Chapter 3: Opportunity of Fate (2)

What is the most dangerous thing in the wild?

The three great toxins—poisonous plants, venomous insects, and venomous snakes? Correct.

Or maybe the greatest gamble of all, mushrooms? Also correct.

Or hunger and dehydration? That too.

Nature, outside the fence of civilization, is dangerous in every sense.
Not even the ground you step on is safe.

And a human being, taken individually, is a weak creature—weak to the extreme.

Without tools, you couldn’t even beat a large dog.

“Grrr! Woof! Woof!”

“Woof! Woof!”

In front of me, a pack of giant dogs barked at me ferociously.

The problem was that they weren’t just large dogs.

They were so enormous they could be compared to cows.

Very fitting for a fantasy world—even the stats of wild dogs were absurd.

‘Luckily, with that size they can’t push forward any further…’

Considering their bulk, I deliberately slipped into an area where the trees were extremely dense.

The place where I found the medicinal herb wasn’t bad, but it was completely open.

And too exposed.

So I ran without hesitation.

Of course, I didn’t forget the bundle with the sword and food the Heavenly Demon gave me.

Right now, I was holding out with my back pressed against a massive rock wall.

The wild dogs didn’t seem willing to force their way between the trees either; they simply watched.

In other words, they were intelligent.

They knew I had the advantage.

‘What do I do now?’

Is enduring like this my only option?

I hope those bastards just leave on their own.

But you always have to assume the worst-case scenario.

So I immediately entered the gallery.

Since they weren’t attacking yet, I planned to ask for help through the gallery.

Title) Urgent way to deal with these shitty dogs

WildGrills

(Photo of giant dogs staring between the trees)

How do I deal with these sons of bitches? Any method?

ㄴAren’t those Mad Dogs? Why are they so huge?

ㄴNot even a Sword Expert can handle them easily

ㄴRest in peace, we’ll pray for you

ㄴIf they bite you, you’ll die of rabies for sure lol

ㄴWildGrills) Sons of bitches, don’t answer with questions

As always, not a single one was helpful. I frowned.

Given time, those Mad Dogs would start looking for an opening.

I had to think of something, no matter what.

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) No! Don’t die! Please don’t die before this humble woman can repay her debt!

ㄴWhy so desperate? lol

ㄴIf I didn’t know better, I’d think you’re his partner lol

The Heavenly Demon’s encouragement—if you could call it that—comforted me a little.

It wasn’t real help, but it was something.

And with so many comments, more and more people were seeing the post.

Hopefully at least one would hit the mark.

ㄴHeroDontThrowAway) Ah! I’ve seen those monsters a lot! Their weak point is the nose! If you stab them there with a sword, they faint for a few seconds.

ㄴAnd how do you know that?

ㄴAren’t they super rare monsters?

ㄴHeroDontThrowAway) Because I’m the hero! I know how to deal with monsters and beasts!

Fortunately, the moderator passing by explained kindly.

Just when I was about to get hopeful.

ㄴSwordTasteMaster) But to do that like the moderator says, you’d need to be at least a high-level Sword Expert, right? That’s what I’ve heard

ㄴMost useless theory in the world lol

ㄴAnd if he can’t?

ㄴSwordTasteMaster) They go into a frenzy, destroy the trees and everything around, and then you die

ㄴHeroDontThrowAway) That’s why you have to cut off their neck or pierce their heart first! I can do it!

Fuck.

That moderator was a monster in human skin.

And how the hell does this SwordTasteMaster know all that?

I don’t know what a Sword Expert is, but at least to me they’re creatures on another level.

ㄴWildGrills) Damn it, isn’t there anything meant for normal people? I only have a sword the Heavenly Demon gave me

ㄴNormal people don’t run into those things;; are you really in the Forest of Four Seasons? Are you a criminal?

ㄴㄴㄴNo, they say when criminals are thrown into the Forest of Four Seasons, their eyes are gouged out so they can’t use the gallery

ㄴWhat the hell

ㄴIsn’t it supposed to be impossible to access the gallery in the Forest of Four Seasons?

ㄴIt’s not “can,” it’s “can’t”

ㄴYeah, because of the chaotic mana it doesn’t work, that’s what they say

ㄴJust hit it on the head, at the end of the day it’s still a dog even if it’s big

ㄴFr lol

All kinds of useless comments poured in, but the conclusion was one hit it on the head.

Incredibly useful information.

As useful as “if you don’t drink water, you die.”

ㄴHeavenly Demon) This humble woman’s sword is a divine sword among divine swords. Cutting off those dogs’ heads will be nothing. Trust me.

ㄴSwordTasteMaster) That good? Better than Durandal or Excalibur?

ㄴHeavenly Demon) And what are those? It was forged with ten-thousand-year iron.

ㄴHahahaha

ㄴTen

ㄴThousand

ㄴYears

ㄴTen-thousand-year iron is that a dog’s name or what? lol

The Heavenly Demon claimed the sword was a supreme masterpiece.

Hearing her, I looked at the sword.

It definitely wasn’t ordinary.

You could tell it had been meticulously cared for.

Combined with the terrain advantage, I could fight.

‘All or nothing.’

I looked at the largest dog, the one in the center.

There were three dogs in total, and the one in the middle was clearly the biggest.

Surely it was the leader.

Without hesitation, I charged straight at it.

“Woof! Woof!”

Then the two escorting it began pushing between the trees.

“It’s a trap, bastards!”

I feigned going for the leader and aimed directly at one of the subordinates.

First, the one on the left.

Half its body was already out from between the trees, and I cut down vertically.

I knew nothing about swordsmanship; more than cutting, it was like striking with the blade.

Swish!

“Huh?”

It was strange.

I was sure I had hit it, but the sword simply brushed past the dog’s head.

For a moment I thought I had missed, but the reaction came immediately.

Crack!

The dog’s head split vertically with a crack, and—

Boom!

It collapsed to the ground with its tongue hanging out. Even the tongue was split in two.

I stared at the corpse, stunned.

I felt nothing in my hand.

At most, it was like cutting tofu with a knife.

It was so unreal it left my mind blank.

“Grrr!”

Ah.

Right, there was one left.

The moment I heard the sound behind me, I swung the sword on reflex.

The sound was too close—it was an instinctive movement.

Splatch!

Fortunately, the dog didn’t manage to pounce on me.

Instead, its head and body separated and fell to the ground.

Just like before, I felt almost no resistance when cutting.

I looked at the corpses, completely bewildered.

If one thing was clear, it was this the Heavenly Demon is a god, and this sword is invincible.

“Grrr……”

“Ah. You were there too.”

Only one remained—the leader dog.

It watched me with extreme caution.

Between the thick trees, the tension stretched tight like a wire.

Who would back away first?

As expected, the leader dog did.

It shifted its gaze between the subordinates that had become corpses, then began to retreat little by little.

It must have realized that as long as I had a sword, the one at a disadvantage was itself.

It was smart.

“Phew.”

It was finally over. I let out a breath, the knot of tension in my chest slowly loosening.

If it hadn’t been for the sword the Heavenly Demon gave me—if I hadn’t found that medicinal herb purely by chance—what would have happened?

I still didn’t have a compass, so moving freely was difficult.

There was no choice but to wait until the Heavenly Demon sent it to me.

‘Ah. Before anything else, I should thank her.’

Without wasting time, I wrote a post in the gallery.

Title) The Heavenly Demon is a god

WildGrills

(Photo of the dead dogs on the ground and the sword held firmly)

This sword is invincible.

ㄴAre you insane? You killed those?

ㄴThat sword really is absurdly good lol

ㄴSwordTasteMaster) Clean cut. No matter how good the sword is, that’s not easy.

ㄴHeroDontThrowAway) You’re alive! What a relief! Today isn’t a sad day then!

ㄴHeavenly Demon) You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?

ㄴWildGrills) Thanks to you. Thank you very much for the excellent sword.

ㄴHeavenly Demon) I’m glad to hear that. I was afraid something bad might have happened to you.

Even through text, her concern was obvious.

Someone that warm being the Heavenly Demon? It didn’t make sense.

On top of that, the way she spoke reminded me of my late grandmother, which made her feel even closer.

I leaned my back against the rock wall and started resting while continuing to browse the gallery.

ㄴSwordTasteMaster) If you’ve got nothing to do, have you thought about learning fencing? I think you’ve got talent.

ㄴHeavenly Demon) Out! This man will be instructed by me personally with a secret manual. How dare you?

ㄴSwordTasteMaster) Come on, don’t be so strict. You also use the sword, Heavenly Demon?

ㄴHeavenly Demon) This humble woman has mastered all weapons. But if I had to choose, it would be the sword.

If you looked closely, SwordTasteMaster seemed to be on the older side.

Unlike the others, he used punctuation and spacing properly.

I didn’t care much about that kind of thing, but if the other party showed courtesy, I did too.

Well—more or less halfway.

ㄴWildGrills) More than fencing, what I need right now is survival supplies……

ㄴSwordTasteMaster) That’s true as well. Let me think about it for a bit.

ㄴHeavenly Demon) I will hurry down from the mountain. I will be sure to send you the items you mentioned.

That was enough gallery for now. I stood up.

If I stayed there too long, other animals might smell the blood and come.

Even though the fight hadn’t been long, the stress had left me pretty exhausted. It was better to move.

‘Until the compass arrives, I need a place to hide…’

Rumble, rumble!

Suddenly, the ground began to shake.

I blinked and sprang to my feet.

After beasts, now a natural disaster? What kind of rotten luck is this?

But it was strange.

The moment I pulled my back away from the wall, the vibration seemed to lessen.

Before I could understand that odd sensation, something began to change in the wall behind me.

Grrrrrk—

“…Oh, God.”

The wall was rising.

Literally, the wall was lifting up.

A massive rock wall tore itself out of the ground as if it had roots.

It didn’t take long to realize that the “wall” I’d been leaning against was actually a leg.

Before my eyes, what had seemed like a simple rocky hill transformed into a bipedal giant.

I entered the gallery immediately.

Title) What the hell is this?

WildGrills

(Photo of a gigantic rock golem standing upright)

That. Nothing more to say.

ㄴWhat the fuck? Isn’t that a Rock Guardian?

ㄴAnd what’s a guardian doing there? lol

ㄴIsn’t that something even a Swordmaster can’t hunt easily? lol

ㄴHey! What are you doing? Run, now!

Everyone was shouting at me to run.

I didn’t hesitate for even a second and turned around.

Of course, I didn’t forget the bundle of food on the ground.

It was a gift from the Heavenly Demon; I wasn’t about to abandon it.

ㄴIf you kill it, you get 50,000 gold lol

ㄴWildGrills) Damn it, that really wasn’t necessary.

ㄴAnd he’s still galeri-ing in the middle of this?

ㄴSomeone translate that

ㄴIsn’t it “it wasn’t necessary,” damn it?

ㄴLooks like it lol

ㄴHe’s crazy lol

With great effort, I managed to escape.

I leaned against a tree to catch my breath.

From far away, I could still hear the thunderous footsteps, but they were growing more distant.

It wasn’t coming this way.

‘This is insane.’

I barely get through one crisis and another appears.

What kind of forest is this?

‘It’s not really the Forest of Four Seasons, is it…?’

I prayed it wasn’t.

According to what people said, you couldn’t even access the gallery in the Forest of Four Seasons.

I took a deep breath and connected again.

Even while I was running, the notifications hadn’t stopped ringing, so I had no choice.

ㄴSwordTasteMaster) The way to deal with that is simple. Cut off one of its legs and it’ll lose its balance. Then stab the sword into the core in its chest.

ㄴWhy are you explaining it like a ramen recipe? lol

ㄴ???: See? Super easy.

This SwordTasteMaster wasn’t anywhere close to normal either.

What the hell does he even do?

Just like I had with the Heavenly Demon, I checked his posting history.

[You Can Do It Too! Advanced
Swordsmanship Class 15] – 2 hours ago

[You Can Do It Too! Advanced Swordsmanship Class 14] – 1 day ago

[You Can Do It Too! Advanced Swordsmanship Class 13] – 2 days ago

“…….”

Ah. Damn it.

He was a sword-obsessed lunatic.

Every single one of his posts was a fencing guide.

A different kind of crazy.

He had fewer posts than the Heavenly Demon, but unlike her—who mostly posted nonsense—you could tell his took a huge amount of effort.

An unnecessarily diligent lunatic.

There was no better way to describe SwordTasteMaster.

Among all of them, there was one post that stood out overwhelmingly.

Title) Looking for a partner

SwordTasteMaster

Condition: stronger than a Swordmaster

ㄴSo how big is it?

ㄴSwordTasteMaster) I won’t tell you

ㄴHahaha, fuck off

In that gallery, there wasn’t a single normal person.