The Wild Forest (6)

There was a large clearing in the eastern part of the forest that had been transformed into a developed outpost. The two entrances were shabby, but there were wooden fences and four guards on each side. There was a large blaze that was reminiscent of a campfire, and over eighty players were milling about, eating a late dinner.

“Slurp.” Seo Jun-ho was eating cup ramen for dinner. He ate a hearty meal with the kimchi he’d brought in his inventory and looked around when he finished.

There are 80 people here, and there are 72 players that are gathering in the north. 

A total of 152. It was the same number of players that were currently inside the Gate. Surprisingly, they had all decided to join him.

But the situation doesn’t look too good. On the first night, 48 people had died. They’d lost a fourth of their manpower, and it was starting to weigh on the survivors.

…It’s good that they’re as angry as they are nervous though.

They’d lost friends, sunbaes, hubaes, and lovers. The players who’d lost their loved ones were sharpening the knife of vengeance. Even if he told them to launch a full-scale offensive when morning came, they would probably listen without hesitation.

Seo Jun-ho calmed himself and organized his thoughts. Right now, I’m level 24. He’d killed 78 dark elves and Wolfdogs up ‘til now, which was less than he’d expected because he dispatched other players to clean them up. On top of that, he hadn’t had the time to fight much because he prioritized rescuing other players.

The remaining number of enemies is around 560. With the number of players they had, all they had to do was kill four dark elves each. But that was only if they went ‘hunting’. Tomorrow will be like a war. 

After he’d saved the last survivor, the Bravo party’s maknae, Seo Jun-ho had set up the outpost. He hadn’t encountered a dark elf since then.

They’re starting to feel the losses. The tribe chief was smart, so he wouldn’t act rashly. He would probably lock down their stronghold and focus on naval forces. The players had to make the first move.

The problem is… Seo Jun-ho looked at each player who was eating. They came from all different races, nationalities, guilds, and parties; some of them were also non-combatants like Seo Mirae. Compared to the dark elves who move under their leader’s orders, we just seem like a mob.

They were obedient for now because they were thirsty for vengeance, but he didn’t know how long that would last. And that wasn’t the only problem.

“We have to hurry up and clear it!”

“I get what you’re saying, but we can’t all sacrifice ourselves for one person.” Seo Jun-ho’s attention turned to the two groups that were arguing.

“Dammit… We can’t treat this without a medical specialist.”

The Bravo party’s maknae was on the brink of death. Choi Jin-pyo and other healers had tried to help him, but they were useless against the poison.

“What are you so scared of? If we combine with the other players, there’ll be 150 of us! 150!”

“Watch what you’re saying. Who said I was scared?”

“…Ugh.”

Seo Jun-ho facepalmed. They were already disorganized, and now, there was infighting.

It’ll be impossible to clear the Gate by normal means…

One of the players noticed him staring. “Jun-ho-nim, what do you think?”

“Well, there’s pros and cons to either option. But…” As he spoke, dozens of players looked at him, “If possible, it would be best to clear it quickly.”

“I knew it!” The Bravo party’s faces brightened, and the other group looked disappointed. Seo Jun-ho quickly continued.

“Of course, it’s not simply for the sake of one person.” It was the conclusion he had come to after pondering for a long time. He knew how large their forces were, but the others didn’t.

“First of all, the number of dark elves left is around the number that attacked us the first night.”

“…May I ask why you think that?”

“We thought there would be around two hundred at most.”

“Of course. You probably came to that conclusion after thinking about how dark elves act.” They were extremely selfish and individualistic by nature. These players weren’t beginners, so that had been the first thing they considered.

But we’re not dealing with normal dark elves. The leader of the Black Moss tribe was extremely intelligent. His overwhelming power had united the self-centered dark elves; it was obvious from the unexpected attack on the first night. As Seo Jun-ho explained this, the other players slowly started to nod.

“That makes sense… The dark elves in this forest were very different from what I knew about them.”

“Their coordinated attack means they’re an organized group. As you’ve said, this is likely thanks to their leader.”

“It reminds me of what Specter said in the past, ‘You can study for college exams with a textbook, but you shouldn’t do that for hunting.’”

“He said that with these kinds of situations in mind.”

“Gates are always unpredictable.” The players started to understand. Even though Seo Jun-ho had the lowest level, he’d shown them the most. That’s why they say players only care about performance. 

One of the players spoke with a proud smile. “So you think that there are about five hundred dark elves left… How about the Woldogs?”

“There are no more left.”

“Huh?!” The players blinked, confused by his confidence. He wasn’t some fortune teller, after all.

“Think about the last player we saved.”

“Are you talking about our maknae?” A member of the Bravo party quietly raised their hand. Seo Jun-ho nodded.

“What was chasing him?”

“Um… There were dozens of Woldogs. The dark elves had released them.”

“Correct. And those Woldogs were just pups.” They hadn’t been large enough for the dark elves to ride.

“The fact that they were using young Woldogs in a pursuit means that they lost all their fully grown ones during the first attack.”

“Ohh…”

“Of course!” The players finally understood. They were also impressed: while they got distracted by the battle, Seo Jun-ho didn’t miss a single detail.

“Right now, the dark elves are probably locking down their stronghold and focusing on naval forces. But the longer this drags on, the worse it’ll be for us.” He was talking about the chronic problems for players. “We have limited rations, we can’t fully rest, and our numbers will dwindle.”

The enemy numbered over five hundred. The tribe chief wouldn’t move for now, but that would change once he understood the situation.

“They’re going to keep ambushing us. There probably won’t be any more large-scale surprise attacks…”

“But they’ll probably attack us every night with those poisoned arrows and run away.”

“We’ll be exhausted because we can’t rest…”

“And once they think they can win, they’ll come streaming out.”

It was good that these people caught on quickly. They started to understand the situation and what Seo Jun-ho meant.

“That makes sense.”

“Now that you say that, I think clearing the Gate as quickly as possible would be the best option.”

As their opinions started to change, the hostility between the players dissipated.

“I’m sorry about earlier. Our lives are also at risk here…”

“No, I apologize. We were thinking too much about ourselves.”

Seo Jun-ho changed the subject as the mood became somber. “I’ve sent scouts to do reconnaissance. It’ll be nice once we have information about their village.” Seo Jun-ho wasn’t worried. They’ll find it tomorrow morning at the latest. 

He’d purposely set up an outpost in the east because it was near the dark elves’ village.

“Rest up, everyone.” Seo Jun-ho nodded for Seo Mirae to follow. He led her to a quiet area.

“Why did you call me?” Seo Mirae tilted her head.

“Can you use your foresight skill now?”

“Um… Yes. Would you like me to look?”

“Yes.” Seo Jun-ho nodded. Understanding, Seo Mirae stared at him with her piercing eyes. A moment later, she shook her head in amazement.

“Wow, they found the village! We’re going to fight them tomorrow around lunchtime.”

“What else?”

“There’s a ton of them. Like you said, I didn’t see any Woldogs, but there are around six hundred dark elves?”

“And?”

“And…”

She shivered and made an exaggerated expression as she hugged her arms.

“There’s a dark elf with a gloomy air around him… There are five other elves around him that are bigger than the others.”

He knew about them. The Dark Elven Knights that attend him. 

But this wasn’t what Seo Jun-ho wanted to know. He already knew this all from seeing the dead’s memories. He wanted to know about his own story.

“And lastly…” She looked at Seo Jun-ho with suspicion. “You’re using something that looks like it’s made of ice… Is it an artifact?”

“……” Seo Jun-ho kept a straight face, but he was unsettled. …Is the leader that strong? Strong enough that I have to use Frost?

The reason he’d asked her to look was because he wanted to avoid revealing his Frost skill to the public.

“Thank you for your help. Please don’t tell other players what you saw.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Seo Jun-ho was locked deep in thought as Seo Mirae left.

As the sun rose, the reconnaissance team returned. There was good news and bad news.

“We found the valley!”

“It’s not very far. It’s about two hours to the east if we walk.”

“Ooh, the Spoiler was right.”

That was the good news.

“…But their numbers are much bigger than we thought.”

“We only watched from afar, but there’s at least five hundred of them.”

“It’s gonna be a hard battle.”

That was the bad news.

But Seo Jun-ho had expected this and told the other players, so they weren’t surprised. They were impressed again as his suspicions were confirmed.

The players in the north and south were also starting to gather.

“Black Cow party, seven people. Present.”

“Iron Cane party, four people. Here.”

At around lunchtime, all the players in the Gate had gathered in one area—a rare sight to behold.

“All the players in a large-scale Gate, gathered together…”

“It’s the first time we’ve all been together since we first entered.”

“…It’s truly amazing. This many people were gathered by just one person.”

They all looked at Seo Jun-ho, who was in black armor and preparing for battle. He’d helped them more times than they could count. There were many people who wouldn’t be standing here without him.

Ignoring their stares, Seo Jun-ho twisted his hip as he stretched.

“Are the preparations complete?” The question was directed at none other than a smiling Cha Min-woo. He’d been the party leader when they first entered, but at some point, he’d started acting as a sort of deputy; he even seemed to enjoy it.

“There are three people that are out of commission and two non-combatants were assigned to protect them. Excluding them, all 147 people are here. We’re ready.”

“Then let’s go.” As Seo Jun-ho spoke, the scouts scattered in all four directions. Seo Jun-ho followed, one hundred players trailing behind him.