Chapter 81

“Now then, the first priority is to find a place to pitch the tent.”

Ivan said that and began to lead us in a skillful manner.

Come to think of it, he had have been thrown into a remote place by Belluna and lived alone for a few months.

“Do you know where and how it’s good? All I could do was pitch a tent on the edge of the Han River and eat chicken.”

“I’ve never even tried that.”

“Well, you don’t have any friends like that.”

“What is this bastard?”

Kim Yoo-Hyun and Lee Hyun-Seung began to bicker back and forth.

Ivan continued with a smile.

“Actually, the best place is where the water is easy to get to, it’s open and it’s easy to spot something approaching, and have a cover in our favor, but…… It’s hard to find such a perfect place. I think we should just move along the stream and set up a tent and a base for now.”

He said so and looked around, narrowing his eyes.

“The sun sets early in the mountainous areas. It’s so bright now, but it’ll get dark soon after a little while. So we have to settle down as soon as possible and get something to eat.”

“It’s 300 people with 50 groups. If we don’t move diligently, the best part might be taken away soon.”

It was just as Jin Ye-Seul said.

We began to move, with Ivan leading the way.

Originally, I had to take the lead in the role of a scout, but aside from my poor physical condition, Ivan had a lot of experience, so he naturally came to stand in the front.

“I think this is a good place.”

Han Soo-Young, who was quietly walking close to me, murmured, wiping her sweat.

As she said, the vacant lot in front of us now seemed perfect as Ivan said.

However, Ivan looked around as if contemplating something and even sat on one knee and fiddled with the ground.

A moment later, he shook his head as he brushed the crumbling dirt off his hands.

“It’s not good. Starting with dried grass and crumbling sandy soil around…… This is like a place where if we’re not careful, we’ll end up in the water when the water overflows.”

“Uh, what? Really?”

“Yes. Of course, river overflow is unlikely to happen that often…… .”

Ivan hesitated for a moment and spat it out.

“I sort of know the professor who led us today. His personality is a bit…… He is a very eccentric person, so honestly, even if something happens, there won’t be anything strange about it. So I think it’s better to avoid any problematic places from the beginning.”

“… Come to think of it, he even hinted that it would be better to be careful if we didn’t want to suffer at night.”

When Kim Yoo-Hyun muttered, Lee Hyun-Seung sighed and said.

“Then what are we hesitating about? Let’s find another place.”

It was as he said.

We started moving again, and soon after, we could find an open place, even though it was a little far from the stream.

“Let’s take this place. I don’t think we’ll be able to eat on time if we move anymore.”

Ivan smiled softly and said so.

Anyway, he was playing a great role as a leader.

“Then do you want to share work now?”

“Before that, let’s check what’s in the luggage he gave us first.”

Ivan said, and began to skillfully sort through the items in the luggage.

Many of the items were new to me, but he handled them skillfully, nodded, and began to mutter something.

“First aid supplies and water purification capsules…… I guess we don’t have to worry with this much.”

He said so and looked at us.

“First, let’s divide the group into three groups. Camp, firewood, food. These are the three.”

“Isn’t it better for Ji-Hyuk to be in charge of the campsite?”

Kim Yoo-Hyun said, raising his hand gently.

I tried to say something because I was uncomfortable with the continued special treatment, but before that, Han Soo-Young and Jin Ye-Seul nodded and expressed their agreement.

“You’re right.”

“I agree.”

“Then, one person has been decided on the campsite.”

It was decided even before I could express my opinion.

After thinking for a while, I came up with something I could do.

“Then I’ll prepare the food and clean up. Since I’ve cooked a lot.”

“Please do”

Ivan nodded as if he understood.

“Um, I also want to pitch a tent if possible.”

Jin Ye-Seul muttered like that, and slowly came closer to me.

However, there was a person who grabbed her forearm first with a smiling face.

It was Han Soo-Young.

“Ye-Seul, shall we go get firewood together?”

“Uh, I’m…… .”

“Shall we go first?”

With those words, Han Soo-Young dragged Jin Ye-Seul and disappeared somewhere.

Kim Yoo-Hyun, who was staring at that, suddenly looked at this side with a bitter gaze and said to Ivan.

“I think the two of us will have to get some food.”

“I think so.”

“Well, I don’t know anything about mushrooms or herbs, so I’ll have to hunt.”

Saying so, he took out only the lower part of the halberd.

It looked like he was holding a javelin.

“Wait, I’ll catch a wild boar.”

With the words, he burst into laughter and disappeared immediately, and Ivan shook his head small and followed him.

The only ones left were me and Lee Hyun-Seung.

He fixed his big glasses and smiled at me.

“Shall we pitch the tent first?”

“Let’s do that.”

He and I immediately cleaned up the surroundings and started pitching the tent.

Fortunately, pitching the tent was not a difficult task.

While I was cleaning up the surroundings and organizing various clutter, Lee Hyun-Seung disappeared with a water bag, saying he would bring water.

It was obvious to everyone that everyone in the group was looking out for me.

‘It seems like I’m just causing trouble by coming…… .’

I let out a small sigh as I gathered the wood and other small things around me first and started a fire.

Rather than having a meaning, it came out without me knowing.

And it was also one of my habits when I started to think about something important.

What should I do in the future? This was definitely an important concern.

First of all, I succeeded in restoring the Aegis.

This satisfied one of the two most important conditions.

The other was to have Jin Ye-Seul create a wound on the statue.

This in itself wasn’t too difficult, so there was nothing to worry about.

“…… .”

There were only two months left until the Commemoration.

And from that point on, this world would face a great turning point.

Perhaps that’s why I felt nervous somehow even though things were going as I thought.

It was when I was sitting in front of the bonfire basking in the fire, feeling all over again the events at the guild invitational a few days ago that had made me so careful.

“It’s a big deal.”

Lee Hyun-Seung, who brought water, appeared muttering like that

When I received the water bag from him and asked him why, he shook his head and muttered.

“You know, next to the stream we passed by? Another team is pitching tents there.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. When I told them that it might be dangerous, they just ignored me and told me to mind my own business.”

Lee Hyun-Seung smiled bitterly and sat down and began to bask in the fire.

I could tell from the back of his head that it was for other reasons than feeling cold.

Then, I heard a rustling sound.

It was Han Soo-Young and Jin Ye-Seul.

“You both worked hard.”

When I got closer to them saying that, somehow the two looked strange.

Both were smiling.

They’re smiling, but…… .

Why?

I felt a strange sense of discomfort.

In the meantime, Han Soo-Young carefully put down the piles of firewood that she was magically holding in the middle of the vacant lot.

“Oh, I’m tired.”

“Water. Can I drink this as it is?”

Han Soo-Young smiled once as she looked at me and sat down on the spread-out easy chair, while Jin Ye-Seul also looked at me with a smile and reached for the water bag.

“I think it’s better to boil it first and drink it. We don’t know what’s there.”

“I’m thirsty…… .”

“If it’s a simple essence, I can do it, so please wait for a moment.”

Lee Hyun-Seung said so, and he began to rustle his luggage and took out something.

I approached the piles of firewood they brought to put in new firewood.

And I noticed something strange.

“What the… ?”

The thick sections of firewood were not being cut or chopped off, but were shattered as if they had been smashed with a fist.

First, I picked up some wood and put it in the bonfire, and asked Han Soo-Young in a low voice.

“… Could it be that something happened between you two?”

“No?”

She was still smiling.

I’ve seen that smile somewhere.

It was definitely the same smile I had seen at the hospital.

“Nothing happened.”

“Oh, okay.”

I quickly nodded at her appearance as if not to ask anymore.

Then, I heard the rustling sound again.

It was Ivan and Kim Yoo-Hyun.

“You’re here quickly?”

“Because there is a waterside right next to us.”

Saying so, Ivan lifted something.

In his hands were fish of all sizes.

On the other hand, Kim Yoo-Hyun looked unhappy, and everyone could see that it was because he had nothing in his hand.

And Lee Hyun-Seung, who noticed it, asked with a grin.

“Why are you empty-handed when you said you were going to catch a wild boar? Where’s the wild boar?”

“Be quiet. This hyung is uncomfortable right now.”

Kim Yu-Hyun and Lee Hyun-Seung started bickering again.

Looking at it, I got up and picked up a small knife that was in my luggage.

“Good job. Give me that. I’ll go and dress them.”

“I have already removed all the internal organs and scales.”

“What, really?”

When I looked at the fish he had handed me as he approached, it was really dressed.

Ivan smiled and said to me.

“I’ve done some cooking, too.”

“Yeah…… Thanks for your hard work. Sit down.”

I took the fishes from him.

There were about fifteen freshwater fish, large and small.

Thinking about how to make them, I rummaged through the seasoning container in my luggage.

Should I make the spicy fish stew, or since there is Ivan, it may be better to just cook it like fish porridge.

Thinking like that, When I opened the large seasoning container, I had no choice but to stare at it blankly.

Salt and pepper.

There were only these two things in the large seasoning container.

The container that should have held the other seasonings had a note on it that read, ‘Let’s stick to the basics!’

“I don’t think there is anything we can do about this.”

The expressions of the other guys, including Ivan, who were looking at me from the side, also became subtle.

Inevitably, I picked up a few suitable branches and made them like skewers to sew the fish.

However, the amount of salt and pepper was small, so I thought I should sprinkle a little bit when eating.

“By the way, What have you gotten for emergency food?”

“Wait…… Let’s see, what’s this? Canned bread? No, there’s canned bread, too?”

Kim Yoo-Hyun muttered as if he was dumbfounded.

It’s the first time I have seen three cans.

“The inexperienced ones will have a hard time.”

Han Soo-Young muttered in a low voice.

When we all nodded, only Ivan looked like he didn’t understand.

“This is total luxury…… .”

Next to him, who muttered in a low voice, I silently started grilling the fish.

And I tried hard because I had to at least not burn this to save my face.

“Then, Shall we decide who will be on a night watch?”

“Should we have to stand in two? In principle, two people have to stand…… .”

“I think we can just stand one at a time.”

It was when the five of us were talking in whispers.

Suddenly, Ivan shhed and put his finger to his lips, and Kim Yu-Hyun picked up the detached halberd and began to carefully assemble it.

“Wai, wait! calm down!”

People appeared with a rustling sound from beyond the grass.

Six people.

Among them, there were people I knew.

It was Na Il-Jun and Lee Yu-Na.

“What happened?”

Ivan asked, gently lowering the magic bow he had taken out.

He actually didn’t even need to ask.

Their appearance in the form of wet mice gave us a rough idea of ​​what was going on.

Come to think of it, Lee Hyun-Seung said that there was a group who pitched their tent right next to the stream.

“Th, that…… .”

The boys hesitated and started looking at each other.

In the meantime, Na Il-Jun was slowly stepping back when he saw me.

Looking at them, Lee Yu-Na, the only one who was not wet and fine, sighed slightly and took a step forward.

“I’m really sorry, but can we borrow the fire for a second? As you can see, all of our members are shocked, and if we leave them like this, we’ll be in big trouble.”

“What about your tent?”

“They were all washed away by the water.”

Lee Yu-Na gritted her teeth with a cracking sound.

“I went looking for something to eat, and when I came back, I was told that the stream suddenly overflowed, that a monster appeared, and so on…… Anyway, the tent, luggage, and everything else was washed away.”

Lee Yu-Na muttered with a tired face.

“Then I saw a fire from afar…… I know we’re a nuisance, but can’t you do something about it?”

“Come here and dry yourself first.”

At Ivan’s words, the guys rushed in and sat down in front of the fire.

When Lee Yu-Na saw that, she put on an indescribable expression on her face, but when she saw Jin Ye-Seul, she slightly raised her hand.

“Ye-Seul, hello…… .”

“Yes. Hello.”

Jin Ye-Seul nodded, and unusually, she approached first, held Lee Yu-Na’s hand, and brought her to the bonfire.

While I was thinking that the two of them were getting along well, Lee Yu-Na yelled loudly.

“Read the room, you bastard!”

“Oh, shit! You scared me!”

One of the male students, who had reached out to a fish skewer, put it down in surprise.

When Kim Yoo-Hyun saw it, he brought a pile of firewood and told them that he would make another bonfire.

“There. It’s too small to hold more than ten people.”

Then the boys mumbled something as if they wanted to say something, but they held back, and headed for the newly built fire.

In the meantime, Lee Yu-Na and Jin Ye-Seul started talking to each other.

“What happened?”

“It’s just what I said. I went looking for food and suddenly a monster appeared, everyone ran to me…… .”

“Wait, don’t tell me you went looking for food all by yourself?”

“Well yes?”

At those words, Jin Ye-Seul glanced at the five as if glaring at them.

They were blankly basking in the fire with their backs showing as if they hadn’t heard anything.

“…And so?”

“Anyway, everyone came to me and talked gibberish. And when I went there, there were no monsters, the tents, and luggage, everything was washed away and there was nothing.”

“Monsters?”

“Yeah. What kind of ghost did you see?”

“No, it was real!”

Then one of the male students shouted as if it was unfair.

“We thought it was an earthquake! Then, all of a sudden a monster came out of the stream, do you think you wouldn’t run away if it was you?”

As soon as he finished speaking, I heard a thumping sound from afar.

The male student shouted at us as if to say, look at that.

“Right! Just like gob… !”

The male student’s complexion, who had been talking up to that point, turned pale in an instant.

Immediately afterward, as he said, a thumping sound began to resound, as if there was an earthquake.

“… My God, Professor. Please.”

Ivan muttered as if sighing.

And he told us to calm down.

“This is not an earthquake.”

“Then, what the hell is it?”

He muttered with a sigh.

“It’s like something is moving in swarms.”

And from the sound of it, it’s coming towards us from afar.

As soon as he finished saying those words, something appeared through the grass.

It was a wild boar with four tusks sticking out.