Chapter 011 – Ahenna’s Forest (4)

A tree was burnt to the core and transformed into charcoal . Unable to withstand its own weight, it collapsed into a pile of ashes . ‘Novice Scout’s’ fire arrows had started a fully fledged forest fire; The wind carried embers of the inferno and began to spread across the whole of ‘Ahenna’s forest’ .

But not a single creature could be seen running away from the flames; Sungjin pulled his katana out from the chest of the last wolf in the forest .

“Haa…”

Sungjin finally let out a long sigh . Behind him were mountains of corpses . Among the corpses was the ‘Queen of the Forest’ Ahenna herself .

Sungjin had fought in a frenzy . He had fought so wildly that he did not even recognize himself . The effects of Zealot was powerful, but it made it impossible to maintain a sound mind during the fight .

Sungjin ripped the ‘Yanhurat’ off of his neck .

‘Kill them! Rip them to pieces!’

The necklace’s insane shouting seemed to continue to echo in his ears . He was unhurt during the fight, but he still felt a rush of exhaustion wash over him .

“Operator, my HP”

HP: 500/1500

His HP had dropped exactly to a third of what it was . The item activation period was exactly 30 seconds . It was fine to fight mindlessly for 30 seconds, but the problem occurred when the period ended .

Disoriented, exhausted and with only a third of the total HP remaining, finding yourself surrounded by enemies… the same enemies you did not manage to defeat with three times the strength and speed . This was the reason why so many people who entrusted their lives to Zealot mode had succumbed to death .

Sungjin realized that in a truly life-threatening situation unless he had the absolute certainty that all hostile forces could be eliminated during the active time, it was better not to use it .

Against Ahenna, he could have easily completed the chapter without using it . But he was short on time .

‘Time’

“Operator, remaining time?”

[13 Minutes and 49 Seconds remaining . ]

Not even a minute had passed since he had previously asked . ‘Yanhurat’s’ mind corrupting voice had saved him lots of time .

“Operator, take out two small Recovery potions from the inventory”

The cube summoned two small potions upon command . Sungjin drank them both . The effect of the small Recovery Potion was “fill 1/3 of the total HP”

Drinking the two potions recovered his whole HP . Sungjin now wanted to leave to search for clues about the hidden boss when

‘Snap’

He heard something step on a branch, breaking it .

‘Was one left alive?’

Sungjin looked towards the origin of the sound . Whatever caused the sound, it was trying to hide itself . Sungjin approached the tree, Katana at the ready . As he grew closer towards the source, he could hear the sound of breathing growing louder . When Sungjin walked around the large tree

“D…Die!”

A large axe came swinging at him . But it was swung at an ordinary speed . It was in slow motion compared to Ahenna’s claws . Sungjin swung his sword faster than the axe to intercept it .

The Katana cut off the axe head, and the axe blade flew off into the distance, landing somewhere in the forest with a ‘thud’ .

Disarming his attacker, Sungjin inspected the assailant . It was the white-haired ‘Lumberjack’ old man, who stood stiffly holding the headless axe like a sword .

“Ah…Ahhhh!”

He saw Sungjin’s face and collapsed backward in fear . Sungjin stared for a moment at the old man .

‘…Oh yeah, I forgot about him . ’

Aside from Sungjin, the old man was the only person who had been acting independently from the ‘Hooligan’ group .

He must have been put off by the ‘Hooligan’s’ arrogant behavior from the camp .

It was not a bad decision . In the end, it was what kept him alive . The Lumberjack swung his headless axe towards Sungjin and shouted

“Stay…Stay away!”

He had no reason to approach the old man . Sungjin sheathed his katana . But the ‘Lumberjack’ added one more word .

“You… Monster…!”

‘… What?’

Sungjin looked into the old man’s eyes again . The old man must have seen Sungjin fight under the effects of ‘Yanhurat’ . If that was so, his reaction made sense . Sungjin decided to give him an advice .

“Hey, Grandpa . Go back to the campfire where we started the raid and sit there . If you do so, you will be able to avoid death . ”

With that, Sungjin ran deeper into the forest .

*

Sungjin ran through the forest with his katana in hand, searching for clues . But no enemies could be seen . Sungjin then realized something and asked the operator .

“Operator, Raid progress?”

[Raid is 95% complete . ]

Sungjin immediately sheathed his katana .

‘I guess that was all of them back there’

Ahenna’s cries must have summoned every remaining beast in the forest to the fight . And every single one of them, without exception, was eliminated by his hands . It was rather nice to know that there were no loose ends .

It was just him and the ‘hidden boss’ . After roaming the forest for a while, he saw rows of trees turning black .

‘This must be…the boundary line .

The raid was always conducted within a systematically enclosed area . Just because it was a forest did not mean it continued on forever . If a Hunter attempts to leave past the boundary, a terrifying warning was given .

[Please return to the hunting grounds . This area is off limits to hunters . ]
[If you remain in the restricted area after 10 seconds,]
[You will die . 10, 9, . . ]

‘If this is the boundary…’

Sungjin withdrew his hands from the boundary line . Then turning around, he ran straight back perpendicularly from the boundary line .

No matter how much he searched his surroundings, he didn’t see anything out of place . Soon, he returned to where ‘Ahenna’ and her beasts lay strewn about the forest floor .

‘…Where the **** is the hidden boss?’

Sungjin decided to return to the starting location . At the campfire, the old man ‘Lumberjack’ and the ‘Wandering Merchant’ Aindell were sitting by the fire .

“Ahh! Monster!”

“Oh, you were able to defeat Ahenna . Congratulations, Mister Hunter . ”

Sungjin scanned the campsite briefly .

“Go…Go away!”

“Do you wish to purchase some supplies?”

The Lumberjack begged him to leave, and the Merchant bid him to stay . Of the two, he decided to listen to the Lumberjack . He didn’t have time to waste on those two anyways .

*

As time passed, the forest fire continued to spread . Ahenna’s Forest was now lit as bright as day . But he didn’t spot anything particularly out of place .

“Operator, time?”

[8 minutes and 39 seconds remaining . ]

He had been searching fruitlessly for 5 minutes . He had been probing like a mad man, combing the forest . But the only thing he could find was the ‘Boundary’ .

‘Where is it hidden?’

Sungjin was starting to become annoyed when

“Hoo Hoo”

Short but unmistakable sounds of an owl could be heard from above . Sungjin looked up into the night sky . If it were still dark, it would have been hard to spot it . But thanks to the forest fire, it was easier to see .

On top of a tree, an owl was nested . The owl did not appear to be a hidden boss, but it was still suspicious . Sungjin unhesitatingly jumped up the tree, climbing it .

Sungjin’s Dexterity had long surpassed human limitations . Climbing the tree posed no difficulty for him . Once he got closer, the Owl flew away .

Only the nest remained . He decided to check the nest . Within the nest was not an egg, but a round white crystal .

‘…found it’

Sungjin reached out and lifted up the crystal . The Cube began an announcement .

[Congratulations! You have obtained the Hidden Piece]
[‘Perfect Moonstone’!]

Sungjin inspected the ‘Perfect Moonstone’ . The Operator opened up a hologram for the item .

Perfect Moonstone – Crystal of the moon .
Rare Jewel

Crystal hidden inside an owl’s nest .
It is said that it contains the powers of a full moon .

There are no special effects associated with this item . In most cases, this kind of item could be sold off to the Black Market for Black Coins .

“Operator, how much can this be sold off for in the Black Market?”

[100 Black Coins]

‘…only 100…’

Sungjin placed the item in his pocket for now . He left to search for the ‘hidden boss’ .

Compared to the items Hidden bosses can drop, 100 Black Coins were nothing . Then, he stopped . He recalled something he heard long ago in the past .

From the earlier days of the hunts, he once heard from his teammate

“I heard that a party was able to find and kill the hidden boss in the ‘Ahenna’s Forest’”

Sungjin paused for a moment to try and recollect his memory .

“None of the original party members survived until now… but from what I’ve been told, the hidden piece found in the second forest… it’s not supposed to be sold . ”

‘…Not for sale?’

Sungjin reached into his pocket and took out the moonstone one more time . As the name implied, it was perfectly round, and the crystal was a perfect replica of the full moon . Sungjin looked up into the sky .

Above the burning treetops and the smoke, he could see the third quarter moon . He looked back and forth between the moon and the stone .

‘Half moon… and round moonstone… that is to say, a full moon’

Sungjin, while looking back and forth between the crystal and the moon, he recalled the Operator’s explanation about the forest .

[It is a place filled with insidious and cunning predators of the night . ]

The answer was on the tip of his tongue . All the pieces were there .

‘Then… just who is… . ’

Sungjin put together the final piece . He quickly moved his feet .