Episode 4: The Otherworld Mission (2)
[Name: Akan]
[Strength: 11]
[Agility: 10]
[Mana: 30]
Fitting of his nickname, the Laboratory Wizard, his physical abilities were abysmal.
At least his mana was far superior to the average.
He still couldn't understand exactly what the brief explanation meant, but one thing was certain.
'The mana that had formed in my mana core originated from my mana stat. A stat of 30 had granted me enough mana to use 1st-circle magic about three times.'
The waves of information crashing over him like tides were quickly organized inside Akan's head.
The content the fairy was speaking of was neither the knowledge of the Republic of Korea nor of the Macedonian continent.
It was completely unfamiliar knowledge, yet Akan accepted the information without any resistance.
Akan had experience naturally assimilating into a new world despite having transversed dimensions.
Unlike the others who were bewildered and at a loss, he quickly accepted the new world.
'The missions of the Otherworld the fairy spoke of are directly connected to survival. The factors that increase the likelihood of survival must be fragments, items, and skills. If the fairy's words are true, we can grow stronger in a manner similar to a game.'
It was strange.
In a situation where an ordinary person would be terrified and trembling, Akan's mind was startlingly clear.
No, his heart was certainly racing.
But it was not a tremor born of fear.
Excitement.
Adrenaline was rushing wildly at the fact that he could make a fresh start as a wizard—a dream he had given up on.
Before long.
"The explanation is over. The mission will now begin. If you succeed, you will be able to return alive, but if you fail…."
The fairy trailed off.
Her stiff expression made the rest obvious without her having to say it.
It was probably something about dying.
"As the proxy of a god, I shall pray for humanity's blessing."
The moment the fairy soared into the sky.
Ding!
Humanity's first mission was handed down.
* * *
[Wild Dog Extermination]
[Objective: Exterminate five wild dogs.]
[Reward: Upon mission success, all survivors will each receive ten Strength Fragments / a Low-grade Skill Book. A special reward will be given to the individual who achieves the greatest merit.]
"Wild dog extermination?"
Go Changhyeok's eyebrows furrowed slightly at the mission information floating before his retinas.
Wild dog extermination, of all things.
Go Changhyeok, who had expected monsters like those seen in movies to appear after the fairy's grandiose explanation, felt relieved that the difficulty was lower than expected.
He hadn't yet properly understood the situation he was in, but at least in today's mission, he thought he could go home if he just exterminated some wild dogs.
The number of people summoned to the Otherworld was exactly twelve.
He thought this many people would have no trouble resolving the mission.
It was then.
Grrr.
Bark, bark.
Red eyes flashed from within the forest, and rough howls rang out.
The wild dogs that revealed themselves from the darkness of the forest were not what people generally imagined dogs to look like.
Whether from wandering the mountains for a long time, their blackened fur whipped about wildly, and the fangs jutting from their snouts looked viciously sharp.
Their deeply wrinkled, twisted muzzles fully expressed the wild dogs' hostility.
They looked so threatening that one wouldn't find it strange to call them wolves rather than wild dogs.
"Th-those are wild dogs?"
"They want us to take care of things like that?"
"H-how are we supposed to take them on bare-handed!"
The people from the chicken restaurant revealed their bewilderment.
Like Go Changhyeok, they had also let out sighs of relief at the wild dog extermination mission.
They had thought today's mission wouldn't immediately threaten their lives, but the wild dogs that had actually appeared bore the appearance of ferocious beasts.
They could die.
The people were consumed by fear at the killing intent radiating from the wild dogs.
"Damn it! The mission has already begun! Everyone, fight the dogs— keurk!"
Bark, bark!
Krrraaack!
The moment one of the employees stepped forward to encourage the others, the wild dogs pounced like demons.
The dogs, which had been quite far away, closed the distance in an instant and clamped their jaws right onto the employee's neck.
Flesh was ripped away in one pull, and the chicken restaurant workers' pupils dilated massively at the scattering droplets of blood.
Puhahahak!
"Wh-what the!"
"...Is he dead?"
"Uwaaaah! The wild dogs killed a person!"
Chaos.
The people fell into panic at the overwhelmingly shocking situation.
At the sight of the employee being torn apart alive before their eyes, some people's legs gave out and they collapsed on the spot.
They couldn't support their trembling legs no matter how hard they tried.
Those weren't wild dogs.
Monsters.
Yes, they were monsters.
Grrrroowl.
Three wild dogs were latched onto the employee's corpse, rabidly devouring it.
The remaining dogs turned their gazes to find their share.
The sweeping gazes made the people from the chicken restaurant flinch violently.
They had to respond somehow to survive, but their bodies wouldn't move properly in a situation they could never have experienced in reality.
As if paralyzed, their rigid bodies could not carry out their brains' desperate cries.
"Shit."
Go Changhyeok hurriedly surveyed his surroundings.
He had absolutely no intention of dying like this.
His legs trembled with fear, but his eyes busily scanned for a weapon to fight the wild dogs.
His back was drenched in cold sweat in that short time.
'Found it....'
Krak!
"Uwah!"
The moment he spotted a long wooden stick and tried to approach it, one of the wild dogs charged like an arrow.
The wild dog's form filling his vision before he knew it, baring its sharp fangs, turned Go Changhyeok's expression deathly pale.
It was a situation where the others were frozen in terror and unable to respond properly.
Blocking the wild dog's attack in a situation where he couldn't expect help from others was impossible.
'I'm going to die.'
Clench.
Overcome by the fear of death, he squeezed his eyes shut.
He couldn't bear to watch the wild dog's sharp fangs dig into his throat.
But then.
Crack!
Crunch!
'Crunch?'
Instead of intense pain, an unexpected sound reached his ears.
A sound like the wild dog had been sent flying.
Go Changhyeok slowly opened his eyes at the fact that he was still alive.
As the darkness lifted, a situation that Go Changhyeok could never have imagined was unfolding before his eyes.
"...Big Bro Akan?"
It was Akan.
Akan stood before Go Changhyeok, grasping a blood-dripping rock in one hand.
The wild dog presumed to have attacked Go Changhyeok was collapsed on the ground, letting out pitiful whimpers.
He didn't need to see it to know what had happened.
Akan had probably saved Go Changhyeok.
Go Changhyeok stared blankly at Akan's broad back.
'An incompetent man who couldn't even secure a decent job by the age of forty.'
Akan, who had always been the target of contempt.
But strangely, the Akan he was looking at now felt like an entirely different person from the Akan he had known for the past two years.
- To be continued in Episode 5 -