Raising A Hero – Chapter 4

Ch 4: Tutorial

“Lee Seong-han-ssi. Lee Seong-han-ssiㅡ!”

“Yes…, yes?”

Ji-hyuk loudly called out the name of the Skinny Guy who was sitting blankly. The guy snapped out of it and looked at him.

“The dead are dead.”

Ji-hyuk said coldly. The hidden meaning was to forget the dead and take care of himself, and the Skinny Guy couldn’t possibly not know that.

“Ah…, yes….”

However, the Skinny Guy didn’t seem to be able to easily escape the overwhelming shock. If that arrow had targeted him first, it wouldn’t have been her who died, but himself.

Only then did he realize that an invisible knife was right up against his throat. He knew this place was dangerous, but this incident made him feel it very vividly in his skin.

“It’s not your fault.”

“…Yes, I know it was bad luck.”

The Skinny Guy had now come to his senses a bit. As Ji-hyuk said, the dead were dead. He couldn’t die with her just because his heart ached.

…F*ck.

“Who the h*ll attacked us?”

Ji-hyuk pointed to the sky with his finger.

“It must be a Fairy.”

“A Fairy?”

“Yes.”

The Skinny Guy had a confused expression. The Fairy he knew was a beautiful race that loved the forest and respected life.

Ji-hyuk smiled. It seemed like he could see what the Skinny Guy was thinking. There was a time long ago when he too was trapped in such stereotypes.

But unfortunately, the Fairies here easily killed living things, ate meat deliciously, and didn’t love the forest. The only thing they had in common was that they were a very beautiful race.

It goes without saying that Fairy Hero-nims sometimes do worse things than Orcs.

“Let’s move.”

Since he already had one Token, Ji-hyuk didn’t have to go around catching monsters anymore, but it was good to show that he was doing his best for the Skinny Guy. Otherwise, he might get stabbed to death with a spear while sleeping because of the Token. It was only the fourth day, and he needed the Skinny Guy to survive the remaining three days.

Of course, Ji-hyuk kept in mind that the Skinny Guy could betray him at any time if there was only one Token. In a matter of life and death, anyone, regardless of race or gender, could change drastically.

Therefore, the safest way was to get one more Token. Then the Skinny Guy wouldn’t have to betray Ji-hyuk.

Thinking about it calmly, it wasn’t all bad that the number of people had decreased by one at this point. There was a disadvantage that he would get a little less sleep, but there were definitely some convenient points as well.

Of course, Ji-hyuk didn’t show such things without being perceptive. Even if he didn’t feel that way inside, pretending to be considerate on the outside was more helpful in many ways.

Anyway, Ji-hyuk continued to track the monster. This time, the Skinny Guy actively helped. Since Ji-hyuk had originally decided to leave the Nest, he didn’t bother to mark the tree. He wasn’t stupid enough to use a place exposed to the enemy like a moron again.

The deeper the forest, the more eerie the air became. Ji-hyuk could feel it clearly with his skin. The killing intent had deepened.

Looks like a lot of monsters came smelling it.

The Skinny Guy trembled at the eerie energy, but he didn’t seem to know it was because of the killing intent.

Ji-hyuk knew that there was another group of beings not far away. He could also feel the presence of a monster. Now that there were only a few days left, the Participants’ monster hunting had become more active.

…No, monster hunting wasn’t everything. The number of cases where Participants fought each other for Tokens would increase rapidly.

Even now, two groups were approaching each other. Of course, all Ji-hyuk could know was just that. He was still at a low level, so he couldn’t know what their identities were or how many there were.

“Follow me. Don’t make any noise and be quiet.”

The Skinny Guy swallowed hard with a very nervous expression and nodded his head slightly. The two lowered their bodies slightly, muffled their footsteps, and carefully approached somewhere.

And they soon heard a piercing scream.

Not far away, the two saw two groups fighting each other fiercely. It was a Lizardman and an Orc group.

Heopㅡ.

The Skinny Guy even held his breath and hid behind a tree as much as possible, then watched the fighting scene.

It was truly a fierce B*oody Battle. When the crudely made wooden spears quickly broke, they picked up stones and fought. It was common to throw dirt and sand on their faces, and they mercilessly gouged out the eyes of the fallen with their fingers.

Ack, aaaaaghㅡ.

It was a fight solely to kill the opponent. There was no such thing as a childish fight where they swung their fists and fought.

Among them, Ji-hyuk noticed that one being stood out particularly. It was the Orc, Giranosh. From the start, he was on a different level from the other bastards. The Lizardmen were also not an easy race, but Giranosh was a being with great martial power and leadership skills to instantly subdue the fierce Orc group.

The Lizardmen had one more in number, but they were eventually defeated by the Orc group. Giranosh persistently followed and killed even one who was running away. He was a truly cruel bastard.

The Orcs let out a victory roar and began to dismantle the dead Lizardmen with sharp stones. They were happy that they would feast today.

Giranosh handed one of the Tokens that the Lizardman group was holding to his subordinate. It was as if he was praising the subordinate who fought most bravely.

The Skinny Guy and Ji-hyuk made eye contact for a moment. It seemed clear that the Orc group had several Tokens.

Currently, there were four Orcs. If they were ordinary Orcs, it wouldn’t matter, but Giranosh was among them. In that case, they had to avoid fighting at all costs. It would be manageable if he fought Giranosh alone, but it would be difficult to face three more on top of that.

Just as Ji-hyuk was about to give up and retreat, suddenly an arrow flew and pierced the Orc bastard’s head.

“Ppiieekㅡ.”

The Orc who was hit by the arrow let out a strange scream, then fell forward and died. Giranosh saw that and roared, glaring at the place where the arrow came from.

“You son of a b*tchㅡㅡ!!”

It was clearly the skill of that damn Fairy bastard. It seemed like he was constantly harassing the Orcs like that.

However, there was no way for the Orc bastards to catch the Fairy who was jumping around on the trees. All they could do was vent their anger from below and scream.

Anyway, thanks to that f*cking Fairy, the number of Orcs had decreased by one. Ji-hyuk thought that he might have a chance. The Fairy would also know that the Orcs had Tokens, so he would harass them more persistently.

Before long, another arrow flew again. However, because the Orcs were constantly on guard, it slightly missed the side of his head. Giranosh eventually couldn’t stand it and screamed, then ran towards the place where the arrow came from.

Now’s the time.

Ji-hyuk didn’t miss this golden opportunity. He immediately ran to where the Orcs were. He was confident that he could get rid of at least two Orc bastards. …However, he had to keep in mind that Giranosh could return at any time.

ㅡㅡ!!

Of course, the Orcs also screamed as they saw the human running towards them. The human with only a wooden spear was no threat to them at all.

If it was an ordinary human, the Orc’s judgment wouldn’t be wrong. However, the opponent was the legendary S-class Hero, Gang Ji-hyuk. Even if his body condition had changed for the worse, it wasn’t difficult to take down the heads of just two Orc bastards. …However, he had to keep in mind that Giranosh could return at any time.

First of all…, one bastardㅡ!

Ji-hyuk lightly dodged the wooden club that was being swung horizontally at his head, then stabbed the wooden spear right into his eye socket.

“Aaaaghㅡㅡ!!”

With a short scream, one Orc fell. Immediately, his comrade rushed in. This time as well, the Orc swung his arm holding a stone with the intention of smashing his head. Ji-hyuk crouched down quickly, then picked up a stone on the ground as soon as he could, then kicked off the ground and jumped up. Then, he mercilessly struck the cheekbone area of the bastard with the stone.

“Ackㅡ!”

The Orc staggered. Of course, he didn’t fall with just one hit. However, Ji-hyuk’s purpose wasn’t to kill them. It was the coveted Token lying on the floor.

He immediately threw the stone in his hand at the Orc bastard, hurriedly grabbed the Token, and started running. It was only after a while that the bastards realized that their Token had been stolen.

“Kkeuwoaaaaaaaㅡㅡㅡ!!!”

The Orc roared. But Ji-hyuk ran and ran. The Skinny Guy hurriedly chased after Ji-hyuk with a happy expression.

With this, he had obtained both Tokens. There was no need to stay here any longer. So he just ran until his mouth tasted bitter.

Who knew that the f*cking Fairy bastard would be so helpful.

They ran for a long time. Until they thought the bastards wouldn’t be able to track them here.

“Hua, hua, hua.”

The two breathed roughly. It would be hard to run with their bare bodies, but it was even harder to run with the heavy Token.

“You were really lucky, Ji-hyuk-ssi.”

The Skinny Guy glossed over it as luck. When Ji-hyuk stared at him, he quickly realized his mistake and corrected himself.

“No, uh, Ji-hyuk-ssi worked really hard. Yes, thank you, really. I really won’t forget this favor.”

“Seong-han-ssi also worked hard.”

Ji-hyuk spouted words he didn’t mean. He didn’t particularly like the Skinny Guy, but he still needed him for now.

“Oh, what are you talking about? Ji-hyuk-ssi did everything.”

He seems to know it.

The two caught their breath, picked up the Tokens again, and got up from their seats. Since they both had Tokens, there was no need to be deep in the forest.

Of course, they needed drinking water and food, so it was difficult to completely leave the forest. Then they had to circle around the edge and kill time.

The two men started walking again. Then they arrived at the Pond they had used before. They went near the Pond to drink water, but the Female Teacher’s corpse that should have been there was gone.

“…Huh? J, Ji-hyuk-ssi. The corpse is goneㅡ!”

The Skinny Guy had hopes that she might not have died and was still alive, but Ji-hyuk shattered those hopes in an instant.

“Ah, looks like someone picked it up.”

“…Yes?”

“Other bastards must have taken it. There are Goblins near there, or it could be other bastards.”

“Ah….”

The Skinny Guy became afraid of Ji-hyuk, who was saying such things so casually. He was acting as if it was natural.

“Don’t worry about that and drink some water.”

Don’t worry about that….

But the Skinny Guy had to listen to Ji-hyuk’s words. No, his body moved on its own. Deep inside, he was afraid of a person named Gang Ji-hyuk.

The two drank water until their stomachs were full. And then they walked again.

The Skinny Guy felt strange. …It seemed like there was something here that made people go crazy.

Ji-hyuk turned his head and looked at the Skinny Guy with a complicated expression.

He spoke as if he was appeasing a child.

“Well, you’re not feeling bad or anything, right? My words are a bit strong. Sometimes people misunderstand me.”

The Skinny Guy smiled slightly as if he was okay.

“Ah, it’s okay. I’m fine. That can happen.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

The smile on Ji-hyuk’s face, who had turned his head back to the front, disappeared in an instant.

The two walked in silence for a long time. The sky was already turning red with the sunset.

Ji-hyuk constantly guarded his surroundings even while walking. He also kept checking to see if anyone was following him. Especially that vile Fairy bastard was the most troublesome.

“Let’s get out of the forest altogether today.”

“Is that okay?”

“That would be better.”

The Skinny Guy nodded his head, saying he understood. Ji-hyuk was a scary person, but he always made wise decisions.

The two barely escaped the forest when the sky was half dark. Woowoooㅡ. The sound of an unidentified beast could be heard from afar. The Skinny Guy’s body trembled on its own.

“You go to sleep first.”

Ji-hyuk told the Skinny Guy to go to sleep first. He suddenly became afraid. What if he killed him while he was sleeping? There was no reason to do that at all, but strangely, that thought suddenly came to mind.

“Yes.”

But he couldn’t not sleep. His eyelids were already too heavy.

…Surely, he wouldn’t kill me.

The Skinny Guy fell asleep as soon as he lay down.

Ji-hyuk took a long breath through his nose and exhaled through his mouth.

The sun had completely disappeared. Countless stars were dotted and embroidered on the clear night sky. It was truly a beautiful sight.

Occasionally, a faint scream-like sound could be heard from somewhere. Ji-hyuk stared blankly at the place where the sound came from with an expressionless face.

The forest was already h*ll. It was clear that a B*oody Battle of eating and being eaten would unfold every night for Tokens.

Heung, good luck to themㅡ.

Ji-hyuk’s mind was relaxed. It was a long-awaited feeling of leisure. He pondered what he would do first after finishing the Tutorial

The screams and roars became more numerous. He suddenly craved a glass of alcohol. He wanted that sharp alcohol to wet his throat once and pass overㅡ.

Should I have a drink when I get out?

At that time, an explosion was heard. It was definitely magic. …It seemed like a very fierce B*oody Battle was taking place there.

The Skinny Guy slept soundly without waking up from the noise.

Haaamㅡ. Ji-hyuk also yawned loudly. He was very tired. But he didn’t let go of his mind. If he was careless, he could go to h*ll with one arrow like the Female Teacher yesterday.

After a long time, the forest became quiet.

Like that, Ji-hyuk’s mind also sank deeply.