Lee Hyunsung had a thought. This must be how his grandfather who fought in the Vietnam War felt.
It was a lush, leafy forest. Lee Hyunsung hid between trees that boasted an unusual size and remembered his survival training.
‘Go to the nearby reed forest while crawling low.’
Lee Hyunsung moved through the forest by alternating between low crawls and high crawls. He wanted to run to the fields straight away but there were a few groups of constellations moving.
Lee Hyunsung saw someone moving and quickly hid himself at the base of a tree, holding his breath.
[The Demon King of Salvation definitely chose this island.]
[How are we going to distribute it if we hunt him?]
[The one who cuts off his head will get half.]
There were the murmurs of the constellations. They were all targeting Kim Dokja. He wanted to run out and get their heads straight away.
-Unconditionally run towards the centre of the island.
Kim Dokja had told them. Only then could they survive this bloody survival game. This was the message of a man who knew the future of this world.
He felt he should’ve asked Kim Dokja more details about Ways of Survival. The more information in the manual, the better. What would happen to his future self and the life he was living…
‘It isn’t the time to think useless things.’
Lee Hyunsung slapped both of his cheeks. There must’ve been a reason Kim Dokja didn’t tell him those things. Now was the time to focus on the situation.
Rustle. There was another noise from nearby. No voices could be heard. Someone was coming this way. There were cautious movements. It was a person who had the basics of using cover. The sound was getting closer.
Rustle. If they kept coming in this direction, they would encounter Lee Hyunsung sooner or later.
Lee Hyunsung nervously pulled out a dagger. Kim Dokja told them to avoid combat as much as possible but that couldn’t always happen.
‘I should do it well if I can’t avoid it.’
In the past few years, Lee Hyunsung became much stronger than before through training. Now he wasn’t the ‘soldier who turned away from injustice’ in the first scenario.
Finally, the other person was right in front of him. Yet something felt strange. The pattern of a special uniform could be seen through the long reeds.
Lee Hyunsung muttered reflexively, “Heewon-ssi?”
“Uwah!”
The Sword of Judgment popped through the bushes. Lee Hyunsung reflexively bent his waist and avoided the sword. After a while, Jung Heewon’s head protruded from the bush. “Hyunsung-ssi? I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. Are you okay?”
However, he wasn’t able to be glad about meeting his colleague due to the desperate situation. He sighed and saw the two children glued firmly to Jung Heewon’s waist.
They were Shin Yoosung and Lee Gilyoung. Lee Hyunsung watched the sickly pale faces of the two children and asked, “What is the status of the children?”
“I don’t know exactly. I just met them. They must’ve seen something shocking.”
A shocking sight. Certainly, this island was a strange place. The Heracles Shield on Lee Hyunsung’s back was very heavy. It was an item that he normally would’ve have felt the weight…
Lee Hyunsung carried Shin Yoosung and said, “I think we should go to the centre of the island and meet Dokja-ssi.”
“Where is the centre of the island?”
“The direction of the smoke…”
He looked up and saw smoke rising through the big trees. It wasn’t too far away. Lee Hyunsung started to move with Jung Heewon. Maybe it was due to the presence of a strong colleague but the heartbeat seemed to be moving at a different tempo.
How long had it been? They soon arrived at the edge of the forest. A large field unfolded in front of their eyes. It wasn’t far away from the location where the smoke was ignited. The problem was that there were a bunch of people blocking the field.
Jung Heewon frowned and opened her mouth. “Do you think they are chasing us?”
The constellations armed with weapons and star relics were searching around the field. Among them were people Lee Hyunsung had seen earlier.
“Don’t fight and run. It is better to avoid them but…”
Once they entered the field, they would surely become visible. There was a way around the forest but they couldn’t guarantee how long it would take.
Then Shin Yoosung opened her mouth from Lee Hyunsung’s back. “Ahjussi. Excuse me…”
Shin Yoosung’s finger pointed to the forest on the opposite side of the field. Something was running.
There were rough and wild cries. Lee Hyunsung was familiar with the monster species that emerged from the forest. They were monsters that regularly appeared in fantasy manhwa and novels.
Jung Heewon asked, “Aren’t they orcs? They are too weak to appear in the 80th scenario…”
Orcs. They were representative monsters that emerged in numerous fantasy genres.
“I’ve never fought an orc up to now.”
It was strange when thinking about it. Orcs were famous monsters that everyone knew about. Yet they made it to the 80th scenario without meeting any orcs.
In the field, the constellations exclaimed,
[Ignoring us to this degree!]
[Releasing this crap?]
They also thought it was absurd. As if there was no need to use a weapon, a single constellation stretched out his fist towards the rushing orcs with an annoyed expression.
They were usually monsters that would be killed in one blow. Yet at this moment, something strange happened. An orc swung its axe and the fist of the constellation was broken.
The moment the bewildered constellation was about to shout something, another stone axe came flying from somewhere. The head of the constellation literally burst apart. The incarnation body of the constellation fell down stupidly. The orcs roared and laughed, turning the field into a terrible place of slaughter.
[Kuaaack!]
The fearsome constellations who could break mountains and split apart the sea. These constellations were dying, their bodies torn apart by only two orcs.
Jung Heewon and Lee Hyunsung fell down as well. It was reality without a sense of realism. It was that easy to die? A constellation? To an orc?
“Run away!”
The orcs tore apart 10 constellations in an instant and were approached this forest area.
***
Please don’t let me meet orcs. I repeated this prayer in my head as I moved through the lush forest.
My breathing was intermittent in this heat and my steps were heavy. I hadn’t walked for very long but I was feeling exhausted as sweat flowed all over my body.
I didn’t know the absence of my stats would be this great. It was unavoidable with only one point in physique. To make matters worse, it felt like my shoulders were being forced closer together. This was the reality of the island.
Reincarnation Island. It was the place where the oldest stories of the Star Stream were gathered. Here, all the buffs accumulated from outside data were released.
In other words, it was a place where only the innate abilities of the body were available. This was why I could easily defeat the 65th ranked demon king. Many constellations neglected physical training. Then once they entered this island, they made a mistake of misinterpreting their combat power. It was the same for Andrealphus…
[You have killed one competitor to date.]
[You will receive additional rewards when entering the safe zone.]
I tried not to miss the occasional message as I moved through the shade created by the lush trees.
In order to prevent dehydration, I plunged my face into a rare stream and drank the water. It was clear and cold enough that my soul felt purified.
“The first generation water is so clean.”
In fact, I wasn’t adverse to the old stories.
As a reader, I liked the old stories. A story of heroes filled with dreams and adventures. Fighting dragons in forgotten mountain ranges or looking for a legendary sword with beautiful elves and brave dwarves.
The problem was that I now entered the ‘old story.’ A world without the power of the Attributes Window and no convenient functions.
The danger here wasn’t only the monsters. Since I couldn’t receive the effects of the skills, my immune system would decrease and I had to be wary of the cold and diseases. In the original novel, some constellations died after being affected by infectious diseases.
In fact, the following sentence had appeared in Ways of Survival:
「 The constellations, who were accustomed to the Attributes Window and the convenience of the system, died powerlessly. They were able to raise a proper resistance to the world that couldn’t be read with their sensibilities. 」
The constellations, who reigned in the Star Stream, died because they couldn’t overcome diseases or orcs. Some constellations couldn’t endure the disgrace and took their own lives.
It was funny.
[The participants of Island 861 are wiped out.]
[The participants of Island 1896 are wiped out.]
…It had started. By now, the entire island would be engulfed in a terrible tragedy. The constellations died to lesser monsters that they had been ignoring in the meantime…
[Many constellations are greatly shocked by the difficulty of Reincarnation Island.]
[Many constellations are sending a protest message to the bureau!]
It was useless to protest. The island was originally like this. Demon kings or archangels… anyone could die in this place if they were a bit careless.
I reflexively held my breath as I heard a sound coming from a nearby bush. I only knew one monster on the island that made a cry like this. It was a small monster half my height with green skin.
A goblin. I sighed with relief. It was worth an attempt if it was a goblin, not an orc.
There was a deafening roar. I reflexively swung my sword in the direction of the cry. My body was dragged in the direction of the swing due to my poor strength. Fortunately, the first one who jumped out was hit by the blindly swung sword and rolled on the ground.
The problem was after this.
「 One law of the first generation. Goblins will never move alone. 」
Two goblins jumped out after the injured goblin and rapidly narrowed the distance, swinging their clubs. The club swung by one of them caused a long scratch on the outside of my left thigh. Damn… in this place, the goblins were scarier than the demon kings.
[The exclusive skill ‘Fourth Wall’ is activated!]
If it hadn’t been for the Fourth Wall, I might’ve died to the goblins like other constellations. Then an ominous voice was heard.
[The administrator of the island is concerned about the fairness of the skill you are using.]
[The administrator of the island declares this skill isn’t available here.]
[The probability of the Star Stream agrees with the administrator’s complaint.]
[The Fourth Wall is revealing discomfort.]
「 Kim Dok ja, so rry. 」
‘Huh?’
「 I ha ve no streng th on this is land. 」
I felt the barrier covering my spirit fading. It felt like a sensation sleeping inside me was activated. At this moment, I realized what was happening.
[The thickness of the Fourth Wall has become thinner.]
[Your mental strength, reinforced by the Fourth Wall, has returned to its original state.]
[The physical pain relieved by the Fourth Wall has returned to normal.
Dammit.
TL: Rainbow Turtle
