Shouting Duel at the Center of a Dead Game

Three days after the test began.

─Thwack.

Hong Su-ah skillfully cut off the ant's antennae, then held the dagger in reverse and split its head. Fluid burst out, and soon the ant's body crumbled.

─Fwoosh.

The ant's body trembled briefly and stopped, and a familiar phrase popped up before her eyes.

[Defeated a worker ant.]

[Bonus experience is increased by the Lever of Causality.]

[Your level has increased.]

Hong Su-ah looked at the phrase and thought.

'It's increased a lot.'

Her current level was 6.

In the game, raising it to 6 in three days was very difficult. However, with the "Lever of Causality" buff and dedicating herself to hunting ants for all but sleeping time for three days, she was able to reach level 6 without fail.

But not everything was to her liking.

"Hey."

Hong Su-ah called Han Hae-il, who was trying to handle the ant she had just defeated. Then Han Hae-il turned around and looked at her.

"Why?"

Hong Su-ah was speechless for a moment at that shameless answer.

'Why?'

100. The number of ants that Hong Su-ah and Han Hae-il had encountered so far was a whopping 100, but Han Hae-il had never helped in battle even once.

He had only thrown small pebbles every time, all the battles so far had been her responsibility.

As she was contemplating what to say to Han Hae-il, she chose the words that encapsulated that contemplation.

"Aren't you leveling up, Hae-il?"

If you want to level up, you should try too. I'll help you.

It was a question that contained such a meaning, but Han Hae-il nodded nonchalantly.

"Yes."

Hong Su-ah stared blankly at Han Hae-il when she heard that answer. Up until now, she had just let it go, but now was the time to break through head-on.

"Hae-il, is there a reason? You've been to the military too, haven't you? But why don't you fight?"

"Ah, I didn't explain it, did I."

Han Hae-il scratched his head and continued.

"I am a "conscientious objector to military service"."

"Conscientious…… what?"

"I am a deeply rooted Buddhist, so I am forbidden from killing."

Hong Su-ah, who was watching him holding the hoe and putting his hands together in a prayer, had no choice but to give up again.

"……Ah, okay."

'Still, he's not a bad person, right?'

Hong Su-ah decided to think so. She couldn't know Han Hae-il's intentions, who was dismembering the ant with busy hand movements.

***

Meanwhile, Han Hae-il was in a good mood.

Even while disassembling the corpses of the ants that Hong Su-ah had defeated and collecting pheromone glands, oil glands, and pieces of exoskeleton, he couldn't hide the smile that was rising on his lips.

'Finally.'

Just now, a phrase popped up before my eyes too.

[Achievement Unlocked ─ Monk's Feet.

Monks who do not want to harm even the smallest creatures walk carefully so as not to step on even a single ant.

You also have faced 100 ants without killing even one. The ants who felt your gentleness will no longer attack you first.]

[Acquired KP +500.]

'As expected.'

It's the same as the achievements in the game.

Even I hadn't found out about this achievement directly. The perverted achievement of facing 100 ants without killing a single one was a hidden piece that I had learned while sharing information with other veterans during the heyday of the community.

It was an achievement with extremely difficult difficulty in solo playing, but the story is different if there is one person to hoard all the kills instead.

'Hong Su-ah, you're more useful than I thought.'

That is the conclusion I came to after watching her for three days. Not bad movements, judgment, and the body skills which are fast in reaction, considering she is a newbie.

Thanks to that, while doing the 'Monk's Feet' achievement, I was also able to easily loot for the hidden pieces for later.

But more than anything else.

'The thing you're hiding is still that trait, isn't it.'

I liked the trait that Hong Su-ah was hiding. Her trait wasn't "Nimble Feet" or anything like that. I wondered why she was hiding it, but she couldn't escape my eyes.

The thing she's hiding is probably that trait.

[Tailwind]

A gentle wind blows around the body during battle, increasing evasion in proportion to the agility stat. Up to this point, it's a normal support trait, but a unique mechanic is added to "Tailwind".

That's "Aggro", when the Tailwind blows, the surrounding monsters instinctively look towards it.

'Why hide it?'

It's a very good trait that is the core of an evasion tank build. To the extent that even if I was creating a different build and raising a character, if this trait appeared, I would detour the entire build and raise it as a tank.

As I was contemplating that, I heard Hong Su-ah's voice.

"Hae-il, over there."

I looked at the place she was pointing at with a nervous voice. Then I saw a group of people approaching between the trees.

'That's.'

I remembered the system's words that there were summoners from other countries on this island.

"Su-ah."

I said quickly with a rather serious voice.

"What level are you right now?"

"Huh? I just went up to 6……."

"Okay."

In this situation, I didn't know what would happen with contact with other groups. I slowly looked at the faces of the men approaching us.

And when we got close enough, the man with the bushy beard in the very front opened his mouth.

“Hello”

"Oh!"

Hong Su-ah said while looking at me.

"I think they're Chinese. I can speak Chinese. It was an elective subject in high school. I'll talk to them!"

And Hong Su-ah smiled brightly and waved her hand.

"Hello! I'm Korean! Ren…… Hmm, what was nice to meet you……."

Hong Su-ah thought for a moment and added as if she remembered.

“Nice to meet you!”

When Hong Su-ah spoke with a confident voice, the man with the bushy beard nodded and answered.

"Ah, are you Korean?"

***

The name of the bearded man was Wei Xingcheng, a Chinese man summoned from Yanbian.

"So, five people came from Korea, are you?"

"……Yes."

Hong Su-ah, who had tried so hard to speak Chinese, seemed embarrassed and her face was a little red.

"What happened to the other people that you're only traveling with two?"

"It just turned out that way."

"Ah, I understand. We also just kept running away from the ants and came all the way here."

"You must have had a hard time."

"Haha, but everyone came here safely. We were lucky!"

Then Wei Xingcheng turned around and began to have a conversation with the other Chinese in Chinese. I whispered to Hong Su-ah.

"Su-ah, do you know what that means?"

"Um…… Well, I did learn it, but I'm not good at conversations."

Hong Su-ah, who was listening carefully to Wei Xingcheng's words, which seemed to be having a very serious conversation, scratched her head and continued.

"I can understand a few words, like 'help' or…… I understand 'together'."

At that time, Wei Xingcheng, as if he had finished the conversation, looked at us and said.

"You must have had a hard time falling on this weird island. That's why more than ever, Northeast Asia, that is, shouldn't the great powers of the Orient unite?"

Ah, so you're saying let's travel together?

Judging by her expression, it seemed that Hong Su-ah had noticed the meaning of those words right away too. Hong Su-ah looked at Wei Xingcheng and said.

"Just a moment, let me discuss it."

And she gestured to me. Following Hong Su-ah behind the bushes, she smiled brightly and said.

"We're so lucky."

"Yes?"

"Stronger monsters come out the further you go inside this island. So I was a little uneasy about traveling with only two people, but these kind people came out!"

'Ah.'

It was only then that I could know for sure what kind of person Hong Su-ah was.

A person who was raised preciously and happily, so she doesn't see the ugly sides of people well.

The so-called 'flower field head' kind of person.

'Hmm.'

I quickly scanned the Chinese people who were looking at us. The number was twelve, and aside from Wei Xingcheng from Yanbian, who was at the very front, we couldn't communicate with each other.

At that time, something came into my eyes, and I was able to quickly notice the situation at that moment. And a judgement was made right away.

"Let's do that."

I nodded while looking at Hong Su-ah. Hong Su-ah also nodded brightly and drew a circle with her finger towards Wei Xingcheng.

Then Wei Xingcheng had a short conversation with the other Chinese, and then they all burst into laughter.

"Haha, as expected of the tiger of Northeast Asia, the Korean people! Their boldness pleases me!"

***

Hong Su-ah was in a good mood.

'Yeah, this is right.'

She had encountered kind people for the first time since being summoned to this world. The three people who had misunderstood her kindness and separated, and the strange person who had followed her.

It was only after passing those people that she was able to encounter kind groups. Although they were people from other countries, what did that matter?

'What does nationality mean in this global era?'

Foreigners were no longer unfamiliar to her, who had been on overseas trips that numbered more than double digits since she was a child.

As we walked and talked together, that thought grew more and more.

'As expected, it's all prejudice that Chinese people are bad.'

Wei Xingcheng spoke to her, who was thinking that.

"Ah, how are you eating?"

'See.'

Hong Su-ah had a satisfied smile. This heartwarming thing of worrying about meals even between people who had been strangers until just now, wasn't this humanism?

Hong Su-ah took out the ant fluid pouch she had put in her pocket and showed it.

"I've been enduring by drinking this. What about you Chinese people?"

"Oh my, how have you been enduring by only eating that?"

Wei Xingcheng shook his head as if he was feeling sorry for her. And when he reached out to another Chinese person who was standing behind him, that person handed Wei Xingcheng a fruit.

"You haven't been enduring by eating fruit either? You're so foolish."

"There was…… fruit?"

Hong Su-ah's eyes widened as she looked at the fruit in Wei Xingcheng's hand. She had been enduring by only eating water and ant fluid for days, so when she saw the fruit that looked so sweet, her mouth was full of saliva.

"Well, we were lucky enough to find a fruit tree."

And Wei Xingcheng took a big bite out of the fruit he was holding in his hand.

─Crunch.

Hong Su-ah, seeing the fruit juice flowing down around his lips and his corners of his mouth rising naturally, opened her mouth without realizing it.

'It looks delicious…….'

The unidentified orange fruit looked just like an orange. As Hong Su-ah was staring at the fruit mindlessly, she heard Wei Xingcheng's voice.

"You're going to wear out your eyes. Want me to give you one?"

While saying that, he took out two fruits from his pocket and handed them to Hong Su-ah and Han Hae-il.

"Really?"

Hong Su-ah smiled brightly and tried to pick up the fruit in his hand. At that moment.

─Thud.

Han Hae-il dropped both of the fruits in Wei Xingcheng's hand on the floor.

Then Wei Xingcheng's face, which had been smiling brightly, hardened in an instant.

"……What are you doing?"

However, instead of answering that question, Han Hae-il picked up the fruits that had fallen on the floor and dusted them off. And he handed them to Wei Xingcheng.

"You eat this."

"Ha, Hae-il?"

Hong Su-ah was flustered by Han Hae-il's sudden actions.

"What are you doing right now?"

"Su-ah, this fruit just came out of his pocket. You didn't eat the fruit in your own pocket, and you deliberately chewed up the one someone else gave you. Why would you do that?"

Han Hae-il said while glaring at Wei Xingcheng.

"You must have put something on the one that was in your pocket. Isn't that right?"

"……Huh."

Wei Xingcheng chuckled and then picked up the ax he had on his waist.

"It's not common for a kid to be so observant, huh. When did you know?"

"I knew from the beginning."

Han Hae-il said while pointing at the Chinese person standing in the very back. He had two swords and one ax hanging on his waist.

"The weapons that were clearly given one per person, only that person has three of them. And you said that none of you have died. Then it's obvious."

"Haha, yeah, it turned out like that. Thanks, I'll keep it in mind for the future."

Wei Xingcheng turned around and gestured, and then the remaining eleven people also drew their weapons.

"You're very observant, but you're not lucky. Meat, well then, let's die now."

Wei Xingcheng said that, but Han Hae-il smirked and answered.

"I'm not unlucky."

And then he took out the hoe that was stuck in his waist.

"It's the first time I've been able to do 1v12 PVP."

A bright smile spread across Han Hae-il's lips.