Raising A Hero – Chapter 79

Ch 79: Tutorial.

Fortunately, nothing happened overnight. Ji-hyuk thought he was lucky. Although there were faint sounds of animal howls from afar, they were quite far away from them. Maybe a few unlucky guys are already rotting in the bellies of the monsters.

The Anchovy Man and the Female Teacher refilled their stomachs with water again. It seemed like they really needed to eat something. They had been walking all day and had used up a lot of energy, and they had only eaten water for two days, so it was natural that they were terribly exhausted.

Ji-hyuk was a little less hungry thanks to eating the grilled orc leg meat yesterday. Still, they had to keep looking for something to eat. They needed a lot of energy to fight monsters.

Of course, they could always catch orcs or lizardmen again if they really had no choice. Trolls couldn’t be eaten because their flesh was poisonous.

After wandering around for a while, they found a tree with fruit like bananas. Of course, they didn’t know if they could eat it or not. But it was dangerous to starve any longer. Adventure was needed. So, in the end, the Anchovy Man peeled and ate the fruit.

“Ugh, it’s so bitter.”

It tasted very bitter, but it didn’t seem like it would kill them. Ji-hyuk ate it too. The three of them devoured the fruit like crazy. The Anchovy Man and the Female Teacher finally looked like they were alive.

Now that they had roughly solved their hunger, it was time to get the token.

Of course, how could they suddenly catch a monster when they hadn’t even seen the monster’s droppings? It was clear that they wouldn’t be able to handle even the weakest monster here together.

At first, the Female Teacher wouldn’t be of any help, so they had to exclude her from the fighting force. If she foolishly tried to help and died, Ji-hyuk would lose a sentry, which was troublesome for him.

First of all, they needed weapons. So, they picked up sturdy sticks and sharpened the ends to make wooden spears. The three of them made and held a spear each.

Still, since they had something in their hands, the Anchovy Man seemed to have his fighting spirit sparked again. So, he actively sought out monsters. Ji-hyuk didn’t dislike that. It was much better than being passive at least.

“…Huh?”

Soon, the three of them found something unfamiliar not far away. Someone was lying on the ground. Lying there without any movement in the broad daylight like this was definitely not normal. They sensed that the person was dead.

Immediately, the Female Teacher’s face turned pale. Although she had witnessed the orc dying, that didn’t mean she had gotten used to seeing corpses.

Still, Ji-hyuk couldn’t just pass it by. He had to find clues here. They slowly headed toward where the corpse was.

“Ughㅡ.”

The Female Teacher turned her body around and retched as soon as she saw the gruesome sight of the corpse. The Anchovy Man also couldn’t hold back and averted his gaze. Only Ji-hyuk approached the corpse and confirmed it.

The corpse had its upper body torn off, and only the lower body remained. It was clear that a monster had bitten and chewed it in an instant.

Monsterㅡ.

Looking at the remaining lower body, the identity of the dead body was human. It seemed to be a person from another world, not Earth. They could see bloodstains scattered elsewhere. The rest of the party must have died to the monster, or perhaps only one or two survived and escaped.

Looking at the size of the monster’s footprints, it wasn’t a small one. Judging by his experience, it seemed to be about 5 or 6 meters tall. …It would have been difficult to deal with them with these rookies.

In a word, these guys were incredibly unlucky. Ji-hyuk chuckled. There’s someone more unlucky than me, huhㅡ, he thought.

He finished his investigation around there and stood up. The Anchovy Man and the Female Teacher looked like they wanted to leave here quickly.

“Let’s go.”

They followed behind Ji-hyuk as if they had been waiting. He moved along the monster’s traces.

Ji-hyuk marked the trees with sharp stones at regular intervals. It was to avoid getting lost. Although there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t get lost, it was better than not doing anything.

“Let’s rest a bit.”

Ji-hyuk considered the physical condition of the Anchovy Man and the Female Teacher. The two of them plopped down on the ground and leaned their tired bodies against the tree trunk. The Anchovy Man didn’t open his chattering mouth anymore. It seemed like he was exhausted enough to be unable to speak. The Female Teacher also had a dying face. …It wouldn’t be possible to fully recover their stamina after eating a few pieces of fruit.

Ji-hyuk looked at them and felt like he understood why Earthlings had a hard time surviving. The bodies adapted to peaceful Earth didn’t seem to be able to adapt easily to this harsh environment. It was actually absurd for them, who had never swung a spear or sword, to catch and kill a powerful monster.

In fact, bringing the Earthlings here, who were not very useful anyway, was already the evil hobby of the god. Damn godㅡ. Ji-hyuk swore under his breath before getting up. He had rested enough, so it was time to move again.

As they were wandering through the forest again, they accidentally encountered a group of goblins. The goblins had twice as many numbers as them. But goblins were weaker than humans, so they politely backed off without attacking. The Anchovy Man seemed to think that the goblins were afraid of his dignified appearance, so he became even more arrogant.

The Female Teacher also looked a little less anxious than before. She was getting used to it now. Still, it was good news for Ji-hyuk. It was actually a bit of a chore to keep dragging around these weaklings.

Not long after meeting the goblin group, they heard a monstrous roar that shook the forest. The three of them simultaneously turned their heads in the direction of the sound. Tension filled the faces of the Anchovy Man and the Female Teacher.

Ji-hyuk immediately began to walk quickly toward the sound. Ahㅡ. The two of them looked like they were debating whether to stop him or not. However, before they could stop him, Ji-hyuk was already walking far away.

They quickly followed behind him. There were screams tearing after the beast’s roar. The faces of the two men and women turned pale again this time. They felt like they shouldn’t go.

“I, it won’t be, dangerous? For now, after the situation is over….”

“If we don’t go right now, it’ll be too late. Don’t you think the other guys will just watch the monster?”

Ji-hyuk retorted with one word. It was a monster they had been chasing for almost half a day. He didn’t like the idea of someone else stealing it after he had invested so much.

Of course, the monsters would come to hunt them at night, but it was better to avoid fighting in a place with no light if possible. The two of them, who weren’t helping with the fighting power anyway, would become even more useless at night. Then, it was much easier to hunt the monster and get the token in the broad daylight.

Ji-hyuk moved even faster. His sharp nerves caught several movements. He spread a tiny amount of mana. There were at least four presences approaching the monster.

S*it…, the competition is a bit tough?

It was only the third day, but the competition was surprisingly fierce. But he couldn’t give up. If he really couldn’t get it, he would have to run away with the token at least.

One, two, three, four…, fiveㅡ.

The last one was approaching secretly from the tree. It was obviously a fairy. It was a presence that Ji-hyuk might have missed if he wasn’t sensitive.

The three, moving at a fast pace, finally found the monster. It was already fighting roughly with something. It was a group of orcs.

“Ah…!”

The Female Teacher stopped, feeling fear as soon as she saw the monster’s terrifying appearance. The Anchovy Man also seemed to feel fear. Ji-hyuk didn’t care whether they followed or not. His nerves were focused only on the movements of the monster and those who were hunting it.

Three orcs, one troll, and one fairy….

The orc group was doing the actual hunting. One troll and one fairy were watching for an opportunity. Of course, they wouldn’t like this human uninvited guest who suddenly appeared either.

Ji-hyuk carefully looked at one of the three orcs. …He had a hunch, and he was right.

━ B-class Hero, Giranosh.

They were trying to take advantage of the situation, but it seemed difficult this way. The troll, which was about to rush in immediately, was also a problem. Dealing with a troll, the end boss of regeneration, with only one wooden skewer wasn’t easy. And there was a fairy. The members of the participants who had entered the scene from the start were quite splendid.

Let’s just retreat this time.

It was a pity, but that was the right judgment. With Ji-hyuk’s weak physical condition, which hadn’t been trained yet, it was difficult to fight and defeat them all. It was much better to hunt other prey at that time rather than try to take advantage of a low-probability opportunity.

Ji-hyuk retreated as soon as he made the decision. The Female Teacher, who was worried about him and stomped her feet, looked relieved when he returned. If something happened to him, she wouldn’t be able to survive either. …Honestly, it was too difficult here just trusting the Anchovy Man.

“Let’s just retreat this time. There are too many competitors.”

“Yes, that seems good.”

The two, who weren’t helpful, answered well one after another.

Anyway, the three of them left the spot. The roar was getting farther away as well. The tension was completely released, and the two seemed to feel extreme fatigue. So they took a rest again.

Should we just go back today?

The real survival game would probably start tonight…. It seemed better to quickly return to where the pond was and prepare for the attack that would happen at night.

“Let’s go back today. It seems like catching the monster is wrong.”

“Yes.”

The two of them had no choice but to reject Ji-hyuk’s suggestion. They had to follow whatever he said. The atmosphere had completely changed like that.

As they were returning, they looked for anything to eat. Ji-hyuk said that if they really couldn’t find anything, they should dig under the tree and find a grub. Ughㅡ. The Female Teacher immediately made a disgusted expression.

“It’s still good to eat it when you grill it.”

They didn’t openly say they couldn’t eat it anymore. They must have known that it wasn’t easy to hold on after starving so much.

Anyway, the three of them returned to where the pond was without any gain. But the goblins were already occupying the place. They were the same guys from before.

━ Shwik, shwikㅡ!

They threatened them while making a strange metal sound. Those guys also seemed to know that the water source was important.

But the three couldn’t let go of this pond either. The Anchovy Man also burned with a will to fight now. …In fact, he must have looked down on them because they were just small goblins.

Ji-hyuk rushed at them. And he stabbed the head of a goblin standing firm with the skewer in one stroke.

ㅡㅡ!!

But one wasn’t enough to make them back off. They even charged. Look at these bastardsㅡ? If it was an orc, they would have run away immediately, but it was ridiculous that they were holding their ground because they were human.

Ji-hyuk ruthlessly killed them. In the end, the rest ran away in a hurry after three of them were killed. The Anchovy Man fought hard this time. But his chest was greatly grazed by the goblin’s wooden spear. It wasn’t a big wound, but his skin was completely peeled off and blood was gushing out.

“Oh, what do we doㅡ.”

The Female Teacher, who hadn’t done anything, even fussed. Still, she knew how to behave in society.

She tore her clothes and wiped his wound with a wet cloth. In fact, there was nothing else she could do.

“Well, this much…. It’s okay.”

The Anchovy Man expressed his masculinity after a long time. His self-esteem, which had been as dead as a shriveled penis, finally seemed to have come back to life. Ji-hyuk didn’t try to throw cold water on it.

“Good job, Mr. Lee Seong-han.”

“Not at all. Mr. Ji-hyuk suffered more.”

A friendly atmosphere was created. The Female Teacher asked if Mr. Ji-hyuk was hurt anywhere as well. He gestured that he was fine.

They threw away the goblin corpses far away and returned to the pond.

The sky was already getting dark. Night was coming soon.

Still, it was a moonlit night without clouds, and the silver reflection pierced through the leaves and fell to the ground. Thanks to this, their vision wasn’t limited.

It’s not bad. It’s not bad….

Ji-hyuk lay on the floor and closed his eyes. Wo-woo-wooㅡ. The sound of an animal howling echoed long throughout the forest.

…He didn’t feel like tonight would pass peacefully.