RE: Player again

272

[Chapter 092] [Evil for Evil]

November, the time for the 2nd semester comprehensive ability evaluation arrived.

As a result, 1st year middle school academy students would be doing a 5-day mountain march on Seoraksan.

According to what Eun-ha heard from Yeon-hwa, the Seoraksan mountain march for 1st year middle school academy students was conducted like an annual event every year.

But the test conducted on Seoraksan would be different each year.

"Still, Seoraksan is quite far to travel, isn't it?"

"We're going by bus, so it'll probably take about two days generously." "...Huh? Two days?"

Dangun Player Association inside the academy.

Eun-ha and Yeon-hwa who met after contacting each other via message beforehand were shopping.

The occasion for the two to meet today was to prepare for Eun-ha's mountain march next week.

Eun-ha who usually exchanged messages accepted Yeon-hwa's offer to help prepare, as she had experienced the mountain march in her 1st year.

"Because we have to wait a long time exterminating monsters appearing here and there on the roads, and the route is very complicated."

"I guess... that's true."

It was quite late.

Because Yeon-hwa's classes ended late.

As a result, not many people were visible in the Player Association.

Thanks to that, the two could comfortably walk around the store.

Anyway, two days...

One day was enough in the regression.

Meanwhile, he realized through her story that highways were not yet smoothly maintained at this time.

In his previous life, one day was enough to reach Seoraksan.

But saying it takes two days meant the journey would be that much more arduous.

"...I'll definitely need to pack a sleep mask." "A sleep mask?" "To sleep on the bus. And since we'll be camping several times, I need to prepare tools to sleep comfortably." "...Shouldn't you pack thermal gear before a sleep mask?"

Yeon-hwa asked tilting her head.

Her long hair reminiscent of blue hydrangeas tilted to one side.

"Yeon-hwa noona." "Yeah." "The best condition can only be maintained by sleeping comfortably. That's why a sleep mask is absolutely necessary."

"Hmm... is that so?"

Eun-ha moved the shopping cart to choose a sleep mask, putting aside other sections.

Yeon-hwa who had a spear wrapped in white cloth slung over her shoulder mulled over his words.

Soon she gave up thinking and followed behind him.

Then she spoke to him who was seriously selecting a mask.

"You really are like Eun-a?" "Of course, I'm our noona's brother. But in what way am I similar?"

"Occasionally saying things I can't understand."

Ryu Yeon-hwa answering with her hands clasped behind her back, hugging the spear.

Eun-ha who turned his head looked back at her with a blank face.

She always maintained the same expression.

But Eun-ha who had gotten to know her to some extent could somewhat guess her emotions.

Currently she seemed to have a face like she was holding back laughter.

Why is this noona like this...

Eun-ha decided to ignore it.

This wasn't the first time this had happened.

Even if he asked Ryu Yeon-hwa the reason for holding back laughter, she would feign ignorance like last time.

It was better to just choose a good sleep mask.

"Shouldn't noona pick one too?"

"Me too?"

"You said you have a comprehensive evaluation too. The journey will be tough and you'll sleep outside a lot, so buy one."

"Hmm... should I?"

Seoraksan would be maintaining quite chilly temperatures at this time.

Besides a sleep mask, thermal gear needed to be bought too.

Eun-ha thought in his mind that it would be better to pack hot packs and thermal underwear too.

But of all places, Seoraksan...

He fell into thought while fiddling with a sleep mask with a grumpy cat face drawn on it.

Seoraksan was an area forbidden to ordinary people.

Because dungeons of various sizes and colors were distributed all over the Seoraksan area.

Moreover, monsters frequently appeared even in non-dungeon areas.

It was that dangerous of a place. Even the academy announced they would hire Players during the comprehensive evaluation for students' safety.

Plus─

─Huh?

That's when Eun-ha thought that far.

Before he knew it, Yeon-hwa was sniffing above his head.

Then their eyes met.

Regardless, she didn't remove her nose from his head.

Eun-ha blinked looking up at her face that seemed cold as ice.

Soon she smiled warmly like melting thin ice.

"Sorry, you had the same scent as Eun-a so unconsciously..."

"Ah, I see..."

Was it really unconscious?

Didn't she keep sniffing even after making eye contact?

Eun-ha felt disgruntled but decided to accept it as is.

The image of Ryu Yeon-hwa had now changed to a familiar image of noona's friend Ryu Yeon-hwa.

She probably didn't mean anything by it either.

"Have you chosen a mask?"

"Hmm... I'll take this one."

Too much time was wasted choosing a sleep mask.

Eun-ha asked if she had chosen a mask to move to the next section.

She picked up a sleep mask that happened to be within reach.

A grumpy-faced cat.

It was the same sleep mask as Eun-ha.

The only difference was that the mask he chose was black, while the one she chose was white.

"They're the same except for the color?" "...Yeah, I guess so."

There was a lot to prepare.

Eun-ha decided to continue shopping.

☆

The terrain of Seoraksan is treacherous.

Seoraksan, which belongs to one of the Baekdudaegan mountain ranges that can be called the spine of the Korean peninsula, was an area where mana from the Guimun area ran rampant.

Moreover, after , there were several dungeons of various sizes in the Seoraksan area.

Therefore, the Fairy Government prohibited ordinary people from entering the Seoraksan area.

Entry was only allowed with government permission or for non-ordinary people, Players.

However, even Players rarely set foot in the Seoraksan area.

Because Seoraksan itself was no different from a dungeon.

Even experienced Players occasionally got into distress.

Of course, those discovered like that had their corpses torn apart by monsters, sometimes only bones remained, or unfortunately they left only traces and departed from the world.

Moreover, isn't Seoraksan not far from Seoul?

As a result, Seoraksan was known as a den of monsters.

"...What? Is this all you have?"

"T-That's all we have..."

"Look at this guy?"

However, there were surprisingly people who made places with few human footsteps their territory.

The road from Seoul to Seoraksan was very complicated, and Gangwon-do residents didn't even glance at Seoraksan.

Moreover, one side of Seoraksan faced the East Sea.

In some ways, it could be called a closed terrain that blocked outside intrusion.

"Hey. Get your head on straight, punk."

"...Y-Yes..." "How many were in your party, huh?"

"......"

"Damn it, not answering?"

"...T-There were six of us..."

Criminals tended to gather in such places.

Among them, Players who were wanted or couldn't live proudly in society often sought out the Seoraksan area.

And those gathered from all over the country formed groups at some point and committed crimes again.

Like this.

"But is this all you have to eat? Do you think that makes sense?" "...T-That's all we have... Kuk... Keuk...!"

"Are you kidding me? How long were you planning to stay in Seoraksan with just this much?"

The Slayers snickered looking at the Player kneeling on the ground trembling among themselves.

The Player, the man stripped of all equipment, couldn't even lift his head properly.

Dark red blood was pooled on the ground where his hands were planted.

It wasn't the man's blood.

It was the blood of those who had been the man's companions.

They ambushed the party while the Ranger was out scouting and killed everyone except the man.

No, they didn't kill everyone.

"P-Please, stop..."

"Damn those bastards... They always lose their minds when they see women."

"Why. Then do you want to try once..."

"Shut your mouth. Do you want to die?"

The man squeezed his eyes shut.

He didn't want to see in the direction the sounds were coming from.

He wanted to gouge out his own eyes and cut off his ears.

It was truly a hellish time.

The man could do nothing against over a dozen Slayers.

Once the Guardian died first, there was nothing the man as a Supporter could do.

...One... there's still a way...!

But hope hadn't been extinguished yet.

The man clenched his fist not minding the dirt getting under his nails.

The Ranger who went scouting was judged as S-rank by the Mana Management Organization and classified as A-rank within the clan.

If it was him, he could sneak in killing his presence and catch the Slayers off guard.

So he had to endure until then.

The man gritted his teeth and inwardly desperately begged the Caster enduring humiliation to hang on just a little longer.

But hope is futile, and that's why it goes out when someone blows on it.

"─Who do you think doesn't know what's in your mind?"

"Oh my, what should we do? I just received a telepathy─"

[─The Ranger you were desperately waiting for chose to commit suicide on the spot as soon as he met us?]

The Telepath giggling.

The man couldn't escape from the woman speaking via telepathy with sparks flying between her rabbit ears.

[How... pitiful.] [So where's the food?] [You won't tell me?]

Telepathy that he didn't want to hear but had no choice but to hear in the end.

The man's mind slowly crumbled.

It wasn't just the man who crumbled.

At some point, the Caster was looking up at the bright blue sky with hazy eyes.

"Tch... hey, kill them."

Just then, a Slayer who had been quietly watching this scene clicked his tongue.

There was nothing more to gain.

It seems this really was all the food they had.

She showed the Slayers a gesture of slitting her throat with her thumb.

Slayers who received her instructions slit the throat of the man begging to be spared, and ended the breath of the woman who had given up on life.

"This is really annoying... there's nothing to eat. How are we supposed to find food in a mountain crawling with monsters?"

The female Hunter grumbled while scratching the back of her head.

She had been throwing hysterics at the drop of a hat lately.

It couldn't be helped.

The Slayers who fled from the country were living in villages they made among themselves in the Seoraksan area.

While occasionally extorting items from Players who visited the Seoraksan area.

But from 3 years ago, the number of Slayers started rapidly increasing, making it difficult to obtain food.

"Damn bastards..."

The female Hunter spat out curses at the Slayers disposing of the corpses.

Most of them were from Changhe Clan and Dangun Clan.

Those who once belonged to the clan ranked second in the country and one of the clans currently ranked S in the country.

The reason why they were here was because of the failure of the 1st Uijeongbu Recapture Operation and the downfall of Gil Seong-jun.

They were Players who disobeyed superiors' orders in the 1st Uijeongbu Recapture Operation and those who committed corruption under Gil Seong-jun.

At that time, the Fairy Government severely punished all of them, but those with quick wits or connections fled from the country in advance.

To Seoraksan.

As a result, the scale of Slayers rapidly increased after the 1st Uijeongbu Recapture Operation ended.

"Rangers track Players who have entered Seoraksan. The rest follow me back to the village!"

The female Hunter who sighed shouted.

Slayers who entered the village had to follow their group's leader.

Since the scale of Slayers increased, discipline was important.

Ironically, those who fled from discipline were still bound by discipline even after becoming Slayers.

Because there were limits to living alone.

So Slayers built villages and hunted Players.

I hope we can find food.

Eventually, the female Hunter led her group back to the village.

The worry she harbored was also a worry the Slayers harbored.

☆

Slayers exist on Seoraksan.

In fact, Eun-ha recalled the existence of Slayers when he first heard the comprehensive ability evaluation would be held on Seoraksan.

Those guys were criminals.

Seoraksan was a den for such guys.

...Will it be okay?

The Mana Management Organization was also aware of the Slayers' existence.

But the Slayers put up barriers and had residences here and there all over the Seoraksan area.

If they tried to deal with the Slayers, they could suffer great sacrifices if something went wrong.

That's why the Mana Management Organization didn't eradicate them until they found the Slayers' residences.

They weren't that strong guys.

But they were tricky guys to deal with.

The Seoraksan operation came down after the 2nd Uijeongbu Recapture Operation.

The Fairy Government conducted a Slayer eradication operation to make up for the mistake of mobilizing the military.

At that time, Kang Hyeon-cheol committed the atrocity of setting fire to Seoraksan.

The Slayers fled from the fire and were caught by Players as they left the mountain to breathe.

Eun-ha who participated in the operation at that time clearly remembered what happened then.

"...Those guys won't be able to run wild."

Eun-ha lay down on the bed.

The Slayers weren't large in number.

So they wouldn't attack 300 students.

Moreover, the middle school academy even hired veteran Players this time.

The instructors must be taking thorough precautions because they know how dangerous Seoraksan is.

So he decided to worry about 6th tier monsters appearing on Seoraksan rather than Slayers.

"...This works out well."

Monsters using mana drain appeared on Seoraksan.

Mana drain.

Magic that recovers some internal mana by taking the opponent's mana was one of the essential magics for him with little internal mana.

Even in his previous life, he made every effort to obtain the skill stone for mana drain while eradicating Slayers.

I hope it comes out this time too.

Eun-ha who got up from his seat checked again if he packed Black Thorn and potions in his backpack.

"...Ah, I should tell the kids too."

Just in case.

Eun-ha sent messages to his friends.

Especially telling Parang to definitely bring Blue Claw.