Chapter 34: Survivors (1) |
Disclaimer: This is an edited MTL. Thus, I can’t guarantee that my editing to be proficient. But I hope you enjoy this story with me. If there are any corrections or questions, it is highly encourage to leave a comment.
T/n: Another extra chapter for pangvang.
Unlike KyungBaek, who returned after eating, Yoo Ji-Ha stayed at SeongHo and Jumi’s house until lunchtime.
He didn’t want to disturb the lovebirds’ precious weekend, so he tried to get back as soon as possible, but Jumi caught him so he couldn’t help it.
SeongHo stopped her.
“Leave Ji-Ha to rest. Men need some alone time.”
Jumi rolled her eyes at her husband, but thought it was not wrong, so she let go of Ji-Ha.
But when he managed to get out of the lioness’s arms, the laziest sloth in the world called.
—Yeah, Ji-Ha-ya, I found an incomprehensible texts you asked for.
Ji-Ha bid farewell to SeongHo and his wife, and went back to the store to checked the picture that SeonYeong sent.
The sentence that no one could interpret appeared to be runes in Yoo Ji-Ha’s eyes.
[Tracking. We will find their traces.]
‘…What is this?’
What a vague runeword.
He focused on the word to figure out what it meant, but nothing came to mind.
SeonYeong asked him what it is.
—It doesn’t have much meaning, does it?
“Um, find traces… I don’t know what this sentence is.”
—Then it looks like there’s nothing much. Oh, you know last time. When you wrote a charm to let me buy the Black Lion Knight’s journal, it must have really worked.
“Oh, you succeeded in finding it?”
“Of course, I did. But I don’t know if I was unlucky that day, but I bumped and fell here and there. It was no joke. Ho, ho, ho~”
“You are strong.”
—Heuk-heuk, Think I’m still a fragile woman. oh yes. Who’s punching through the door?
Ji-Ha was able to deduce a hypothesis from her conversation with SeonYeong.
The scroll of creation requires a price.
Would it be fair to say that in exchange for granting her wish to obtain the journal of the Knights of the Black Lion, it gave her the misfortune of bumping and falling?
‘No matter how clumsy SeonYoung noona is, she doesn’t keep falling.’
Since it is a small wish, it seemed to be interpreted as a small misfortune.
“Anyway, thank you, noona.”
—Yeah, next time, you have to write that amulet again for me, okay?
“Okay.”
After the phone call with SeonYoung, Ji-Ha went to the studio and took out an ink bottle.
‘Tracing… should be part of the change, right?’
It didn’t seem like harmony or creation.
A new scroll was completed by soaking the feathered pen in the green ink and writing the runewords in the Infinite Magic book.
[Scroll of Change: Find traces of life.]
This is a very interesting runeword.
‘It would be nice to use it in the jungle.’
In dungeons, terrain such as jungles and swamps often appear.
Monsters that have adapted to such shady places often ambush and attack the hunters.
Examples includes the Green Serpent, which shows off its amazing concealment ability, and the Water tumbleweed1A kind of catfish, which sinks in a swamp and then lands attacks in between.
Of course, there are some hunters with similar characteristics, but it would be very convenient if you could replace them with one scroll.
‘The problem is that there isn’t much ink.’
Not even half a bottle of ink was left by scraping the wholesale center. It would be nice to be able to grow herbs, but it was still difficult.
‘Anyway, the new runewords is a good thing.’
Yoo Ji-Ha stretched out.
Of course, it was fun to eat and talk with Seongho’s couple, but again, men need their own space and time.
He was about to do a perfect dive until tomorrow.
If someone comes to the store, Hummingbell will notify him, so he can relax.
He packed his stuff in his backpack and put various seasonings in it.
‘I am going to make sweet potato soup and eat it.’
After cleaning the single compartment room, he put Beom on his stomach and closed his eyes.
Consciousness quickly fading.
***
“Hmm.”
A slender hand rummaged through the old books and separated a single piece of paper.
Beom and Theradrone Knight stared at the map spread on the floor.
The map of Gehenna Continent.
Unfortunately, half of it was torn.
Yoo Ji-Ha found this map while reading a new ancient book.
It was frustrating because there was only partial map of each region, but he also felt relieved.
‘It’s a little wreck, but it is what it is.’
Yoo Ji-Ha gaze looked through the Gemark Empire located in the center and the Kingdom of Estram at the southern end of it.
Down there should have something, but it was torn.
“I think I can finish this map by moving you guys around.”
The Knight was startled by Ji-Ha’s conversation, so he hid behind Beom’s front paw.
He’s big, so he can see everything, but he doesn’t seem to know it have grown.
Yoo Ji-Ha grabbed him and put it on the palm of his hand.
“You guys can go out of the garden, right? You went to the Estram Palace and the dungeon.”
The Knight couldn’t turn his gaze away from Ji-Ha and nodded.
“So, you mean you can go to the southern part of here too? It’s a place you can’t see here.”
It can appear in the royal palace of Estram or in Mt. Jiri.
It means that there is no limit to the range of Theradrone’s activities.
The reason Ji-Ha suddenly became interested in maps was one for reason.
He wanted to find out where each dungeon that appears on Earth is.
For example, the previously entered polar dungeon must be located in the northern part of the continent of Gehenna.
It can be assumed that the Elder Lich who polluted Mt. Jiri was stationed in the southern part of the Estram Palace
He thought that if he can record it one by one, he could know where it was when the dungeon appears later.
‘If I know where you are, I might be able to help you.’
Hunters enter the dungeon, receive quests, and fight monsters.
Yoo Ji-Ha can help them by consuming essence in the garden.
The insufficient essence can be supplemented by writing a strategy in the infinite magic book.
Well, he thought it would be a virtuous cycle.
But Yoo Ji-Ha didn’t really come up with anything important.
The knight sat on the floor, picked up a branch with tongs, and drew a picture of a jewel.
“Ah…”
So, they need an ether stone.
After all, there is no way that a technology similar to dimensional movement is free.
It is highly probable that the World Tree was helping.
Ji-Ha rummaged through the pockets of his backpack and pulled out the ether Stone he had.
“There are 19, how many places can I go with this?”
The knight looked at the ether stone and drew three lines on the floor.
He also drew a circle in the continental map.
That means it can travel this distance three times.
Of course, the size of the corps will vary depending on the size of the ether stone.
‘Wait, I think it’s going to work.’
The Theradrone corps are sent all over the continent to fight monsters and take the ether stone.
With the Ether Stones obtained in that way, more legions were sent in, and a map can be drawn up.
The essence is secured by writing the strategy, a by-product of battle, in the Infinite Magic Book.
The essence assists Theradrone Knights and Hunters…….
‘Is this possible?’’
Yoo Ji-Ha scratched his head.
Theoretically, it might work, but unless he actually tries it, he doesn’t know.
‘It would be nice if Beom could help.’
Unfortunately, he had no interest in the world outside the garden.
Eating, sleeping, and playing were everything in life, but it’s cute, so he leaves it alone.
Yoo Ji-Ha decided to send the Theradrones to one place on a trial basis.
‘A place where the topography is well exposed… here.’
The forest south of Estram’s palace.
On the map, there is a huge river crossing, and if Theradrone can get there, he will see a river.
‘Let’s try it.’
Yoo Ji-Ha tapped piece of the map with a branch.
“Can you send troops here? You can only send a few. I’m just checking to see if you can go.”
Knight showed a positive intention, summoned his men, took the necessary ether stone, and went into the hole in the ground.
After a while, three of them, including Knight, went out of the garden, the fog disappeared, and a new landscape appeared.
“Wow….”
It is a real river.
Three theradrones crossed the forest and encountered a river.
Fortunately, the surrounding area has not been contaminated yet.
Yoo Ji-Ha roughly drawn the surrounding terrain in the Infinite Magic Book and wrote descriptions.
‘The south side of Estram’s palace… Seeing that the river is steep, it must have been here.’
There is no guarantee that the map will be accurate, but it is better to trust and use it for now.
While he was writing various information, the Theradrone Knight suddenly spread its carapace and wings.
However, when he looked at it, he could see traces of a fierce battle.
Two wagons had been smashed, and a nearby tree had fallen.
A bone that looked like a horse was half buried in the ground.
Theradrone Knight found a weapon nearby and showed it to Ji-Ha.
“Is that a bear?”
It was too small to see properly.
When he looked closely, he saw a sword about the thickness of a hair.
Of course, the deer also looks very small, but the sword is harder to see.
“Would you turn the carriage upside down?”
A Theradrone flipped the carriage around and found a pattern and showed it to him.
A single flower bud is a symbol of the Estram royal family.
Which means that royal family was riding in the carriage.
No body or bones were found, it looks like they’ve crossed the river.
“This is fun.”
Sitting in the garden and exploring the continent of Gehenna was very interesting.
On the contrary, it would be so much fun if he had been there himself.
After instructing the Theradrones to return, Yoo Ji-Ha was lost in thoughts.
‘What should I do first……’
Is to secure the Ether Stone.
Theradrone corps requires a significant amount of Ether Stone to move.
‘I can supply the Essence on my own. But the Ether Stone has to be saved by them.’
Where? From the monsters.
But right now, it was a little hard to move.
‘I don’t think these Theradrones are ready yet.’
He can’t send these busy guys to the battlefield to fight.
Just by looking at the Knights that keep avoiding his gaze shows that they aren’t ready.
‘I’m sure they must be moving here and there under the direction of the World Tree.’
Appearing in the dungeon of the outer giant and helping the hunters is one example.
“Let’s wait.”
***
That night.
Yoo Ji-Ha, cut and planted a branch of the World Tree in the empty lot behind the store.
It was not done because he was asked by someone, but he was curious about what would happen.
Just like when he planted a branch when he first entered the garden, what will happen if he plants it on the earth?
‘…maybe the World Tree will not hate me.’
It even helped him to easily access them when approaching to pick a branch, so he didn’t think so.
When the bottom of the vacant lot was dug up with a shovel and the branch was planted, and a soft golden brilliance spread out.
“Wow.”
Together with Beom, he stepped back a little and admired the newly grown World Tree.
The small branch changed to a fairly tree-like appearance in the blink of an eye.
The stale air around him disappeared and the refreshing scent of the forest gently wrapped Yoo Ji-Ha and Beom.
It was the promise of the World Tree to protect him just like in the garden.
Soon after, the ether wave spread widely.
It was not the wave of negativity that Beom had before, but a wave of very soft positivity.
On that day, no dungeons were open, allowing millions of Seoul citizen a comfortable night’s sleep,
No one knew why.
T/n: Hi everyone! Someone asked about the animals or monsters that was mentioned here. Should I put some links so that you can imagine it better?
- 1A kind of catfish