The 31st Piece Overturns the Game Board

Seol found information about a Hidden Adventure.

It also seemed like the related Adventures would also unlock once he satisfied a few more conditions.

- They’re warning him about a Sudden Adventure?

- That’s not sudden at all then, no?

- Seriously…

- Why the hell do we need to solve our opponent’s regrets~

Seol looked at the letter and started thinking.

He wondered whether he should rip or keep the letter.

Obviously, there was no answer.

The letter’s lingering scent strongly remained.

It was strong enough to remove the smell of Mirei’s cigarettes instantly.

“Hm… Are you going to find them?”

Seol was close with Mirei.

And the letter Seol placed into his inventory contained the wishes of Malacus, the person who brought her death closer.

The natural reaction would have been to rip that letter to shreds.

‘But if it’s her…’

If Seol had shown Mirei this letter, she would have responded with something like,

- What? His wish? Do it if you have the time. It’s from someone who’s dead, who cares?

Seol had a small smile on his face as he thought of Mirei. He then responded to Karen.

“Depends on what happens. What if I run into them randomly?”

- You’re just saying you’re not going to find him. LMFAO

- ^ This.

- I’m also going to conquer the world if I have the time later too. hahaha

Karen smirked.

“If it’s that, then…”

This was just a brief pause in their mud fight, not the conclusive ending.

Seol then checked his new titles.

[[Inaugural Title: The One Who Walks Alone]

Related Achievement: My Own Path (Adventure: Those Who Chase the Shadows)

Bonus Effect: The Exceptional Skill you created grows at a noticeably faster rate.]

[[Special Title: Master of Shadows]

Related Achievement: The Path of Infinity (Adventure: Those Who Chase the Shadows)

Bonus Effect: The probability of creating a new skill increases by 10%.]

“......”

- That’s CRAAAAAAAAZY! This is insane…

- Aren’t both of their effects insane?

- Yeah, they’re broken.

- But is there like a cooldown for creating another Exceptional Skill or something?

- There isn’t. It would be funnier if there was one already LOL.

- A Shadow Summoner who only knows how to use Shadow Hand is a ‘Master of Shadows’? LMFAOOOOO

Their reactions weren’t too different from Seol’s.

‘There… was a title like this?’

Master of Shadows was an amazing title, but The One Who Walks Alone was overwhelming.

In the case of Exceptional Skills, just awakening one was already hitting the jackpot.

Not only was it a unique skill, but there was no precedent for learning each of them. As such, the best one could do to improve them was refine it and refine it more.

For these reasons, Exceptional Skills often remained at the same level as when one initially learned them, with limited potential for proper growth.

‘However, I have ‘The One Who Walks Alone’... with that, I can reduce the risks.’

Even though there wasn’t an exact number or percentage, there was no way the title would let him down when the phrase ‘noticeably faster’ was attached to it.

With that, Seol finished confirming all of the titles as well.

As expected from a dangerous Adventure, Seol had gained a lot from it.

Seol, recognizing that there was nothing more to do here, sent Jamad and Karuna back into his Shadow Space.

Fwirl!

“You… It's fine.”

“What? You want me to go back there too? Wouldn’t you be lonely? There would be no one to protect you, right, Master? Right? Don’t you agree?”

“...That’s why I said it’s fine.”

Karen flashed a big smile.

Since she looked exactly like an elf now with her red hair using Haze, no one would suspect that she was a shadow.

‘Then I guess next is… the ‘Where the Trail Cuts Off’ Adventure?’

It was an Adventure Seol prepared in case the Linked Adventure for his awakening did not progress as intended.

He had heard information about a ruin collapsing due to not enough ruins hunters visiting it recently, leading to the demonic beasts inside escaping.

The information he received led to Seol unlocking this Adventure as a potential option.

Fortunately for Seol, this Adventure could be taken on without a party while also maintaining a considerable difficulty.

Seol then ended the Adventure.

Bzzzzzt

But then…

[A powerful deterrent nearby activates.]

[Adventure 'Where the Trail Cuts Off' has been substituted with a Sudden Adventure.]

* * *

‘...What?’

[You begin your next Adventure.]

[Your 16th Adventure is starting.]

[Adventure 16. Overflowing Hell]

Seol was surrounded by particles of light before being transferred. When he arrived at his location, he looked around, dazed.

“Th-thank god! It’s a person! Someone came, Gyeongtaek!”

“Shh! Stop shouting! What will you do if we run into something because of you?”

“You fucking bastard! If I tell you something, you should fucking listen!”

“I-I… I’m sure that th-they’re surprised too. L-let’s be a bit more quiet…”

What was going on?

‘I was fucking sucked into a Sudden Aventure.’

It also seemed like his current location wasn’t too far from the previous Adventure.

“Woah! She’s an elf!”

“What? Wait, she really is… If she’s an elf, then…”

“A-Are they not transferees?”

Seol looked at Karen, then at the group in front of him.

The first was a woman dressed a bit too extravagantly for an adventurer.

The next was an ordinary-looking man.

The last was a middle-aged man who seemed to lack a lot of confidence.

It was a strange group.

‘Were there other people with them too?’

Seol opened his mouth.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m a bit lost, but… were there other people here too?”

“Well…”

“Um…”

“Ha… Haha…”

The only thing they did was read each other’s moods. However, they were noticeably dejected.

- Snowman, read the room!

- It’s clear that there was a huge problem judging by their faces. LOL

- It’s like they shit their pants again today.

- …What do you mean again???

Even so, the man who seemed most amiable amongst them stepped forth.

“There were others originally. Well… there were, but…”

“They… died?”

“Yeah, like she said, they died.”

Seol nodded as if he had expected this, then looked at the Adventure description.

[Adventure 16. ‘Overflowing Hell’

Though it may remain unclear as to what forces are at play in the heart of the Great Forest, it is widely known that numerous powerful monsters inhabit its depths.

Typically, these powerful monsters confine themselves to the center, and as a result, Adventurers have yet to encounter them directly. However, there have been instances of unfortunate ruins hunters venturing too deeply, only to leave untraceable corpses behind.

Due to Nobira’s recent downfall, the activity of ruins hunters has dwindled, likely contributing to the scarcity of detailed information about the Great Forest being shared with others.

By chance, you have encountered helpless Adventurers within the Great Forest, hinting at untold stories.

You must ensure their safety.

Objective: Escort the Adventurers to Nobira.

This Adventure is a Sudden Adventure.

Remaining Time [About 7 days]]

“Hm… could you tell me more about it in detail?”

“Before that, do you mind if we tell each other our names? It’s just starting to feel like an interrogation…” responded the woman.

Seol nodded, then shared his name.

“My name is Snowman.”

“Huh? Isn’t that just a nickname, though?”

“...Am I not allowed to use it?”

“It’s not like that, it’s just… Well, we call each other by our actual names. We’re all Koreans, aren’t we? So let’s just use our names!”

“Kang Seol.”

“Just Seol?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s a… unique name… but it’s cool. My name is Han Somi. I’m 22 years old.”

“Ah, I’m 25.”

“So you’re older than me. Our group is a bit strict about that, so I’ll call you oppa too.”

“...Sure, I don’t mind.”

Seol was surprised to hear that they were so strict about ranks like this when they weren’t in the military or anything. Somi also looked at the man to her side while saying that.

It was clear she was also saying it to him.

“Haah… My name is Jo Gyeongtaek. I’m 21 years old. I’ll call you hyung as well.”

“Okay.”

“You can also talk to me casually. The others here already do that anyway.”

“Alright.”

“...Well, that was fast.”

“I’m a bit quick to adapt.”

- Alright.

- I thought he would say ‘bet’ instead. LOL

Then, the middle-aged man introduced himself.

“M-My name is Shin Munho. I am in my late 40s now.”

“I see. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Hyung! Who is she?”

“I’m Karen. Well… Basically, just think of me as someone who travels with him.”

“...Are you two dating?”

“What?”

“Hey! Don’t you know it’s rude to ask something like that? Do I need to teach you something like that too? Sigh!”

“We’re only a year apart…”

“What did you say?!”

While the two transferees quarreled, Munho tapped Seol’s shoulder.

“Ha… Haha… Even so, you have no idea how much of a relief it is to see someone else.”

Since they learned a bit about each other now, Seol freely asked him what he was really curious about.

“So, what happened here? I don’t really understand the situation.”

“I’m sure… Ah, I can speak comfortably with you too, right?”

“Of course.”

“S-So, before you came here, Seol, what happened was… Somi. Maybe it might be better for you to explain, Somi.”

“I knew this would happen. I’ll tell you what happened, oppa.”

Seol nodded in response.

“Basically, we met after accepting an Adventure in Nobira to survey the Great Forest. Originally, there were five of us.”

“So two people died.”

“Yes, we never dreamed of something like that happening. The five of us thought it would just be a simple hike through the Great Forest. Do you believe that? There were five of us. It’s not a lot of people, but it wasn’t like this Adventure was supposed to be dangerous.”

In other words, they were acting as scouts for Nobira.

Typically, most scouts were swift, but not too competent in combat. It seemed like they also fell into that stereotype.

“How did the two of them die? No, more importantly, I still haven’t heard what the three of you are still doing here.”

“I will explain everything one by one. Um…. so the two of them. Basically, they ran into a monster.”

“A monster?”

There were monsters all throughout the Great Forest.

However, as the powerful monsters were concentrated at the center of the Great Forest and their influence did not extend to the outskirts, only weak monsters roamed in these areas.

“Yes. But… I don’t… I don’t really know how to explain this part.”

“They died in the short time we separated to drink water, hyung.”

“What?”

“They were brutally flattened, like they were pancakes. You have no idea how much I threw up while burying them… sigh. It was my first time seeing such a mutilated corpse.”

“So that’s why you believed monsters were behind it.”

“Yes, exactly. There was no way a human could have done that. No human in the world could completely flatten another human like they were a press.”

No, there were people in the world who could do that.

In fact, Seol’s latter 10 pieces, as well as many other beings who were on a similar level of strength, had more than enough power to do such an act.

Even so, this was still the early Adventures. The number of monsters who could do something like that was limited.

“Hm… then there’s a chance a monster from the center of the Great Forest slipped out.”

“That’s exactly what I said! It’s a logical conclusion, no? Hah! My luck completely turned around for the worse. I thought this was just an easy, relaxing Adventure…”

Seol quickly stuck to Karen to explain everything.

“So what you’re saying is… there are demonic beasts in the center of the forest and they’re leaking out from there? Like pig piss?”

“...It’s a weird comparison, but you have the right idea.”

“So, how strong are the monsters?”

“Well… hm…”

Seol thought to himself while touching his chin.

‘How strong are they?’

There were many types of monsters, and most of them appeared in forests too.

Since Seol couldn’t recall approaching the center of the Great Forest before, there was nothing he could really compare it to.

“Are they stronger than Atarak?”

“That’s impossible.”

“Then it’s fine. Let’s just take these guys out.”

Seol nodded in response.

Jamad, Karuna, and Karen.

Seol was no longer a burden either. Even if he would fight enemies known to be somewhat strong, Seol didn't have to worry.

“See? I told you they were dating.”

“I never thought I’d see the day when you were actually right, Gyeongtaek. I thought she was just a mercenary…”

"How can an elf be as beautiful as her and still work as a mercenary? You should have given a more realistic explanation."

“Tch… they should get a room.”

Somi and Gyeongtaek whispered back and forth to each other while giving Karen and Seol strange looks.

“...We aren’t like that.”

“Ahem… Ahem ahem… What? Did we say something? Regardless, that’s the situation, and we need to report this to Nobira.”

“What about the monster?”

“It wasn’t there when we found our other party members. There’s a good chance it will come back to kill us, though.”

“......”

“So, on that note, I believe we should team up to escape together. Since we're already in a party, all we need is for you to join us, Seol oppa!”

“How would we be teaming up?”

The three looked at Seol with expectation-filled eyes.

Somi then asked Seol a question.

“What’s your class?”

And Seol gave his response.

“A summoner.”

While the responses may have come from three different individuals, the words were identical.

“...Ah.”

“Ah.”

“Ah…”

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