Meeting Some People I Know. (2/3)
A total of four people appeared from the thickets, with a ratio of three guys and one girl. They all had disheveled hair and their clothes were in poor shape like a vagabond. I didn’t mean this as an insult as our own clothes were in a similar shape.
‘Huh…?’
I didn’t know what it was but he seemed quite familiar. If it was a Player I knew, that meant the person was active in Hall Plain. He looked very common, but for now, I put this aside and went to the next person in a clockwise direction.
Next person was right at the front, his hair was so long that it reached his hips. His face was very slender and he had slim features, if you saw him from the back you would mistake him for a girl. But from his firm chin and sharp eyes, you could tell he was a guy.
In the centre was a girl that was protected by everyone, she looked refined. She looked trouble and was looking around. It seems she was searching for something.
Finally, on the right end, there was a guy spinning his sword and flashing his teeth. His shifty actions really grated on my nerves. The silence was broken as the lead guy with an exhausted voice spoke about us.
“I think they are survivors just like us.”
“There is nothing to be amazed about, we met some survivors before.”
The person holding the bow replied stiffly. The guy playing around with the sword, tossing it and catching, laughed at us and acted boorishly.
“Tsk tsk… They look what, early twenty? Poor bastards… they are only children.”
Hearing that, An-Hyun immediately took a position with his shield and took a step forward. I quickly grabbed his shoulder and shook my head, telling him to wait it out. Fortunately, An-Hyun understood my intentions. He gritted his teeth and stepped back. Seeing this, that thuggish guy playing with his sword chuckled and his eyes became wild.
“Did you see that? That punk looking bastard. He became angry because of what I said. Ah man, I just can’t say anything can I? Scary.”
“You provoked him first. Step back and look after Jung-Min.”
“... Tsk.”
After being criticised by the bow-wielding guy, he pouted his lips and stayed quiet. However, my party was already cold and stiff by their response. The party was put off by their conversation, talking amongst themselves like we weren’t even there.
Slowly the tension was rising until the long hair man spoke up.
“Hello, nice to meet you. My name is Wu Jing-Min. As you must know by now, I am just another person that got brought into this miserable place.”
‘Wu Jung-Min. The Crimson Canine’s Clan Lord?”
I was startled, remembering who he was. That devilish existence with his trademarked dual wielding. Are you telling me that the person in front of me was that Wu Jung-Min…?
I immediately activated my Third Eye.
< Player Status >
1. Name : Wu Jung-Min(Year(s) 0)
2. Sex : Male(26)
3. Height · Weight : 177.9cm · 65.7kg
4. Alignment : True · Chaos
[Strength 51] [Resistance 43] [Agility 59] [Vitality 48] [Magic Power 55] [Luck 36]
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I thought that no one could surpass An-Hyun’s stat in the Rite of Passage, but Wu Jung-Min’s stats broke that idea into pieces. I was astonished as in front of my eyes was that Wu Jung-Min, the Clan Lord of Crimson Canine that was in charge of United Army.
“... An-Hyun. Same as you.”
An-Hyun’s blunt reply cause an uproar in Wu Jung-Min’s party. Rather than that, I sharpened my sense. If he really, truly was that Wu Jung-Min, then I could guess who that bow-wielding man was as he was a part of the lower half of the 10 strongest in Hall Plain...
Should I kill him now? But I immediately discarded that idea. If I was alone, I would kill him without hesitation. With the party with me, it was impossible. Before I knew it, both my party and Wu Jung-Min’s party had drawn our weapons.
That thug spoke to An-Hyun dismissively.
“That’s why we can’t treat children with kindness. You said you were An-Hyun? If you don’t want to die, you better fix you manners.”
“Oppa. We don’t have time to fight.”
“This isn’t the first time. We can kill them in an instant, so keep quiet and wait.”
The woman at the centre spoke for the first time but that thug interjected. At this she gave him a terrifying glare, daring him to step out of line. The thug clicked his tongue as he got the woman’s message.
“Ah~. I get it, I get it. Stop glaring at me. Before I eat you alive. Ah. That’s a joke. A joke. Why can’t she take a joke… Never mind. You greenhorns. I am Chun Seun-Hyun. I want to ask you one thing, about these five monkeys, did you kill them?”
“If we did what you going to do about it?”
Chun Seun-Hyun. The moment I see you in Hall Plain, you are dead. Thinking on these murderous thoughts, a clear voice rang through the clearing. The voice was filled with sharp hostility. I prayed that it wasn’t Lee Yu-Jung’s voice. But it was. She had a big ego and seeing an upgrade version of Park Don-Gul, she couldn’t help but butt head with Chun Seun-Hyun. Blinking in surprise, Chun Seun-Hyun laughed and clapped his hands in applause.
“Bwahahaha~. Ha.... Keep it in, keep it in. Keke, you bitch I will let it slide just this once. We aren’t feeling mighty generous right now. And w~e a~r~e rea~lly bu~sy. Kapish? So just answer our questions quickly and we can all say our bye~bye. Ah. Show some manners when you speak~. Well, you don’t really have to. I won’t warn you twice anyways.”
Lee Yu-Jung had that distinctive smirk as Chun Seun-Hyun finished.
“You maniac. No, you imbecile. You won’t give us a warning, so what? You think you are worth something? You poor bastard.”
Lee Yu-Jung’s retort was refreshing as always. In one way, Chun Seun-Hyun was exactly like Park Don-Gul. Seeing her spewing profanities with her gentle face, Chun Seun-Hyun stared at us blankly. Chun Seun-Hyun gave a loud sigh and tightened his grip on his sword. I focused on my right hand.
“These bastards are just like dogs, you have to discipline them for them to obey. Anyways, farewell.”
That trash talking Chun Seun-Hyun suddenly lifted his right arm and threw the sword he was playing with. The sword flew fast and was targeting Lee Yu-Jung’s head. At this point, An-Hyun had given up trying to pull Lee Yu-Jung back and had rather moved quickly with his shield in front. An-Hyun was suspicious of Chun Seun-Hyun from the very beginning, having been firmly gripping on his shield the whole time he managed blocked the sword without problem. And me...
Kang!
Ping! Puk.
“Aaaaaaaa!”
The sword smashed into the shield and fell by the wayside. At the same time, my bolt pierced Chun Seun-Hyun’s right arm. Clutching his right arm, Chun Seun-Hyun screamed in pain. The situation was simple, while An-Hyun was blocking the sword I aimed my crossbow and shot that bastard.
Of course, the other party did not stand still. In an instant, the bow-wielding man had pulled on his bowstring and tried to shoot first but from the ‘Ting’ sound I found that it was an empty draw. With great urgency in my heart, I pulled all the strength I had and in a split second had 3 bolts aimed at the bowman’s head. At the same time, I activated my Third Eye.
< Player Status >
1. Name : Seon Yu-Un(Year(s) 0)
2. Sex : Male(25)
3. Height · Weight : 180.9cm · 78.4kg
4. Alignment : True · Neutral
[Strength 45] [Resistance 48] [Agility 62] [Vitality 54] [Magic Power 50] [Luck 50]
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Click! Chakka!
Seon Yu-Un. It was him without a doubt. With a class as an Archer, he would become one of the most powerful Players in Hall Plain. In that slight delay between firing and rearming the crossbow, we had both managed to aim our weapons at each other's head at the same time. In terms of stat points, there was a huge difference between him and me, but strictly speaking, I was slightly faster. Seon Yu-Un realised that as I could see his eyes trembling.
A cool tension permeated my party. There was a deafening silence and I could feel An-Hyun, Lee Yu-Jung and Kim Han-Byeol gripping their weapons tightly. They all were ready to fight the moment everything went south. In all of this, Chun Seun-Hyun was being a huge distraction as he rolled on the floor screaming.
“Aaaaa, Uaaaak! Kill them! Ya! Kill that fucker now! Kill him!”
“... The person who started this was you. Seun-Hyun. Shut up, you are embarrassing us.”
Chun Seun-Hyun began crying as he was reprimanded by Wu Jung-Min and cradled his right hand. I turned my gaze to Lee Yu-Jung. She was trembling, not having expected Chun Seun-Hyun to actually throw his sword at her. Wu Jung-Min, who was observing the situation silently from the beginning, looked at Chun Seun-Hyun with contempt before turning toward us.
“Let me apologise first. This has been escalated enough, so why don’t we stop? There is no benefit for either of us.”
“I want to but your side hasn’t dropped your bow.”
“Seon Yu-Un, end this. Release the string and put your bow away.”
Wu Jung-Min put his hand on Seon Yu-Un’s bow and forcefully pushed it down. Catching my eyes, Seon Yu-Un compiled and let down his bow. After making sure that they kept their word, I slowly dropped my right arm. Though right now, both I and Seon Yu-Un hadn’t unloaded our bolts or arrow. Wu Jung-Min lifted both his hand and stepped toward my party.
“Sorry. These guys aren’t usually like this but we are in a tight situation right now so we might have been rough. Right now, we want to ask you something… we are really short on time so I will go straight to the main point.”
The party all look at me, even An-Hyun. I nodded slightly.
“What do you want to know?”
“We have been chasing these monkeys till yesterday. For certain reasons, we left our spot for a short while… during that time one of our member was kidnapped by these monsters. Thank you for taking care of them but did you perhaps saw a girl?”
A woman Player… Perhaps her?
This reminded me of the woman that killed herself after been raped by those monkeys.
“Oppa, could it be that woman with that yellow cloth? With that long hair?”
Giving out a loud sigh, I face palmed. Did this girl ever think before speaking? There was dumb and there was this. I tutted at this thoughtlessly speaking Lee Yu-Jung. Hearing what Lee Yu-Jung said, the other parties faces brightened. The woman who complained about the lack of time was the one who asked us excitedly.
“Yes! She wore a yellow cloth and have long hair! Do you know where she is?”
“Ah… Um…”
Lee Yu-Jung looked bewildered and couldn’t respond properly. We just looked at each other silently without answering them. We were now certain that it was the dead woman that was raped by the monkeys. There was no easy way to tell her that. As we remained silent, the guys in the other party stiffened and guessed what had happened. However, the woman constantly appealed and begged us.
“Did you pass by on the way here? Or did you at least see her?”
“…….”
“Please. Please. Just tell me where you saw her. She’s my younger sister. She’s really friendly… and innocent… sniff…”
Seeing tears in her eyes, the party looked toward me.
You did so well by yourselves just now but you just have to give me all these complicated situations. Letting out a miserable sigh, I slowly opened my mouth to answer her.