WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: DereKimchi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Protagonist Doesn't Want to Leave the First Floor ◈

Chapter 24

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- Fucking Tiger, lmao.

ㄴ How many got wiped out?

ㄴ Definitely more than ten.

ㄴ What about their Personal Effects?

ㄴ Looks like survivors from those parties and clans picked them up.

- Is that Tiger an unkillable mob?

ㄴ It's a boss mob.

ㄴ Feral Dogs have been killed, though.

ㄴ Are dogs and Tigers the same thing?

- How the hell has Juggernaut survived here?

ㄴ That Tiger is ridiculously good at stealth.

ㄴ Yeah. We were watching our surroundings like crazy, but we had no idea where it came from.

People had died. Quite a few of them.

Fortunately, the groups they belonged to had collected their Personal Effects, so they could recover what they had lost if they got them back.

Still, many people had only now realized that mob-luring hunts, which had become popular and been called an easy-money opportunity, actually carried considerable risk.

- That definitely wasn't the Tiger's territory.

ㄴ Was it not?

ㄴ Yeah. We used to lure a few Wolves over at a time around the edge of the forest. The Tiger's territory is pretty far from the water.

ㄴ Tigers roam around everywhere.

ㄴ I'm saying that with that in mind.

Some people also guessed that mob-luring hunts might have been a limited event only possible during the Rainy Season's downpours.

They too assumed the boss mob had moved there because of the smell of blood, and knew it would take a certain amount of rain to conceal it.

- So it's only an easy-money spot during the Rainy Season.

ㄴ Even then, the rain has to be heavy.

ㄴ Not so easy, then.

- Did anyone get crocodile hides? Can't you make equipment from those? Juggernaut was wearing something like that.

ㄴ Looks like people are trying. But it's not easy to work with.

ㄴ Juggernaut doesn't look easy to deal with either.

ㄴ Scary as hell lol.

The video of Juggernaut was still online.

There were even more detailed analyses, edited versions, and screenshots pulled from it, showing Juggernaut's appearance and outfit.

His Avatar looked as though it had been designed with a barbarian warrior in mind. Yet people thought it also seemed surprisingly focused on speed.

And with a teleportation-type Skill on top of that, people called him an odd mismatch for someone of his size and appearance.

[Juggernaut, please sell us your clothes.]

Please sell us crocodile clothes.

- Crocodile hides are listed on the marketplace. Buy some and make them.

ㄴ I don't have a processing Skill.

ㄴ Put in a crafting request.

ㄴ Will they make the tail too?

ㄴ Then the material cost will go up.

By now, it had become the prevailing opinion that the Rainy Season was ending. Plenty of people wanted crocodile-hide clothing, which was heavy and uncomfortable aside from keeping out the rain.

Some seemed to want costume clothes like children's dinosaur suits, but others wanted them because the defense was at least decent.

- What the fuck, crocodile hides are expensive as hell.

ㄴ They don't drop often.

ㄴ Apparently mob-luring hunts don't work well anymore either.

ㄴ Why?

ㄴ The smell of blood spreads and draws aggro.

- But does smell really draw aggro?

ㄴ Everyone says it does.

ㄴ Especially smelly people draw aggro more easily.

ㄴ Is that for real?

“Hmm.”

It was a hypothesis Seo Hajin somewhat agreed with.

As he had continued dealing with Aggressive Mobs, he had also tested various things to see what drew their aggro.

‘Smell was one of them.’

There was definitely a difference in the monsters' detection range between days when he washed thoroughly and days when he did not.

There might be something besides smell, but smell was certainly one factor.

‘But once I wash and start hunting, I can't help sweating anyway.’

That was one reason, but he had also partly given up because monsters coming after him was unavoidable.

He washed about twice a day, once when he left the waterfall in the morning and once after he returned in the evening.

‘At least I wash every day.’

These days, he could even use soap.

Someone had been making and listing it on the marketplace. The quality was worse than the soap supplied in bulk to public bathhouses, but it was still usable.

‘It's too bad it wears down quickly, but it's cheap enough.’

Even as he browsed the community with those thoughts, the two Avatars on the ground were diligently killing Wolves.

Seo Hajin's aerial viewpoint, which could be considered his main body, regularly checked the surroundings while also checking the community and planning ahead whenever he had the chance.

Focusing less on the Avatars meant leaving more openings, but now, even if Wolves clawed or bit them, they did not suffer much damage.

‘It's not like I stop looking over there just because I'm doing something else.’

Their field of vision was still fully active.

It was a rather strange feeling, but he had adapted long ago. He no longer experienced anything like motion sickness.

‘Anyway, should I do it all at once after today?’

Vulcan had already reached Level 10, but he was continuing to hunt without unlocking it yet.

There was no urgent need to raise the level right away, and he also wanted to build up some experience before doing it all at once.

Black was nearing Level 10 as well. If he transferred some of what Vulcan had accumulated over to Black, it could reach it more easily.

‘If I use a Key this time, I probably won't need one again for a while.’

He did not think this would be the end of it.

There would surely be another blockage around Level 20. If he had been the one designing the system, he would have made it that way too.

‘They wouldn't create the concepts of locks and Keys only to make them one-use mechanics.’

The battle continued.

Who would have thought fighting Wolves to the death could start feeling so monotonous?

‘It might be time to change weapons.’

Juggernaut's club had become so familiar in his hands that it now felt light.

Vulcan was good with throwing axes, but because there was no need to pull in distant enemies now, he was using a large two-handed stone axe.

‘Let's move up to iron weapons.’

Iron equipment was much cheaper now than when it had first appeared on the marketplace, so he could buy it without much burden.

Repair iron ingots were also affordable. It did not seem like a bad idea to get a metalworking-type Skill and learn it as well.

‘Not yet.’

This was a time to focus on and develop what he already had, rather than add more work. The most important thing was still hunting the Tiger.

‘It won't be long now.’

At this pace, ten days at most.

After that, he intended to make a proper move.

* * *

The long Rainy Season finally ended.

The ground, which had become soaked and pitted, quickly dried. Various weeds began pushing up again from the packed mud.

Those who had gone up the rocky mountain came down one by one, while Rabbit Field was busy rebuilding the camp that had been devastated.

But it could not return to how it had been before. There had been frequent and harsh disputes during the last Rainy Season.

People did not gather in one place.

Clans formed shelters of their own, as did parties. Even those alone began finding suitable spots and building shelters for themselves.

They needed preparations that would hold up even when the Rainy Season returned. They also needed enough protection against Feral Dog packs, whose numbers had grown to rival the Wolves of the Northern Forest.

Fortunately, Feral Dogs did not target humans badly enough to break through sturdy wooden palisades and fences. As long as the barriers were properly built, safety could be secured.

Of course, if they were too low, the dogs could jump over them. If they were poorly built, they would break easily.

- Loggers are still trending upward.

ㄴ For real. They just keep needing wood.

The users were right.

Demand for lumber had surged after the Rainy Season, and it did not decrease even after the rain stopped.

Loggers had become more valuable. People who had only hunted before were buying axes or saws and heading into the forest.

Not the Northern Forest.

They headed to the eastern area of the rocky mountain, the forest where Bears appeared.

That was where the loggers worked. Rumors also said that no matter how many trees they cut down, they respawned within a few days.

And now.

While axes and saws sounded throughout the area, a man moved quietly through the forest.

“...”

He wore light clothing, mostly green so that he could blend into his surroundings.

A small bow hung from his back, and a quiver rested at his waist like a sword sheath.

His sharp eyes repeatedly swept his surroundings. He was simply vigilant, not looking for anything.

He continued moving in one direction.

If he had had a compass, it would have told him he was heading northwest.

‘Can I do this?’

The thought came to him suddenly.

Based on the information he had gathered about his target, he estimated his chances of success. The outcome seemed negative, but he could not refuse this job.

‘They said they'd let me join the clan if I succeed.’

It was becoming difficult to survive alone.

There were still solo players, but they were only barely managing to hide away in remote places.

That was not survival. It was merely prolonging life.

He did not want to cling on so pathetically.

So he had decided to join a clan, a fairly large and powerful group. But they had given him one condition.

‘Kill Juggernaut.’

He had not asked why.

It could have been meant to prove his skill. They might have bad blood with Juggernaut, or it might simply have been personal dislike.

‘Jealousy?’

Another possibility suddenly occurred to him.

One of the clan's officers had seemed to harbor an excessive amount of hostility toward Juggernaut.

‘They said some villains died after going hunting before.’

As far as he knew, that officer had not been one of the villains who died then. But he could not be sure.

‘I'm almost at the entrance to the Northern Forest.’

He had traveled silently, and before he knew it, he had arrived.

Wolves that he had not seen before appeared here and there in the forest.

Yet even when he approached within a certain distance, none turned their heads toward him or growled. It remained the same even when he passed within ten meters of them.

[Unique Ability: Silent and Odorless]

He still did not know why he had acquired such an ability. Was it because he usually kept quiet and washed thoroughly?

‘Most modern people should be similar.’

Whatever the reason, he had a Unique Ability.

And perhaps thanks to it, he did not draw aggro from Aggressive Mobs in this world.

Of course, it was different if they spotted him directly. But as long as he stayed out of their sight, there was no problem.

‘Just as I thought.’

He had never been to the Northern Forest, but this place was not much different from anywhere else.

The sheer number of Wolves was suffocating, but none of them looked back at him.

‘According to the message board, the Area Boss, the Tiger, is west of the field, across the waterway.’

This place was far from there.

He had deliberately come around through the central rocky mountain area because of that.

If he had just gone north, he would have arrived much sooner. But things were noisy over there in more ways than one.

‘Hmm.’

He stopped for a moment.

The gaps between the Wolves were awkward. If he tried to force his way through, he would be discovered immediately.

But there was a method.

A very old-fashioned one.

Whoosh.

He took a stone from his inventory and threw it in a completely different direction.

A small sound followed.

The Wolves perked up their ears and shifted slightly toward it. A gap large enough for him to pass through opened up.

He continued moving in the same way.

The sun set during the journey, but the trees here were easy enough to climb.

‘Sniping from above should be reliable, right?’

He had combined information from the message board with reports from people who claimed to have witnessed Juggernaut hunting from afar.

Juggernaut did not look up.

The similar warrior-type user who seemed to travel with him did not either.

The likely reason was that there were no monsters in this forest that would attack from above. Besides, mobs came at them endlessly from every direction, so they probably had no room to pay attention elsewhere.

‘Has that become a habit?’

Maybe not.

The surest way was to go there and see.

‘I should arrive by tomorrow.’

Even after reaching the area, he had no intention of targeting Juggernaut immediately. He would first learn Juggernaut's behavior patterns, then find an opportunity while he hunted.

He had prepared something as well.

Paralysis Poison from venomous insects found in the forest.

He had concentrated it, so even a high-level user would not last long against it.

If he could just make Juggernaut unable to move, the rest would be easy.

The Wolves would take care of him, or he could finish him himself.

‘Doing it myself would be more certain.’

The videos only showed Juggernaut gathering mobs and tossing them to Crocodiles, but witnesses said he was remarkable at direct hunting as well.

The problem was that those witnesses had been people who once went to kill him and got wiped out instead.

They had to exaggerate their opponent to somewhat justify being wiped out, so there was probably some embellishment.

Even so, the fact that Juggernaut had been surviving in this harsh Northern Forest alone, or with just one other person, meant he could not be ordinary.

‘It won't be easy. But that makes it worthwhile.’

Even if it had not been a mission to join the clan, hunting Juggernaut interested him in its own way.

A spirit of challenge? A sense of purpose? What should he call it?

“...”

Why did he suddenly think of his ex-girlfriend, who had left him for a huge gym bro?

‘They're not alike at all.’

Maybe he had simply developed an aversion to big, macho-looking men.

Shaking his head, he took out a wolf-hide blanket and covered himself with it.

The forest night was cold.

At least he had fur products like this. Come to think of it, was this hide sold by Juggernaut too? A strange feeling came over him.

It was not guilt.

Things like conscience were not very suitable for surviving in this world.

This was a lawless land.

From afar, it might look like a clean natural environment with beautiful scenery. But creatures capable of tearing humans apart and devouring them roamed within it at any time.

Humans were the same.

For now, they gathered with their own kind in pursuit of survival. But if the opportunity arose, they would stab in the back the person they had stood back-to-back with.

And yet, even knowing that danger, they still had no choice but to gather together.

As dawn slowly broke, the man opened his inventory with a bitter expression.

Warm Mountain Goat Milk.

He used it in place of breakfast, loosened his stiff body from the night, and climbed down from the tree.

Then he continued moving.

He passed quietly between Wolf packs until he stopped because he noticed new traces.

Human footprints.

There was no need to doubt they belonged to a human. Shoe soles had left impressions in the ground.

‘I've arrived.’

After checking the map, he moved carefully and searched for a suitable spot.

He found a large tree in a very good position, one where he could target several directions from a single place.

After that, all he could do was wait.

He settled high in the tree and continued his stakeout, which might take several days.

Would it be worth it?

What could he gain by killing Juggernaut? The items Juggernaut carried?

‘That doesn't matter.’

Reputation.

The title of having killed one of the most famous people in the community.

Of course, killing someone once did not make them disappear forever. But in this world, losing everything they had accumulated was a severe blow.

For solo players in particular, recovering what they lost in death would be difficult.

‘It would be even better if I could find his shelter, but even if I do, I won't be able to take everything.’

Inventory space had limits.

That was true even assuming he overloaded himself to some extent.

In the end, taking one sack of Juggernaut's Personal Effects would be the best he could do. Most of Juggernaut's belongings would likely be in there.

‘Come on, Juggernaut.’

High in the tree, hidden among its dense leaves, he held even his breathing and blended into the scenery.

Silent and Odorless was his Unique Ability.

He was confident in this job.

* * *

‘There's someone there?’

Looking down from the sky, Seo Hajin found someone hiding in a tree along one of his usual routes.

‘Enhancing my Unique Ability really was the answer. I can see all the way from here to there.’

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