Episode 4
"Impossible."
But, as expected, Raoul's reply is cold.
"Why?"
Woojin asked, puzzled.
"My swordsmanship isn't something just anyone can learn. It's a passed-down skill. Do you still want to learn it?"
'An inherited skill? What is that?'
"......Of course."
Woojin replied cautiously.
Creepy.
But at that moment, Woojin's body shivered spontaneously at the liveliness emanating from Raoul.
"You really don't know."
Raoul nodded as he cleared his throat.
"I didn't believe your empty words about coming from another world, but now that I see you, you're not really from here."
"I'm ......?"
"The Transmission Skill is the only ranked skill that can only be mastered by one person."
Hmph.
He took out his sword.
"Well, you didn't react much when I told you that you were a rank 1 adventurer, so it's no wonder."
Even after killing so many wolves, the blade was still as sharp as new.
"Being a rank one adventurer means......."
Raoul said in a low voice.
"It's only given to those with proven experience in slaying dragons."
"For ......slaying dragons?"
Woojin couldn't help but be surprised by his words.
A dragon slayer.
This was information that was only posted on the official website, as not all players had even received their first class yet.
A unique class that can only be unlocked by completing certain quests after switching to the third hidden class, the Dragon Slayer.
[It was one of the 12 classes in Evil Tale that hadn't been revealed yet.
The owner of that rare class was right in front of me.
It was unimaginable.
"I didn't know you were that great."
"Klee, no. That's past glory. I'm more afraid of wolves than dragons now."
"You're ......?"
"Greed has made me angry."
He loosened the shoulder straps of his armour,
"......!!"
Crushing scars appeared from his collarbone to his chest and side.
"In my foolish desire to be a little stronger, I did something I shouldn't have touched."
"If there's one thing you shouldn't have touched...."
"The dragon's heart."
Raoul said with an odd chuckle.
"The dragon's magic is eating me up a little bit. One day I'll eat myself......."
Dragon Heart.
An elixir that was said to contain the strongest power in the world, but no one had ever found a way to refine it.
"Isn't that reckless? You're powerful enough to hunt dragons, so why not......."
"Because it wasn't enough."
"......."
"You and I are no different."
Woojin was left speechless by his words.
Just different standards of strength.
The desire was the same.
The desire was the same.
He pointed the sword at Woojin.
"Hold it."
Kwak-.
Woojin's trembling hand gingerly grasped his sword.
Kwagagagagang--!!!
Kwagagagang--!!!
At that moment, his head rang as if he had been struck by lightning.
Countless sights flashed past his eyes like a panorama.
One by one, the sights were memorised as if they were written in his mind.
"......?!!"
He jumped back in surprise.
"This, this......?"
Woojin looked at Raoul with wide eyes.
"These are the memories of my thirty years of dragon slaying. That's the thing about inherited skills, you don't just learn them, you absorb their experiences and memories."
Raoul smiled faintly, as if he had anticipated his reaction.
"The Dragon Sky. The sword art of my life."
Woof.......
His sword began to glow faintly.
"There's only one way to take over someone's memories."
Raoul brushed himself off and stood up.
"When the person is dead."
"Ah......."
He patted Woojin on the shoulder and strode out of the cave.
"I'm sorry, but I can't teach you my sword yet, because I can't die yet."
The light pouring in from the cave's entrance as morning broke shrouded his back.
The stranger he had met on his lonely journey.
Without his kindness, Woojin might have died in vain in a world where no one knew him.
'Yes, it is immature greed to covet the life of such a man.'
"Is there no cure?"
Raoul shook his head.
"I don't know. They say there's a High Priestess, Lauren, on the island in the North Wall where the Lion King is. She might be able to help."
He was slowly dying from the dragon's magic, but at least his eyes didn't glaze over.
"Do you have a destination?"
Woojin shook his head.
The purpose of [Evil Tail] was to capture the Labyrinth Tower, but there were no floors left to capture in this world.
The only floor was floating in the sky, and there was no way to get back into the game.
"Then why don't you come with me, I've got a good eye for snow and a good learning ability. I can't teach you the dragon stream, but I can teach you the basics...... on the way to the Lion King's Keep."
It wasn't a bad offer.
The Shadow Forest is large.
There were not only grey wolves, but also goblins, orcs, and other nastier creatures.
Could he survive on his own?
Even the weakest wolves can barely hunt anymore.......
Woojin nodded, remembering the wound from the wolf's bite.
Next time, its teeth might sink into his neck.
"Thank you."
Because the best way for the weak to survive is to be by the side of the strong.
* * *
The forest path seemed endless.
As the sun rose, the forest closed in on them again with darkness.
[......Keh!!!]
Woojin's sword slashed at the gnoll's throat.
"Lower your stance. The tip of your sword still wobbles. If you're so greedy for my swordsmanship, learn the basics."
Hearing Raoul's words from behind him, Woojin gritted his teeth and swung his sword at the remaining Gnolls.
"Hmph...... hmph......."
In an instant, three gnolls lay dead before him.
'This is a beginner's area at best.......'
What a pain.
The occasional animal cries from the dense giants made it hard to breathe.
"There are no runes......."
Woojin pushed himself to his feet, familiarly slicing open the creature's belly.
"It must have used up all its runes on the first day, because it hasn't produced any since."
Raoul smirked at his disappointment.
"You were right, I was lucky, the moon was bright that night, and you can see a lot of runes on those days."
'It's like the effect of time.'
There was something similar in [Evil Tale].
During the day, you get less experience, but the monsters are weaker, and at night, the opposite happens: you get more experience, but the monsters' stats increase.
"Let's rest here today."
At Raoul's words, Woojin quietly gathered branches and started a fire.
"But I think you're getting the hang of holding a sword."
Raoul commented as he slid the flesh of a gnoll he'd killed into the fire.
"Still can't use the skill, though."
"There's no need to be impatient, Klee, once you get the basics down, you'll be able to use it naturally."
They'd been walking through the Shadow Forest for three days.
In that time, the two of them had hunted quite a few monsters.
Woojin had done most of the hunting.
Since that day, Raoul had taught him everything he needed to know about hunting, from how to hold his sword to his stride, his stance, and everything else.......
"Did I mention that your world is just now reaching the tenth floor?"
"Yes. Unlike before, a large coalition is attacking at the same time."
I remembered seeing a story in the community about five clans joining forces, including Kerga of the Firebirds, who was said to be the strongest in existence, and the Red Witch of the Red Tower... and so on.
"Maybe they've captured the 10th floor by now."
"This place isn't particularly interested in capturing the Labyrinth Tower, and the sooner we do, the darker the world will only get."
At his words, Woojin looked at the watery sky.
The last 100 floors floating in the distance.
'This can't be how the game ends, can it?'
Woojin shuddered at the thought.
'But how is this possible?'
A world exactly like the game exists.
No matter how many times he thought about it, he couldn't believe it.
'But if I'm not crazy.......'
I have one question.
How did [Evil Tale] manage to create a world exactly like this one?
'Evil Tale is not a human-made game.'
Woo-jin recalls a phrase that was heavily advertised in the early days of the service.
Evil Tale is a virtual reality game created by the world's first autonomous AI [Ethan].
'A game made by A.I, not humans.'
There were a lot of rumours and comments, but after the game opened, all the voices disappeared.
It was because they built a world that was too perfect.
But Woojin could tell.
If this world is really real.......
'The A.I. didn't create a perfect world.'
[Evil Tale] is just a perfect copy of the world that really exists.
'Then.......'
Gulp-.
Woojin nervously swallowed dryly.
Maybe the answer to all these events that had happened to him should be found there.
'A.I. [Ethan].'
It was the one thing that connected the game, the other world, and the real world.
'I can see a path.'
But.......
The problem was how to get back.
In the real world, you access the game through a capsule.
'If this is the same reality.......'
To get back, you'd need some sort of connection to the game.
But the problem was that we didn't know what that was.
There must be a capsule in the other world.
"I have a favour to ask."
"What is it?"
Woojin asked Raoul when he had finished thinking.
"If it's time to attack the tenth floor, you might have......."
"......?"
Woojin tilted his head at Raoul's uncharacteristic pause.
"If we go back, that is. If you go to the central continent, there's a small town called [Yorka]. Do you think you can stop by there?"
"The Central Continent...... Sure, although I'm still a long way from reaching the level to go there."
"When you get there, there will be a woman named Rhea in a small house with a green roof."
Woojin nodded at his words.
"Will you tell her to watch out for the cold?"
"......?"
Woojin's eyes widened at the strange story.
"......My mum suffered from pneumonia her whole life."
Woojin nodded silently.
"I'll be sure to tell her."
A gap of 50 years.
As anxious as he was about falling into an unknown future, there were many stories that those who stayed in the future wanted to tell the past.
Whether the game he was returning to was really Raoul's past remained to be seen, but Woojin couldn't resist sending him a little greeting.
"Thank you. I couldn't ask for more."
Raoul sighed and leaned back against the tree, as if the hard work was done.
"Don't you dare say such a thing."
"I'm sorry, Klee, I'm sorry. I've got to keep my wits about me from here."
Raoul replied, smirking bitterly at Woojin's pout.
West of the Dark Forest.
'Probably goblin territory.'
Each one is not a strong demon, but they are clever.
Unlike most fiends, who are one-dimensional in their attacks, they know how to keep their distance and how to flee.
Goblins are perhaps the most persistent and relentless enemy in the game.
"Don't worry. I've dealt with goblins before."
"Goblins? It's not those lowly monsters I'm worried about."
Raoul's expression hardened slightly at Woojin's words.
"Faceless monsters."
Woojin remembered something he'd momentarily forgotten.
"Be careful. This is the territory of faceless monsters."
It was something he had said to Raoul when they first met.
"Forty years ago, not long after the tower appeared, a warlock from Murrenga created a monster here."
He lowered his stance and took a cautious step.
"At first, I thought it was just another creature of dark magic, but...... what does it mean to be alive after all these years, after having been breached to the 99th floor of the tower?"
Raoul's voice was uncharacteristically heavy.
"It means that there is no one who can catch him."
Gulp-.
Woojin swallowed dryly.
"Do you think......."
His voice trembled.
"Is that what you mean by a faceless monster?"
[Krrrr.......]
A harsh breathing sounded, like scraping metal.
A knight with a rusty sword stood behind them in a shadow darker than darkness.
Kirik-.
He stared at them, his mouth and nose melted away as if in an earthquake, his face a mere red glow.
"......Damn!!!!!"
The forest erupted again.
TRANSLATER NOTE
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