Chapter 275
The Great Forest.
If Atura was the battlefield where two nations clashed, then the Great Forest was the wild itself, where everyone hunted and was hunted.
It was said that no existence in Pangaea could become an absolute predator within it.
For one never knew what deadly weapon might lurk in the shadows of the dense trees.
Heroic beings were no exception.
The Spider Legion.
The Wild Predators.
Near the continent's mountain range, colossal locusts held dominion.
There were also hunters no less fearsome than the chasers of the desert.
Their defining trait was that all were masters of the hunt.
What would happen if the greatest hunters began hunting one another?
That was simply the Great Forest.
"Ah! One minute after First Blood, the second kill has occurred! Location is the Great Forest!"
The broadcast host briefly turned the screen.
He had resolved to mainly watch Seojun, but he couldn't *just* watch Seojun.
Now that the fight was over, if an event like this happened, he had to show it for a moment.
What the viewers wanted was to mainly watch someone, but still be able to roughly grasp what was happening from a single screen.
[Found them early with luck……. Wait, wasn't I the first? Was it Atura?]
The heroes of the Great Forest grew stronger the more they hunted.
Trees, ants, spiders, mantises, birds, snakes, predators, predators, predators.
They hunted predators.
And the apex of those predators was another hero.
He had hoped that killing another hero quickly would have secured him the First Kill bonus, but the sense of disappointment was palpable.
The successful hunter was Baek Doyul.
The victim was a regular streamer.
"Ahh……. Looking at the fight footage, it was completely one-sided. Just like the first ones eliminated, it seems ordinary streamers are helpless before monsters called pros, aren't they?"
-ㅠㅠㅠ
-But Jin Seojun isn't a pro?
-Baek Doyul is a monster even among pros
-The boss is even more of a monster!
-That guy's good too though
"Oh. You say our Lord Kael isn't a pro? Well, that's true. Still, I personally think it's a relief Seojun wasn't born in the Great Forest. As if the ecosystem could be destroyed or something."
-lol so true
-Ah, our trust in the boss is just absolute
-From the start, the broadcast title literally says "Don't come in unless it's the Boss Squad"
-Boss host legally sucking honey with permission from the boss, lol.
-But the viewers are at 130,000?
The host turned the spectator screen back to Seojun, trying to lower the corners of his mouth that kept rising.
Viewers had surpassed 100,000 again this time.
It was safe to say the start had been a successful strategy.
Now, if only Seojun would put on a show like he did a moment ago!
What the host saw after looking away for a moment and returning was Seojun, standing over a corpse, gripping a sword planted in the ground, his head bowed in silence.
"Pfft."
To put it crudely, it was a sight to behold.
In terms of setting, the opponent wasn't dead, just retired, but still.
-lololololololololol
-Pretending to be so damn devout, fcking lol
-That bastard is starting to enjoy this. Stop him!
-Back in Cheonma, the moment that bastard started enjoying it, that's how the orthodox and unorthodox factions all got wrecked lol
The time, whether it was silent prayer or a moment of meditation, was quite long.
Then Seojun raised his head.
[The heretic is dealt with. That is all. There is no mercy.]
-Lol, the bastard stays solemn
-The drama is so damn funny lolol
-So how did he know he was going to betray him?
-Show proof he's a heretic!
"Seojun attacked Dennis first, but maybe he noticed something suspicious? He's someone who has a ghost-like sense for dangerous situations in the first place."
-This seems plausible
-What are you talking about lol He just killed him because he didn't like him
-I think he killed him because he didn't like him? With that personality, it's totally possible
-Wait... so is he going to kill everyone from now on and frame them as heretics??? Lolololol
-That's a ridiculous theory lol He must have had a reason!
People dreaded the second coming of a medieval inquisitor.
Those acts of throwing someone into the fire without reason, declaring them a witch if they survived and human if they didn't.
What if someone did that, and even those who didn't survive were declared witches simply because they rubbed him the wrong way?
What if he developed a taste for it?
"So the reason Pangaea is destroyed……. is Kael? Who could stop him?"
The host muttered as if in shock.
Countless gasps flood the chat.
-Lol Kael is the kind of hero who seems like he'd be the absolute last cause of destruction lol
-You are a heretic. You are sentenced to death lolol
The viewers in the boss's room began to joke and laugh again.
It was a "no way, but maybe" situation, and in many ways, it was a headache-inducing scenario.
***
Of course, Seojun wasn't a psychopath who attacked allies just because he suddenly didn't like them.
He had simply felt it as they walked.
Every time he walked ahead of Seojun, he would pause for a split second.
His body was filled with excessive tension.
For that reason, Seojun tested him once with his sword, and Dennis reacted properly, as if he was already on guard.
Seojun was well aware of the situation itself—that Dennis might be walking into a prepared trap.
He also had a grasp on the hero named Dennis.
Dennis wasn't a hero who grew stronger by successfully pushing back the Atura front lines and gaining achievement points; he was a hero who simply grew stronger the more enemies he killed.
Meaning, he didn't particularly need Seojun's help.
A rival.
'Perhaps?'
All members of the History Book were potential rivals.
Just because they were in the same faction didn't guarantee they would be allies.
The chances of that were slim.
They were scattered all over.
If anything, this History Book was.
'Either everyone's on the same side, or it's a free-for-all.'
It was likely one of the two.
Seojun's intuition told him so.
In any case, explaining these things probably wouldn't make people accept why Seojun attacked Dennis.
'Maybe people in Germany will ask why I did it?'
Seojun was unaware that Dennis had conspired beforehand in full view of everyone after the History Book started.
So he thought people might see him as someone who suddenly attacked without reason.
That's why Seojun came up with the idea of becoming an inquisitor.
He figured this would be more entertaining than meticulously explaining the evidence of heresy.
'Should I just live like this entirely from now on?'
It might be convenient.
As Seojun seriously considered an idea that viewers would desperately try to talk him out of, he arrived at the front lines.
The opposing hero was nowhere to be seen.
The battlefield had a peculiar shape.
It wasn't a war of massive army against massive army, but a series of small-unit battles fought by squads of about ten.
However, the more such a battlefield was like this, the more one had to be wary of unexpected attacks springing from nowhere.
Just like Seojun was entering now.
"I don't see the enemy hero."
He didn't know what they were doing, but if so.
"I'll take the 50 points for free."
Seojun plunged among the soldiers.
***
[Conflict Zone Support]
--
Provide support in Atura, the conflict zone with Daran.
Request as much support as possible.
Objective: Push the front line by 50 meters or more
Reward: Achievement Points +50
--
[You have completed the mission and acquired Achievement Points +50.]
Returning to the capital, completing the mission, and receiving 50 achievement points to reach a total of 80, Seojun spoke to Ian again.
"Hey, hurry up and give me another one."
He currently possessed the most achievement points, no doubt.
A hero who had directly hunted another hero in the Great Forest might have more points than this, but Seojun had achieved the very first victory.
Therefore, it was obvious he was in the lead.
But competitors would catch up quickly. They were all professionals.
Ian shook his head.
"You should rest now. You've done well."
This was expected.
These missions were once a day.
Meaning, he had to wait four hours until a day passed in-game to receive another.
The next mission would likely be the second version of the conflict zone support.
With a goal of maybe pushing 80 meters instead of 50. Again, from the start.
"Give it to me quickly."
"I'm sorry, but you must rest. As a servant of the God of Light, I cannot permit it."
"What's the correlation?"
"Before the one we both serve, you and I are equal. I cannot demand unreasonable……."
"Hmm, would you do that even if Asierth were on the verge of ruin?"
"That's……."
"See? Hand it over quickly."
"I cannot. Go and rest. Leave now, let's meet tomorrow."
Seojun was thrown out.
Ian pushed him, and Seojun found resistance as impossible as pushing against a superconductor.
Cast out of the office, Seojun checked the remaining time.
'Two hours. It's not like there's nothing to do…….'
Originally, pushing the front line in Atura would have been a more time-consuming mission.
Because the reward was that high.
However, the reason it ended quickly was that no hero from Daran appeared.
From tomorrow onward, the AI would adjust things; not only would the objectives be higher, but many heroes would appear to stop him.
'That's probably how it'll be.'
What about running away to another mission?
'If I run, I won't get many points.'
It felt like he was moving exactly as intended.
'If I don't get many points, I'll find out what the major event of this History Book is later than everyone else.'
Indeed, life was like this.
Eyes gleaming, Seojun left the building and descended into the city to find another way to earn points.
Muttering like this.
"Catching more heretics."
This concept.
It might be a little fun.
"Pickpockets are definitely heretics to start with."
***
There were a total of five heroes in Daran.
While Asierth had three, they had two more.
It was revealed that they could handle matters related to their respective houses, accumulate achievement points, and upgrade their specs in their house treasuries or find clues.
Four were nobles.
One belonged to a guild.
The nobles of Daran had a privilege.
If they went to the council every evening, they could know what national quests would appear the next day.
No, predicting that much was possible, so it wasn't a huge privilege.
Their true privilege was that they could know the detailed contents and even modify them if they could persuade the NPCs.
National quests, as opposed to house quests given by the system, were of course something they could do as well.
"So why was Atura pushed back?"
One of the Daran participants asked the one who had started in Atura.
"I figured I couldn't win, so I gave up immediately and did another quest. The German streamer Dennis probably died too."
"And the result?"
"This quest."
[Counterattack]
--
The front line in Atura has been pushed back significantly.
Thanks to the additional deployment of troops and the absence of Asierth's warmonger, recovery was successful.
A counterattack is necessary.
Objective: Push the front line by 50 meters or more. Or kill Kael.
Reward: Achievement Points +90
--
"Is it about evening now?"
"Yes."
"We'll reclaim it during the night."
"What if the opponent stops us?"
"What's the point of stopping us? It doesn't even give points. What, are we really going to break through Atura and occupy Daran?"
There was no way that could happen.
They could make fools of the Daran heroes.
But if a crisis befell their faction, the obtainable rewards would sharply decrease.
"Well, true. Still, I was surprised when the sword of judgment suddenly dropped on me."
"Haha. Anyway, 90 achievement points are quite tempting, aren't they? Do you think Kael will come to Atura again tomorrow?"
"The AI will make it so he has no choice. We don't have much freedom right now."
"It feels like they're forcing a fight heavily from the start……. Is this some overall trap?"
"Still, the only thing that matters is the 90 achievement points."
"So, shall we set the goal to pushing the front line for now? Let's not pick a fight and just die."
"With just that as a goal, we'll easily succeed the quest."
"And the opponent will fail."
For reference, the two who had come all the way to the council to check the next national quest, even this early in the game, were professional gamers.
And their conversation, foreshadowing a full-scale confrontation between Seojun and real pros, became a hot topic in real time.