The situation changed completely with the two newfangled challengers.
The left arm fell first, followed by the severed right leg. When the trolls fell, they grouped until they became mops. The troll was dismantled, leaving only the body.
As Park Ho-seok was about to sunder the stomach, Moon Hee-seop stopped him.
“Wait for a second, let’s start with the gamble.”
“That would be nice.”
After Hong Joon-seop agreed, Park Ho-seok pulled ten pieces of paper from his pocket.
“Here are ten papers. The person who will drew 1 picks the marbles first.”
Moon Hee-seop again stopped Park Ho-seok while mixing the pieces in his hand.
“Wait.”
Park Ho-seok was nervous.
“There is no time!”
“It’s kind of cheating if you were the one to mix too.”
“So, what should I do?”
Moon Hee-seop took his hat.
“Put it here.”
Others nodded all at once.
“Fine.”
Park Ho-seok put the pieces of paper in the hat with an annoying face. Moon Hee-seop shook his hat and mixed it.
“Who will choose first?”
Park Ho-seok volunteered.
“I will.”
He approached and put his hand in the hat while everyone’s eyes were focused on it.
Park Ho-seok drew.
“Open it.”
Everyone swallowed saliva and concentrated on the hands of Park Ho-Seok.
At that moment, I ran up to the troll. Only the troll’s torso was left, but that alone is incredibly heavy. If I had my strength not increased to fourfold, I would not have had the chance to steal.
They were shocked for a moment. But soon, they realized what happened and chased me.
“It’s a thief!”
They have been shouting all kinds of swear words. As expected, Park Ho-Seok outran them all.
He specializes in speed.
I threw the troll’s torso into the woods, turned around, took out the axe tied to my back, and threw it. The axe flew at an overwhelming speed.
Ho-Seok Park was terrified to face it and dropped flat on the ground. The axe passed over his head, and the guys who followed were surprised and flew to the side.
I have no intention to fight them, so I quickly turned around and ran.
“You must catch that loser!”
Moon Hee-seop glared as he stood up and passed Park Ho-seok.
“Of course.”
Hong Joon-seop speeded up. I picked up the troll body that fell at the edge of the forest and ran to a small path through the woods. The distance narrowed due to the huge troll. Park Ho-Seok made up for the time he wasted avoiding the axe and retook the lead.
“You’re young, you will lose!”
He looked furious.
If I get caught, maybe heaven is the next place I’ll see.
I don’t have to be caught. I threw the troll again and drew the dagger. Then I cut off the strings of the beautifully tied poison lizard.
“Kaak!”
The lizard, who was impatient by being tied up all night, revealed its chest toward the guys who were chasing me. When the poison poured out, the pursuers were frightened.
“Poison!”
I stayed up all night catching lizards, and it was rewarding. The poison hit the back of Park Ho-Seok, who was chasing from the front.
Smoke swollen as the skin melted.
“Oh, awha!”
This is not a screaming scream. It’s a frenzy of heat and spits. I thought he was mad enough to attack, but he hasn’t lost his mind. He quickly retreated before he gets paralyzed. Two of his companions defended him.
I ceased three, and seven are left.
I hid in a forested place.
“There he is! He went over there!”
Moon Hee-seop shouted. I released the second lizard and shook the troll. And shouted while running away.
“There are a lot of beads on the lizard. I have to catch it. If I open it to Seo Su-myeong and lose the gamble, there will be nothing left. Rather than returning empty-handed, I’ll grab a lizard and get it’s beads. That’s much better.”
Moon Hee-Seop was tied to a new lizard I had uncovered. When I saw them attacking the lizards, I gave them one more release.
“There’s one more here.”
Hong Joon-seop and the bully didn’t have their feet tied to the lizards, and they didn’t even pass on to me. These two obsessively pursued me.
Even if I have good physical strength, I got exhausted for I walked through the forest carrying the troll’s torso. My breath was getting shorter, and my mouth is getting wet
It’s hard.
I threw the troll again and climbed the tree. Hong Joon-seop shouted that I had given up.
“Yeah, well done. I’ll forgive you, so leave the troll.”
I said, skipping from tree to tree.
“I promise to keep it.”
Hong Joon-seop said.
“The promise is impossible. You are dead!”
The moment he and the thug stepped near the troll, a loud sound rang, and the ground turned off. The two walked into a trap and cursed.
“OMG! This motherfucker!”
I set the trap by jumping on the tree.
“I had a hard time setting up traps, but it was rewarding. But you didn’t listen to me.”
The thug was holding his legs and wheezing as if his bones were broken. Hong Joon-seop wasn’t too good, so he was stabbed in the wooden window I placed and was bleeding.
I went into a trap and thought for a moment if I should catch my breath first. The odds seemed to be there, but it will take a long time. In the meantime, it’s a big deal if the guys who killed the lizards soon follows, so I just ran with a troll. The fact that I have no weapons also affected my decision. I didn’t bring the knife because it would be a burden to move the troll, and I threw my axe away.
After running a little longer, I put down the troll and opened up its stomach. The streets are quite broad and quiet, so there will be enough time to slaughter.
I quickly plowed through its intestines. Five beads came out, one of which was yellow, the bead that Byung-Woo found only once.
I quickly picked up the beads and left.
9. Cohabitants
Some people guessed my place’s like Min-Ji Park, so I moved it.
I fell asleep and crawled into the crypt, swallowing the yellow beads. The chills hit me like I did when I first ate, but it didn’t take as long as before. It was rather regrettable. It was because I had a feeling that if I was sick for longer and much violently, my abilities might improve significantly.
I went outside to check the position of the sun and cut my forearm with a dagger. It was deeper than before, but the bleeding stopped was surprisingly fast. The flesh was healed immediately without a scab.
“It’s great!”
To find out how long it took, I looked at the sun’s location, but it was difficult to determine the exact time.
“I have to do it one more time.”
This time I cut my other arm. Then I counted the candles.
“1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds, 4 seconds… … .”
When I counted 300 seconds, the wound healed cleanly.
“5 minutes… … .”
It’s 3 minutes if you get as much time as you like.
I was seriously injured in a fight, but I could escape the enemy for 3 minutes, which is better?
Time is ambiguous.
“I need to eat more yellow marbles.”
I decided to think optimistically.
If I hunt harder, it’ll be more rewarding.
I tried to eat 4 blue beads with yellow beads and put them in my pocket. To get to the next level, I need to eat 24 blue marbles. Even if I remove the 4 I just secured, I still need 20.
“It would be better to keep it and exchange it for another marble.”
I made a knife made of lizard skin and tied it to my back, my dagger was attached to my belt, and then I travelled to an auger area, even though I’m anxious to hunt an Auger by myself.
“There is a big reward in taking risks.”
I entered the auger area and paused for a moment.
But is it necessary to take risks?
After thinking for a moment, I pulled out a knife and dug the ground. There was no shovel and pickaxe, so it was uncomfortable; instead, it was far superior to the merchants. If I have enough time, I can create a trap. But there was no time.
The Auger that jumped out of the grass found me and rushed at me. The wooden stick in his hand was only a human key.
You need to be agile when fighting Augers. This is because you will instantly die if you are hit by that stick. Of course, a person with tremendous power, such as Kim Byung-woo, can stop it, but my strength is not that much.
I fell flat and avoided the club, then the Auger passed over my back with a great wind. The wind blew my hair. I cried inside, feeling the creepy ride on my back.
In action! Quickly!
Using my hands as feet, I jumped on all fours, passed between the Auger’s crotch, and impaled his spine with the dagger. The dagger has a blunt tip and is difficult to penetrate tough Auger skin. But of course, Kim Byung-woo can pierce the spine with a dull knife.
Am I envious of Byeong-Woo Kim too?
“Couek!”
The Auger cried. I thought it couldn’t move after if I stabbed its spine, but the Auger turned and swung the club vertically. The spine is not entirely amputated and paralyzed.
I quickly flew my body before my head gets shattered by the club. I rolled to the floor one time and then shook my knife. The stick hit my knife.
Widely.
The blade hit the club and got stuck. When the Auger lifted the club, my body followed. I pulled the knife with all my might. The only weapon I have is the knife, so if I lose this, I will not be able to kill the Auger. I struggled so much, while the Auger is still winning.
The club was lifted up high, and I hung it up in the air with the knife. Fortunately, the blade loosens.
As soon as he landed on the ground, Auger struck the club with both hands. One hand can’t handle that dreadful sting. I also grabbed the handle with my right hand and lifted it above my head with my left hand and supporting the knife.
“Caen!”
The club hit the knife. A powerful shock travelled through the knife to my arm. Auger’s colossal strength caused me to bend my arms and my back. I almost broke my waist.
“Krkk.”
The Auger made a strange sound and pressed the club. It sounded ridiculous to my ears.
“Don’t laugh, loser.”
My waist bent more, and I couldn’t stand it anymore and let the knife go to the side.
Bang.
When my endurance suddenly fell, the Auger lost balance and fell forward. I jumped on the Auger’s back and forced the dagger down with my body weight. The dagger went deeper.
“No!”
The Auger shook his arms, making a sound of breathing. However, its legs could not move.
Success!
I got off my back and moved towards the Auger’s head. The Auger approached, using both arms as feet while dragging its lower body.
You can’t catch me by moving like that. It took the time to avoid the Auger, it was so furious and hit the ground with his fist.
“The game is over.”
After cutting the Auger’s wrist with the knife I picked-up to stop its movement, he went back to the side and got knocked down in its nape.
Plump.
After three hits, I cut its throat.
“Hugh.”
I pulled the dagger attached to the Auger’s back, turned his body over, and plowed. One blue bead and one purple bead came out.
I took the purple beads right now and enjoyed the effect it has on my body. It was good. It was nice because I was lighter and faster.
I ran around for a while, trying to adapt to the changes in my body. But an appearance of a person emerged through the trees.
Are you here to catch me?
I stopped and gave power to my eyes. If it has long hair, it could be a woman. No, there are no barbershops here, so men also have long hair.
It could be a man.
I narrowed the distance to confirm the identity. I was convinced to see the long silver hair reflecting the sunlight.
A Grandmother belonging to the Senior Citizen Group.
The troll-stricken guys wouldn’t have sent my grandmother to kill me. I got closer. Two fine old grandmothers were so nervous that they were walking with their arms in front. I followed the two secretly without revealing myself.
Slowly the sun was setting. The grandmothers soon moved with a crying face. Their steps were careful as an elderly woman with severe osteoporosis walked on an jagged road. I appeared suddenly and talked.
“It’s dangerous to wander around the forest after sunset. You should go back to town.”
“Ugh.”
The grandmother on the left was breathing hard in fear.
“You surprised us!”
The grandmother on the right got angry.