Chapter 31: Plains Rescue (2)
Yu-Rin looked up at the sky. It was already dark. She had lost track of time while enthusiastically hunting treeters with her bow. It had been a while since she had felt so absorbed in a hunt. When she checked her status window, she found out that she had leveled up, and her skill had upgraded.
There were treeter corpses sprawled everywhere. It was a scene that she and the orc had created, but the orc was suddenly nowhere to be found.
Yu-Rin felt a pang of regret. While she was debating whether to return to Arnin since it had gotten dark, the menacing orc reappeared.
The orc was walking from the direction of Arnin while carrying a sack full of something on his back. He put down the sack, dug a pit, and started a campfire.
“...”
The light of the campfire rose in the plains as dusk fell. The orc who had lit the fire began to take various things out of the sack, such as potions, bandages, an assortment of tools needed for battle, and even several bottles of hard liquor. He had probably obtained them from merchants entering and exiting Arnin.
The orc suddenly lifted his greatsword straight up into the air with the dancing flames of the campfire reflected on his blade. He began efficiently dismantling one of the treeter corpses on the ground. After that, he removed big chunks of flesh from the bones and skewered them with a branch. Lastly, he placed them on top of the campfire.
“...!”
They were treeter skewers!
The orc felt the heat of Yu-Rin’s gaze and beckoned for her to come over. When Yu-Rin walked toward the campfire, the orc made another skewer and handed it to her. It was so big and heavy that it was hard to hold. Nevertheless, Yu-Rin took the skewer and sat opposite the orc, who gazed quietly into the campfire.
Yu-Rin was at peace. She felt a strange sense of comfort with this orc. She didn’t have to try to forcefully continue a conversation like she had to do with others and could just enjoy the peaceful moment.
As Yu-Rin looked up at the sky, she let out a long sigh. There were numerous stars scattered across the sky. It was a beautiful night sky she wouldn’t be able to see in South Korea, where she lived in real life. The star-filled night sky over the plains, the sound of the burning campfire, and the sweet aroma of the meat—all Yu-Rin had to do right now was enjoy these comforts of the present moment. Her mind settled into serenity.
Suddenly, the orc handed her something.
“...?”
It was alcohol. Yu-Rin accepted it. After that, the orc raised his bottle without a word, swayed it in front of Yu-Rin, and then downed the whole bottle.
“...!” Yu-Rin had seen this scene many times somewhere.
The scene was commonplace in Western films, where ruffians would consume meat and alcohol in the wastelands without a word.
Yu-Rin currently felt as if she were a gunman—no, bowman exchanging drinks with a frightening outlaw she had met in the wilderness. It was a strange scene in which a friendship blossomed between her and a heartless outlaw as they crossed the boundaries of life and death together.
Yu-Rin downed the hard liquor in her hand to reciprocate. The liquid ran hot down her throat and flowed inside her. She then wiped her mouth dry with her sleeve.
The orc nodded and raised his bottle in approval. Yu-Rin raised her bottle and clanked it against his in cheers.
Before they knew it, the treeter meat had finished cooking. The orc and Yu-Rin dug into their meat eagerly. It was a bit chewy, but they didn’t mind. Right now, they were outlaws of the plains who carelessly devoured treeter meat.
Was this why other players got into role-playing? Yu-Rin felt liberated. She got oil all over her mouth as she tore into the meat, but she didn’t care.
Behind them, the moonlight fell onto the pitiful treeter corpses laying sprawled on the ground.
Yu-Rin and the orc continued to drink for a while, and they ended up quite drunk. She and the orc didn’t exchange words, but it was enough just to share drinks together. Everything was clearly communicated in the form of gazes and liquor.
Right then, Yu-Rin heard footsteps and voices approaching from a distance. Yu-Rin furrowed her eyebrows. It seemed that her quiet time was getting interrupted.
“If we want to enter Arnin, we need to work on our reputation,” one of the approaching people murmured.
“Even though it’s this late?” another replied.
“Just do it. Who knows? We might gain a sharp night vision skill.”
Based on their conversation, they were clearly players. Their presence made Yu-Rin feel uncomfortable. Until this moment, she had felt like she was in a well-constructed stage built by her and the orc, but now, these out-of-place actors were infiltrating their peaceful stage. It was like a noisy alarm waking her up from a nice dream or a cacophonous sound ruining a brilliant orchestral performance.
Yu-Rin wasn’t in the mood to exchange a mundane conversation with them about how their hunting was going, what level they were, and what kind of skills they had. She was tired of exchanging soulless greetings like ‘good luck with the game’ when they were never going to see each other again. At least for this moment, she wanted to remain in a role that suited the world she and the orc had constructed together.
So, Yu-Rin brought out a hat and put it on to cover the star sign on her forehead. The orc tilted his head curiously in response, but Yu-Rin just grinned back.
They raised their bottles again toward each other again as the footsteps behind them neared.
“Huh...? A fire?” said the people approaching them.
Instead of turning around to look, she cocked her head back and gulped down more liquor. Then she took another bite of her skewer and chewed loudly.
***
Dwarf player Gilliam had arrived in Arnin to meet his human player friend Puri, but he had been denied entrance and told that members of a species that wasn't elf or human had to build their reputation to gain entry to Arnin. He was also informed that the most common method for building a reputation was to help the elves by hunting down treeters located north of Arnin.
So, even though it was already nighttime, Gilliam headed toward the plains with Puri. As someone who had only seen strong blacksmiths and warriors in the dwarf village, he wanted to see the beautiful elves at Arnin as soon as possible. Even the guard who had rejected him cold-heartedly was the kind of beauty you would see in fashion magazines.
Gilliam was very excited to enter the city teeming with beauties, so he promptly departed to hunt treeters. However, when he arrived, he was surprised to find the plains so quiet. He didn’t see any of the gluttonous treeters that gnawed on plants all day, but he did notice a fire.
“Huh...? Fire?” he wondered.
Gilliam and Puri began walking toward the fire. It seemed like a player or NPC was camping outside, so Gilliam planned to ask them about the treeters. Yet, as Gilliam and Puri neared the campfire, they fell quiet. They realized the ridges in the darkness that they had initially assumed to be rocks were not actually rocks; the objects sprawled near the campfire were none other than treeter corpses. Numerous dead treeters were on the ground, and the air was thick with the smell of rotting corpses. Gilliam and Puri looked at each other nervously.
The treeter corpses were either split open with their intestines exposed or pierced all over to the extent that they were unrecognizable. It was a gruesome sight. How much time had the culprit invested in killing all of these treeters?!
It wasn’t hard to discern that the owner of the campfire was the culprit. Gilliam thought about retreating out of fear, but his intense curiosity got the better of him. So, he quickened his pace instead, eager to verify the true identity of the faint silhouettes.
Gilliam and Puri soon neared the campfire.
“...!”
However, they stopped in their tracks because the first thing they saw was the frightening face of an orc. He was an orc warrior with tattoos all over his face and body. The orc drank his liquor with an indifferent face but raised his bottle to greet Gilliam and Puri once he realized there were visitors. There was someone beside him, but Gilliam and Puri couldn’t really see who it was because the person’s back was facing them. Based on the long hair, it seemed the person was a female.
Sensing their presence, the long-haired person turned her head slightly. She was a beautiful elf, but the vibe she gave off was unlike that of the other elves they had seen previously. Her eyes seemed rather dead like those of someone accustomed to a life of slaughter.
The elf didn’t mind the unfamiliar visitors and brazenly went about her ways. She held a meat skewer in one hand and a bottle of liquor in the other and eagerly consumed them both. Moreover, she was unconcerned with how she appeared and was bold enough to wipe the liquor dripping down her mouth with her sleeve. She turned her eyes back to the campfire like she was uninterested in them.
Gilliam and Puri didn’t know what to do, so they stood around awkwardly.
The elf finally said, “Are you just going to stand around like that?”
She had a deep, alluring voice. It was seductive but had a trace of malice. Her question felt like a warning to them not to do anything stupid.
If they had the opportunity to give her a nickname based on the first impression they had of her, they would give her the name of a poisonous spider—a black widow! She was someone who tempted men with her beauty but ultimately led them to destruction!
“W-We were just passing by...” Gilliam and Puri replied.
“Sit,” the elf commanded.
At her command, Gilliam and Puri quietly sat down by the campfire. They felt like they were walking on eggshells around the orc and the elf, but the latter pair didn’t mind Gilliam and Puri as they continued to cock their heads back and down their drinks. Were they really the ones who had slaughtered all those treeters?
Gilliam was unable to suppress his curiosity and spoke up, “There were tons of dead treeters here on the way...”
“...”
“I can smell their blood from a mile away. Did you guys do it?”
At the mention of the scent of the blood, the orc warrior Crockta began sniffing the air. He couldn’t smell the blood. He began taking deep breaths to try and pick up the scent better, but he was still unable to smell the blood at all because he was used to it from having spent all day in the plains. All he could smell now was the scent of the roasted treeter meat.
The chunk of meat he held in his hand was from the very treeter who had laughed at him when he set foot in the plains. It had belittled him but ultimately ended up as his meal. Crockta looked back on the memory contentedly and smiled.
“...!” Gilliam and Puri were shocked when they saw the heinous orc take a deep breath and smile contentedly at the mention of blood.
Was the orc satisfied with the bloodbath he had created? How could he smile in such a satisfied manner after smelling blood? He was a natural slayer—no, butcher who had been born to shower in blood. The orc was a natural-born killer.
Gilliam and Puri began to think it had been a mistake to sit down next to them.
Puri started conversing with the elf to try and lighten the dark atmosphere. “It must have been a pain to catch all of them. Wasn’t it difficult? Hahaha... ha.”
Yu-Rin stared blankly at Puri. Puri had a surprisingly polite attitude. Yu-Rin was used to other players belittling her because she seemed na?ve. If she were to make a mistake, they would act like they had expected it and patronized her.
Yet, look at this now. After Yu-Rin concealed that she was a player and deepened her voice, these players were so polite! They treated her like she was someone they didn’t dare disrespect.
Yu-Rin couldn’t help but let out a laugh. This was why people assumed different personas when they role-played. Small changes made all the difference!
“...!” Gilliam and Puri were shocked again.
In response as to whether it had been hard to capture so many treeters, the elf’s eyes took on a nostalgic expression as if she was recalling the memory, then she began giggling to herself! She seemed to be drunk with delight upon recalling the scene of the slaughter. Would a butcher like her be satisfied with treeters? She had to be a psychopath who was obsessed with bloodbaths. If she were a person in real life, she would be an indiscriminate serial killer surpassing Jack the Ripper!
Gilliam and Puri began trembling as they looked at each other. They had encountered two demons while trying to catch treeters. The treeters who encountered these demons first had ended up as cold corpses sprawled across the ground... Were the two of them destined to become like them?
“W-We have to go now...”
Gilliam and Puri tried to get up from their spots, but they were unable to. The orc’s hefty hand grabbed Gilliam’s wrist and held him down. The elf had also grabbed onto the hem of Puri’s clothing and refused to let her get up. Gilliam and Puri looked at them with trembling eyes. Instead of saying anything, the orc and the elf each handed a brand new bottle of liquor to Gilliam and Puri respectively and grinned.
The flames of the campfire swayed and cast shadows on the faces of the orc and the elf, forming masks on their faces that made them appear like actual demons. The shadows that extended behind their backs no longer took the shapes of an orc and an elf.
Gilliam’s and Puri’s legs gave out, and they slumped back down.
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