Chapter 13
Trait quests were activated when one did something difficult and peculiar that others would rarely or couldn’t do. Some were just a single quest while others led to a chain of quests. Clearing the quests rewarded one with traits, abilities that did not consume mana as long as it met certain conditions. Hence, it often became a wild card in battle.
The more traits one had, the better, but information about them was expensive. Also, since the traits would no longer be considered special if many people acted in unorthodox ways to get them, it was available only to a few people.
Seong-Hwi knew of one that he could only get in the Dark Forest—it was one of two that could be obtained during the mandatory quest. It was called Chaos Hunter, a trait that would be incredibly helpful when battling against the Chaos.
Only one person discovered the trait quest in the Dark Forest—Yuri Nazakov, a Russian known as the Mad Dog of Moscow. Yuri happened to be Lost on the same day as his lover, but they were unfortunately put in different districts. He, who had been unaware of this, discovered his lover’s corpse eaten by Black Dogs. Blinded by his desire for revenge against the Chaos, he madly hunted the Black Dogs.
After a few days of hunting only Black Dogs, a trait quest was generated once he killed a thousand Black Dogs. Yuri revealed the trait because he found it a pity that only he obtained the Chaos Hunter trait. If others obtained it as well, he believed they would have been able to kill more Chaos monsters in the Mirror World.
Seong-Hwi turned around to return to the safe zone and thought, Huuu, I hunted about a hundred and thirty Black Dogs today. Although I used it as training to adapt to my current stats, it’s way too slow.
Seong-Hwi contemplated establishing a rule on his D Weapon again, wondering if it would be more beneficial to give up on the Karma he could earn through hunting and focus on acquiring the trait. He had already earned 2,116 Karma through hunting and clearing the hidden quests, Identify and First Act of Bravery. His hunting speed would skyrocket if he used the Karma efficiently.
Maybe I can’t have my cake and eat it too.
Seong-Hwi would need to decide by tomorrow, but was not in a rush. Only a day had passed and he was already as strong as someone who cleared the mandatory quest.
“Hm?”
He heard the sounds of discord once he was close enough to the safe zone to see it. He stopped and focused his senses. The argument’s contents were ridiculous.
“What a carefree bunch.”
***
Shin Jun, the young man with a buzz cut, and a man in his sixties were arguing in the safe zone.
“We have to leave! Nothing will change even if we stay here and do nothing!”
“How dare you talk back to your elders?! Haven’t you learned in school that you should get to safety and wait for rescue in times like this?”
“Please get a grip! This isn’t Earth. The fact that we were given thirty days means we must do something by then!”
Jun insisted they needed to go outside the safe zone and hunt Black Dogs, while the older man insisted they should stay in the safe zone.
Jun continued, “We should keep in mind what Kim Min-Su said. There should be other districts aside from District 8. A battle might break out if they find us. We have to get stronger.”
“Hah! What do you take people for? Beasts? What reason would they have to attack us?”
“People with power naturally wish to use it.”
“What?”
“Ho-Geun ahjussi,” Jun called.
“Yeah. Hup!” Ho-Geun, standing behind Jun, summoned his sledgehammer D Weapon and swung it down with all his might.
“Gasp!”
“W-what?”
“How can a person be that strong?”
The ground shook once Ho-Geun slammed his hammer on the ground, creating a hole about fifty centimeters deep.
Ho-Geun remarked, “Everyone knows how to check their status window, right? My Strength stat was F(14) at first. I earned Karma by hunting monsters called Black Dogs all day with Jun. Then I bought a Strength stat cube once I collected a hundred Karma, and it gave me F(18) strength. It’s now at F(32)—far beyond human capabilities.”
People stared at Ho-Geun fearfully but covetously at the same time.
Hah, Jun was right. Power brings about both fear and greed.
Ho-Geun saw the changes in the people’s eyes—especially the eyes of the young adults, blazing with passion. Some of them even glanced at one another and nodded.
“Look at this. Opening just one cube grants people power far beyond human capability. Are you saying you’ll stay here and wait while people from other districts are hunting to earn Karma?” Jun asked.
“B-but you guys have good Destiny Weapons! I got hiking boots!”
“Yeah! I would’ve gone out too if I got a sledgehammer. I got scissors! What the hell am I supposed to do with this?!”
“And besides, why would people from other districts attack us? There’s nothing in it for them.”
The people in the safe zone complained their Destiny Weapons were not suited for combat and that those from other districts wouldn’t attack them. Jun sighed deeply as he looked around.
He wondered, Do they seriously not know? Or are they refusing to accept it?
This was not Earth. There would be no progress until they learned to accept that.
Jun remarked, “I told you that the message referred to those monsters called Black Dogs as the race Chaos. Then what race are we?”
“Well, human, of course.”
“Yes, we were rewarded with Karma when we hunted the race Chaos. What if we hunted the race Human?”
People grew pale.
Jun stared fixedly at the man who vehemently opposed leaving the safe zone and said, “You asked if I took humans as beasts, right? As a fellow human from Earth, don’t tell me you don’t know what people at the top can do to others below them.”
The man soullessly fell to the ground and shouted in rage, “T-this is unfair! Give me a good weapon too! And you started with F(14) Strength? I’m at F(7)! You started with twice as much as I! Are the elderly meant to die, or what?!”
“Yeah! Young people have the advantage! There are elderly people and children here!”
“Women have low Strength stats too!”
“T-that’s it! The young can get the Teleport Rocks and bring them here! Then everyone can survive!”
“That’s right! If the people with good weapons step up and—”
“Kyaaah!” a woman screamed, pointing outside the safe zone as the commotion grew louder.
People turned to where she was pointing and saw someone entering the safe zone.
The man covered in blood mumbled, “Is this the humanity that you emphasized so greatly, Leo?”
***
Seong-Hwi returned to the safe zone for two reasons. Firstly, resting in the safe zone was more effective when he needed to stay in the first zone until he killed a thousand Black Dogs. However, he could easily rest outside the safe zone if he wanted to. Nothing in the first zone could fool his senses, and he had even spent his days outside the safe zone during his first mandatory quest experience.
“I still believe, Seong-Hwi. Although we live in a world like this, we have yet to lose our humanity. Humans are selfless creatures, right?”
The second and main reason he returned was because the words of Leo, his cherished comrade from Clan Calasanz, echoed in his head. Seong-Hwi, who used to be idealistic and sentimental like the literature boy he was, learned about the cruelty of real life after experiencing the Mirror World, turning him egomaniacal and ruthless.
He despised traditional laws and customs and was hostile to anything that took advantage of them for oppression. He had witnessed what such things had done to a mother and her child.
Seong-Hwi was naturally blacklisted from all existing factions and made more enemies as he grew stronger. His enemy was all existing authority. However, he met good comrades as he was about to reach his limit. He was lucky to have met them. No, he was destined to meet them.
Seong-Hwi believed this was what having a family felt like. Thanks to them, he realized he shouldn’t be fighting his kind and instead should stand against the other races oppressing humans. One could say that his narrow mindset and heart widened. Clan Calasanz, created to become a home for all orphaned humans, was made thanks to them.
Leo, a Maasai and the tank of Clan Calasanz, was trusted by all. He always smiled despite carrying deep agony. Most of all, he believed in humanity but could never answer what it was whenever Seong-Hwi asked him, and could only smile awkwardly. Having faith in something one did not understand was absurd—it was like saying the faith itself was all that mattered. Seong-Hwi thought it was ridiculous but could see the beloved Mother Maria in him.
“I don’t believe in God. I believe in the beautiful and desperate feelings of those who believe in Him.”
It might have been why Seong-Hwi, devoid of emotions to give, was moved by Leo.
But, Seong-Hwi thought as he stared at the people in the safe zone.
“M-murderer!”
“Hey, you! Kill him! Attack him with that hammer!”
“Kyaah! What’s with all that blood?”
The people in the safe zone pushed one another as they ran to the opposite border of the safe zone.
Humanity... humanity, huh? I still have no idea what that is, Leo.
Seong-Hwi naturally found their behavior pathetic as one who spent a decade in the Mirror World. He had received his baptism ten years ago, but the people in the safe zone were only lambs.
The young should bring the Teleport Rocks? Everyone can survive? What a joke. There’s no way for everyone to survive. One must die for another to survive. No exceptions.
This law applied even on Earth—it simply did not feel that way since humans had always been on the surviving side.
I feel like an idiot for coming to tell them about the safe zone.
The Akasha Messages never told the whole truth. It did not tell people that the diameter of the safe zone would be reduced by ten meters every twenty-four hours. Hence, the three-hundred-meter safe zone would be gone after thirty days. The safe zone itself was a trap. It was not for keeping people safe—it was a filter that filtered out the complacent.
The Dark Forest was a warning for all who refused to strive forward and stood satisfied with their current situation. They would either be killed by members of other districts who grew stronger through earning Karma, kill each other in panic, or be killed by the Judge after thirty days. The safe zone was an ironic space made for people to leave. The man with the buzz cut was correct in his assumptions.
Haaa, forget it. No matter what I do, not everyone can survive. The fact that I’m even doing this is hypocrisy. Is this what humanity is?
Seong-Hwi decided not to tell the others about the rules of the safe zone, but he would do the bare minimum.
Leo, I’m not doing this because I believe in their humanity. It’s for my sake.
Seong-Hwi grabbed a tree branch on the ground and walked into the safe zone. The people were terrified.
“Urgh.”
“Get out of here, murderer!”
[You entered the safe zone.]
Seong-Hwi ignored them and took ten large steps.
This should be about ten meters.
He dragged the branch on the ground to draw a large circle slightly smaller than the safe zone circle.
“W-what is he doing?”
“He’s coming this way!”
The people avoided Seong-Hwi like gazelles running from a lion. They did not cross the line Seong-Hwi made because they did not know what it meant. Seong-Hwi finished the circle, and the people stared at him in the smaller space.
Seong-Hwi smiled and said, “Good choice. Don’t cross that line. Beyond it is my land.”
“W-what?”
“What are you talking about?! You’re going to take that large piece of land for yourself?”
“That’s not the problem! He’s a murderer! You, with the hammer! Chase him away!”
“Y-yeah! You can defeat that murderer!”
“Young man, you hunted the monsters too! Hurry up and chase him away!’
The members of District 8 shoved Ho-Geun and Jun who had shown them extraordinary strength.
“U-uhhh,” Ho-Geun expressed confusion.
𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
“Please wait. I’m sure he has a reason for doing—”
Seong-Hwi interjected Jun by throwing the tree branch into the forest. The branch, thrown with superhuman strength and enveloped with mana, flew like a missile and pierced five trees in its path. The trees collapsed. The people were dumbfounded by Seong-Hwi’s powers that far transcended one’s imagination.
Seong-Hwi stared at them in disgust and remarked, “If anyone has a problem with me, deal with it yourself. Don’t push others to do your dirty work. This is a ticketing zone; buy your tickets with your own money. No free passes, or open spots if you’re late. There’s no space to even stand on this train.”
If this were a train station, they would hear this kind of announcement: The next station is Mirror World. Mirror World. We ask passengers without tickets to get off the train in Hell.
Seong-Hwi put down his backpack and used it as a pillow. People mumbled but none dared to approach Seong-Hwi. He paid no mind to them and pulled out a red fruit from his cargo pants pocket. He wiped it with a clean portion of his clothes and took a large bite, sweet fruit juice bursting from it. Everyone swallowed their saliva at the sight because none of them had eaten since being Lost.
Just then, the buzz-cut young man who insisted everyone leave the safe zone approached Seong-Hwi and stopped in front of the line Seong-Hwi made. His expression carried slight fear but was mostly filled with determination.
“Ummm. May I ask where you got that fruit?” Jun asked.
Seong-Hwi smirked.
At least one person came to me willingly.
One couldn’t let themselves be pushed around by others if they wanted to grasp their destiny. Seong-Hwi had never seen pushovers shine brightly.
He pointed to the west and answered, “About a kilometer that way.”
“Thank you very much.”
“What’s your name?”
“It’s Shin Jun.”
Jun turned around and gathered people willing to accompany him to procure food. Seong-Hwi stared at him in silence.
He closed his eyes and thought, He’s the type to despair later on.