

Crockta grinned. The more he got to know Tiyo, the cuter he felt Tiyo was.

“I’m going!” Tiyo ran ahead of Crockta.

They were still in the plains. To arrive at the forbidden territory, the Forest of Monsters, they had to venture past the horizon.

Bursting with joy, Crockta let out a triumphant roar, “I’m goooooinnnng too! Bul’taaarrr!”

Then Crockta started to run.

Thus, the orc and gnome ran toward the north.

***

Hunting was a quiet task. He took advantage of the forest’s darkness when aiming for his target’s throat. He hid in the shadows, between trees, and in places where his target’s line of sight didn’t reach.

The prey that he was keeping an eye on was a rare species called the two-headed ogre. A mutant like that didn’t appear out of nowhere. When dark energy tainted an ogre, the ogre turned into a much more heinous monster. However, what he targeted was not the mutant two-headed ogre but the core of darkness that had tainted the creature with evil. He had been targeting that darkness for a long time, and he was determined to exterminate it this time.

He had missed many opportunities so far, but winter had passed, and he could sense the darkness emerging from the soil like long-forgotten sprouts of spring. The darkness reared its ugly head and emitted a foul stench. The mutant ogre, who was drunk on its rotten scent, proved it.

His lips curved upward. He had been waiting for it, and he wouldn’t miss it this time.

The hunting season had returned.

***

Crockta nudged the gnome’s shoulder. “Tiyo?”

“A-Are we really going in there?” Tiyo gulped as he gazed into the endless sea of black trees that made up the forest.

The forest was so dark that one couldn’t see anything inside it. Even from a glance, it seemed to be teeming with dark energy.

Then, a message window popped up for Crockta.

[You have arrived at the Forest of Monsters.]

[Wow! How courageous of you to come all the way here!]

[If you succeed in getting through the Forest of Monsters, you will receive an award as the first player to achieve such a feat.]

[How do you feel about going on a quest again after such a long time?]

[Once you pass through the Forest of Monsters, you will be given special achievement points. If you achieve a hidden clear condition, you will reap enormous rewards and a new title.]

[Good luck!]

Crockta checked the messages. He used to think that they were automated, but there seemed to be an artificially intelligent being writing them in real-time. Its goading tone and attitude had quite the personality.

“C-Crockta, are we really going in there? Am I dreaming?” asked Tiyo.

Crockta burst into laughter. “Tiyo, are you really going to act like a rookie? Aren’t you a captain of Quantes’ garrison?”

“What? You calling me a rookie?!” Tiyo jumped up and down in annoyance. “Fine! I will show you! Let’s go right now!”

After that, he trudged into the forest.

Once Tiyo entered the shadows of the forest, Crockta could no longer see the little guy. He was about to follow Tiyo into the forest when Tiyo ran back out.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!” screamed Tiyo.

He ran around in a frenzy, fell, and rolled across the ground. Then he got up in a panic and ran around in circles again.

“What’s going on?!” shouted Crockta as he pulled out his greatsword.

At the spot where Tiyo had run out from, there was a huge and dark creature moving amid the trees. It tried to come out of the forest.

Crockta tensed up. “...”

It was... a huge cow...

“...M-Monster! A monster has appeared!” Tiyo screamed while grabbing the hem of Crockta’s pants.

Crockta looked at Tiyo with cold eyes. Seeing Crockta’s icy gaze, Tiyo finally came to his senses and slowly looked behind him.

“Moo...” the cow cried out.

Tiyo was dumbfounded.

It was just a cow.

Tiyo got up without a word and brushed the dirt off his clothes. “Ahem! Then, shall we go, Crockta?! Onward without hesitation!”

Crockta shook his head as he followed behind Tiyo.

“But why is a cow here?” asked Tiyo.

“Yeah, why is a cow here?” agreed Crockta as he examined the cow.

It didn’t seem like a wild cow; it had signs of being taken care of. Even when they approached the cow, the cow just calmly looked at them with innocent eyes. When Crockta patted its head, the cow mooed again in good spirits. It was a pleasant cry.

“Moooooooo...”

Even just listening to it put Crockta’s mind at ease. Crockta felt like he was in a peaceful pasture rather than the Forest of Monsters.

“It seems like there’s someone inside,” said Crockta.

“Someone’s inside the forest?” asked Tiyo.

The Forest of Monsters had long been considered a forbidden territory that was impossible to enter and leave freely, as most people were reduced to prey the moment they stepped inside. Yet, the cow here showed signs of being domesticated. How could this be?

Tiyo and Crockta exchanged looks.

“Shall we go?” asked Crockta.

Now, it was really time to head into the Forest of Monsters.

Tiyo jumped onto the cow’s back and said, “Crockta, lead the way.”

“...”

The cow swung its tail in response.

Crockta led Tiyo and the cow into the Forest of Monsters. As soon as they entered, the air turned chilly. The temperature was lower inside because the forest’s thick foliage blocked the sun, so the whole ground was covered in one long shadow. The ground was moist, and mosses and lichen flourished on trees. They even stepped on something sticky at every step. This place was just unpleasant.

“Cow, where is your house?” Tiyo asked the cow.

Then the cow walked in a certain direction, and Tiyo and Crockta followed it.

It was so dark inside the forest that it was impossible to tell what might suddenly appear. They felt strange in the forest. It was similar to the way people sometimes described there being an ominous atmosphere in the mountains, where their sense of direction became unclear, and they experienced an eerie feeling creeping up on them. It was a strange sensation Crockta and Tiyo had never experienced up to this point.

Suddenly, Crockta sensed something move in the distance. He and Tiyo flinched instinctively. Crockta placed his hand on the hilt of his greatsword, and Tiyo aimed the General.

The rustling form drew nearer and poked its head out. It was a troll.

Crockta grinned.

‘As expected of the Forest of Monsters.’

The Forest of Monsters was a place where trolls greeted its visitors. Monsters like goblins and werewolves wouldn’t stand a chance here.

Crockta couldn’t possibly struggle against the weakest creature here.

Tiyo shouted, “Go, Crockta!”

“Bul’tar!” Crockta charged forth.

Simultaneously, the General emitted fire. It was a similar formation to back when they battled ogres at Quantes. The plan was for Tiyo to halt the enemy with a magic-infused weapon while Crockta charged and slashed the enemy.

After taking a direct hit from the General, the troll spasmed and collapsed onto the ground.

“Kiyek!” it screamed.

Although the General lacked the destructive power to kill a target, it displayed an extraordinary ability to deter the target through electrocution. The troll contorted and moaned in pain. Crockta then leaped onto the troll and slashed its neck with the Ogre Slayer.

The troll’s body and head separated.

However, it was a troll, so its body and face wriggled and twitched even after the troll was decapitated. Bubbles formed at the injury sites where the decapitation had occurred, displaying the unique regenerative ability of the troll species. Crockta believed that if he put the troll’s head and body back together, they would reconnect and become one again. The troll would then go about its day as if nothing had happened.

“Wow, amazing.”

“It’s giving me goosebumps.”

Crockta’s recovery skill had evolved to Troll’s Regenerative Power (Essence), but it paled in comparison to an actual troll’s regeneration skills.

Tiyo and Crockta exchanged surprised looks.

In any case, they had executed great teamwork. They were confident that they could get through the Forest of Monsters with their level of skill. Crockta extended his hand, and the gnome jumped and high-fived him.

“Mooooo...” the cow let out a long cry.

With the General on his back, Tiyo jumped onto the cow.

“Cow, where do you live?” Tiyo asked again.

The cow waved its tail at the question and continued onward, heading deeper into the forest. Crockta walked beside the cow and Tiyo, who was on its back. The cow would stop every now and then to show them something cool. When it stopped walking and sniffed the ground, there would be delicious mushrooms there, and when it cried toward the sky, there were sweet and refreshing berries nearby.

Crockta and Tiyo took a bite of the red fruit while the cow chewed on fragrant mushrooms.

“He must be used to this place.”

“It really does seem like someone lives here.”

As they continued to follow the cow, an outline of a house appeared in the distance.

Crockta crouched down. Although the cow was friendly, it didn’t mean its owner was as well. Moreover, since the owner lived in the Forest of Monsters, they had to be a force to reckon with.

Once Crockta and Tiyo got closer, they saw that the house was surrounded by a moat and sharp fences. If a monster wandered into it, its body would be pierced by the sharp barricade.

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Tiyo said, “There’s a magic circle here.”

“A magic circle?” questioned Crockta.

“Yes, it was designed to make the house invisible to most monsters. Whoever lives here must be protecting the place with a magic-infused artifact. No wonder he lives in the Forest of Monsters.”

Tiyo analyzed their surroundings. As a gnome, he understood how magically-engineered designs worked. Upon Tiyo’s mention, Crockta realized the presence of the house and its surroundings did seem faint.

“Mooo...”

The cow went around the house and stopped at one spot. It seemed to be the shallowest section of the moat, as the cow just walked over it like it was normal ground. After crossing the moat, the cow squeezed into a hole under the fence, which was the entrance of a small passage. The cow hunched its huge body and then passed through the small hole like a boneless animal.

Then, as if beckoning them to come in, the cow cried out from behind the fence, “Mooooooooooo...”

Crockta and Tiyo looked at each other.

“Do you think it’s okay to go inside?” asked Crockta

“Aren’t you curious?” replied Tiyo.

“But it’s someone else’s house.”

“What about the cow? The cow is an official member of that family! That means a member of the homeowner’s family has invited us inside!” said Tiyo confidently.

“Hmm...”

Tiyo did have a point.

Crockta and Tiyo decided to accept the invitation. Just as the cow had done earlier, they walked over the shallowest part of the moat and went through the hole under the fence. Tiyo was able to slip through easily, but Crockta barely managed to do so and ended up getting all scratched up.

“What?!”

“Hmm...”

The men gasped in shock. There was a completely different world inside the fence. It was a peaceful sight that no one could have imagined being inside the Forest of Monsters. The cow that had traveled with Crockta and Tiyo rubbed heads with two other cows and greeted them with a moo. Nearby, chickens scurried about and pecked at the ground. At the center of it all was a sturdy-looking log house surrounded by a vegetable garden. Axes, pickaxes, and other farming equipment were scattered around the house. The house and its surroundings looked very lived-in.

“Amazing,” muttered Crockta.

Then he discovered something among the tools and furrowed his brows. There were arrows and arrowheads that someone had carved.

‘A hunter...’

thought Crockta.

Suddenly, Tiyo yelled, “Look! Crockta! This must be the artifact maintaining this place!”

While approaching Tiyo, Crockta saw a magic staff next to the log house. There was a crystal ball embedded on top with blue energy seeping from it. The blue energy spread and created a faint shield around this hidden territory.

“Mana flows out from this magic circle and covers its surroundings...” explained Tiyo.

Round shapes and patterns had been drawn underneath the staff, and its streams of mana spread out in all directions.

“Such amazing skills,” said Tiyo with glistening eyes.

After glancing around his surroundings, Tiyo slightly nudged the staff.

Right then, the lights in the magic staff went out with a hiss.

“Huh...?” Tiyo froze.

The mysterious blue energy that ran from the crystal ball had suddenly disappeared. Moreover, the faint shield that had surrounded the area also disappeared.

“Ah... no,” mumbled Tiyo as he took a step back.

Crockta then looked up at the sky. Wyverns were flying above them.

“...!” Crockta was shocked.

With the protective shield gone, the wyverns could see them now. Crockta’s hands grew sweaty. For a second, it seemed like they were just passing by, but they then began to fly in circles above Crockta and Tiyo.

Tiyo stuttered, “I, I, I, j-just...”

“Calm down, Tiyo,” assured Crockta.

It was a basic rule of the battlefield to not dwell on the past. There was no point in arguing over what had already happened. The past was better left for discussion during award ceremonies or reflections on causes of failure. When one had a gun right in front of their face, the priority was to focus solely on the enemy.

The wyverns began to flap their wings. They were getting ready to dive.

Crockta scanned his surroundings. There were two things that the wyverns could consider as prey—the Crockta and Tiyo pair or the cows.

“Tiyo, there are two choices.”

“What do you mean?”

More wyverns appeared. The expanding flock of wyverns drooled as they looked down on their easy prey that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Tiyo propped the General on his shoulder and stated, “We only have one choice!”

“Haha, is that so?”

A wyvern began to dive, with three other wyverns in tow, toward one of the cows. The wyverns went plunging toward the ground.

Tiyo aimed the General’s muzzle and said, “I do not run away from things! I take responsibility for my mistakes!”

Crockta grinned. His companion wasn’t just cute; Tiyo was also a real man.

Just as the wyverns were about to seize the cows with their sharp talons, Crockta let out a battle cry that rang thunderously through the forest, “Bul’taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrr!”

The forest shook from the impact of Crockta’s Essence-tier Army Crushing Roar, which could overpower his enemies with physical force.

Surprised by this, the wyverns stopped their descent and rose back up by flapping their wings swiftly. Meanwhile, the cows, having realized what was going on, turned their backs to the wyverns and began running away. The wyverns soon came to their senses and chased after the cows, but Crockta stopped them. He charged at them with his greatsword and ripped the wyverns’ wings apart. Crockta’s attack sent the wyvern in the lead rolling onto the ground and scattered the three wyverns that had followed the first one left and right.

“Yeeaaaahhhhh!” Tiyo screamed as he attacked the scattered wyverns with his General.

The wyverns flew back up and swirled through the sky. It became hard to hit the wyverns once they began putting in the effort to avoid the attacks, and Tiyo’s bullets ended up hitting empty space. A confrontation without any progress ensued.

Crockta’s expression stiffened. He couldn’t subdue the wyverns if they continued to circle the skies like that. Yet, if he just let them be, more monsters would come.

“Ugh...” Tiyo bit his lips in frustration.

Right then, a flash of light swooshed through the air and flew past them.

There was a crackling sound, and a wyvern plunged to the ground at the next moment.

“...!”

“What?!”

Crockta and Tiyo’s eyes widened in surprise.

Another stream of light flew past the sky, and a second wyvern dropped to the ground. Repeated strikes from the light sent the wyverns plummeting to the ground. Now, all of the wyverns that had been threatening Crockta, Tiyo, and the cows were corpses sprawled on the ground.

Crockta couldn’t tell where the attacks had been coming from. Then, he discovered an arrow stuck in one of the wyvern’s bodies.

When Crockta approached the wyvern to inspect it more closely, an arrow grazed past his nose.

“...!”

Then another arrow came flying and landed at Crockta’s feet. It was clearly warning him that he was not to move any further from the spot.

Crockta and Tiyo turned toward the direction the arrow had come from and saw that someone was walking toward them.