Chapter 28

Not just Lim Seo-yoon and Jin Sea-ah, but even Jun-sang himself, couldn’t help but flinch at the sight of Seo Yoo-mi pulling out a gleaming chef’s knife and smiling faintly.

“…” The already chilling atmosphere, due to Jun-sang’s presence, completely froze with Seo Yoo-mi’s appearance. Lim Seo-yoon and Jin Sea-ah hoped for someone else to appear and thaw this mood, but unfortunately, no one else showed up.

Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Jin Sea-ah turned to Lim Seo-yoon, who seemed the most approachable, and asked, “Is the crossbow your main weapon?”

Lim Seo-yoon brightened and replied, “Yes.”

His answer was fine, but unfortunately, Lim Seo-yoon lacked the ability to naturally continue a conversation with a mysterious young lady he had just met. Jin Sea-ah inwardly cursed this inarticulate, shrimp-eyed man who kept staring at her after giving a short, one-word answer, but she ultimately had no choice but to keep the conversation going.

“Won’t arrows be a problem? This quest seems quite long.” Assuming the thirty-something minutes were for preparation, the actual quest duration was three days. She wondered if it would be difficult to last that long with the number of arrows one person could carry, regardless of how many enemies would come. This was what Jin Sea-ah wanted to ask. Of course, Lim Seo-yoon had also survived the tutorial and a subsequent quest, so he understood better than anyone what Jin Sea-ah was getting at.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that.” And then, he suddenly pulled out a large cabinet from thin air.

“Ah!” At the sudden appearance of the cabinet, not only Jin Sea-ah but also Seo Yoo-mi, who had been quietly standing in a corner as if she weren’t even there, were greatly surprised.

“Th-this is?” Lim Seo-yoon proudly replied, “It’s a special ability called Inventory. It’s more like a quick slot than a full inventory, with only 2 slots, but it’s very useful because it can hold quite large items.”

After this brief explanation, Lim Seo-yoon opened the cabinet. It was packed tightly with spare crossbows, hunting knives, and crossbow bolts.

“It serves as a storage, and it’s reinforced with thick steel plates, so it can even be used as cover in an emergency. Pretty great, right?”

“Wow…” Jin Sea-ah looked impressed, and it provided good reference for Jun-sang. Moreover, a 2-slot inventory… Jun-sang also learned that not all inventories were the same. When Lim Seo-yoon put the cabinet back into his inventory, the villagers, who had been glancing at them, now seemed to clearly understand that these foreigners were not ordinary people.

And sure enough, a middle-aged man in what looked like sturdy, layered leather armor approached them and spoke. He had a Nordic appearance with soft, light brown hair and a bushy beard, but his impression was somehow not very trustworthy. The man scanned the group, then hesitated as to whom he should speak to. Jun-sang, at a glance, clearly had an imposing aura… Lim Seo-yoon was the one who had just pulled a cabinet from thin air, and Jin Sea-ah had just announced herself as a magic user by conjuring a flame in her palm. The man’s gaze shifted to Seo Yoo-mi, who, in an effort to show goodwill, smiled faintly, but… unfortunately, the man felt a cold sensation run down his spine at that moment and involuntarily looked away.

Ultimately, with no one easy to approach, he just stood there stammering, unable to do anything. Finally, Jin Sea-ah, unable to bear it any longer, stepped forward and spoke.

“What’s the matter?”

At Jin Sea-ah’s words, the man flinched and cautiously spoke. “Um… pardon me, but are you travelers?”

At the word “travelers,” Jin Sea-ah looked at Lim Seo-yoon, wondering how to answer. Lim Seo-yoon answered for her. “Yes, we are.”

Lim Seo-yoon had answered, thinking it simply meant “foreigners,” but to these villagers, the word “traveler” meant a strong individual who could freely traverse the arduous and dangerous outside world. The man brightened at Lim Seo-yoon’s reply. “So it is! Ah, truly a blessing from the gods. This is wonderful! Hahahaha!”

The man rambled on to himself, then ran off to tell the people who were glancing from a distance this joyous (?) news. This left Lim Seo-yoon feeling awkward.

“Why… is he doing that?” Jin Sea-ah answered his murmur, “It seems ‘traveler’ doesn’t mean what we think it means.”

“Seems that way, doesn’t it?” After such a somewhat dazed conversation, the conversation broke off again. They stood there awkwardly, now receiving the somehow burdensome gazes of the villagers, when… an unexpected person broke the silence.

“Um…” Jin Sea-ah and Lim Seo-yoon, unable to ignore the strange, subtle intensity, broke out in cold sweat and turned their gazes to her. But Seo Yoo-mi, receiving their gazes, only squirmed shyly without getting to the point, as if embarrassed.

Jin Sea-ah, unable to bear it, asked first, “Is there something… you want to say?” Only then did Seo Yoo-mi, fiddling with the gleaming blue blade of the chef’s knife in her hand, finally speak. “Um… are you two… in a party?”

Jin Sea-ah suppressed the urge to ask why she was fiddling with a chef’s knife just to ask that question and shook her head. “No. We just met.”

Then Seo Yoo-mi’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh… th-that’s amazing!”

“What is?”

“To be able to talk so naturally… with people you just met…”

“…” And then, for some reason, her face flushed as she lowered her head… Jin Sea-ah somehow had a premonition that this quest would be quite arduous.

Just then, Lim Seo-yoon, who had been quietly listening beside them, spoke. “Um… has anyone here tried forming a party?”

Jin Sea-ah quickly turned her gaze to Lim Seo-yoon and replied, “No. What about you?”

“I haven’t either, of course.”

“Should we try it? I’d like to know what other functions there are besides entering a quest together.”

“Ah, I was curious about that too.” Jin Sea-ah opened her phone to send a party invitation, but she flinched at a sound from behind her.

“Me, too…”

“…” Jin Sea-ah quickly nodded, feeling an ominous premonition that if she refused, the person might do something with the chef’s knife they were holding. “O-okay, I’ll send the invitation.”

“Thank you.” She didn’t know what he was thankful for, but Lim Seo-yoon accepted Jin Sea-ah’s party invitation with a delighted expression, and Seo Yoo-mi also smiled faintly, expressing her joy. Jin Sea-ah, somehow troubled by their expressions, shook her head and fiddled with her phone for a bit, then clicked her tongue.

“It seems there are no other functions besides entering a quest together. Did you find anything else?” At that, Lim Seo-yoon shook his head. “I didn’t either.” Then, even though no one asked, Seo Yoo-mi also shyly replied in a small voice, “Me too…”

Jin Sea-ah then spoke to Jun-sang, who was standing quietly in a corner, observing his surroundings. “You’re Jun-sang, right? It might be good to send a party invitation to you too, just in case there’s something else. What do you think?”

Jun-sang turned his head and stared at Jin Sea-ah. Jin Sea-ah was slightly flustered by Jun-sang’s intense gaze. “Wh-why are you looking at me like that?”

“…” At her slight blush and shrinking posture, Jun-sang unconsciously chuckled and replied, “Whatever you want.”

“…” Jin Sea-ah somehow felt like she had suffered a great loss.

“Tch.” But since she had proposed it first, she grumbled but still sent the party invitation. Jun-sang silently accepted it, then, like the others, checked if anything had changed. However, like the others before him, Jun-sang also found no changes. There were no functions like item distribution, as in typical games, nor options like experience distribution. Jun-sang fiddled with his phone for a moment, and seeing no difference, he immediately left the party.

“Huh!” When a message suddenly appeared on their respective phones announcing that Jun-sang had left the party, not only Lim Seo-yoon and Seo Yoo-mi, but also Jin Sea-ah, who had invited him, were greatly flustered.

“No, why…” Jin Sea-ah was about to ask Jun-sang why he had left the party, but… at that very moment, the bell tower in the center of the village began to ring loudly.

Ding-dong-ding-dong-ding! At the urgent sound, the somewhat relaxed atmosphere of the village immediately changed. The enemy had finally appeared. Jun-sang watched the people’s movements for a moment, then grabbed the roof railing with his hand and, using his rock-climbing skills, quickly ascended to the rooftop.

“Oh… that’s amazing.” As Lim Seo-yoon exclaimed at his agile movements, Jin Sea-ah, who had tried to speak but ended up looking like a dog chasing a chicken, could only swallow her dissatisfaction. Jun-sang climbed onto the roof and observed the enemy’s movements.

“Hmm…” As he focused his gaze beyond the palisade, he saw about five or six zombies approaching with shambling steps.

“Zombies, huh?” The others, who heard his murmur, finally showed a slight sigh of relief. They had honestly been a bit uneasy, not knowing what kind of enemy would attack. Of course, even with zombies, carelessness could lead to death, but it was still better than facing an unknown opponent.

“…” Jun-sang observed his surroundings for a moment, then dropped down from the roof and quickly began to run towards the palisade. Seeing him run out alone, Lim Seo-yoon quickly said, “We should too…” But before he could finish his sentence, the two women were already moving, following behind Jun-sang.

“Tsk…” Lim Seo-yoon clicked his tongue and followed. The villagers, tense at the appearance of the enemy, checked their weapons from behind the palisade. The first six zombies appeared, stumbling slowly, but… as they got closer, sensing the fresh life force of the people hidden behind the palisade, they suddenly changed and began to rush forward quickly.

“Hmm…” Jun-sang, who had run near the palisade, saw the suddenly changed zombies and realized that these were a different kind from the zombies he had faced before.

“Prepare for battle! Prepare for battle!” Beside him, the middle-aged man who had spoken to them earlier drew his sword from his waist and shouted, moving around. Jun-sang glanced at the villagers, who were rigid with tension, then… he easily leaped over the palisade.

“Whoa!” People were surprised as something large suddenly leaped over the palisade and went outside. Jun-sang, receiving everyone’s gaze, ran towards the zombies charging at the palisade.

“Open Shoulder Charge.” In response to his quiet voice, the Shoulder Charge card was equipped in the card slot, and Jun-sang activated Shoulder Charge towards the zombie leading the charge.

Author’s Note Time remaining: 72 hours 06 minutes