Chapter 6 : The Warrior’s Lie

At the same time, the members of the Jerluck Association who had been secretly tailing Jaeho slipped out of Trian Village.

Their original plan was to wait for the right moment to ambush Jaeho.

Their target was the weapons Jaeho had received from the Elves.

Jaeho had no idea, but earning the favor of the Elves and even receiving weapons in Trian Village was practically impossible.

Most recommended the “Forest Gump” tactic—relying on healing potions and running full speed out of the forest.

Even that was close to impossible given the harsh reality of the Jerluck Association.

That’s why they had resorted to such a desperate choice.

They were even planning to launch an attack on Jaeho himself…!

They assumed that any player starting in Luxi Forest would be roughly on the same level as themselves.

Besides, since Jaeho had lost his sword during the fight with the bear, they thought it might be easier to deal with him than expected.

However, after the initial attack, when Jaeho suddenly grabbed a stone the size of a fist in one hand and started beating the bear, their assumptions completely changed.

“Let’s just go back…”

No one voiced any complaints at the president’s words.

Except for one.

“He might not be as bad as we thought!”

Mei urgently tried to stop them.

“We should at least try to approach him for dialogue…”

She chose to believe what she saw.

His pure image as he talked to flowers and blew on the Pulpy Leaf… Of course, no one else believed it.

“Give up… I’m just going to call the knight. I was going to break my savings anyway.”

“If I can just hold on for one more month…”

They all spoke this and that as they left, leaving only Mei behind.

She was trembling.

But thinking that she had to face Jaeho alone made her legs start to shake.

Boom! Boom!

The sound of heavy blows striking a shield.

Could that really be the sound coming from a person’s bare fists…?

“W-was what I saw just an illusion?”

***

“Huff… huff…”

As if he had just run three kilometers, Jaeho was panting heavily, looking down at the Luksy Bear that was turning to ash.

“I won.”

It had been a real fight.

Apart from being scratched, he hadn’t taken any direct damage, but his remaining stamina was barely 20.

[ <Luxi Bear> has been defeated.]

[Level up.]

[Level up.]

In an instant, Jaeho reached level 10.

And he invested all remaining stamina points.

“I thought dodging would be the best, but it’s better to raise it a bit.”

He did so to prepare for the possibility of continuous battles.

Moreover, during the fight, he realized that fatigue was directly linked to stamina.

[<Luxi Bear Flesh x11> Obtained .]

[<Luxi Bear’s Gallbladder>Obtained .]

[<Luxi Bear Claw>Obtained .]

He also collected various battle materials.

[Title Acquired <Seed Slayer>.]

[When attacking with plants, additional damage is applied.]

[Title Acquired < Bare-Handed Fighter> .]

[Strength increased by 1.]

He even got some rather strange titles.

“Well, not bad.”

He was quite satisfied with his somewhat lonely haul.

Suddenly, a rustling sound.

Could it be the family of the bear he just killed?

It had wailed pitifully just before dying.

“The timing’s not good.”

Jaeho’s fatigue was nearly at 70%. If he fought another bear in this state, victory would be hard to guarantee.

“That one doesn’t just die.”

Holding a seed in one hand, Jaeho fixed his gaze.

He was determined to crush its skull if he had to die.

At that moment.

“Ex-excuse me…”

“???”

Jaeho froze at the trembling voice of a woman.

“Who are you? If you don’t come out, I’ll punch you.”

“W-wait, wait!!”

Rustle.

The one who emerged from the bushes was Mei.

Standing before Jaeho in the tense atmosphere (though Jaeho was just holding a seed), she found herself at a loss for words.

Jaeho’s aura was overwhelming for an ordinary person.

“L-let’s try talking naturally…!”

She mustered her courage.

“D-did you also start in Luxi? Haha! I’m Luxi too!!”

She blurted out an awkward attempt to find common ground.

“That’s true, but…”

Jaeho’s short reply made Mei’s face fall.

She already felt it was hopeless.

“W-w-well… Are you planning to leave Luxi Forest now? If possible, can I come along?”

Realizing that natural conversation was out of the question, she suddenly jumped straight to the main point.

Jaeho remained silent for a long moment.

“I-I’m doomed…!!!”

Mei made a pitiful face, though Jaeho was secretly surprised as well.

“I think it’s the first time a girl spoke to me first?!”

Maybe the time invested in customizing had paid off.

While the other party was caught up in some unknowable emotion, she stumbled backward in confusion.

“I-I’m sorry. I was too rude…”

“No, no. By the way, are you good at fighting?”

At Jaeho’s sudden question, Mei turned pale.

It sounded like a challenge to a fight.

“I-I won’t talk to you again. Just please let me go…”

“… The monsters in this forest don’t seem normal. I thought it’d be better to have two than me fighting alone.”

“Huh?”

Mei stopped halfway out the door, surprised by the unexpectedly straightforward answer.

“Here.”

Jaeho took a bow and arrow from his inventory and handed it to her.

He had no use for it anyway.

He was good at physical combat but utterly unskilled with a bow.

“O-oh.”

Mei accepted it absentmindedly, glancing between the bow and Jaeho repeatedly.

“C-can I really have this?”

“Why? Planning to stab me in the back?”

“Huh?!”

That was out of the question.

Even if she succeeded… Jaeho seemed the type who’d chase her down until death.

“Just kidding.”

“Th-that’s a lie!”

Mei couldn’t say it out loud.

Jaeho’s decision to give her the bow was well thought out.

Most of the players left in the area were those who had failed to escape Luxi Forest, low-level users.

Even if a fight broke out, it would be manageable.

In other words, he was confident in his physical strength to handle it.

“T-thank you.”

Mei reached out timidly and took the bow and arrows.

“Oh, right! I forgot to check something.”

“…?”

Jaeho suddenly remembered something important.

“Is it okay if I stay in Luxi Forest a bit longer?”

“Of course…”

Mei quickly answered.

Refusing was impossible.

Jaeho still held the bow tightly in his hands.

***

The two of them had been wandering through the forest together for four hours now.

“Hmm…”

Mei was thinking silently.

She had heard they wouldn’t plan to leave the forest immediately, but she hadn’t expected to stay this long.

Moreover, most of what Jaeho had done so far was…

“Only growing in marshes, mainly fertilized by underground microorganisms.”

“Mushrooms that parasitize Buriegi. Not fragrant, but good to know.”

She mumbled as she observed all kinds of plants, especially flowers.

There had been a few battles, but none posed any real threat.

Jaeho had completely overwhelmed them with power far beyond what she expected from a player of his level.

Mei’s contribution was merely collecting arrows she couldn’t shoot properly that fell to the ground.

Once the fights were over, Jaeho would return to observing flowers.

And Mei would watch over him.

“This is strange.”

Jaeho was definitely strong.

But hunting monsters wasn’t his main goal.

Monsters were merely obstacles. The real goal seemed to be the flowers.

“What I saw wasn’t an illusion after all.”

Marveling anew, she carefully observed Jaeho.

Meanwhile, Jaeho was suspicious.

“Why is this girl acting like that…?”

He wondered if she was sick.

She watched him without any blood in her face.

“Did I give her weapons for no reason? Could she be some kind of vampire class?”

Since classes were unknown without disclosure, he knew asking about it wasn’t polite.

After that awkward silence, it was already time for Jaeho to log off.

He stood up from his seat.

“I have to go now.”

“Ah, yes.”

Mei, who had been staring vacantly, spoke cautiously.

“When will you log in again?”

“Probably around 3 p.m. tomorrow.”

“3 p.m… Which time zone?”

“!”

Only then did Jaeho realize this was a global game.

“I didn’t feel any awkwardness thanks to automatic translation.”

He marveled at the impressive technology.

“I’m in Korea.”

“Huh? Me too!”

“Oh…”

It wasn’t really the auto-translation helping.

“Well, I’ll log in around that time too.”

“Yes, please do.”

After exchanging greetings, the two parted ways.

***

After leaving the capsule room, Jaeho headed straight to the gym for his evening shift.

“Hmm hmm—”

The musty smell from the stairs was particularly strong, probably from being around flowers so much in the New World.

“Scarily realistic.”

The gym was on the third floor.

“Hey?”

Turning the corner of the last flight, Jaeho stopped at the sight of a large shadow blocking his path.

“Father?”

Standing tall with strong arms, Jaeho’s father, Wooram, had his arms crossed, which didn’t look quite natural.

“Why are you standing there all stiff?”

“Another five minutes late today.”

“You’re just showing off because of that?”

Jaeho said with a helpless expression, but Wooram’s face remained stern.

“Four days in a row being late isn’t enough… What was with that expression just now?”

“Expression? What expression?”

“The one twisted by the smell of the earth! I thought something was strange lately, but now I’m sure. You’ve been sneaking around the forest recently.”

Jaeho was speechless.

He hadn’t expected his father to pick a fight over that.

But Wooram was sharp.

“With that tough posture and interrogation, it looks like you already know everything.”

Jaeho spoke curtly.

“I’m sure the gym guys told you something, right?”

“Ugh.”

“Of course…”

Jaeho thought that it hadn’t been long since his visits to the capsule room were noticed.

After all, the gym was frequented by the neighborhood toughs.

It was impossible that none of them had ever seen him sneaking around the capsule room.

But that was Jaeho’s misconception.

The problem was the screenshot that spread in the community about a month ago!

A figure known as “Luxi Royalty” was revealed by the Jerluck Association, and that figure was Jaeho.

However, as the actual person, Jaeho had cut ties with the community since early game days and had no idea.

There was no other information about Luxi Forest anyway.

Although the screenshot was taken from a distance and looked slightly different from reality, the mysterious aura was unmistakable.

Many gym members played New World, and quite a few had seen that screenshot.

Wooram had also seen it through them.

“Alright, I roughly know, so don’t say more.”

Wooram finally admitted it.

“Why would you play such a spectator game?”

Here came the typical lecture.

“It’s fine to play games; I did in my youth. But nowadays, what kind of game is this? It’s not played with a mouse and keyboard but while lying in a coffin!”

“… I think your point is a bit off.”

It almost made more sense if Wooram had said, “Stop studying and just play games!!”

Jaeho had prepared a pretty convincing excuse for this situation.

“Dad wanted me to become a martial artist.”

Jaeho said with utmost seriousness.

“How is that related to lying in a coffin?”

“Well, in real life, Mom strongly opposes it, so it can’t happen. But what about in a virtual world?”

“…?!!”

Wooram’s eyes flickered for a moment.

“New World is played by one-third of the global population. It might be different from the martial artist you dreamed of, but aiming to become number one is like challenging to be a champion, right?”

No, it was completely different.

“You… you bastard…”

Wooram descended the stairs with a furious expression.

“Oh? Not working?”

It felt like an angry bull charging.

Suddenly.

Tip—

Wooram’s large hand gripped Jaeho’s shoulder tightly.

“I didn’t know you took this old man seriously…!”

“!!!”

Something sparkled in Wooram’s eyes.

Jaeho tried hard not to imagine what it was.

“So, you’re going to be the champion—or no, the ‘boss’—there?!”

As mentioned before, Wooram had once been a hardcore gamer.

Though times had changed, the basics of RPG games hadn’t shifted much.

“Y-yeah.”

“Then what’s your class?”

And Jaeho’s answer to that question was.

“Obviously, warrior!”

It was decided.