Chapter 429

Chapter 429

‘Is she naturally this optimistic?’

Cha Jin-Hyeok thought.

Sara had told him to just walk there. This advice seemed far too carefree considering he would be traversing the Forest of Mist, a natural labyrinth. Thinking the journey could be difficult if he went there alone, Jin-Hyeok called for Han Sae-Rin, who used to be known as Pathfinder before she changed her Job.

“You called for me?” Sae-Rin was visibly excited. She wasn’t the top-ranked Navigator anymore. If people were asked to name the most skilled Navigator in Korea, they would undoubtedly choose Mole Woman. In certain situations, Mole Woman even outshone Arvis’s Lessefim.

“That’s right,” Jin-Hyeok replied.

“You’re sure you wanted me, not Mole Woman?” Sae-Rin was curious. “Why? Why me and not her?”

“Well… you’re a skilled Navigator too. They say form is temporary, but class is permanent.”

Sae-Rin was currently famous as the most capable Ruler Player in Korea. She was quick to catch on.

‘Chul-Soo wants a weak partner!’

Mole Woman and Lessefim were so skilled that they could hinder Jin-Hyeok’s content. There was a right tool for every job, and currently, Jin-Hyeok needed a lesser tool. ‘I never thought I would be acknowledged for my competence like this.’

She suddenly felt a thrill. Although she had been chosen for her relative weakness, Chul-Soo had picked her nonetheless.

Sae-Rin said with a serious expression, “It’s going to be a difficult and arduous journey, Kim Chul-Soo.”

Jin-Hyeok’s expression brightened ever so slightly.

***

In the Arvis Server, the Forest of Mist lived up to its name. The fog was so thick that visibility was near zero. It felt like being inside white smoke.

“This isn’t ordinary mist.” Sae-Rin looked around. The fog contained darkness attributes. Despite being inside the mist, they felt like they had been plunged into deep darkness.

“Chul-Soo, can you see anything,” she asked.

“I can see a bit, but…”

Sae-Rin was momentarily speechless. She had never encountered such intense darkness-attribute fog before.

‘You can see something in this world of darkness that doesn’t have a single point of life?’

Sae-Rin was surprised, but she hid it. “We have two options. Either drive away this darkness and move forward, or block our vision and use our other senses to navigate.”

“What do you want to do? You’re the Navigator.”

“Well, I…” Sae-Rin paused. She knew well that the purpose of this recording was not just about finding the Kyen Family.

‘Most Players would try to find their way with their vision blocked,’

Sae-Rin thought. Many Players had succeeded in escaping this dark mist using that method. However, she decided to make a slightly different choice. ‘I will be his perfectly weak partner!’

This was her strategy to differentiate herself from Mole Woman. In this situation, Mole Woman would likely have blocked her senses and skillfully guided them through.

“Let’s try and drive away the darkness.”

“Should we summon light?” Jin-Hyeok asked.

“Yes, though it’s going to be difficult.”

Darkness was similar to but different from shadows. More precisely, shadows were the byproduct of darkness. Darkness was a special quality formed by the chance combination of numerous attributes such as shadows, cures, confusion, and fear. Because of these intertwined qualities, simple light would not be enough to drive away this darkness-attribute mist.

“But I think it’s worth trying,” Sae-Rin added.

Sae-Rin thought that people would perceive this as a reasonable approach. Jin-Hyeok possessed abilities far beyond those of ordinary high-rankers, so him using Broadcaster’s Light here seemed like the logical move.

‘Of course, it won’t work,’

Sae-Rin thought.

No matter how strong the light was, it could not drive away the darkness attribute, just as even the strongest hammer could not break water.

[You have activated the Skill ?Broadcaster’s Light?.]

“It got brighter!” Sae-Rin said.

At that moment, Sae-Rin caught a glimpse of Jin-Hyeok’s eyes, looking at her with a hint of disappointment.

***

“The effect of Broadcaster’s Light seems better than expected,” Jin-Hyeok said.

The surroundings brightened completely. Though they could feel a faint toxic energy when breathing, the fog was otherwise imperceptible.

“Now that the mist has cleared, I can see that it’s quite a mysterious forest,” Jin-Hyeok commented, quickly changing the topic since he had lost the tension created by the dark mist. Hence, he decided to showcase how mysterious the forest was, like how travel Eltubers would. “There are enormous trees everywhere.”

Squirrels darted between branches, though unlike the squirrels in a normal forest, these were skeletal.

“The ground seems full of toxins and curses, probably from prolonged exposure to the dark mist.”

Sae-Rin drank a potion to resist the dark attribute cures.

“Do you want some?” she asked.

“No, I’m fine.”

Sae-Rin approached Jin-Hyeok, checking his condition. He seemed perfectly normal. “How can you be this unaffected?”

She was genuinely curious.

“I think it’s because I have poison resistance.”

“But curses and poisons are completely different.”

If one had good eyesight, it did not necessarily mean one would have good hearing. Similarly, poison resistance did not grant curse immunity.

“When poison resistance reaches a certain level, it grants immunity to curses too,” Jin-Hyeok explained.

Sae-Rin tilted her head, wondering if that was theoretically possible, but decided to accept this reality. She had learned that things that seemed impossible often weren’t for Jin-Hyeok.

“Tell me immediately if you feel anything off. I brought plenty of potions,” Sae-Rin said.

“Okay.”

Sae-Rin took the lead.

‘This is strange,’

she thought. The man-eating trees should have been lashing out at them with their branches by now. The forest was unnaturally quiet.

Jin-Hyeok, who had studied the Forest of Mist, felt the same unease.

‘Weren’t the man-eating trees supposed to attack as we walked east?’

Jin-Hyeok thought. The man-eating trees, which had grown stronger by devouring countless Adventuress and were nourished by the dark mist, were said to form clusters here. ‘Those must be them.’

Some trees were noticeably darker than others, with black energy swirling around them. No life grew near these trees, and even the soil around them was stained black. These were the most heavily corrupted areas.

‘I just made eye contact with one of them!’

The branches of a man-eating tree began to tremble, despite there being no wind.

‘But they’re not attacking me.’

Jin-Hyeok deliberately walked with his arms down, defenseless. He even distanced himself slightly from Sae-Rin, hoping the trees might attack her, but they didn’t.

“Chul-Soo, do you see that dense cluster of dark trees?” Sae-Rin asked. The area was a tangle of branches like thorny undergrowth. “I think we need to pass through there.”

“I see.”

Sae-Rin began walking, slightly tense. She had not expected to voluntarily take a dangerous path for the sake of the livestream.

‘I need to prove my worth.’

Sae-Rin hoped this would provide good footage for Chul-Soo’s livestream. Thinking the trees could be afraid of Jin-Hyeok, she decided to go first, naturally making Chul-Soo follow her.

“Follow me closely,” she said.

“Alright.”

As they reached the edge of the thicket, Sae-Rin got down on all fours.

“There is a small opening here, just big enough for a person,” Sae-Rin said. Entering it would severely restrict movement, which was essentially akin to crawling into a trap. “I will go in first.”

As she began to inch forward, the trees started to move.

‘Finally, they are moving!’

Sae-Rin thought. This was not wind; the man-eating trees were moving on their own, their instinct to devour anything in front of them. ‘Come on, grab me, you monsters!’

Despite her grim expression, the situation took an unexpected turn. The thorny undergrowth shifted, opening a path wide enough for two people to walk upright comfortably.

Sae-Rin got up, embarrassed.

‘Just how strong have you become?’

she telepathically asked Jin-Hyeok.

No matter how weak she tried to act, it was impossible to do so with Chul-Soo by her side.

***

After experiencing it firsthand, Sae-Rin could make a relatively cool-headed judgment.

‘This seems to be occurring because you’re an Eltuber. Your subconsciousness is probably eliminating all elements that can interfere with the livestream. It’s like a weaker version of Omnipotent Director is constantly active,’

Sae-Rin telepathically told Jin-Hyeok.

Jin-Hyeok found that idea a bit far-fetched. He said, “But I’ve never used Omnipotent Director.”

“That’s exactly my point.”

Jin-Hyeok felt a bit wronged. This power, which turned every crisis into something mundane, was hindering his recording.

Sae-Rin continued via telepathy, ‘Think about it. What would happen to the livestream if harm came to the Eltuber himself? What if the dark mist obscured visibility? What if you lost your mind due to a curse?’

Jin-Hyeok was slightly upset. By that logic, it would be impossible for him to produce any content. Everything could potentially cause problems for the livestream!

‘But the content is indeed not progressing well right now,’

he thought.

Sometimes, one had to acknowledge some things even if they did not want to. This was not the time to be angry with Sae-Rin.

“Also, you don’t need to talk to me telepathically. I’m going to edit this part,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“Understood. Still, I have one piece of good news.”

The Forest of Mist was a fierce ecosystem. The man-eating trees were a threat to not only Adventurers but also the numerous skeletons inhabiting the forest. However, some monsters did not care about these man-eating trees.

“Do you see signs of tree branches being artificially broken?” Sae-Rin asked. Some man-eating trees had been uprooted. Others bore marks resembling bear claw marks. “It’s probably the ruler of this area. It plays with moving trees like toys and leaves marks to prevent others from encroaching on its territory.”

“You mean it’s like the king of the forest?”

“Yes. But there are no footprints around, and I can’t sense any presence of monsters,” Sae-Rin said. “I think it’s some sort of beast monster. Powerful, but very secretive and cautious. If we compare it to a person, it would be like a powerful Assassin. If it attacks us, it will probably be when we’re camping, especially when I am on watch. When does that Broadcaster’s Light of yours turn off?”