The Russian man didn’t charge in right away.
Which ant I had a bit of ti to observe his face and overall condition.
A massive, gaping hole had been punched clean through his abdon.
And—
There were no eyes in his sockets. In their place, insects were writhing out of the hollow cavities.
Okada Yuuji’s voice ca from behind.
“He’s definitely dead, but he’s moving...”
Felix Bauer’s trembling voice followed.
“There’s no way soone with a hole in their gut big enough to see through is still alive...”
Then I heard the voice of the knight, Gerado, standing beside .
“That’s probably a shell.”
“A shell?”
When I asked, Gerado kindly explained further.
“The Bug Ritualist—the one controlling him—uses a technique called Parasite Reanimation to raise corpses. Mages refer to that state as a ‘shell.’”
“What’s the weakness?”
“Usually, there's a bug acting as the heart located at the center of the chest.”
No sooner had Gerado finished speaking than the man’s body slowly began to move forward.
Shing.
I raised my sword.
“You rember his na?”
Henry responded to my question.
“Yegor Zaitsev... I think that was it.”
Now that hiding my strength was pointless, I stepped forward, intending to send him off properly.
But soone beat to it.
Lena Vogel, Matthew, Okada Yuuji, and Josephine Bernard—the ones who had originally grouped up for the immoral purpose of looting other players' gear—suddenly rushed at Yegor.
Lena looked at and spoke.
“You don’t have to step in this ti.”
She probably thought Yegor looked weak in comparison to Kabarax and figured this would be easy.
But who knows?
Not having to dirty my hands was always welco, but I wasn’t convinced things would go their way.
BAM-BAM-BAM!
Yegor just stared blankly at the four as they charged—then accepted every attack without resistance.
The sound of flesh being pierced rang out.
Weapons in all four of their hands stabbed straight into Yegor’s body—but the giant didn’t fall.
“...W-what the hell...”
Matthew’s face froze, having charged in so confidently.
Lena shouted in alarm.
“Get back! This bastard’s doing sothing!”
What I saw—
Yegor’s eyes glowing red.
Apparently, Lena had seen them too.
Yegor’s arms began to swell grotesquely.
His skin was no longer human.
It was morphing into sothing like an insect’s exoskeleton.
His transford head looked almost like it was modeled after a rhinoceros beetle.
His arms seed honed like blades.
Screeeeech!
With a sharp screech, needle-like spikes shot out from his arms like a hedgehog’s spines, scattering in every direction.
They were more like blades than thorns.
“GRAAAAAH!”
Okada let out a scream.
But maybe thanks to Lena’s sharp warning, he only took a direct hit to his left shoulder—it could’ve been worse.
“WAAAAAAGHH!!”
...Though he was wailing like he’d reached death’s door already.
Just as I stepped forward with Mundum Exstinguit in hand, Lena’s movents caught my interest.
She thrust her spear with both hands, sidestepping to the left.
Her spear didn’t have any aura, but her movents were as sharp as those of a trained soldier.
Still, it wasn’t enough to pose a real threat to Yegor.
KAGAGANG—!
Seeing Lena hold her own seed to snap the others back to reality, and the three of them jumped back in.
They weren’t creating a kill opportunity, but at least they were making an opening.
As Yegor spread both arms, his upper body was left exposed.
Now was the perfect ti to take him down.
Slide—
I raised Mundum Exstinguit and aid for Yegor’s center mass.
Then I swung my right arm like a thunderbolt.
CRACK!
The sword buried itself right into the middle of Yegor’s torso.
And I imdiately retrieved it with a flick of my hand.
Yegor’s massive body collapsed backward.
Mundum Exstinguit ca out slick with blood, proof it had shredded through him.
I could feel the eyes of the players and soldiers fixed on .
Looking down at Yegor’s fallen body, Gerado spoke again.
“...As expected, a shell.”
As I stepped closer to Yegor’s body, I could understand why Gerado said that—no need for explanation.
Skrrrssshhh...
From the sockets of his eyes, the gaps in his lips, and the joints of his fingers, swarms of glossy black insects began pouring out.
Yegor’s body yellowed and started to rot rapidly.
It was like ti itself sped up, applying only to his corpse.
His body crumbled in seconds, leaving only a mound of worms on the ground.
“What about those leftover bugs?”
“They’ll die on their own. You destroyed the mother—what was functioning as the heart of the shell.”
Just as Gerado said, the bugs soon stopped moving and perished.
“This confirms that the Bug Ritualist is deeper inside the forest... We’ll have to go further.”
“How wide is this forest, anyway?”
At my question, Gerado gave a bitter smile.
“Elbram is known for being... vast.”
Half a day passed.
Gerado wasn’t wrong. Elbram was absurdly wide.
And the Arican woman we were hoping to find during our advance still hadn’t turned up.
Instead, we ended up spending half the day taking down four massive praying mantis monsters called Sikeron, which were clearly sent by the Bug Ritualist.
“Hooo-rah! Level up!”
Okada Yuuji raised both hands and cheered purely, excited about leveling ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ up.
Even though I landed the final hit twice, I barely got any EXP. At this point, it was getting depressing.
Night fell again.
I hadn’t planned to spend a second night here, but so be it.
Lena ca to and asked for a spar.
Lena Vogel’s weapon of choice was a spear.
I accepted.
Ever since I got the spear Eirand’s Wedge, I’d been training with it alone.
– Spear King) Rannachal, rannachal, rannachal— if you can just get your Rannachal right, you’re already halfway there.
That damn Rannachal.
But with enough practice, I had started to feel just how right Spear King-senpai had been about it.
Even now, if I were up against a Sixth-Rank spearman who had mastered Rannachal, I wasn’t sure I could beat him.
I put away Mundum Exstinguit and pulled out Eirand’s Wedge.
“...You’re not using your sword?”
Lena’s brow furrowed slightly.
“We’re just training.”
She sighed.
“So you’re looking down on .”
If it were just that, she’d be lucky.
From my perspective, she’d realize just how generous my outlook really was.
I gripped the spear.
“You know Rannachal?”
The platinum-haired woman, Lena Vogel, smirked.
“You think I’ve only been using a spear for a day or two? Of course I know it.”
I jerked my chin.
“Then co at . Like you’re trying to kill . Don’t worry—I won’t die.”
“You’re so arrogant.”
WHAM!
With that, Lena charged forward, stomping hard on the ground.
I watched her and reversed my grip on the spear.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
SHRAAAAAAAA!
The spear ca flying in a straight line.
Maybe because I’d made it obvious I was underestimating her, Lena struck with a sharp, clean thrust.
I didn’t miss the trajectory—quickly pivoting my own spear, I deflected hers with a strong sweep using the shaft.
Then, using the rotation of the deflection, I drove my shaft downward and struck her in the abdon.
Thunk—
A light sound rang from Lena’s armor.
“You’re dead, right?”
“...What?”
“If I were holding a real spear properly, you’d be dead.”
Though Lena scrunched up her face at my words, she didn’t offer any excuses.
“Again.”
And for a dozen or so rounds, the result was the sa.
“Phew...”
Lena wiped her sweat with a towel and took her stance again.
“I should help fix your form. Get into position again. Start with Ran.”
Lena followed my instructions without complaint.
“Your feet are too close. Widen your stance.”
She imdiately understood what I was asking for.
“Na is ultimately about breaking your opponent’s center of gravity. Think of it as pulling them in a way they can’t react to.”
Night was deepening.
I told Lena that was enough for today.
Not because I was tired, but because I could see Lena’s arms trembling as she gripped her spear.
I was just thinking about getting sothing to eat when—
“I use a spear too! Teach !”
Kim Joo-eun appeared, spear in hand.
In the end, I trained her for about two hours.
Like Lena earlier, Kim Joo-eun wiped her sweat with a towel and looked at .
“Um... would it be okay to add you as a friend...?”
Her voice was quiet—probably because she expected to say no.
“Sorry.”
Correct.
“Hehe, I figured you’d say that.”
Kim Joo-eun scratched her head with a sheepish smile.
Lena had also asked earlier, just as awkwardly.
And of course, I turned her down too.
Then, soone I didn’t expect ca up to and offered a handshake, also asking to add .
“I just want one strong friend!”
It was Okada Yuuji.
“Go get so sleep.”
Naturally, I only accepted the handshake.
I finally succeeded in being alone, spread out my sleeping bag, and sat down.
Friends.
So of the senior Gallery mbers said it wasn’t a big deal. That I could just make friends casually if I wanted to.
But I didn’t want to do it like that.
I wanted to add people to my friend list who would actually be helpful to —whether practically or psychologically.
Unfortunately, this exchange didn’t have anyone like that either.
After killing quite a few monsters over the last two days, the players, knights, and soldiers were now seeing as an overwhelmingly strong figure.
A bit too much, honestly.
Maybe that’s why, when I said I’d be sleeping a bit away from the group in case any unexpected danger arose, they believed imdiately.
Thanks to that, I could just distort the front with the Veil of Secrets and freely browse the Transcendent Gallery without concern.
Title: This forest is stupidly wide.
Author: ㅇㅇ*
– Still, I think we’ll be able to finish the exchange by tomorrow.
We haven’t found the last missing player yet, though.
At this point, it’s starting to seem pretty reasonable to suspect they’ve been captured by the Bug Ritualist or sothing.
ㄴ Oh, reasonable suspicion, valid.
ㄴ Basically dead, honestly.
ㄴ Room Conspiracy Theorist) Hohooo, the climber has the makings of a great detective. – This world is one giant locked room.
ㄴ Sage) Hostage... yeah, that’s definitely possible.
ㄴ Gutter Swordsman) Look, if they’re trying to pull tricks with a single hostage, we don’t have ti for that. Doesn’t matter if they live or die—we do what we ca to do. You get it?
ㄴ Absolute Monarch) That is the correct attitude.
These guys are as cold-blooded as ever.
ㄴ Archmage) In the end, we won’t know for sure until we find that guy. Oh, and by the way, I finished crafting so solid spells. Next cross-dinsional trade is on you.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) Got it.
ㄴ Ughhh, pre-booking trades now? Shaful. Indomitable Iron-Blood Ophelia-chan~
ㄴ Archmage) Hey, I want to trade too...
ㄴ Heavenly Demon) Hmmm... did you get to use your fists and feet at all?
ㄴ Translation: Did you use the martial arts I gave you?
ㄴ Gross, old man. Too cringe.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) Honestly, since the climb here’s been pretty chill, I haven’t had to use martial arts much. Mostly been using the spear. Taught Rannachal to a few spear users.
ㄴ Heavenly Demon) There are still lowlifes who need to be taught sothing that basic?
ㄴ Spear King) Plenty of 'em. These wannabe spear users are kind of cute, honestly.
ㄴ Spear King) Hehe, good job spreading it. The spear is the king of all weapons. Next cross-dinsional trade... you’ll be getting a spear art, right~?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) Depends on the situation.
Sotis you just need the right item for the mont—like when I escaped danger by using the Shrine Maiden’s Binding Scroll during the golem fight.
ㄴ Spear King) C’mon, the Archmage already agreed!
ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) I’m curious about magic too. ㅇㅇ
ㄴ Admin) A big magic spell you can cast using only aura circulation? That’s irresistible.
ㄴ Really, now. You’re comparing Caelum’s divine grace to spear arts?
ㄴ Spear King) You from Murim or sothing, punk?
ㄴ I am of the glorious Green Forest.
ㄴ Spear King) If I wipe out the entire Green Forest, I’ll finally get to see your face, huh? Okay.
ㄴ Who the hell is that guy? I’m a Green Forest guy and he’s clearly not. Why’s he shooting off like that? Hey, soone rein him in.
ㄴ What, are you so scared you’re roasting other groups to look tough? LOL this is hilarious
ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) Wrapping it up tomorrow. I'm off.
ㄴ Suwang) Checking the Gallery before bed? Adorable! Hehe, good luck!
ㄴ Ice Queen) Frozen! Co back safe!
ㄴ Shrine Maiden) Hawawa~ Climber-sama, your fortune for tomorrow is... You shall attain what you seek! Iyayayo~!
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