WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: DereKimchi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

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

Chapter 26

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“...”

Creak.

The finger resting on the crossbow trigger paused.

He was sure he could hit the target even if he fired now, but the person below was different from what he had expected.

‘They said he was a companion, didn’t they?’

He did not know the name.

The figure wore similar clothes, was a little shorter, and had a different hairstyle, but otherwise looked much like a warrior-type player.

He had heard Wolves howling in the distance, and now the man was moving through the forest with a pack trailing behind him.

He was obviously not taming them.

The Wolves were simply chasing him in a swarm after being drawn by his aggro.

Only then did the man properly realize what happened in this forest without an ability like his own.

‘What is he looking for?’

The man was not hunting.

He only looked around as if searching for something, striking the Wolves one at a time to keep them at bay whenever they lunged at him.

What was surprising was how he casually dodged or blocked Wolves attacking from behind.

Did he have eyes on the back of his head?

Or did he have a Skill for that?

‘It could just be accumulated combat experience.’

The man gave a slight nod.

He took a closer look at the man below and the surrounding area. If he was Juggernaut’s companion, there was a good chance Juggernaut was nearby.

But Juggernaut was nowhere to be seen.

Did they usually travel separately?

‘Doesn’t matter.’

Come to think of it, there was no rule saying he had to hunt only Juggernaut. If he temporarily removed that man from the equation, dealing with Juggernaut would be much easier.

‘If you die, you can choose to respawn in the same field or in a random Area.’

But even if he restarted in the same field, he would not return directly to where he died. It would not be easy to make it back here, and Wolves would gather from every direction, just as they were below.

Swish.

Rather than using the bow on his back, he prepared the crossbow from his inventory because he suspected their defenses might be high.

A regular bow might not pierce the crocodile outfit in question, but according to what he had tested beforehand, a crossbow could penetrate crocodile hide.

Of course, not just any bolt would work. It needed a tip designed for better penetration.

The bolt he had loaded now had exactly that kind of tip.

And it was coated thickly enough to be sticky with poison.

Thwung!

The firing sound was louder than expected.

But before the target could react, the bolt had already pierced his clothes and embedded itself inside.

“Argh!”

It was closer to a shout than a scream.

The man roughly pulled the bolt from near his side. He looked around with an enraged expression, then suddenly stiffened, shaking his head as his body jerked.

‘Paralysis and dizziness must be hitting at once.’

People often used expressions like, “Enough to put an elephant to sleep,” but he had never compared them, so he would not know.

Still, he was certain it was potent enough to kill an ordinary person. If the man died as he was, that would be fine. If not, subduing him and finding out where Juggernaut was would work too.

‘But... he’s holding out for a long time.’

The man staggered.

Even so, he continued fending off and killing the Wolves that rushed him.

Moving around that violently should have spread the poison faster. He seemed to be getting slower, but he still did not stop.

‘What level is he?’

Everyone accepted that the body grew stronger as one’s level rose. Even taking that into account, though, this was strange.

‘Should I fire another...’

As he reached for a bolt from his inventory instead of the quiver at his waist, he suddenly stopped.

“...”

Slowly turning his head, he saw a woman crouched on a branch slightly above him.

Long black hair.

A short dagger in her hand.

Holding a dagger so thin and sharp it was nearly a skewer, the woman looked down at him with slightly languid eyes.

‘Who is that?’

He had heard nothing.

There had been no information like this anywhere on the message board. The reports were the same.

Juggernaut had a female companion?

Her expression was strange, too.

Her gaze casually swept over him from head to toe. It seemed indifferent, yet it sent a chill down his spine.

‘Should I shoot?’

The thought suddenly occurred to him.

Instead of the man below, whom he had aimed at and stopped targeting, should he deal with the woman behind him first?

He could not explain why. She simply felt wrong.

The fact that she still had not spoken to him was part of it.

Thunk.

But in the next moment, he learned through the arrow embedded in the back of his neck that Juggernaut had more companions than expected.

‘What the...’

The thought came before the pain.

When he quickly turned, he saw the woman smirking on one side. On the opposite side, atop a tree some distance away, a boy was readjusting his grip on a bow.

‘Ah.’

He recognized him.

He had seen him in a video before.

That strange boy who had run around picking up items while Juggernaut hunted by herding mobs.

The very person everyone had wondered about because monsters never seemed to target him had shot him with an arrow.

The arrow had struck the back of his neck, but it was not enough to kill him instantly. Still, it was certainly a fatal wound.

But he could not take any immediate action because that arrow, too, had been coated in poison.

Perhaps the Paralysis Poison was even stronger than the kind he used. In just a few seconds, the man froze in place.

* * *

“Thinking about it again, it was still too much trouble.”

The original plan had been to let Vulcan take the hit, then use that justification for various things. It sounded plausible enough, but the process was too bothersome.

So Seo Hajin solved it simply.

Black would draw his attention, and Companion No. 1 would snipe him from the other side. It would be nice if he died instantly, but otherwise the poison would paralyze him.

Once he was paralyzed, Black could finish him off from nearby. If he fell from the tree, Companion No. 1 could take further action.

And no further action was necessary.

The man did not fall from the tree, and Black finished him off easily.

The corpse went into Subspace.

It was one more added to the corpses he had secured before.

‘Would it be better to bury them or burn them?’

He had wondered whether he might need to use them as bait, but Wolf Meat would be better than human corpses for baiting the Tiger.

Even if he did not bury or burn them, he could just take them out somewhere and let the Wolves clean them up.

‘They’ll disappear in time anyway.’

One more corpse would not make him run out of room in Subspace, but similar things could happen again in the future. He was simply thinking ahead.

‘More importantly...’

Seo Hajin examined the man’s Personal Effects.

His name was Luke.

It sounded like an ordinary NPC from some fantasy game, but he was certainly Korean.

‘His clothes emphasize camouflage, but the quality itself isn’t very good... and they don’t seem to have an effect that hides his scent.’

So it was probably a Skill or Unique Ability.

That was where his thoughts went.

‘It would be useful for stealth.’

A person’s body odor was fairly strong.

Mobs were especially good at smelling it.

‘Whether it’s a Skill or Unique Ability, he won’t lose it even if he dies. Maybe he’ll come back.’

There was nothing particularly impressive in Luke’s Personal Effects bag.

The bow he had used, a somewhat crude but usable crossbow, and bundles of arrows and bolts for each weapon.

‘So this is poison.’

There were also small wooden containers holding several kinds of poison. None said what poison they contained, but it would not be difficult to find out.

‘I can just test them myself.’

There were no Skill Coins.

It was disappointing, but understandable.

It had been a dangerous expedition, so he had likely stored anything valuable somewhere safe beforehand.

‘Five inventory slots are the reward, I guess.’

The effect of the Personal Effects themselves.

Seo Hajin used them on Vulcan, who had five fewer slots than Juggernaut. Both Avatars now had fifty slots.

‘That makes exactly a hundred combined.’

That was all he thought about it.

He felt nothing in particular about causing someone’s death. He had clearly confirmed that the man had aimed a poisoned bolt at Vulcan.

‘And I’m a little grateful, too.’

Thanks to him, Seo Hajin had acquired a new poison he could not get in this forest. It was probably available in another field.

‘Could I use it on the Tiger? I hope it works.’

When he returned to their shelter today, he intended to test exactly what effects those poisons had and how powerful they were.

If they were strong enough to use on the Tiger, there was no reason not to use them.

“We’ve rested too long. Let’s get moving.”

Companion No. 1 had already returned to Subspace.

Unlike Companion No. 1, Black preferred wandering outside rather than staying in Subspace after evolving.

Black wandered around, caught rabbits, and picked up strange-looking insects to put in the inventory.

Even after evolving, Black’s inventory only had five slots. Seo Hajin had wondered why one of them held an insect, only to find that it was a fairly powerful venomous insect.

Perhaps Black understood what its owner was trying to do and was clearly trying to help in that way.

Of course, the rabbits were not poisonous. Black had clearly just hunted them after spotting them while passing by.

‘So there are rabbits in this forest, too.’

A forest where Wolves roamed in packs.

In a normal world, rabbits would never be able to maintain their population here.

They could not have crossed over from the field to the southwest. Seo Hajin assumed that a very small number simply respawned on their own.

‘I’ve caught glimpses of them before, but I never managed to catch one.’

There was no time to hunt rabbits when Wolves were rushing at him. And this deep forest was too good a place for small animals to hide.

Rabbit Field, with few trees and mostly plains and grasslands, was much more favorable for rabbit hunting.

‘More importantly, what happens now?’

The man had come alone.

But there had to be someone behind him.

‘It’s only a suspicion, though.’

Even if he had really acted alone, it would not be bad if he returned and spread the word.

That Juggernaut was not alone.

That there were at least four of them.

‘The rumor that I’m farming easy rewards only exists because people assume I’m alone.’

That rumor had started to waver after the video of the herding hunt by the river spread.

The footage was so striking that most people focused on that, but as time passed, some began looking at it differently.

- There were other people?

ㄴ fr, I thought he was taking everything for himself

ㄴ I saw them in the earlier video too

- There are at least two

ㄴ Three if you count the guy picking up items

- The herding efficiency is impressive, but isn’t it questionable compared to the risk if they split it three ways?

ㄴ Questionable my ass. Even split five ways, it’d still be incredible. Do you know how much Wolf hide costs?

ㄴ And they get crocodile hide too. That stuff is crazy expensive

Even then, a minority had thought the risk-to-reward ratio was questionable. What would they think if one more person was added to the group?

On top of that, outsiders had begun crossing toward the riverbank. The Rainy Season had ended, making it harder to hide the smell of blood, and the efficiency of the herding hunt had dropped sharply as well.

‘It’d be nice if people started saying it’s no longer easy farming... though another rumor might spread instead.’

At first, it was dangerous. But now, it was a field where people could survive well enough if several worked together.

Perhaps people would start viewing it that way.

‘But that wouldn’t be bad either.’

Seo Hajin had no intention of claiming the current field for himself.

There were plenty of mobs, and the place where he hunted occupied only a tiny portion of the entire Northern Forest.

Besides, if more users were active in the Area, would that not help when hunting the Tiger?

‘Maybe solo hunting will be difficult.’

It would be disappointing if he could no longer have everything to himself, but he was not the type to cling to something impossible.

‘What will happen?’

What kind of story would the dead man spread?

Or would he keep it to himself and bury it?

Seo Hajin checked the message board frequently, but there were no particular changes there.

There was only a system notification saying that a boss had been defeated for the first time in another field where no boss had ever been killed before.

[The Giant Catfish sleeping at the bottom of Giant Lake in Area 5 has been defeated.]

[Area Level increases by 1.]

[What is this?]

What’s with the catfish?

- Giant Lake is the fishing field, right?

- There’s a boss there too?

ㄴ Guess every field has one

- But why a catfish? There should be sharks there too

- I naturally thought it’d be a shark, but a catfish? lol

Most people were interested in the fact that the boss was a catfish.

Other than that, it was just idle chatter.

How it had been hunted, how they had collected the loot afterward, and so on.

But the testimony of those who had helped hunt the boss monster at the scene left everyone on the message board disappointed.

- Other than loot that automatically enters your inventory, it just drops like regular mob loot

ㄴ Wouldn’t dropped loot fall into the water?

ㄴ Yeah, it sinks into the lake

ㄴ Ah

If they could not enter the lake to collect it, all they could do was watch it sink from afar.

- If you dive into the lake, can you collect the items that sank to the bottom?

ㄴ Don’t they disappear after some time?

ㄴ I heard boss monster items stay behind

ㄴ Someone probably just made that up

ㄴ Hmm

- But it was a solo clear anyway

ㄴ Solo?

Then came the rest of the story.

Seo Hajin noticed the mention of a solo clear, but the added replies were a little different from what he had expected.

- It was fishing

ㄴ Yeah, I heard it took like seven hours

ㄴ That’s insane

The boss monster raid had simply been one person fighting a catfish through fishing and winning.

But those who had experienced fishing said that made it even more impressive. Based on the photo that had been posted, it could not have been easy at all.

- With that crappy fishing rod too lol

- They must’ve had a Skill at least

‘A fishing raid... that can’t have been easy.’

It would be nice to take a boss monster for himself, but that was probably only possible because he was the first.

Now that people knew a boss could be caught by fishing, every Tom, Dick, and Harry would rush over and claim spots. And if someone fished for too long, someone might interfere.

In the worst case, they might kill the person holding the fishing rod and try to take it.

‘That’s entirely possible.’

Anyway, if the boss of the lake field had been defeated, the bosses of other Areas were probably only a matter of time.

‘People might dismiss it because it was fishing, but that user could only succeed because they had raised their level enough.’

So the bosses in other fields would be defeated one after another as time passed. This was not the time to watch it like it was someone else’s problem.

‘Let’s hurry.’

Preparations were nearly complete.

All that remained was enough leveling and suitable Skills.

He was currently leveling diligently, but no Skills he liked were appearing.

He looked through the marketplace for decent ones, but perhaps everyone had been earning Points lately. Even fairly ordinary Skills seemed to have shot up in price.

‘The Rainy Season is over... and they say Rabbit Field is crawling with mobs, so people must be earning plenty of Points there.’

As earnings rose, spending naturally increased as well. Skill Coins were not plentiful to begin with, and they became scarcer as time passed.

‘Come to think of it, that makes sense.’

The number of users was limited.

There had once been talk that new users might be added, but as time passed, the consensus became that this was not the case.

A limited number of users.

And levels rose more slowly the higher they got. Receiving Skills as level-up rewards would likewise become increasingly difficult.

‘It might not be a bubble.’

Maybe prices were rising because the Skills were worth that much.

Even so, they were expensive.

‘If I see a useful Skill, I should just buy it. It’s better than hesitating over this and that, then losing the opportunity.’

After looking into it further, he found that there seemed to be another reason cheap Skills had dried up on the marketplace.

Apparently, there was a Skill that could be strengthened by feeding it any other Skills, regardless of type.

‘Then people could sweep them all up.’

It seemed several factors had combined to cause this. Seo Hajin checked the low-grade Skills he had no use for but also felt awkward selling.

‘I was going to sell them, but... they’re stored in Subspace anyway, so I’ll leave them there.’

They might become more expensive with time.

They probably would.

He was not short on money right now, so he could leave them for the time being and sell them later.

‘But when did Black get this?’

There was a snake in Black’s inventory.

It was too thick and long to call an ordinary snake. At a glance, it was clearly venomous.

‘It looks pretty strong. Impressive that Black caught it.’

Seo Hajin checked through the system to see whether Black had been bitten, but fortunately, there did not seem to be any problem.

He nodded and began hunting Wolves in earnest. Starting today, one thing would be changing, which gave him plenty to think about.

‘It’s my first day attempting a full twenty-four hours of hunting.’

He had decided to change the pattern of hunting together, returning together, and taking turns trying to sleep.

They would hunt together during the day, but at night, rather than remaining in the shelter as before, they would take turns hunting outside.

‘Companion No. 1 handles all the little things now, and Black guards the shelter.’

He might have been uneasy before, but not anymore. Companion No. 1 or Black could protect the shelter well enough while he slept.

Grrr...

Woof! Woof!

The Wolves greeted him without fail.

Seo Hajin moved both Avatars.

Black returned with dozens of Wolves, apparently having already made a circuit around the area.

“We can start right away.”

The hunt now continued almost mechanically.

At some point, while the loot piled high in Subspace, Seo Hajin glanced at a system notification that appeared for the first time in a while as he looked down from above.

‘Already fifty?’

Slaughter Record.

The Wolf record had already reached Stage 50. Below the notification, detailed entries showed minor increases in various values.

‘Damage has reached 250 percent. Loot Drop Rate is 400 percent... Sometimes one Wolf drops a full set now. Will that happen more often from now on?’

But he noticed something different from before.

It had ended at number five, but now there was a sixth entry.

‘What?’

6. Share effect with Similar Species

Current shared effect: 35%

‘This was originally there.’

It had originally been number five.

Looking above it, he found that a new effect had been added.

5. Experience increase: 50%

“Oh.”

A small exclamation escaped Juggernaut’s mouth as he hunted below. He had wondered whether something like this might exist, but he had not expected much.

‘Fifty percent is huge.’

Killing two monsters was the same as killing three.

Now he would earn one and a half times what others did. No, with two Avatars hunting through the night, his efficiency could be more than double.

‘It’s the first day of running twenty-four hours straight. This is a nice way to start.’

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