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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: The Carriage Runs
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It didn't seem like the arrows had been fired from that close. Most of them had lodged into the carriage or nearby objects.
"Th-this… what's going on?!"
"What's going on, Aden?!"
"Seong-ho! Hey, Jin Seong-ho!"
Two party members, excluding Baek Sang-gyu and Seo Jin-cheol, had been hit by arrows.
One of them had an arrow piercing through his throat.
Pssshhh…
A few hissing sounds like air escaping, and then the party member named Jin Seong-ho rolled back his eyes.
Just like that, he lost his life.
"Uwaaaah! He's dead! He's dead!"
"Aden! What do we do?!"
The group, who had committed murder once before, panicked like children in the face of death right before them.
Kang Seol observed Aden's expression.
Aden's face turned red then pale.
Then, as if he'd made a decision, he shouted around him.
"There's a canyon nearby! We shake them off there and head into the Great Forest—they won't be able to find us! Hurry and drive the carriage!"
"B-but… that's not easy…"
"Shut up! Forgot who paid to hire you?"
Aden berated the others aggressively, as if he'd become a different person.
Kang Seol knew his actions were inappropriate.
Normally, merchant caravans formed a defensive wagon circle in such cases to counter ambushes.
Either Aden had never been on a merchant caravan before, or the pursuers were on a level they couldn't resist.
Either way, the situation wasn't looking good.
Aden now shouted at Baek Sang-gyu's group.
"How long are you going to cling to the dead guy and whine? Get on the carriage!"
"What? You, what did you just say…?"
Swish.
Aden pressed a dagger to Seo Jin-cheol's throat.
It was so fast that Seo Jin-cheol couldn't react at all.
"Hup…"
"If you don't want to die, do as I say. I'm done playing around."
Seo Jin-cheol's eyes widened as he slowly nodded.
Baek Sang-gyu's group left Jin Seong-ho, who had died instantly from the arrow, and helped the other injured man onto the carriage.
Kang Seol followed them onto the carriage.
"Fuck… fuck… what the hell is happening…"
"It was supposed to be an easy adventure! Why do we have to go through this?!"
Death comes to everyone, sending fear as its herald first.
Baek Sang-gyu's group, now short one member, was soaked in terror, their eyes darting wildly.
"It hurts… it hurts so much…"
"Kyeong-mo!"
The other man, lying with an arrow in his chest.
He groaned continuously, but now his movements were slowing.
"I… I'm dying like this…"
Thud.
Baek Sang-gyu's group was reduced to two.
Hiiing!
The horses neighed in fright and galloped even faster.
Psssh.
Paak!
"Eek…"
The sound of arrows piercing the carriage canopy.
Everything was chaotic enough to make one's head spin.
Even in this situation, Kang Seol remained calm.
'We'll get caught at the canyon's edge.'
Both the first character and the second had met the same end.
There were no major dangers before reaching the canyon's edge, so there was no need to panic like Baek Sang-gyu's group.
Baek Sang-gyu saw that and yelled in rage.
"You acted like it was an easy adventure, but it's not!"
"…What?"
"Fuck… how do we get out of this?"
Seo Jin-cheol growled at Kang Seol.
"Hey, until we get out of here, we combine forces."
It would have been obvious for a normal party, but since this party didn't trust each other, it needed to be said.
Seo Jin-cheol believed Kang Seol would follow his words.
There were two of them and only one Kang Seol.
Whether their plan was exposed or not, he thought Kang Seol couldn't escape alone.
But Kang Seol's response left Seo Jin-cheol and Baek Sang-gyu flustered.
"Why should I?"
- Huh? Me?
- LMAOOOO that expression.
- These guys look like total murderers lol why go with them~
- Got owned by noob cosplay?
Baek Sang-gyu, eyes bloodshot, reached for the curved sword at his waist.
Sring.
"You're slow on the uptake. My words aren't getting through… Huh?"
"Huh… why can't I move… ugh…"
Baek Sang-gyu and Seo Jin-cheol's bodies no longer obeyed them. It felt like they were slowly hardening, as if turning to concrete.
Clang.
The curved sword Baek Sang-gyu held rolled to the corner of the carriage.
"F-fuck, why won't my body…"
"Me too!"
Were their bodies hardening from the neck down? Their tongues still wagged freely.
Kang Seol looked at them and said,
"You're slow on the uptake."
"What? You bastard! This is your doing!"
"Let us go! Whatever you did, I'll kill you!"
"Don't eat food handed to you by strangers carelessly."
At Kang Seol's words, Baek Sang-gyu and Seo Jin-cheol realized what happened.
Something had been done to the alcohol they'd received earlier.
"You little… damn it! In cahoots?"
"No way… Aden! Aden, what's with this bastard!"
Pssshhhh!
"Chase them!"
Thud thud thud thud!
The sound of pursuers on horseback.
The carriage group had already exited the canyon.
Kang Seol straightened his clothes and prepared.
Whoooosh…
Black energy gathered in his hand and then dispersed, manifesting a massive figure inside the carriage.
Whirrrl…
"Th-that guy…"
"A troll! It's a troll! No, that's…"
They recognized it too.
What Kang Seol summoned was Jamad, the chieftain of the Rock Fang Tribe, whom they'd only glimpsed from afar in the previous adventure.
How could they forget that terrifying form?
Baek Sang-gyu muttered in disbelief as he thought,
'He defeated that Jamad?'
Even a full party combining forces might not have beaten Jamad.
Of course, Kang Seol had taken down the monster alone, but Baek Sang-gyu couldn't even imagine it.
Jamad looked at Kang Seol and said,
"…The situation isn't good."
"Seems that way, but let's watch for now."
"Hmph. I'll protect you."
As Kang Seol moved to leave the carriage, the desperate Baek Sang-gyu and Seo Jin-cheol called out.
"H-hey! Take us with you! Take us too!"
"Where are you going? If you leave us like this, the Predators won't let you off!"
Kang Seol replied without turning back.
"That's why I said why should I."
Baek Sang-gyu's group would be shackles dragging him down, not help.
They'd obviously be left here to meet the end they deserved.
'They're coming.'
Suddenly, armed people with rope obstacles jumped out right in front of the carriage procession. All had tattoos like Aden's on their faces.
"Hold tight!"
At Aden's shout, the front carriages began to tumble.
With the front line disrupted, the others couldn't advance and flipped over too.
"Wh-what?"
"No!"
While Baek Sang-gyu and Seo Jin-cheol screamed, Kang Seol's figure had already vanished from the carriage.
* * *
Kang Seol had successfully detached from the group under Jamad's protection just before the carriage procession hit the rope obstacles.
The impact of the carriages rolling shook the ground, but his protection prevented serious injury.
A few from the ambushers' group broke off to chase Kang Seol, but all were crushed by Jamad's hands.
Now, Kang Seol watched the collision site from that position.
"Just going to watch?"
"Yeah. Stepping in now would just waste energy."
"Do whatever."
Aden regrouped his forces amid the wrecked carriages and prepared to face the ambushers.
"Damn… how did they know to come here? Hey, it's battle time."
What Aden said that wasn't a lie was that the carriage really had escorts.
Stronger ones than Baek Sang-gyu's group.
"Looks like about twenty ambushers. Survive on your own."
"Fuck… nobody said anything about this!"
Whoosh… whoosh…
Someone approached from afar, spinning a curved sword.
He too had a tattoo like Aden's on his face.
"Aden… no, KuJo. Thought you could escape us?"
"How would a fleeing rat know that, you idiot."
"Heh heh heh… still got that proud tongue. Should've used it to serve Lord Borgo."
"The pay wasn't satisfying, so I was planning a big score… Want to partner up? I'll treat you better than Borgo."
"Can you protect me from Lord Borgo's pursuit?"
"Think so?"
"Then die quietly. Got the map and translation?"
"Of course! Right here in my bosom. Come take it with your skills!"
"Fine, say your goodbyes early. The map will return to its original owner."
"Bullshit. Sound like Borgo found it. I did, you bastard!"
Kaaang—!
Aden—no, KuJo's outnumbered group clashed with Borgo's vanguard.
Meanwhile,
Kang Seol meticulously checked the updated adventure details.
Adventure 3-1. 'The Carriage Runs.'
The carriage procession headed to Nobira was ambushed. There seems to be some unknown circumstance. You must survive the ambush.
Goal: Survive and shake off pursuers.
Remaining time [None]
Kang Seol had known the truth of this adventure from the start. Naturally, including how it changed moment by moment.
This adventure was far more complex than it appeared.
Borgo, a ruin hunter who made a big name in Nobira (same personality and role, just different name).
KuJo, a subordinate nursing grudges against Borgo, secretly pockets a map to another ruin during exploration and attempts to translate it behind his back.
Borgo catches on and chases, but KuJo has already fled to Kongori. Borgo's group sets camp near the Great Forest, waiting.
The translation KuJo received stated that five mountain sacrifices were needed to open the ruin's entrance.
'In other words, my group and Baek Sang-gyu's weren't escorts—we were being transported as sacrifices.'
That's why Aden tampered with the alcohol.
To ensure the group couldn't move and became sacrifices willingly.
Kang!
Kaaang!
Kang Seol quietly watched their clash.
He'd experienced it twice already.
He knew the outcome.
After some time, the battle's contours emerged.
"Kuhuk… huk…"
"Heh heh heh… keep going if you want to die."
"Either way, retreating means Borgo kills me."
"That's true. Then hurry up and die."
It was a ridiculous situation, but no one from either group survived the clash. As expected, the scene unfolding before him was the same.
'No, the sacrifices survive.'
The first character, Snowman, chose to recover using mana from the wrecked carriage and fled the scene, surviving.
'And the second character chose differently.'
Kang Seol waited for their battle to end, then approached as it wrapped up.
"Huk… huuuk… Borgo?"
KuJo, blinded in both eyes, gasped for breath there. Black blood drenched his body. He'd lost so much blood he seemed about to die.
"No, this smell… Snowman. Save me."
"You're already dead."
"Kihihihi… right. Lost this much blood… how could I live? Hey, want to hear something interesting?"
A choice appeared.
[Aden's real name is KuJo. The dying man is about to share something intriguing. How do you respond?]
1. A story? What story?
2. No need.
3. Who are the ones chasing us?
4. What does the tattoo mean?
5. [Requirement: Intimidation] Spill everything.
...
"No need."
"Ha! Hahaha! Fine, I'll tell you this: Soon, a massive monster that doesn't even look human will arrive here. Then you'll die anyway… Hey?"
Rustle, rustle.
Kang Seol rummaged through the gasping KuJo's bosom and forcibly pulled out what he found.
[Acquired a ruin map.]
[Acquired a ruin translation.]
Kang Seol glanced at the map and checked the translation.
The translation was arguably as important as the map for ruins.
'This…'
His brow furrowed.
'At this level, the translation's best as kindling.'
The translation's content was similar to what Kang Seol knew, but closer inspection showed it led to a completely different path.
Either his memory was wrong, or the translation was—Kang Seol trusted his memory more.
"Kuh… kuhahaha!"
At Kang Seol's actions, KuJo laughed maniacally.
Like a prophet, he cursed Kang Seol's future.
"Yeah, you'll covet the ruin's treasure. I did too. But cough… the ruin's already marked by Borgo."
"So?"
With the map acquired, another choice appeared to Kang Seol.
[Map reveals ruin location: near the Great Forest. What will you do?]
1. Return the map to KuJo and find a way to save him.
2. Stay here and wait for Borgo.
3. Return the map and flee to Nobira.
4. Head to the Great Forest.
...
Kang Seol's choice was obvious.
KuJo left final words before dying.
"…You'll end up submitting to desire like me."
He replied to the already deceased KuJo.
"No, I dominate desire."