Chapter 4 – 2. Forest (3)
After falling to another world, the first village of goblins I encountered and their bizarre consciousness. Two people were placed in the middle like a sacrifice.
Black hair and a gray school uniform.
If my eyes weren’t wrong, those were definitely my classmates.
Why are you guys out there…?
The two, visible through the goblin’s dancing, were tied limbs with vines. The tree branch tightly closed both mouths like a gag.
One is lying still on the ground as if passed out, and the other is flapping desperately like a caught fish.
‘… It’s embarrassing.’
We were attacked by light on the way home from school, so we were considering the possibility that other people walking around were also transferred.
However, if I remember correctly, these two would not have been near us.
Then… If you can think of it…
The range where the light worked is much wider than I expected, or
The place where the light appeared is not only our way back to school.
‘Let’s think about that later.’
Now I have to decide what to do with those two and the goblins.
Neither the goblins nor the children noticed us yet.
Should I quietly run away like this, or should I kill them all and save the children?
Wisdom looked into my eyes without saying anything. They didn’t talk to each other, but their eyes gave me the right to decide.
‘·······.’
The one who fainted was Baek Nam-gyu, and the one who fluttered like a fish was Lee Hyeon-woo. We’re not particularly good or bad with them.
In the first place, our class was in an atmosphere of studying even during breaks, so I unfortunately couldn’t get close to most of them. More than half of the children have never spoken to each other.
Of course, Minho Park, the class president of Insa, is an exception.
If he had been here, he would have immediately rushed out to rescue them. He who has been seen for a year does not hesitate to care for the people around him and extend a helping hand.
But I am a realist and my comfort is more important than anything else.
Lee Hyeon-woo and Baek Nam-gyu use a lot of energy, so it wouldn’t be bad if they could be together. However, the guess that there was an unknown entity in charge of the goblins somewhere in the forest hindered my decision.
‘Usually in this situation, Orcs and hobgoblins rule the village, but I can’t see them.’
The goblins seemed no different from the ones he had killed earlier.
It seems that both lives are not at stake right now, so let’s gather information and take out their stamina and watch them for now.
We waited on our stomachs for an hour like that.
The banquet is still going on.
They munched on cut rabbit meat and flung themselves like mad as if their souls had been sold into a ritual. It was as if he was summoning a demon.
The number did not change to eight. For some reason, there are no sentries on the border of the village.
Also, like the goblins they encountered on the way, they also had incomprehensible physical disabilities.
They can’t hurt us.
At that level, just me and my wisdom is enough.
It was past 5pm. In the winter forest, the days are short.
I made a decision.
* * *
Today is a historic day when we met as many as two great beings that we could possibly receive once in a lifetime.
Unfortunately, both of them are possessed by evil spirits and have either been terrified or passed out, so we are conducting a ritual to wish them well. I just want them to get out of the mess ASAP.
This moving memory will never be forgotten until the day my life dies.
Unexpected disaster strikes the village of goblins who are just happy at this moment.
It started with two goblins who were the biggest and fought well and everyone in the village depended on. It was very difficult for them to stop a sharp surprise attack from behind, with all their nerves in their consciousness.
The monster’s instinct detects the intent to kill. The joy that filled my heart just moments ago had evaporated. His whitened mind is painted with anger and hatred toward the enemy.
“Keeeaek!!!”
“Kirreuk!!”
Those who remained rushed to the two demons for revenge and survival.
Throw one’s body at the enemy
Those whose arms are pierced will use their legs,
Arms for those with broken legs,
Those with broken limbs, with toothless mouths.
However, their power, exhausted by consciousness, is useless.
Eventually, it took only eight minutes for all the goblins to be slaughtered.
* * *
The battle ended much easier than I thought, probably because I was used to it through many experiences.
No, this was more like a massacre than a battle.
The goblins rushed at us like zombies in a movie.
However, there is no way that Ji-hye and I could be defeated by the struggles like a child’s complaint.
We skewered the goblins one after another, skewered them with sticks, or pounded them with clubs, wary of possible poisonous tricks.
The space that just a moment ago was noisy with their screams and lights, is now silent with corpses scattered randomly and puddles of blood.
Fortunately, no entity other than goblins intervened during the battle.
Still, just in case, you need to leave the scene as soon as possible.
The guy who had been wandering around until the fight was quiet, so he turned his head to where the two of them were.
“·······?”
“···! Eup! Eup! Eup!”
Baek Nam-gyu is still in a state of fainting, but as soon as I look at Lee Hyeon-woo, his whole body twists and wriggles desperately. His two pupils trembled wildly and tears poured out.
‘Oh, is it in a state of delirium?’
I approached him to release the gag. The seizures got much worse.
Wait, I will save you soon.
Shhh-
A fishy smell spread gently, and liquid flowed from his groin.
This crazy bastard peed.
‘I should have just thrown it away…’
Will it help…?
Paik Nam-gyu, who had fainted, regained consciousness and opened his eyes softly. When he saw me, his white pupils passed behind him and he fainted again. The fishy smell became twice as strong.
Hey why are you like this
“Jihoo! There’s so much rabbit meat here!”
A voice of wisdom could be heard from behind.
* * *
“Uh, we were on our way home too… That, when we were crossing the crosswalk at a crossroads, all of a sudden the lights came on, and I was dizzy and then I opened my eyes and it was a forest…”
“It’s just like us.”
Against the background of the crackling sound of the bonfire, sparks fly here and there. The shape of the elongated shadow in the blazing fire is irregular.
Everyone salivated at the simmering aroma of rabbit meat.
The meat was about to burn black. I’m anxious because it’s a different world, but at this level, even if there were parasites, everyone would have been burned to death.
“Is it okay if I eat soon?”
“Let’s eat quickly. I’m hungry!”
“······.”
“Oh, it’s delicious.”
Since I fell to this unknown place, I have been eating glucose candies for my meals. I was able to appease my hunger, but from a nutritional point of view, it was lacking a lot.
I don’t know how much longer I’ll have to stay here, but I need to eat protein when I can. I’m so glad I was able to get meat like this.
In one corner of the goblin colony, as if freshly dead, unrotten rabbit corpses were piled up. We took our meat and moved to a clearing some distance away from the village and lit a fire with lighters.
“It would have been much better with salt or soybean paste. No seasoning.”
“Still, this is atmospheric and delicious as it is.”
“·······.”
I let the two of them chew the meat without saying anything. It’s annoying to keep looking at us from a while ago. When our eyes met, he was surprised.
Was I that scared? To the point of getting tired and fainting.
No matter how bloody his whole body was, holding a club covered in blood and flesh, he was still excited about the battle.
‘I wonder if it will be useful in the future…’
Fire is a risk that is not small in that it informs us through light and smoke. However, it hurts my stomach to eat the meat raw, and the winter nights are very cold.
Besides, I don’t know if it’s wisdom, but I didn’t want to sleep with boys.
Wisdom lay down on my thigh as a pillow. I guess I’m thinking of going to sleep like this. As my first watch, I stared into the dark forest where nothing could be seen.
‘Tomorrow, I’ll find another goblin village and rob it to get meat, or try rabbit hunting.’
Goblin cubs also hunt, so can we?
What trap does the rabbit fall into…
It is a night that deepens your thoughts.
* * *
At first, I thought this was a lucid dream that I had only heard about. I was surprised by the liveliness and body that moved as I wanted, no different from reality, and I felt dirty because the first lucid dream in my life was such a nightmare.
‘I was definitely going home…? Have you been dreaming since you went to school…?’
No matter how much time passed, there was no sign of awakening from the dream, and I began to feel something strange.
That’s how Lee Hyun-woo wandered in the forest for three hours.
When fear beyond irritation eroded his mind, he suddenly encountered monsters. There was no time to resist.
When he came to his senses, he found himself tied up and surrounded by monsters.
“Eup! Eup!!”
The thought that this was a dream was abandoned long ago. The grotesque faces and creepy cries were fear itself. I thought I was going to get eaten and die.
I was hopeful when I saw Nam-gyu being dragged away a few minutes later, but he was in worse condition than he was.
‘Even if I get bitten by a tiger, I’ll live as long as I keep my senses…!’
When he strengthened his will to survive and did not let go of his consciousness until the end, an accident occurred.
The faces he knew came to his rescue!
Although he is not close to them, he looked into their eyes as he tried to reassure himself at the sight of them becoming reliable.
It was frozen
After stopping, the cold, inorganic eyes like an ice pick. As if for granted, the blood and flesh of the monsters splattered everywhere as his arm moved mechanically and mercilessly.
Jeon Ji-hye’s eyes slightly bent as if she was enjoying the current situation. If this was a school, I would have had no choice but to hold my breath at the pure and bright smile. Her expression was terrifying, overlapping with her appearance at her school.
The smell of blood made my head dizzy.
He understood that they were trying to save him, but he couldn’t stop his body from trembling like a serial killer.
I was ashamed of myself for struggling and even incontinence, and I felt sorry for them.
Jung Ji-hoo commanded him and Baek Nam-gyu to clean up and quickly left the place. And now, as his second vigil, Hyeonu forced his tired and weary spirit to wake up with a slap on the cheek.
‘Ji-hoo and Jeon Ji-hye must be much more tired than me.’
It was dark between the trees, far from the fire, and nothing could be seen. Smoke mixed with soot winds up into the sky.
He looked at Jung Ji-hoo and Jeon Ji-hye, who were lying close to each other.
I never thought the day would come when they would be so reassured that they thought they were just a schoolboy couple. Tomorrow will be their help instead of stupid behavior.
He turned his head again toward the unchanging forest,
“Anteal Ostroa!!”
His vision darkened at the last sight of strange people glaring at him.
* * *
Should I have been hiding in a cave like yesterday? Or should I feel fortunate to have met people I can communicate with like this? I don’t know why the words work.
The vigil was over, but consciousness remained clear. We know very little about Baek Nam-gyu and Lee Hyun-woo, so there’s no way we can trust them.
I will never go to sleep, at least not until Wisdom’s turn.
With the weapon on the side of his right hand so he could always defend it, he was able to react faster than any of the four to sudden events.
“Anteal Ostroa!!”
However, it is impossible to resist unknown magic with only a piece of wood.
‘A group of four like us. Young Early 20s? It’s magic, it’s really a different world. Resistance is impossible.’
Their action was swift. In the blink of an eye, we were bound by a curve of light and dragged somewhere, lifted by an unknown force.
When we reached a building, we scattered.
I was interrogated about my identity and how and why I hid in the ‘Academy’s Forest’ in an airtight room without a single window.
The language was smooth with each other, but of course I couldn’t answer any of the questions to their satisfaction.
They seem to have tried various methods and magic on me. To be honest, I was worried that I would be tortured painfully, but the interrogation was unexpectedly short.
After the last question, they dragged me down to the basement and shoved me through the iron bars.
There was a passenger I knew well.
Minhye-rin stared blankly at me with her eyes wide open and her mouth slightly open.
From the sunken eyes and dark circles on her face, I could see her heartache. Her hair was thick and her lips were dry.
But nothing could tarnish her beauty. Rather, I felt the taste of exhaustion, and I felt strange for a moment.
Is this sweet scent her scent?
Her two round eyes gleam with tears. Was it overcome with sorrow or was it relieved to see me? Both shoulders tremble slightly. Even the way she cries sadly is attractive.
I went in front of her and hugged her tightly.
“It’s okay… It’s okay now.”
“…Black…
Maybe my interrogation was short because there was a precedent called Min Hye-rin.
Places you see for the first time, people you see for the first time. High-intensity interrogation that strains the mind. He must have had enough strength to endure it.
He stroked her long hair slowly. Her head pierced my chest.
I love her sobbing softly in my arms.
She rolled her eyes and looked around her. I could only see one prison-like room here. Do the other kids come here after interrogation?
It’s too bad.
A confused and weary soul. A state of physical and mental isolation from the outside world. The only person I can rely on is me.
All conditions are in place to squeeze into the heart, to make it look only at me, think only for me, and act for only me.
To think that I had to let go of this golden opportunity with my eyes open…
‘I think it’s possible to reach the wisdom level if I have enough time…’
It’s too bad.
