[Gr-r-r…]
A low growl echoed from the cave’s entrance.
Though it was a tense moment, Raul let out a sigh of relief upon hearing the sound.
“Thank goodness. It’s a gray wolf.”
‘…Can you see it?’
Woojin looked toward the cave entrance Raul was glaring at, but saw nothing.
Even though he couldn’t see it, he knew what gray wolves were.
They were one of the low-tier monsters inhabiting the Dark Forest, a beginner’s zone near Moretti Village.
Weaker than goblins, they were prey for novices alongside slimes.
“…Let me help too.”
He had hunted a few in the game before.
“For now, stay here. Reducing their numbers before going in is better.”
Perhaps due to his nerves, Woojin clumsily drew his sword.
Watching him, Raul lightly patted his shoulder and drew a dagger from the leather strap slung diagonally across his chest.
Shwik—.
Without hesitation, he threw the dagger.
[Kaeng—!!]
A shriek pierced the air.
‘Throwing skill?’
Woojin stared at Raul in astonishment.
Shwik, shwik—!
Raul threw two more daggers.
One clanged against the cave wall, missing its mark, but the other struck the wolf squarely between its eyes.
‘As expected… similar to the game, yet different.’
In Evil Tale, warriors used swords, while the throwing skill belonged to rogues. Rogues couldn’t equip long swords like Raul’s.
Seeing that game restrictions like class-specific weapons didn’t apply here, Woojin was once again reminded that this was reality.
“Five of them. You can handle one, right?”
As he finished speaking, Raul drew his sword and slashed at the wolves.
“Huup—!!”
With a tense expression, Woojin gripped his sword.
Whoosh…!!
Keeping his eyes on the wolf, he swung the sword downward with all his strength.
Thud—!!!
The wolf leapt back with ease, leaving Woojin’s sword to pitifully strike the ground.
‘It’s heavy.’
The moment he drew the sword from its sheath, he felt his confidence waver.
Though Evil Tale prided itself on realism, many aspects had clearly been adjusted for player convenience.
Throb—.
After just a few swings, his wrist began to ache.
‘…Damn it!’
The fatigue was something he had never experienced in the game.
If the game had been this demanding, he would’ve collapsed before even starting a hunt.
“Huff… huff…”
The sword, which he had once wielded with ease in the game, now felt unbearably heavy.
Even with the death penalty hanging over him in the game, it couldn’t compare to the real danger of fighting for his life.
The extreme tension weighed down on his entire body.
“Hoo.”
Woojin exhaled sharply, while the wolf began circling him slowly, as if sensing an opening.
Bang—! Crash—!!
Raul fought the wolves skillfully, his sword slicing fluidly through the air.
Crunch—!!
His blade cut clean through a wolf’s nape.
Mesmerized by Raul’s graceful swordsmanship, Woojin found himself staring.
[Kaang—!!!]
That was a mistake.
The wolf didn’t miss the fleeting opportunity.
“Ugh!”
Woojin hastily raised his sword, but the wolf twisted its body mid-air and sank its teeth into his shoulder.
“Arghhh—!!!”
Pain as sharp as knives digging into his flesh overwhelmed him, and Woojin screamed, twisting his body in agony.
[Gr-r-r…]
The wolf leapt back, putting distance between them.
Its bared fangs were stained with Woojin’s blood.
“Huff… huff…”
Clutching his throbbing shoulder, Woojin pointed his trembling sword at the wolf.
The blade shaked like a leaf in the wind.
This was real.
The pain affirmed that this world was not a game but a stark reality.
‘I really… I’m really in another world.’
Doubting it was pointless.
The blood dripping down his arm was real, and the monster still threatening his life was right in front of him.
Flash—!!
The wolf lunged at its weary prey without hesitation.
“Arghhh!”
Woojin threw himself at the charging beast, rolling on the ground to narrowly dodge its attack. He swung his sword in desperation.
[Karung—!!!]
The wolf twisted its body unnaturally, effortlessly evading the strike before leaping back.
Thud—.
Woojin dove forward, grabbing the wolf’s leg as he slid.
Squish—!!
He thrust his sword into the wolf’s abdomen, piercing through its side.
Blood and entrails gushed out, splattering onto Woojin’s face.
“Ugh…!!”
Woojin shoved the wolf’s corpse off him and scrambled to his feet.
“Urgh…! Ughhh!!”
Though the guts weren’t as foul as he’d expected, their warmth twisted his stomach.
“Huff… huff…”
Amidst the horrific scene of blood, guts, and his own vomit, the wolf, clinging to life, snapped its jaws at him.
Slash—.
A silver flash swept before Woojin’s eyes.
“Never let your guard down. Even a low-tier monster has tenacious vitality.”
The growling wolf’s head rolled cleanly to the ground.
“Th-thank you.”
Were gray wolves always this vicious?
Woojin, pale with dread, nodded at Raul.
‘Huh?’
At that moment, he noticed Raul’s sword.
The silver flash from earlier hadn’t been his imagination.
A faint glow enveloped the blade.
“Could it be… an aura blade?”
“Ah, it’s nothing special.”
Raul spoke casually, but Woojin couldn’t hide his astonishment.
‘An aura blade? That’s the pinnacle skill in the warrior’s fifth-tier skill tree….’
“You’re incredible.”
“Ha, I may not look it, but I’m a first-class hunter.”
Raul smiled, showing off the small black feather ornament at his waist.
‘I thought this world mirrored the game, but… faced with real monsters, I froze and forgot about using any skills.’
Even at level 10, he had two skills: [Smash] and [Dash].
‘But how do I use them?’
This wasn’t the game, where skills could be learned automatically by leveling up.
Woojin silently watched Raul.
Squish—.
Raul sliced open the wolf’s belly with his dagger.
Crack…….
A faint crackling sound echoed.
“You’re in luck,” Raul remarked, pulling something out from within the wolf’s belly and holding it out to him.
“What is this?”
A small, red, stone-like fragment lay in Raul’s palm.
“It’s a rune.”
“…A rune?”
“It’s the lowest grade, but still useful. Red runes increase strength.”
The fragment glimmered faintly, decked with an unfamiliar, glowing pattern.
‘It’s real.’
Woojin stared at the rune in astonishment, hardly believing his eyes.
‘How is it possible for a rune to come from a gray wolf?’
Runes existed in Evil Tale, but they were rare. Information on them suggested that the Lizard King, the boss on the fifth floor of the Maze Tower, occasionally dropped them as a reward. Starting from the sixth floor, lower-tier runes could rarely drop from summoned monsters.
Yet here it was—a rune emerging from a gray wolf, a creature found in a beginner’s zone.
“Go ahead, try it,” Raul said, placing the rune in Woojin’s hand.
“…Are you sure I can have this?”
“Of course. A human body can only absorb a limited number of runes. For the lowest tier, it’s capped at twenty per attribute. I’ve already had my fill.”
In Evil Tale, even the lowest-tier runes were so rare that none could be found in the trading market.
‘This world might resemble the game, but it’s different.’
Unlike the game, which was still in the process of clearing the tenth floor, this place seemed to be the future, where the 99th floor had already been conquered.
‘This kind of difference is definitely welcome.’
Crunch.
The rune shattered more easily than expected.
“Oh…”
A refreshing, herbal aroma filled his mouth. As he swallowed, a warm sensation surged down his throat.
“This… feels incredible.”
A wave of vitality coursed through Woojin’s body.
‘A red rune… so it’s a strength rune.’
Whoosh.
The sword, which had felt heavy before, now seemed slightly lighter in his hands.
‘I don’t know about skills yet, but runes definitely have a noticeable effect.’
Grrr…….
A guttural growl came from outside the cave, pulling Woojin’s attention. A sea of glowing red eyes reflected the faint light outside, too many to count.
The excitement that had been bubbling inside him moments ago quickly cooled.
“…Looks like they’re not giving up.”
Raul’s words carried a note of grim humor, and Woojin steeled himself, gripping his sword tighter. But this time, something had changed.
‘One, two, three…’
Even in the face of countless enemies, fear didn’t overtake him.
‘Could there be more runes to collect?’
Instead, a spark of hope and determination lit his eyes. For the first time, this world didn’t feel so hostile.
[Kaeng…!!]
The pitiful cries of wolves echoed, but only briefly.
Thunk.
When the last wolf’s head hit the ground, morning light began to filter into the cave.
“…Morning already,” Raul muttered, leaning on his sword like a staff and stretching his back with a groan.
“How many were there? Can’t deny it anymore—age’s catching up to me. I’m exhausted.”
He was covered in blood, but the vast pool staining the ground wasn’t his own.
“It’s an agility rune,” Woojin said flatly, crouching over the last wolf’s body, completely unfazed by the metallic stench in the air.
“Heh, you’re adapting quickly. Didn’t you throw up the first time?”
‘Strength runes: 5, Agility runes: 6, Vitality runes: 8, Dexterity runes: 4.’
The haul from a single night of relentless combat.
‘In game terms, each lowest-tier rune increases the relevant stat by 5 points.’
In Evil Tale, leveling up awarded players 5 stat points per level.
‘So these runes are effectively one level-up each. If this were the game, I would’ve gained 24 levels in a single night.’
The achievement was astounding, yet it didn’t fill him with joy.
This wasn’t a game where death was reversible. If he died here, it was over.
‘I have to survive. At all costs.’
“Yes. There’s no reason to refuse a way to grow stronger,” Woojin said, his expression hardening as he crunched another agility rune between his teeth.
“But it’s not enough.”
“…Hmm?” Raul raised a curious brow, noticing the hungry gleam in Woojin’s eyes.
“Can I learn it too?”
A strange question. In a world where his very existence had vanished, where he was trapped in an unfamiliar reality, despair might have seemed natural.
Yet Woojin’s eyes burned with a fierce resolve.
‘Maybe this is an opportunity.’
This was a world without level caps. A place where skills weren’t locked behind rigid trees.
‘In the game, it would’ve been impossible…’
But here, it could be.
“Aura Blade.”
A master-tier skill unlocked only at level 99.
In the history of Evil Tale, no player had ever reached it.
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