#22 Waypoint
The thing we walked up to was so smooth, it almost looked like a giant animal's ribcage.
It wasn't made of stacked stones or anything, just one long, solid pillar.
It was probably about 20 meters tall, but skinny for its height – like, two people could maybe touch hands hugging it.
The weird part wasn't the pillar, though, it was the floor.
The pillars were in a circle, and the flat floor in the middle was all carved up. There was a five-pointed star connecting the five pillars, and another circle carved in the very center. It made this freaky-looking pattern.
Anyone could tell it was something, and it looked important.
"Think it's some kinda magic circle?"
"Let's check it out."
Cheol-du reached out and touched the pillar.
Lets you teleport instantly to a registered circle.
Not yet activated.
-Coins required for activation (0/100,000)
"Whoa."
"Dude, no way we can do this, right?"
Jin-tae looked totally disgusted by how many coins it needed.
"Might as well throw some coins in, just in case?"
"Yeah, sure."
Cheol-du dumped all his coins in without a second thought.
<423 coins contributed.>
<32 coins contributed.>
-Coins required for activation (450/100,000)
There was still a crazy amount left, but it clearly wasn't something they could do alone.
"What if we miss out on some bonus for not doing this?"
"Look, it doesn't say anything about bonuses."
"Huh?"
He's got a point, sometimes.
"So, we just wasted those coins?"
"Well, think of it as an investment."
Cheol-du had tossed in way more coins than Jin-tae, but he didn't seem to care.
"Jin-tae, we'll get more coins."
"Yeah, I guess so."
Is this, like, a skill gap or something?
Cheol-du could make coins easy, so spending them was no big deal. But Jin-tae was thinking about all that grinding he did for his 32, and he was bummed.
"I gotta get stronger, too."
Even if he's going the craftsman route, he's gotta be stronger than this.
"Heh, no duh."
"Just psyching myself up."
"Alright, let's head that way then."
"Okay, sure."
We've got, like, half of today and all of tomorrow left.
A day and a half... we could probably hit some unexplored areas and maybe snag that first activation bonus.
Advertisements
Cheol-du and Jin-tae headed east.
There were some trees here and there, and behind them, a forest with a bunch of tall trees.
The plan was to skirt the edge of the forest, heading south towards the portal zone.
Basically, check out the forest if it looked good, and bail if it didn't.
"We should be good, as long as there aren't any giant ogre-looking things."
"Don't jinx us, man."
"Hehehe. Don't worry, Jin-tae."
"Of course I'm worried!"
"If an ogre shows up, we book it."
"Haa."
It's cool he's so fearless, but it's also kinda stressful. Jin-tae was really hoping they'd only run into things weaker than ogres.
The fields just had these dinky ostrich-dino things, like 80 centimeters tall. If they wanted better loot, the forest was the way to go.
They were easy to kill, but they never dropped stat stones, so it wasn't really worth it.
The cows and orcs Cheol-du hunted yesterday were way further from the portal, so that was a no-go.
"Jin-tae, orcs."
"Whoa, they look just like people."
These orcs were about human-sized, maybe 160-170 centimeters, but built like tanks. They weren't gonna be pushovers.
And they had metal weapons.
"These guys are different from the ones I saw before."
"R-really?"
"The other ones had spears."
These orcs had short axes.
Lumberjacks?
Cheol-du stepped forward first.
"You just watch for now."
"Yeah, sure. Watching? I got this."
Cheol-du went first to check out how strong they were.
"Urrraaaah!"
That yell got the orcs' attention real fast, and they charged at him, screaming.
"Turak Tus!"
"Kirik Tarus Aul!"
Two orcs with axes came running up.
They didn't even flinch at Cheol-du's size.
'Excellent!'
A warrior doesn't run before even trading blows.
Whooosh!
Those two went for him, swinging their axes at his waist and legs – it was a pretty coordinated attack.
They swung from both sides, like they were trying to chop down a tree.
Whoosh!
Luckily, Cheol-du wasn't a tree, and he was surprisingly fast for his size.
Cheol-du did a sergeant jump to dodge the axes, then spread his legs and kicked.
Thwack!
The orcs totally whiffed their swings, and Cheol-du's kick sent them both flying.
One slammed straight into a tree – looked like it really hurt – and the other one rolled on the ground but got up fast.
"Kuru, Tus!"
Advertisements
The orc shook his head and groaned. That kick was brutal, it definitely did some damage.
His vision was all messed up – he was seeing double, triple, everything.
Whee-ack!
He swung his axe at Cheol-du, but Cheol-du grabbed his hands, and suddenly his world was spinning.
And then, lights out.
Thud.
Cheol-du snapped one orc's neck with a quick twist, then turned to the other one, who was just getting his bearings.
"Bare hands are rough, as expected."
"Dude, you made that look easy."
Jin-tae was watching in awe, thinking Cheol-du was some kind of beast.
How's he getting so strong, so fast?
He's like a superhero, straight out of a movie.
It's like, with every stat stone, he's pushing past human limits, doing stuff you'd only see in movies, or, like, dream about.
"Hehe, easy for me, not so much for you."
"Hey, no need for the truth bombs."
"You'd still have a hard time without a weapon, Jin-tae."
Cheol-du figured Jin-tae had, like, an 80% chance of getting wrecked in a fight.
Any injury would be bad news, so it's better if he just stays out of the fight.
Even though they're going back to Earth tomorrow, this place is messed up. You could die from a paper cut here, practically.
"Ugh, if only I had some decent weapons..."
Or even just armor.
Jin-tae was really feeling the lack of gear.
"Let's not go any further into the forest. I don't wanna lose you, man."
"Yeah, good call."
Jin-tae didn't argue.
He'll take on the orcs again when he's ready.
Thwack!
"Ow! Why did you hit me?"
Jin-tae jumped like he'd been stung, his back on fire.
"Cheer up, Jin-tae."
"......"
"There's no shame in being weak right now."
"I know."
"Keep training, and you'll be a badass warrior, too."
"......"
"I'll snag a weapon from them later, you can practice with that."
"Haa, okay. Thanks."
"Hehe, I'm still a newbie, too, but I'm putting in the work, right?"
"...Who you calling a newbie?"
"I'm just a baby barbarian, I haven't even gotten my ancestor's spirit yet."
"......?"
Jin-tae tilted his head.
"Wait, do you have, like, a class or job in your status window?"
"No. I don't."
"Then what's with the barbarian stuff?"
Advertisements
"Huh, what are you talking about?"
Before, he seemed to think he was an alien.
"Jin-tae, you know I'm not human, right? I'm a barbarian."
"......!"
Jin-tae's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open.
What the heck is he talking about?
"What's with the face? I told you I wasn't from Korea."
"Dude, how does that even make sense?! You're nuts!"
I just figured you were from another country!
Or maybe mixed-race.
"Wait, you're just now figuring out I'm a barbarian?"
"Of course!"
"......"
Cheol-du stood tall and silently looked at Jin-tae.
How's his only friend gonna react to, you know, the whole alien thing?
"Damn, no wonder you're so OP. It's not that I suck. Aish."
"......?"
Jin-tae didn't seem to mind at all.
No, rather, he was relieved.
"I thought I was, like, the weakest link. Turns out, you're just a freak of nature."
Jin-tae was actually relieved.
Once he put Cheol-du in a whole other category, he felt way better.
He'd always been comparing himself to Cheol-du, so he'd gotten all hung up on feeling weak and useless.
"Screw this production job crap. I'm gonna be a combat craftsman."
He's gonna kick ass at hunting and crafting. And now, he's comparing himself to normal people, not Cheol-du.
"Hehe, thanks for being cool about it."
"Dude, stop talking crazy. Let's just go."
"Hehehe."
Cheol-du grinned, feeling good, and decided he'd really help Jin-tae train.
"Turu Tarak!"
He saw three more orcs and charged, dropkicking one into next week, then grabbed the other two axes and chucked them.
Then he kinda pushed them towards Jin-tae.
"Your turn, Jin-tae."
"No, why two from the start!"
"You got this, Jin-tae! Go get 'em!"
"Noooo!"
Jin-tae was getting his ass kicked in a two-on-one fight with the orcs.
They say you gotta get hit to learn how to fight, and Jin-tae was definitely learning.
"You're getting better fast, Jin-tae."
"Huff, huff."
He was too winded to even answer, just brawling with the two orcs, learning how to not get totally destroyed.
He'd take a hit to the arm instead of getting the wind knocked out of him, or block with his forehead instead of his jaw.
Cheol-du watched, grinning, as Jin-tae figured it out on his own.
*
Seo Jong-du and Oh Dol-yi went up the mountain as soon as they saw Cheol-du and Jin-tae off, and focused on wolf hunting.
Advertisements
With perfect teamwork, they steadily took down wolves and activated the stat stones that occasionally dropped.
Accustomed to the tough hunting with Cheol-du, their first day of hunting on their own was quite successful, and the next day was even easier.
However, Seo Jong-du's expression didn't brighten easily. He had a somewhat uneasy and impatient face.
"Boss. We've become strong enough."
"That's right. We'll definitely be recognized at this level."
"Do you think so?"
Seo Jong-du asked himself.
"No. This isn't it."
Seo Jong-du closed his eyes and thought for a long time, and when he opened his eyes again, his eyes gleamed with murderous intent.
"No matter how I think about it, that's the only way."
"What way?"
"Follow me."
Seo Jong-du returned to their base with Oh Dol-yi, who had been strengthened by two days of hunting.
"Let's go."
"Boss, isn't this the refugee camp?"
"Yeah."
"Boss. Don't tell me......"
Seo Jong-du nodded heavily.
"Yeah. We're going to Yong-gu's gang."
Even though the top 1, 2, and 3 figures of Yong-gu's gang are injured, Yong-gu's gang is still going strong.
After two days of agonizing over it, Seo Jong-du made up his mind.
'The boss is urging me to make a decision.'
"He's clearly trying to test whether to tear down the old house and come in underneath."
This is the test of proof that the boss has given me.
"From today, we will take over Yong-gu's gang."
Seo Jong-du decided not to just eliminate the potential threat, but to take them over completely and offer them to Cheol-du.
