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< Treasure Hunt (2) >
I made a joke to Baek Yeong-hee over the phone about how hard it was, and after a while, I got a call from her father.
-Team Leader Lim. Are you feeling better?
Baek Chang-soo’s voice was full of worry.
“It’s okay. I’m a little tired, but···.”
-That’s okay! I heard everything from Younghee.
Baek Chang-soo sighed on the other end of the phone.
-Common sense dictates that you wouldn’t be okay after catching that kind of monster. Of course, I understand how you feel, but…
“yes?”
What did this gentleman eat wrong?
What on earth do you know?
-When I was young, I pretended to be okay even when things were hard, and I pretended to be fine even when I was sick. At the time, I thought that was what it meant to be a real man.
You suddenly recalled memories, but I couldn’t relate to it at all.
“I don’t think so. When I’m tired, I rest, and when I’m sick, I go to the hospital first.”
-Haha. You must be embarrassed because your true feelings were revealed. The bravado you display when you’re young is proof of your youth. I understand.
This guy seems to be seriously mistaken about something.
I didn’t feel like refuting it, so I just gave a vague nod.
“Oh, yes, well… But why are you calling?”
-I hope you won’t push yourself too hard like yesterday. Aren’t you the one who will shoulder the future of our guild together with Younghee?
I didn’t want to shoulder the future of the guild, and I hated being with Baek Yeong-hee even more.
-So I talked to Younghee.
“Ah, yes yes···.”
You’re such an annoying old fart.
I wish I had hung up quickly when I was done talking.
-Come back after resting for a few more days.
“Ah, yes yes···. Yes?”
Suddenly wondering what this meant, I asked again, and Baek Chang-soo spoke in a serious voice.
-It will be difficult to carry out the mission normally until the team composition is properly completed. Yeong-hee said that it will take about three days.
“I heard that story too···.”
-So, that means you should rest for three days and come back in perfect physical condition.
At that moment, I barely managed to hold back from shouting, “Long live the president!”
And then he asked carefully again.
“Three days? Is that really okay?”
-of course.
I answered quickly, wondering if Baek Chang-soo might change his words.
“Thank you! Then get some rest and I’ll see you in three days.”
-Me, and by the way···.
Suddenly Baek Chang-soo’s voice became smaller.
He spoke softly, almost as if whispering.
-When you have time, let’s spar with me…
This old man still hasn’t given up his foolishness.
Luckily, at that moment, a shout of “Dad-!!” was heard from the other end of the phone.
It was obvious who the voice belonged to.
-Ahem! Let’s talk about that later. Then, Team Leader Lim! See you in three days!
Baek Chang-soo hung up the phone abruptly.
He’s probably being bullied by his own daughter right now.
“Three days···.”
I suddenly got three days of vacation.
In the meantime, the guild will recruit people to work for me and Team 7, and Baek Young-hee will personally handle the recruitment of Wang Gu-ho.
Of course, I didn’t plan on just playing around until then.
“Hey, kid.”
Lily, who was looking at a picture book for learning Korean, turned to me with a grumpy face.
“why?”
The little one was still upset with me about what happened at lunchtime.
Of course, there was a simple way to solve that problem.
“Shall we go out for a delicious meal for dinner?”
Sealook.
The swollen cheeks moved.
But even a little kid has pride in his subject, he said curtly, turning his head to the side.
“I’m not hungry.”
“Really? Aren’t you hungry? Not at all?”
“···I’m not that hungry.”
The worry in his voice was evident.
I shook my head as if I had no choice.
“What a pity. I was going to go eat something really delicious. It was as delicious as chicken···.”
At that moment, Lily shouted with a face of incredulity.
“Something as delicious as chicken? A lie!”
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I smiled and looked at the ignorant little kid.
“Kid. The world is big and there is a lot of food. There are foods on this planet that are as good as chicken, if not better.”
Gulp.
Lily swallowed and sat up abruptly.
And then he ran towards me and shouted.
“Let’s go eat that!”
“I said I wasn’t hungry.”
“I’m hungry again!”
“Will you listen to me from now on? Will you eat the food I make for you?”
“······.”
“See this? You’re exercising your right to remain silent at such a crucial moment?”
After a while, Lily sighed and said.
“Okay. I’ll eat what you made too···. Phew···.”
It was an incredibly unpleasant sigh, but I decided to endure it as an adult.
“Let’s go eat that delicious food quickly!”
“for a moment.”
I said, placing my hand on the little boy’s forehead.
“There is a Korean proverb that says:
I don’t know if this is exactly a Korean proverb.
I don’t think so.
anyway,
“He who does not work, neither shall he eat.”
“Huh? What is that?”
I said with a grin.
“You have to work first before you can eat.”
After a while, I left the tent with the little boy with a displeased expression on his face under my arm.
Today I was thinking of going on a treasure hunt that I had been putting off.
***
We moved around quite a bit outside the tent.
Outside the restricted area, there are wild animals, criminals, and the further you go, the more monsters there are.
I ran with the kid by my side, avoiding the monsters as much as possible.
WHISTLE! WHISTLE!
Most of the monsters outside the restricted area were those that appeared during the First Gate.
At that time, the surviving monsters lived in groups or each established their own territory.
Some of them reproduced and increased their population.
Just like the guys I see right now.
“···There are more than I thought.”
I was looking at the Urk village through a telescope from the hill.
Uruk. A gray-skinned, bipedal monster.
Although they were weaker than ogres or trolls, they were a belligerent race that acted in groups and unconditionally killed any other creatures that entered their territory.
I surveyed the village through my telescope and estimated their numbers.
“About 200.”
About a year from now, the government will form a large-scale punitive force and wipe out that village.
At that time, I was included in the punitive force consisting of superhumans and the military.
Of course, I didn’t do much in the battle at that time.
Because he was just one of the many supporting actors in the punitive force.
But I remember clearly what happened then.
“There is a treasure hidden inside there.”
I was looking at the huge stone statue in the center of the Ukur village.
It was a statue of a roaring warrior, and it glowed softly even at night.
A relic from another dimension that came over during the First Gate.
The treasure I was trying to get my hands on was inside that stone statue.
“The question is how to approach it···.”
The location of the stone statue is the center of the village.
Moreover, the Uruks revered the stone statue as if it were a god.
I looked around the village with my telescope and spoke to Lily next to me.
“Kid. I don’t expect much, but do you have any opinions?”
“······.”
When there was no answer, I glanced to the side and saw that Lily was looking around, not at the village.
For some reason, he seemed restless.
“···Do you need to pee? Do you want to go over there and pee?”
“That’s not it!”
The little boy pinched my ribs hard. Then he shut his mouth tightly as if he was upset.
Otherwise, why are you picking on me and making a fuss?
I got up from my seat, rubbing the pinched spot.
“Just wait here for now. I’ll try to sneak in by myself.”
Slurp.
It’s been a long time since I used [Stealth].
My appearance became one with the surrounding scenery, and I hid inside the Uruk village in that state.
If there had been some sort of magical alarm device, we would have been more careful, but there was no way there would be such a thing in the Uruk village.
It was easier to hide in the village than I thought.
Walking carefully so as not to make any noise, I gradually approached the stone statue in the center of the village.
“······.”
There are about ten of them standing guard around the stone statue.
If you put in all your effort, you can quickly dispatch them and maybe even get the items from the statue and escape before you get surrounded.
…Should I just do it here?
It was when I was clenching and unclenching my fist, unable to make a decision.
Krrrr!
With a soft cry, a huge Uruk walked out of the large hut to the left of the statue.
He’s at least twice as big as the other guys.
An Uruk with white fur rather than gray.
As he walked out, the other Uruks stepped aside and grumbled.
“······.”
The moment I saw that white Uruk, old memories came back to me.
In the past, more than 50 people were torn to pieces by that guy during the punitive expedition.
He was the leader of this village and an incredibly strong mutant.
Krrrrrr···.
The white guy walked up to the stone statue, bared his teeth, and looked around.
I guess he must have sensed my presence.
Of course, my personality [Stealth] is not an absolute ability.
Any superhuman or monster with keen senses could easily sense my presence.
Of course, if I had fully recovered my skills, I could have slit that guy’s throat right in front of his eyes.
···That’s still a long way off.
I slowly backed away.
Fortunately, the bastard didn’t know my exact location, so I was able to escape the village safely.
“Phew···.”
I returned to the hill, sighed, and released my hiding place.
The first attempt is a failure.
“What happened?”
Lily looked at me and asked with a blank expression.
“There are too many boundaries. And that white guy…”
To be honest, it’s still difficult to confront it head on.
If you ambush, the success rate is about 50%. However, the risk of failure is too high.
Because you’ll be surrounded by 200 enemies in an instant.
After much thought, I came up with a new method.
“Kid. Let’s set fire to get their attention.”
A moment later, flames erupted from the outskirts of the Uruk village.
Whoosh whoosh!
The Uruks who saw this came rushing in.
They screamed and threw dirt at the fire, saying they were going to put it out.
Slurp.
I took advantage of the gap to approach the statue again.
I had a little arsonist riding on my back.
Right now, with my [stealth], I could cover at least one kid.
Of course, you have to be several times more careful than when you are alone.
As I approached the stone statue, the guards around it were all distracted by the flames.
Luckily, I didn’t see that white guy either.
Now, if we just take the items out of that statue…
Krrrrrr!
“······.”
I turned around reflexively at the sound I heard behind me.
At that moment, my eyes met with the white guy’s,
“Ugh!”
The moment Lily took a deep breath, the hiding was broken.
“Kuaaaah-!!”
I screamed as I looked at the white thing running towards me while roaring.
“What the hell!”
I turned around right away and ran until the soles of my feet were sweaty.
The white man and his Uruk subordinates chased us, screaming.
I ran away like that for about 10 minutes.
After barely shaking them off, I lay on the floor, gasping for breath.
“Haa···. Haa···.”
This second attempt also failed.
Should we just go somewhere else instead of there?
That thought crossed my mind for a moment, but I quickly shook my head.
“There’s no way. This is the place with the lowest difficulty level···.”
“Over here! Over here!”
At that moment, the little boy who had been comfortably riding on my back while I was running away looked around and shouted.
I looked at the kid with a bewildered expression.
“What is this?”
“This is where I crossed the dimensional gate!”
I was wondering why you were looking around so much earlier, and that was it.
Lily came to Earth through the dimensional gate from the continent of Gaia, where she met me and became my number one subordinate.
Now that I think about it, I’m a huge benefactor to this little kid.
This guy was being chased by criminal gangs before he met me, and if I hadn’t saved him then…
···wait for a sec.
“So, is there a hideout of those bad guys around here?”
Lily pointed in one direction with her little finger.
“There’s that cave over there. I was inside that cave when I came out of the gate, but those old men tried to catch me, so I ran away.”
I looked back and forth between the cave Lily had mentioned and the direction we had run from.
Who would have thought that a criminal organization’s hideout and a monster colony would be neighboring each other just 10 minutes away?
If you do this well…
“Did you see how many people were in the cave?”
“I think there are more than 100 people···.”
“The numbers are perfect.”
As an idea occurred to me, a smile gradually spread across my face.
ⓒ Ganjjajang
