Raising A Hero – Chapter 80

Ch 80: Tutorial.

The problem I expected to explode exploded before long.

Perhaps because his nerves were so sensitive due to having seen blood, Ji-hyuk felt a strange energy that touched his senses even before he could fully fall asleep. It was undoubtedly killing intent. Not the refined kind of killing intent from sapient beings, but a very savage one.

A monsterㅡ.

A monster was approaching.

Ji-hyuk opened his eyes and sat up straight. The female teacher, who was half-asleep, opened her eyes wide in surprise. The skinny guy was still sleeping, oblivious to the world.

“A-are you going to, um, go to the bathroom?”

However, he didn’t answer and remained still for a moment, holding his breath. Her expression became frightened. Suddenly, he was acting strangely.

It’s coming.

Ji-hyuk, certain that the monster’s destination was here, quickly woke up the skinny guy. “Uh, uhㅡ?” he said, looking at Ji-hyuk with a hazy face, as if it was already his turn.

“Something’s coming.”

“…Yes?”

He first checked whether he could fight or not. If the surroundings were too dark, he would have given up and run, but the forest was fairly bright. The night sky was clear, and the moonlight was shining brightly, making it perfect for a fight.

I think I can fight.

He had to kill the monster to get the token anyway. Of course, whether it would appear or not was purely a matter of luck.

“Get ready to fight.”

“F-fight?”

“We need the token anyway. It came on its own, so we’re lucky.”

…Uhㅡ?

Ji-hyuk and the other two had fundamentally different ways of thinking. They looked as if they were thinking, ‘How can they think like thatㅡ?’

Of course, he didn’t care what they thought. His goal was to pass the tutorial while suffering as little as possible. He wanted to avoid running around like crazy at the end to get the token. If that were the case, it would be better to die and start over.

First of all, there was no point in fighting next to the pond they were using as a nest, so Ji-hyuk changed the location. The skinny guy and the female teacher followed him, looking as if they were wondering whether this was a dream or reality.

There was a feeling that the air was getting chilly. The two men and women rubbed their arms with their hands, trembling with anxiety. It was an instinctive reaction to feeling the killing intent flowing in the air.

Soon, a dark presence was spotted in the distance. Ahㅡ. It looked just like a son of a bitch from hell. It was about the size of three or four lions combined.

Krrㅡ.

The low-pitched growl settled on the ground like an ominous background sound. The skinny guy and the female teacher were stiffened by the eerie sound. It didn’t look like they could win in a fight. It was natural to run away even if only one lion appeared, but the monster was three or four times bigger than that. It was only natural for ordinary Earthlings to lose their fighting spirit as soon as they saw it.

So, Ji-hyuk didn’t have any expectations for them either. They had just shed their virginity as Earthlings, so what could he expect?

He fearlessly approached the monster with only a wooden spear. It was definitely big. However, for him, who had dealt with even bigger guys than this countless times, this guy looked as cute as a puppy.

Ah, ahㅡ.

The two, who knew nothing, thought his courage seemed like recklessness. They didn’t even think they could win a fight against that guy. They just wanted to run away. However, they were so scared that their mouths were stiff. They couldn’t even move as if their bodies were paralyzed. Their teeth chattered.

The monster was prowling around Ji-hyuk. The moment he looked away, the monster was ready to leap at him.

And the monster, which had seized the opportunity, jumped without hesitation. However, Ji-hyuk was waiting for that as well.

He threw the wooden spear with all his might towards the monster’s belly. It was a small level, but it was force with even mana. Although it was a wooden spear, it was definitely not at a level that could only withstand leather.

ㅡㅡㅡ!!!

The wooden spear eventually pierced the monster’s belly and came out of its back. At the same time, Ji-hyuk quickly retreated from the place where the monster was landing.

However, that one blow seemed to be a bit insufficient to kill the monster. It was a significant fatal wound, but the monster was still moving.

He rushed towards the monster. The monster also jumped forward with all its might. He narrowly dodged the arm that the monster swung. Then, he picked up the wooden spear that had fallen on the ground again.

The monster’s movements were noticeably slower. Red blood was flowing down to the ground. Even if it was a monster, it was more strange that it was fine when there was a hole in its stomach.

However, the wounded monster became much more ferocious. The will to eat him for sure seemed strong. The monster jumped at him again.

Ji-hyuk aimed at the monster’s chest this time. He really threw the spear with all his might. It flew like a ray of light and completely pierced the monster’s body.

The monster rolled on the ground. The monster, which was trembling, soon stuck out its tongue and died. Whewㅡ. Ji-hyuk gasped roughly. It was a weak monster by his standards, but since his physical condition wasn’t good yet, killing it wasn’t easy. If his strength was a little stronger, he would have aimed for the head at once, but he fought more carefully for fear of missing.

The token didn’t come out as expected. When the monster dies, it drops randomly around the corpse, but seeing that there was none, it seems like it was a miss.

…That’s just my luck.

Ji-hyuk didn’t expect it to come out the first time either. He was just unlucky in this kind of thing.

Anyway, as he defeated the huge monster, the skinny guy and the female teacher also approached him slowly, admiring him one after another. They didn’t expect him to kill it so easily. …On the contrary, they thought he would be torn apart and killed by the monster without any recourse.

Of course, Ji-hyuk had no intention of boasting about it. There was no need or reason to do so.

“Amazing, reallyㅡ!”

The female teacher, again and again, expressed her own survival method, constantly admiring. Since it was impossible for her to kill the monster with her own hands and get the token, it seemed that she was trying to get Ji-hyuk’s help no matter what.

This time, the skinny guy also joined in. Seeing that he had a weapon anyway, the resolve to catch the monster once vanished after seeing this fight scene. Fighting against a guy like this seemed absolutely impossible.

But Ji-hyuk had done the impossible with ease. Regardless of getting the token, they really had a pure admiration.

However, Ji-hyuk, who was receiving such admiring gazes, didn’t care and only checked the monster’s corpse. The fact of whether this could be eaten or not was more important to him than their words of praise.

If he could eat it, the food situation would be solved neatly.

Usually, there were many monsters that couldn’t be eaten, but he couldn’t give up and retreat anyway. It was important to eat something now.

“Cut this guy’s flesh once.”

“Ah, yes.”

When Ji-hyuk said so, the two men and women immediately broke a stone and sharpened it, then began to cut the monster’s flesh. Fortunately, there was no fur on its body.

After much effort, the two managed to take off some of the flesh. This time, they didn’t plan to refuse if they said they would grill and eat it. Since it looked like a beast, they didn’t seem to have much resistance, unlike the orc.

However, Ji-hyuk only sniffed the smell and didn’t say he would eat it. The skinny guy, who was hungry, couldn’t stand it and asked.

“Can we eat it?”

Ji-hyuk shook his head.

“I don’t know. We’ll have to check later.”

“Check?”

The skinny guy’s complexion turned bad, thinking that he had to eat it first. Of course, Ji-hyuk didn’t intend to use him as a test subject.

Anyway, they went back to their nest and went to sleep. The skinny guy and the female teacher said that since Ji-hyuk had suffered, they would take turns keeping watch longer. Ji-hyuk didn’t refuse, as they said they would do so on their own.

The next morning.

They woke up, filled their stomachs with water, and then went to find the goblins.

Ji-hyuk was going to feed this flesh to the goblins first. If they didn’t die after eating it, it would mean it had no poison.

Following the trickling water, they found the three surviving goblins huddled together. They looked very wary. Ji-hyuk approached very slowly and threw the lump of meat, then retreated far away to a place where he couldn’t be seen.

The goblins cautiously approached the monster’s flesh. And when they saw it, they picked it up and started sniffing it. If it were an orc or a troll with high intelligence, they would have doubted it and not eaten it, but the goblins were stupid and didn’t doubt it. They even danced and liked it, saying that they had got meat. Cute little bastardsㅡ. This is why there are many goblins among the voluntary slaves.

They started a fire and began to grill the meat. It was a really tedious wait. Ji-hyuk confirmed that the goblins ate the grilled meat as well. They were arguing over who would eat a little more.

It’s done.

Ji-hyuk went back after confirming it. If he came back to check after about half a day, he would know if it was safe or not.

“They won’t get sick, right?”

The skinny guy and the female teacher looked like they hoped so. Unfortunately, Ji-hyuk wasn’t an optimist.

“I don’t know. Wouldn’t it be more likely to have poison?”

“Ah…, is that, so?”

Ji-hyuk told them to go find the monster first. Sadly, the two men and women had to move, clutching their hungry stomachs.

He suggested that they switch his almost broken spear with the female teacher’s. She readily agreed, saying she knew. She looked as if she was trying hard to gain points even in such trivial matters.

The three of them roamed the forest again. This time, there were more traces of the monster than yesterday.

There were often participant corpses and monster corpses in the forest. It was a proof that there had been a fierce bloody battle since last night. The monsters, which were evenly distributed in the forest, must have realized that there were many preys here.

Let’s approach that stone mountain.

He already knew from experience that there were many monsters near the stone mountain. The problem was the two people following him. Even for Ji-hyuk, it was impossible to fight while protecting them at his current level. If it was one, it was fine, but if two or more came out, the probability of the two dying would increase exponentially. Even if he was lucky, he would have to give up one of his limbs.

I might as well not make the soy sauce because I’m afraid of the worms, but still, he needed these two for now. If they were attacked suddenly while sleeping deeply at night, even Ji-hyuk would have to die. Of course, it would be difficult for the skinny guy and the female teacher to notice if a guy was approaching so secretly, but they could still act as meat shields at least once. …To put it another way, the two were like Ji-hyuk’s spare lives.

However, the token was also important. Ji-hyuk had to make a decision.

…Anyway, it wouldn’t be solved by just wandering around here.

It wasn’t just them who were looking for monsters. It was clear that this area had already run out of monsters.

“Let’s go over there.”

Ji-hyuk pointed to the direction where the stone mountain was with his finger. Of course, the skinny guy and the female teacher had no choice. They followed him obediently.

“If there’s anything I can help with, I’ll help.”

The skinny guy flattered Ji-hyuk like that. The female teacher also came forward quickly, not to be outdone.

“I’ll do my best to help, too.”

Ji-hyuk looked at them. They made an expression of tension when his gaze reached them.

Just shut up and stay aliveㅡ.

He wanted to say that. However, Ji-hyuk smiled kindly and said a word.

“I’ll tell you if I need help.”

However, seeing his smile, the skinny guy and the female teacher felt cold in their hearts for some reason.