Episode 78 – Gust from the North (8)
“No, what is that?”
I mumbled absentmindedly and enlarged the screen to look at it. Perhaps because there was a low hill in the middle that obstructed the view, Liena and other residents had not even been able to find it yet.
‘It’s a nest.’
No matter how you looked at it, it was a nest. A strange nest that seems to have been built where a village once stood. There was a difference depending on where you were, but the appearance of numerous egg shells, skin, and bustling glitches was similar to the appearance found in a place called a bug nest in the past.
I didn’t know why it appeared. The best thing to do was to think that it just happened naturally, just as they had appeared up until now.
Of course, the important thing is not what it looks like, but how to get rid of it or why it came here.
‘Is it to find food?’
After making a guess based on their habits and behavior, I eventually came to the conclusion that it was food.
They grow by eating food and absorbing energy. A glitch becomes a bug, and a bug becomes a higher-level bug. And as they grow like that, they erode the entire world, which I know is their very instinct.
But the residents I helped were no longer easy prey for them. The residents who had become stronger through games and received assistance through programs were no longer at a level where they could easily be attacked by sudden attacks.
Rather, it is obvious that they will turn on the fire in their eyes and beat them down, even if only for the sake of by-products.
Because of this, those who ran out of food had no choice but to look elsewhere. The locals on the other side of the world, whom I cannot help and have no knowledge of.
“It gets more annoying if I do this.”
I frowned and tapped the mouse I was holding.
I know that the existing strong players who occupy the land over there, like Garhan, are not easy opponents. However, if they are unable to properly resist the attacks of unfamiliar bugs, they will exploit the gap and quickly eat them and grow.
It will even grow that way and come to attack us. Bugs are trying to crawl out into reality through ‘My Desktop’ where residents currently live.
‘We must stop that too.’
Our goal is to ultimately stop those monsters. That’s why we couldn’t wait for them to spread to other places and cause trouble there, even for our own sake.
“—.”
While I was worrying like this, Riena and the scouts continued to drive their horses, gradually getting closer to the bug nest. Since it was impossible to fight against the glitches swarming in the nest at their level right now, I used the mouse to pick up some people who were preparing their own tasks in the village and placed them in addition.
The warriors, including Shura and Rakum, seemed taken aback by the sudden incident, but when they saw Liena in front of them, they immediately rode up and joined her.
Several warriors and many soldiers. Deciding for myself that this would be enough, I watched the ensuing fight with a nervous expression on my face.
‘We’ll need more equipment, after all.’
I guess my vision has improved a bit now, and as expected, our team easily dealt with the glitches that were swarming around the nest.
When the skills that Riena and other warriors had honed through repeated combat and training exploded, the centipede-like monsters were instantly cut off and exploded. Attacks containing mana were especially effective against them.
Moreover, the regular soldiers calmly banded together and took them down one by one, as if hunting a large animal, so there was no way we could see where we would lose.
[lvl 1 bug appears]
However, the slightly larger enemy that crawled out of the black crack in the middle of their nest was also an enemy that could not be easily dealt with.
The current level of bugs at lvl 1 can be easily dealt with by Riena alone, but her size and hard shell wrapped around her body are so strong that it is difficult to compare them to Glitch.
“—!”
In that situation, an arrow shot by a soldier named Les, unlike other arrows, broke the animal’s shell and became lodged in its body.
Those arrows, which are larger than ordinary arrows and made of different materials, are special arrows made by hunters to kill giant monsters called mutants, brought in from creature hunting.
By shooting that arrow, even ordinary soldiers can hit the bug.
“–, —!”
As Riena’s sword sliced through the enemy’s body, Shura jumped several meters above the ground and in the air, and swung the sharp white bone dagger in both hands, splitting the bug’s head in the shape of a cross.
Not only arrows, but also weapons wielded by warriors, these special weapons were more effective than ordinary steel weapons.
This was the reason why more specially manufactured equipment made from mutant by-products had to be airlifted.
[Medium death, crack sealing]
[Achievement achieved: First crack sealed]
“—?”
“– —.”
When all enemies have been defeated. As the residents gathered in front of the black crack that was spitting out these monsters, I clicked on the crack with my mouse.
It was possible to seal the rift due to the death of the vector. Could it be that the bug that just came out was the vector? In a hurry, I sealed the crack.
Then the residents murmured in amazement at the sight of the crack slowly disappearing.
‘We need to increase the number of hunters and work harder.’
After bringing them to the village with the mouse after picking up the by-products from the hunt, I opened the game window and saw the two warriors, Naru and Dune, who are still active as hunters in Creature Hunting.
I was thinking of adding some companions to them today. The idea was that if four people formed a group and continued hunting, they would earn more materials and money and use it to purchase special equipment to arm the residents.
‘Lua, and Urca.’
To that end, I looked at the status list of the residents and thought about who I could make into a hunter. I can place the best people in the best positions because I can see the talents they don’t even know they have.
The two people selected were a man and a woman, both former warriors who had surrendered and joined.
When I saw that their status table had hunter characteristics that had not yet been awakened, I picked them up with the mouse and placed them in the game.
“–!? –.”
It was the seniors who came in first who reassured the panicked people and explained the situation. Naaru and Dune were surprised to see them, but soon figured out my intentions, and as I watched, I told them what this place was and what they should do.
Thanks to this, the expressions of the newcomers stabilized at a noticeable speed. In the first place, they are people who harbor talent within themselves.
Since we only selected those people and brought them in, they will adapt quickly.
“Then let’s go.”
I chuckled and moved my character to take the lead and walk forward. Now all you have to do is repeat the hunt as if you were playing a game. Maybe it’s more comfortable than games. If I just take a step back and watch quietly, they will hunt on their own.
Their skills were even better than my ability to control the character using the keyboard.
***
“I only heard stories, but it’s hard to believe that it actually happened like this.”
“It seems like everyone does at first. So do we. But you’ll get used to it soon. “It’s not difficult.”
First, head to the city where the association is located to dispose of the mutants you hunted and the by-products of the bugs brought in from outside.
While the bipedal raccoon was leading the way, Naru and Dune continued to explain to the newcomers who still looked confused.
Although their careers weren’t very long, they certainly had seen and heard things, so they had enough to say. The newbies, Rua and Urca, also listened with nervous expressions because they knew that this choice meant that the guardian deity had personally chosen them.
“That’s the city right there. “There’s an association employee named Brandt over there, and we take the goods to him and sell them.”
They soon entered the city. Naaru and Dune had gotten used to it, but the newcomers’ eyes widened in amazement at the sight of so many different residents and they looked around.
‘Do you think there will be a chance today?’
Naru glanced around while the raccoon came out and disposed of the items to Brandt. This city was not just mysterious because of its size or appearance.
It was a place full of things to enjoy if you had the money. In fact, in a city where people live together, bars and entertainment are somewhat natural, but for the tribes of the grasslands, they were unfamiliar and shocking.
When he was away for a while and left them alone in the city, Naru and Dune were trying to enjoy it even a little bit.
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The things they saw and enjoyed here became mystical and fun adventure stories that the residents were excited about when they went outside, so they wanted to enjoy them even more.
“…Tina?”
“You guys seem to be working hard.”
A familiar face approached them. Tina, the hunter, is one of the characters in this game and a familiar face to Naru and Dune.
However, unlike the last time we met, she was smiling bitterly and was not wearing any armor, as if she had been injured, and her entire body was covered in bandages.
“You said you were going to hunt a new mutant, but what happened?”
“It’s common. “I mean getting killed or injured while hunting.”
Dune glanced at the raccoon who was still talking to Brandt and spoke to her first. After laughing helplessly, she shook her head and told me what happened to her while she was out hunting.
“It was a pretty strong monster. The black carapace that surrounds its body is impervious to most weapons, and its strong claws break thick trees and tear people to pieces with each swing. “The tail stinger, which sprays or stabs poison, was an extremely poisonous substance that melted people alive and killed the ground.”
She told me in quite detail what kind of strong enemy she was up against. From just hearing the story, it was an enemy that could be identified as a mutant of a fairly high rank.
However, the more they listened to her story, the more Naru and Dune noticed each other. This is because the appearance of the new species she described had something familiar about it.
“Wow, wow…”
“You also use tentacles? that’s right. “At the last moment, several people were killed by the tentacles it shot out from its shell as if struggling.”
A raccoon suddenly came in and intercepted their story, as if it had heard their story. Naru and Dune also flinched at the sight of the raccoon running between them, and Tina, slightly surprised, understood what the raccoon was saying as it looked up at her and nodded.
‘This is ridiculous.’
Hearing that answer, he froze in shock beyond the screen.
This is because all of Tina’s testimony pointed to a bug. He laughed in real life at the fact that the bug had even appeared in the game world.
“We killed him. “The one that ate the hunters was still moving and may have come near this city even though we couldn’t find it.”
Tina, who further testified about Berg, also revealed what he was doing at the time.
And the more he did that, the more his expression hardened.
‘Are you saying they follow us wherever we go?’
The purpose of the bug is to undermine the world. They are the ones who will do anything to achieve that goal.
It would not be wrong to say that the goal was to infiltrate the game world and kill the residents living there.
“Why is everyone reacting like that? Don’t worry too much. “It’s just that a new mutant has emerged.”
Tina chuckled at their reactions. In fact, to her, who has become a high-level hunter and fought all kinds of monsters, even bugs are just another monster.
They just had to fight the monster in real life, but they still lacked the excellent, legendary equipment and skilled hunters that appear in the game.