Chapter 180 - Chapter 183

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 183

Chapter Title: Evolution

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The hunt for the Dracalon hatchlings was just getting started.

It was common for them to get eaten while taking a solitary crap, and the little bastards were clever enough to lure people into dangerous spots.

Spots even they themselves hesitated to approach.

"That's some weird-looking grass, huh?"

The people following behind had no clue and just kept trailing their footprints.

"Gahk."

"W-what the hell?!"

"Everyone, fall back! The grass is poisonous!"

And just like that, they fell victim to the toxic plants.

"Water?"

"There's a river. Might even have fish living in it..."

Splash!

"Gaaah! S-save...!"

Sploosh! Sploosh!

They got hunted by the monsters lurking in the water.

For reference, the water's edge of the [Primordial Forest] was even more savage and dangerous than the forest itself in some ways. Even the monsters stayed constantly on guard when drinking there.

But the biggest casualties came from something else entirely...

"Huh?"

"Why... why are we here...?"

People who lost all sense of direction, blindly following the footprints straight to the area near the Dracalon carcasses.

Waiting for them there were massive predators determined to punch through the Dracalon scales for a meal, flanked by smaller scavengers just watching for an opening.

Of course, "smaller" still meant over ten meters long.

"Uwaaak! H-how did we end up at a Dracalon corpse?!"

"S-save me! Take me with you!"

"Kweeeek!"

A few hunger-crazed scavengers caught their scent in the blood and gave chase.

"Use the mushrooms! Don't hold back, use 'em all!"

"D-damn it!"

They tried to escape using the mushrooms somehow, but the losses were devastating.

And so, they were getting devoured by forest monsters... or by the Dracalon hatchlings.

Crunch crunch.

And among them, the smartest one was steadily bulking up.

It paused, then bared its teeth at its siblings when the moment of evolution was right upon it.

Kyaaah!

"Hm?"

I blinked in confusion at the sudden notification in front of me.

'Ah, so another party managed to take down a couple? Faster than I expected. I figured it'd take two or three days.'

They must have some serious teamwork. And a hell of a drive to kill 'em.

I turned on my heel.

"Huh? Where you off to, Dickhead?"

"Heading back."

"Why?"

There were a few reasons, but after some thought—and a glance at my watch—I said,

"Two hours left. We gotta hustle from here on out."

"Oh, right."

Right then—Kuwaaak! A monster burst out from the side. This eleven-meter beast had been biding its time for us to let our guard down, lunging with its jaws wide open.

'Not a mountain drake.'

I clenched my fist tight. I was about to smash it in one hit when I spotted Lee Eun-jung rushing toward me and hesitated.

"Watch out!"

'Oh yeah, I'm still playing the weakling right now.'

Seems I wasn't the only one who forgot—my party was leaving the monster to me while scanning for other threats.

No one else was stepping up, so I was debating what to do when I pulled an item from my inventory.

Thud!

The monster's jaws snapped at me but couldn't connect. And why would they? A Dracalon scale was blocking its path.

'It blocks even the Destruction Dragon's breath. A puny monster's attack is nothing.'

Sure enough, the massive scale deftly blocked the monster's powerful chomp.

I used the scale to fend off its bite, then stowed it back in my inventory.

Pop.

Kyaring?!

It looked puzzled when I vanished behind the scale and reappeared, but it lunged again.

Kraaak!

I pulled the scale out again to block.

Thud!

Human-sized in length.

Seventy centimeters thick.

The hefty Dracalon scale sank deep into the ground the moment I summoned it, unmoved even by the monster's assault.

Clang!

It just took the hit and wobbled a bit.

'Now.'

Once the Dracalon scale successfully blocked, I'd open my inventory as it toppled toward me and smoothly pocket it.

The impact vanished into thin air, leaving me unscathed behind it.

Kyaring?!

'Pretty damn good. Guess that's why the Shield Lord pulled this trick.'

Shield Lord Andreas.

He'd tote around countless pieces of gear in his [Subspace Ability], then when attacked, he'd repeatedly deploy and retrieve [Giant Clan Shields] just like this.

His precise control meshed perfectly with his power, earning him the moniker "Humanity's Strongest Shield."

'No need to carry it around, so mobility's free. No damage means no strain on the body.'

Now that I had a solid shield, I figured I'd mimic the guy's technique for fun—and damn, it worked great. I was about to practice a few more reps when Lee Eun-jung approached.

Pat pat pat.

She'd rushed over thinking I was in danger, and seeing me block it fine, she grabbed a hefty rock and hurled it with all her might.

Craaack!

The sound alone was chilling. It smashed the monster's skull in one shot.

Thud boom!

「?!」

Maybe because the rock was so big? The power was inflated massively—the monster didn't even scream, just collapsed with a rumble rumble rumble.

Its head was pulverized; one hit, instant death.

"...Insane. She's stupid strong."

"Yeah."

One-shotting an eleven-meter monster.

With just a damn rock.

"Tch, now I get why Dickhead's acting like that."

Shin Seo-yeon grumbled, clearly displeased, but the pragmatic one in her was already warming to Lee Eun-jung.

Nothing safer than a powerhouse ally.

"Comrade Min-jun, you okay?"

She came scampering over, genuinely worried, so I responded in kind.

"Yeah, thanks to you. Appreciate it."

"Don't stray from my side next time."

With that, Lee Eun-jung gripped my hand tight and pulled me beside her. Even after my solid defense, she still looked anxious.

"..."

My party shot sullen looks, clearly unhappy.

A few rose onto tiptoes then back down, faces pleading for something—basically, they wanted to stick to my side like her.

But jumping in now felt off-timing, so they held back... until the Saintess came dashing over and plastered herself to my other side.

"Hehe."

"Ah..."

"Damn it, should've jumped in."

The disappointed girls.

Overthinking can make you miss your shot sometimes.

Anyway, we were heading back to the survival point when a notification halted us all in our tracks.

"Huh?"

"Eh?"

...A monster evolved?

We rushed back to the survival point to confirm.

No one was there. As ominous thoughts bubbled up, footsteps approached—thankfully.

Trudge trudge.

Returning survivors. Numbers were way down. Cheongbang had lost two, but the Jeju Alliance was missing nearly twenty.

Out of thirty-two, only eleven made it back.

"What about the rest?"

Kim Jin-woo averted his eyes at my question. The bad feeling was turning real. On a hunch, I asked,

"The two hatchlings you guys got... that was you?"

Kim Jin-woo looked slightly flustered.

"Not us... Wasn't it your party?"

Cheongbang shook their heads too.

"We didn't get a single one."

The problem was, our party hadn't either. Only then did I piece it together.

'It ate its own kin.'

Monsters eating their own kind isn't rare. When starving, they'll devour animals, monsters, kin—anything.

The issue was one smart and ruthless enough to evolve by cannibalizing its siblings.

The two leaders racked their brains after hearing my explanation. Kim Jin-woo tossed me a dumb question.

"S-so... how much stronger is it now?"

"A lot. They don't call it 'evolution' for half-assed gains. But weird. Even eating all its kin shouldn't be enough."

"..."

Kim Jin-woo looked away at my mutter. Guilty conscience. Not like I expected much from these clowns anyway.

...Truth be told, I half-expected this. Ten years of experience don't go to waste.

'Still, evolving on day one? That's nuts.'

Way worse than I'd figured.

'Yeah, this bullshit frustration is what the early Selection Process is all about.'

Forgot 'cause it was so long ago, but slamming into it head-on brought the old memories flooding back unbidden.

I shook my head and headed to our campsite.

"Everyone, rest up. You're beat. Starting tomorrow, we'll hunt together."

Night fell, and we moved out immediately. Both guild leaders cooperated fully, sensing the gravity.

'Not the worst for me, honestly.'

Sooner or later, once we adapted to the forest, I'd hunt them down and force evolutions anyway.

'Evolved mountain giant dragons give bigger rewards.'

So, not bad.

Of course, not cause for celebration. Wasn't my plan.

Survivors dropped from sixty-eight to forty-five, and while we're dragging the rest along somehow...

"Ugh, so freaking hot."

"Seriously sick of this."

Quality was trash.

Weak-willed, slow on the uptake.

Even after yesterday's slaughter, they were still clueless, slouching along without patrolling or anything, looking like everything was a hassle.

'Kim Jin-woo's a problem, but the people's overall level is the real issue.'

Hell, some weren't even following. Two Koreans stayed behind, whining about being tired and done their part.

"Dickhead, we really not dragging those assholes along?"

"Let 'em fend for themselves. The Selection Process means owning your choices."

"Still! They're breeding resentment and tanking morale!"

Shin Seo-yeon was right—grumbles were popping up. Some lounging while others sweat buckets felt unfair.

'Pathetic.'

Why envy people choosing to fall behind?

Made me recall how these Jeju folks even survived this far.

'Jeju had a ton of survivors.'

Makes sense—they clustered in huge groups.

Hundreds, sometimes thousands.

Stick together, cooperate, and Trials? Pfft, no issue.

'So the real drama was infighting—like getting raped and killed by the Chinese.'

That blew up into anti-Chinese sentiment, the vibe on Jeju for months.

'Bottom line: Jeju has numbers but low quality.'

Not just mentally.

Physically too.

Think about it.

While Jeju merged with nearby southern cities, Seoul absorbed the capital region plus Jeolla and Gyeongsang below.

Yet survivor count isn't way higher than Jeju's.

Where'd all those stat shards go?

'Wherever competition heated up early, quality's high. Lots of S-Ranks.'

Top S-Rank producer? America.

Next? Korea.

No coincidence. Hidden inevitability we don't see.

'Early [stat shards] make or break S-Ranks.'

Stronger means easier merits.

Merits sum across Trials, convert to ranking points, fuel growth.

Our party's top 1-5, snagging bonus stats as rewards.

Snowball from the start? Gap widens forever.

No wonder three S-Ranks from Seoul.

"Oppa Min-jun."

Joo Ah-hyun, leading the pursuit, called me.

"Think you should see this."

The guild leaders and I hurried over. She pointed to massive footprints etched in the dirt.

"...These its new prints?"

Nod.

Footprint size more than doubled. Stride absurdly wide too.

"Headache."

"Korean, what does that mean?"

"We ain't catching it."

My party and the leaders stared, demanding explanation.

"Stride's beyond human legs now."

Matching Scarrba's now.

'Secured mobility for survival.'

No one on two feet catches a mountain giant dragon now.

Isera could with [Stealth], but she lacks pursuit skills or experience.

I could keep up with high agility, but this forest is their turf.

'Even wild dogs rule their turf.'

Monsters too. Chase it, hit every hazard, and even I'd struggle.

"Unless it attacks us, we're out of luck."

"No way..."

"How about the other one first?"

I shook my head at Kim Jin-woo's suggestion.

One evolved, so the other might be catchable.

But the unevolved one? Not worth it.

'No prey in this forest worth hunting for it.'

No more slip-ups like yesterday, no evolution. Even scavengers outsize and outpower it.

"Still, better than giving up—try at least."

Hao Zifeng said.

"Yeah. Depends how well the tail-enders keep up."

"They will. No one wants to die here."

Hao glanced back; Cheongbang nodded in unison.

Kim turned to his; reluctant sighs, but nods.

"Pick up the pace?"

We all nodded at Joo Ah-hyun.

Pat pat pat.

From then, we tore through the forest. Gave her the [Magic Engineering Goggles]; she guided us swift and safe.

Still hit monsters.

Bang!

Lee Eun-jung flung rocks, Cheongbang and Kim stepped up—cleared in seconds. Unlike the scrubs, these were real fighters.

'Even so, can't catch up.'

Going full speed, but no sign of its tail.

'Evolution boosted stride and speed several times over. Stamina too.'

Doubt we'd catch it chasing like this.

'Gods' massive barrier wraps the forest—no escaping.'

But if not, we can't stop more evolutions. It'll grow into yesterday's behemoths.

Strong enough to shatter the barrier.

Trial fails. Failure means death.

So what now?

"Hold up."

"?"

Hao stopped Joo Ah-hyun.

"Girl, wrong way."

"No way. Following prints fine."

Hao frowned, pointing ahead.

"Ain't this the survival point?"

"Huh?"

"You sure you got pursuit skills?"

Suspicious glare. Joo flustered too, stammering,

"B-but... prints clearly lead here..."

"Calm down. We tracked 'em right."

I stepped in as she panicked.

"Covering for your crew?"

"Nah. Follow and see."

I strode into the survival point. People in the rock shade sighed in relief.

"Whew, shade feels alive."

"Temp difference this wild?"

"I'm staying. Did my part going out once!"

"Yeah, my share's done!"

Jeju Alliance plopped down, chattering— that's when it hit.

"You worthless shits!"

Hao spat curses in Chinese. People froze, eyeing him as he called a subordinate.

"Chen."

"Yes, boss."

"Take the boys, search everywhere."

"For what?"

"Find where the loafers who stayed went!"

"!!"

Chinese fanned out, scouring. Others finally clocked it.

"W-wait, where're the ones who stayed?"

"No way..."

Returning Chinese shook heads. Only Chen came back with bloodied clothes.

"Damn it!"

Even survival points aren't safe now.

Hao flung the bloody rags in rage.

"This bullshit! How the hell do we catch that thing?!"

Chase? Too fast. Go faster? Too smart, it'll trap us.

Defend? Now big enough to hunt lesser monsters.

Grow bigger. Deadlier.

"Dickhead, now what?"

"We're screwed like this."

As despair gripped everyone, including Hao, I calmly checked my watch.

'Let's see. About time for it.'

First evolution's unstoppable. Gods who sent us know. Countermeasure's set.

Sure enough—a notification.

"W-what?"

"Primitive Village...?"

"Ugh! B-blue line under our feet!"

A blue line started at our toes, stretching into the forest. Blinking slowly, like "follow me."

Follow it, and we'll hit the quest's Primitive Village Bersh.

'Now the real game's on.'

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