Chapter 15

As soon as Yoo Ju finished speaking, she dashed off in the opposite direction in an instant.

Shortly after, the sound of people shouting and weapons clashing started coming from behind. Immediately, people started popping out in front of us and to the sides.

Three in front, four on each side.

‘…Crazy bastards. A total of 13, you say?’

Yoo Ju mentioned there were about six behind, so if we assume six, that makes a total of 13.

If this many people were tailing us, it’s hard to understand why only Yoo Ju noticed.

‘With this many… how could we not have known?’

One guy stepped forward from the front and started speaking. He must be the leader of the group.

“…How on earth did you notice the tail? You shouldn’t have been able to.”

I immediately opened his status window.

[Name: Park Tae-soo]

[Age: 34]

[Job: Shadow Mage (Rare Grade)]

[Title: None]

[Unique Traits]

Shadow Barrier (Grade being measured) – Creates a shadow barrier. Those inside the barrier, including the user, have significantly reduced presence. The range and performance of the shadow barrier are influenced by the user’s magic stat.

[Traits]

Basic Spear Skills (Normal Grade) – Slightly increases understanding of spear techniques.

[Stats]

Strength – 17 Agility – 12

Stamina – 15 Luck – 13

Magic – 07 Resistance – 10

‘So that’s why we didn’t notice.’

His trait stood out. His stats aren’t exceptionally high, except for his magic stat. But because of the Shadow Barrier trait, we couldn’t sense the presence of those in front.

Yoo Ju probably only detected the six behind because of this trait.

The group’s expressions hardened as they realized there were seven more tailing us, excluding the ones behind. Since we couldn’t see their status windows, it seemed like it was going to be a tough fight.

Uncle Ho-won, holding his shield, spoke to us from the front.

“…Everyone, be careful. And Lee Seo, get ready to shoot your bow.”

“…Already prepared, old man.”

The good thing was that none of the seven in front seemed to have a bow.

But after realizing there were 13 of them, one question arose.

The fact that 13 people were tailing us means they knew about our existence and planned to tail us. It wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision.

‘…Information leaked.’

If they had been tailing us before, we would have noticed. Especially Yoo Ju.

This was the first time they tailed us.

There must have been a reason they found out about us.

To get information, I started talking to the guy in front.

“…You planned to tail us. How did you know about us?”

The leader-like guy looked slightly surprised.

“…You’re sharp. Good intuition.”

The others looked confused, not understanding what I was talking about.

“…You guys, this is the first time you’ve tailed us, right?”

The leader nodded.

“Right. How did you know?”

“If you had been tailing us before, we would have noticed.”

“Hmm… because of the girl who ran to the back earlier? We gathered a lot of people to catch her, but we got caught. Too bad.”

‘They know Yoo Ju is strong.’

“Even so, isn’t she too confident? Going alone against six? Stupid. The underlings will like it. Her looks are no joke.”

“…How did you get our information?”

“We didn’t know about you. We only knew about the girl who ran to the back. There were some guys who left your camp a few days ago, right?”

Hearing his words, I realized where the information leaked.

‘Those guys An Tae-woo mentioned, who got jobs and went out to explore on their own.’

“We killed those guys. Before they died, they told us about a camp where people gather, led by a woman. They said there’s a lot of food there, so we thought we’d kill you and go to the camp.”

The guys who went out exploring from the camp didn’t return because they were killed by these bastards. Looking at their status windows, two of them had jobs, and they probably got caught off guard because of the leader’s unique trait.

“Did you get your curiosity satisfied before dying? If you surrender and join me, I’ll spare your lives and accept you with open arms. I’m a generous man.”

The leader smirked, already acting like he’d won.

I could see why this guy was so confident. On our side, there are only three women, and two kids.

Even though they have one less person, we probably looked easier to handle.

The guys who leaked the information didn’t know about us, so they probably just heard that Yoo Ju was strong enough to kill monsters.

But Yoo Rim and Yoo Hyun, along with the trio, have all changed jobs. At least they’re more experienced in fighting than these overconfident bastards.

“…Pfft.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his stupidity.

As I suddenly burst out laughing like a madman, our group looked at me like I was crazy.

The leader, seeing me laugh, seemed…



He stiffened his expression, clearly pissed off, and started speaking.

“Why the hell are you laughing? Did you lose your mind because death is approaching?”

“Tch… dumbass.”

“What?”

“You bastard, this isn’t Earth. Did you think women and kids would be weaker than you? Huh?”

“What the…”

“At least gather some mages or archers. What kind of idiot brings a bunch of useless thugs and acts all high and mighty?”

It seems like he’s been through a lot since coming here, and the stress has been building up.

The guy stood there dazed for a while, then his face turned red and blue as he shouted.

“Kill these bastards!”

‘Stupid idiot.’

They started rushing at us. I immediately activated the magic I had prepared.

“Burn, flames.”

The guy at the front caught fire and started freaking out.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

The guy next to him, startled by my magic, hesitated for a moment, and Kang I-seo’s arrow pierced his head.

Seeing how they charged at us, I could tell they weren’t used to fighting.

Probably because until now, just intimidating weaker people made them cower.

The key difference between them and us was the presence of ranged attacks. These idiots had no archers or mages, yet they had the audacity to pull this off.

The leader only realized something was wrong after two of his men died instantly and tried to stab me with his spear.

But our reliable Ho-won wasn’t just standing around. His spear was blocked by Ho-won’s shield before it could reach me.

*Thud!*

“Damn it!”

While the guy attacked and Ho-won blocked, Song Ha-eun finally started her first move after her job change.

“Sylph!”

A flying spirit threw something with the wind, and one guy’s arm was cut off.

“Ahhh! My, my arm!”

They must have never seen magic or spirits before because they were completely stunned.

Seeing the spirit master summon spirits and attack made me really envious.

Ho-won had mentioned that Kang I-seo and Hyeon-jin had been through something similar, and it seemed true as Hyeon-jin stabbed the guy with the severed arm without hesitation.

*Stab*

“Gahhh!”

He probably had killed someone before. He didn’t seem completely unfazed by killing, but his movements were too smooth for a first-timer.

Out of the remaining four, Kang I-seo and Ahn Tae-woo were handling two, while the other two thought Yoo Rim and Yoo Hyun looked easy targets and swung their axes and swords at them.

“Shield of Protection.”

*Ting*

The swords and axes bounced off a transparent barrier before reaching Yoo Rim and Yoo Hyun.

“What, what is this?!”

As Yoo Hyun’s barrier blocked their attacks, Yoo Rim immediately slashed one guy’s throat with her dagger.

“Guh… gurgle…”

Finally, the guy next to him realized that just because they were kids didn’t mean he could win, and he fell to his knees, begging for his life.

“… Spare me… please…”

Yoo Rim bit her lip and suddenly looked at me.

She probably couldn’t bring herself to kill someone begging for their life.

It seemed like she was asking me what to do.

‘… If we want to survive in this place that’s not Earth, we need to become ruthless.’

It’s cruel, but there’s no other way.

Not for my sake, but for Yoo Rim and Yoo Hyun’s sake, Yoo Rim needed to become ruthless.

I shook my head slightly and kept looking at Yoo Rim firmly.

Her eyes wavered for a moment, then she closed them tightly and stabbed the man’s throat with her dagger.

“Guh…! Spare… me…”

A moment later, I approached Yoo Rim, who was staring blankly at the corpse, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“You did well, Yoo Rim. To survive here, you and Yoo Hyun need to become ruthless. Stay strong.”

“Yes… oppa.”

I smiled slightly and removed my hand from Yoo Rim’s shoulder.

Looking over at Ho-won’s situation, the leader started cursing after seeing all his men dead.

“Damn it! What the hell! How did this…!”

He noticed me approaching to help Ho-won and suddenly turned around to run.

“Damn it! Ahhh!”

Everyone was stunned for a moment as he ran, but in that instant, Yoo Ju appeared in front of him and slashed his throat with her spear.

“… Gurgle… you… bastard…”

The guy clutched his throat, staggered, and fell, breathing his last.

Yoo Ju turned her back on the dead guy, looked at us, and smiled slightly, relieved that we were all safe.

“Everyone’s safe. Good job.”