Episode 55
One of the things people are mistaken about is that it never rains in the desert.
But that is nothing more than half-baked knowledge.
It does rain in the desert.
It’s just that it pours down in an instant, then disappears into the sand just as quickly, leaving no trace behind.
Sometimes it falls as if to swallow the world whole, and indeed turns an entire region into a sea of water. Only to vanish into the sand in an instant, as if it had never happened at all.
Even in the desert, there are topographies where water collects especially well.
Topographies where the pouring rain pools into puddles, or even ponds.
Of course, the water disappears in an instant, but in such places, Ghost Horsehair Worms lie dormant.
Parasitic creatures that sleep as if dead when the sand is completely dry, but wake up like a lie when rain falls and pools.
By rank, they are worthless existences that don’t even qualify as F-rank.
Even in Neo Seoul, no one even knows such monsters exist. That is why they cannot be found even in the painstakingly compiled monster bestiaries.
Parasite-like monsters that can’t even reach F-rank.
But their danger transcends imagination.
Once one enters the body, no matter how strong the monster is, it dies of dehydration searching for water.
Unless one could protect their entire body with a force field, they couldn’t escape the tentacles of the Ghost Horsehair Worm.
It was the same for Awakeners.
Once they invaded the body, there was no way to drive them out.
It was by chance that Jeon discovered such facts.
Rain had fallen where he was passing by, and by chance, the Ghost Horsehair Worms awakened in that puddle, and a giant monster came to drink water. And Jeon watched as the giant monster moved like a puppet.
From then on, Jeon took an interest in Ghost Horsehair Worms. But obtaining them was not as easy as he thought.
For starters, there weren’t many optimal terrains for them to inhabit.
They didn’t exist in regions where it didn’t rain at all. And in the desert, there weren’t many terrains where water pooled even briefly when it rained.
Lastly, even if one discovered Ghost Horsehair Worms with such difficulty, capturing them alive was no easy task.
Because of that, Jeon failed many times to obtain Ghost Horsehair Worms. But thanks to those repeated failures, he found a way to capture them alive.
Jeon pulled a small glass bottle from inside his robe.
Characters of unknown meaning were engraved in relief upon the glass bottle’s surface.
Rustle!
As soon as Jeon arrived at the puddle, the Ghost Horsehair Worms detected him and shook their bodies violently.
They twisted their wire-like bodies and lunged at Jeon.
The sight of them approaching by grotesquely twisting their wire-like bodies without arms or legs naturally instilled fear in the beholder.
“What is that?”
“Ah!”
Mandi and Gim Sangsik, who were watching from afar, opened their eyes wide in surprise.
Because the Ghost Horsehair Worms’ bodies suddenly turned transparent and shot toward Jeon like missiles.
At that moment, Jeon held out the glass bottle in his hand. Then, the three Ghost Horsehair Worms shooting at invisible speed slipped right into the glass bottle.
It looked as if the Ghost Horsehair Worms had entered the bottle of their own accord. But Mandi knew that was not the case.
Jeon had definitely used some kind of trick.
Since he had obtained the Ghost Horsehair Worms he wanted, the rest were unnecessary.
Inferno!
In an instant, flames of intense heat erupted around Jeon’s body.
The crimson flames burned the remaining Ghost Horsehair Worms to nothing in an instant. Having thus dealt with the Ghost Horsehair Worms, Jeon scooped up the sand beneath his feet and filled the glass bottle to the brim.
This was the key.
Putting sand from where the Ghost Horsehair Worms had been dormant into the enchanted glass bottle.
Then, like a lie, the Ghost Horsehair Worms fell asleep.
The Ghost Horsehair Worms that had grown to over a meter when lunging at Jeon shriveled to smaller than a finger and entered a dormant state.
Jeon closed the lid of the glass bottle and hummed.
“Hmm-hmm!”
A mischievous smile had spread across his face.
Jeon stowed the bottle containing the Ghost Horsehair Worms inside his robe. In truth, he had stored it in his subspace, but to Mandi and Gim Sangsik’s eyes, it appeared to have been placed inside his robe.
At that moment, the torrential rain stopped like a lie, and the sun blazed down.
Mandi and Gim Sangsik blinked their eyes.
Too many things had happened in an instant, leaving them bewildered.
Such an experience was absolutely impossible to have in Neo Seoul.
The two descended the sand dune and approached Jeon.
Mandi asked cautiously.
“What are you going to do with those Ghost Horsehair Worms?”
“What about them?”
“I’m saying this because they seem useful in many ways. If you take them to Neo Seoul, research could turn them into something that helps many people.”
As a supervisor dispatched from Neo Seoul, Mandi took an interest in this new form of monster. But Jeon firmly cut short her interest.
“Sorry. I obtained the Ghost Horsehair Worms out of personal curiosity. If you want them, catch them yourself.”
“Ah! That’s not what I meant…”
Mandi stammered, flustered.
Her lifeline was currently in Jeon’s hands. It was not the time to go against his mood.
“I’m sorry. My greed got the better of me.”
“It’s fine. That can happen. Just don’t do it again.”
Jeon smiled gently at Mandi’s apology. But Mandi couldn’t smile. Somehow, Jeon’s smile felt chilling.
Only then did Mandi realize what kind of person Jeon was.
He was someone strong and experienced enough to wander the desert alone.
‘Judging by the skill he used earlier, there’s a high probability he’s a magic-type flame Awakener.’
The fact that he burned the Ghost Horsehair Worms in an instant even in the pouring rain made it clear he was at a considerable level.
‘At least C-rank, probably B-rank.’
At this level, he would receive considerable treatment even in Neo Seoul.
Mandi thought she needed to be even more careful.
After the commotion ended, the three of them moved again.
When Gim Sangsik’s stamina recovered somewhat, he switched places with Mandi.
“Hah!”
Mandi, who had mounted the Bactrian camel, let out a sigh of relief.
Even as an Awakener, walking on sand all day consumed an enormous amount of stamina.
Even after walking just half a day, she was already out of breath, and her throat felt like it would burn in the scorching air.
Jeon spoke to Mandi.
“If you’re thirsty, just wring out your wet clothes and drink.”
“Such…”
“A little more time, and even that will evaporate, leaving you with nothing to drink.”
At Jeon’s words, Mandi hurriedly took off her outer garment and wrung it out. Water flowed out.
Mandi hastily drank the flowing water.
Gim Sangsik did the same.
Jeon waited for them to drink enough water.
In fact, there was quite a lot of water in Jeon’s subspace.
He could have shared water without any problem. But if they obtained it so easily, they would never be able to survive in the desert.
They had to secure water and hunt food for themselves.
If they wanted to return safely to Neo Seoul, they needed to develop such habits starting now.
Jeon led the group without showing a single sign of fatigue.
Gim Sangsik and Mandi took turns riding the Bactrian camel to recover their stamina. And they observed Jeon.
Even after walking all day, Jeon showed not a single sign of fatigue.
He didn’t even sweat, and he showed no sign of heavy breathing.
Mandi and Gim Sangsik couldn’t understand such a Jeon.
‘How can he be like that?’
‘He’s like someone who has lived in the desert his whole life. No, even so, is that possible?’
The more they looked, the more questions about Jeon piled up like a mountain. But Jeon silently walked on, as if he had no intention of speaking about himself.
“Hmm!”
Jeon, who had been walking for a while, suddenly stopped.
He knelt on one knee on the ground and swept away sand with his hand. Then, an object buried in the sand was revealed.
What Jeon found in the sand was unexpectedly a corpse.
It was a body completely dried out like a mummy, all moisture drained from it.
He asked the two.
“Can you tell who it is?”
“This person is an Awakener from Team 3.”
Mandi recognized the identity of the corpse at a glance.
He was the Awakener who had escaped first when the Cyclops attacked. Since he had fled first, she had naturally assumed he was alive. She couldn’t understand why such a person was dead here.
Jeon pulled the Awakener’s corpse out completely. Then, a wound on the back was revealed.
“It seems he was attacked directly from behind. Judging by the size and shape of the wound, it looks like a sword…”
At Jeon’s words, Mandi’s pupils trembled.
When the Cyclops attacked, they had escaped by team. That meant this person’s teammates had been by his side.
If so, the one who had ambushed and killed him from behind was almost certainly a teammate from Team 3.
Jeon continued.
“He has nothing on him. It seems everything he was carrying was taken.”
“So you’re saying he was robbed?”
“Yes!”
“Hah!”
“When isolated in the desert, human nature comes out. It’s nothing to be so surprised about.”
Jeon spoke as if it were no big deal.
It was not such a rare thing for yesterday’s comrade to become today’s enemy.
Perhaps they had held a grudge from before, or perhaps they had coveted the items the corpse had possessed.
Isolated in a barren environment like the desert, the true nature they had kept tightly hidden until now would emerge.
Jeon wasn’t surprised because he had seen such sights countless times, but Mandi and Gim Sangsik seemed greatly shocked and couldn’t say a word.
Jeon said as he stood up.
“Let’s get going. Monsters that have caught the scent will be here soon.”
If they wasted time trying to tend to the corpse, they would make themselves targets for the monsters.
It was best to leave this place before the monsters arrived.
Fortunately, both Mandi and Gim Sangsik obediently followed Jeon’s words.
Their relationship with the corpse was merely that of colleagues dispatched together.
Because there had been no personal connection, they could leave coldly.
Just how long had they walked like that?
“Kuhuk! Get away. Kyaaah!”
Suddenly, an agonized voice was faintly heard from far away.
Jeon took the group and headed in the direction the voice came from.
“Tsk!”
Jeon suddenly clicked his tongue.
Mandi asked cautiously.
“Why?”
She still couldn’t see anything with her eyes. Therefore, she couldn’t understand what Jeon was seeing that made him click his tongue.
Jeon pointed at the sky with his finger.
“It’s a wyvern pack.”
“Wyverns?”
Only then did Mandi direct her gaze to the sky.
Far away in the sky, she saw a pack of wyverns circling.
Walking a bit further, they saw an Awakener fighting a desperate battle against the wyvern pack.
He swung his spear and attacked the wyverns. But his attacks couldn’t reach the wyverns.
The wyverns toyed with the Awakener like a cat playing with a mouse.
Each time, large wounds appeared on the Awakener’s body.
He was protecting himself with protective gear made in Neo Seoul, but it was useless against the wyverns’ sharp claws.
Shred!
The wyverns’ claws ripped through the Awakener’s protective gear like a rag.
The Awakener being attacked was named Criard.
He was an Awakener belonging to Team 3, together with the corpse Jeon’s group had discovered moments ago.
He had killed his colleague and stolen water and items.
He had had no choice because there was a lack of water. Items were a bonus. They were things the dead no longer needed anyway.
Having killed his colleague like that, he crossed the desert alone.
Until then, he had been confident he would survive.
No matter how dangerous the desert was, he had thought he could get through any crisis. But realizing how foolish that thought was took less than half a day.
Kraaah!
He was helpless against the teeth and claws of the wyvern pack attacking from the sky.
“Kraaack!”
In the end, Criard had his neck bitten by the wyverns’ teeth and breathed his last.
As Criard died, the wyverns flocked to enjoy their feast.
Their appearance was reminiscent of a flock of crows.
“Kkeug!”
Gim Sangsik turned his head away upon seeing Criard’s corpse being torn apart.
His face contained both disgust and fear.
Mandi was the same, but as befitting an Awakener, she surveyed the situation calmly.
An exceptionally large wyvern entered her vision.
While the other wyverns devoured Criard’s corpse ravenously, it alone stood proud and aloof, keeping watch over the surroundings as if disinterested.
A black body twice as large as the other wyverns, gleaming.
At a glance, one could tell it was the leader of the wyverns.
Around its massive body, a faint red light rippled.
Mandi recognized the identity of the faint light at a glance.
“A force field? Then it’s a B-rank or higher monster?”
The black wyvern possessed a force field said to be attainable only by at least B-rank monsters or dungeon boss-level entities.
Sparks flew around the black force field. It was a phenomenon caused by the force field being too powerful. A phenomenon that only appeared in A-rank monster force fields.
In other words, the black wyvern was an A-rank monster.
“Huk!”
Mandi let out a groan without realizing it.
Because her eyes had met the black wyvern’s.
The giant black wyvern was definitely looking in her direction.
“Hiccup!”
An uncontrollable hiccup escaped her from the immense fear consuming her body.
Because that savage wyvern pack wouldn’t leave them alone.
They didn’t allow any living creature to enter their territory.
Mandi thought the wyvern pack would soon fly over and attack them. But strangely, no matter how much time passed, the wyvern pack showed no signs of moving.
Especially the giant black wyvern, which looked elsewhere and acted distracted.
As if there was something here it shouldn’t see.
‘Could it be because of him?’
Mandi hurriedly looked at Jeon. Then Jeon spoke with a smile.
“It seems the wyvern pack has full bellies. Seeing that they aren’t paying attention to us. We never know when they might change their minds and chase us, so let’s hurry.”
He moved his feet without waiting for Mandi’s answer.
“L-let’s go together.”
“Urk!”
Mandi and Gim Sangsik followed Jeon without any time to think further.
Once Jeon’s group disappeared from sight, the black wyvern turned its head and looked back again.
In the black wyvern’s eyes watching Jeon’s retreating figure, a faint glimmer of fear lingered.