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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Jukai Forest (2)
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Whoosh—!
""""!?""""
It happened in the blink of an eye.
Without any warning, shadows suddenly shot out from the forest, wrapped around Jin Yu-ha, and dragged her straight into the woods.
Utopia's party members, realizing what was happening, urgently reached out, but they were a beat too late.
"Jin Yu-ha—!!!"
"Nu-…reongi…?"
"Ju-junior!!!"
"Jin Yu-ha-nim!?"
And the party members immediately tried to rush after Jin Yu-ha.
However, at that moment.
CLANGGGGG—!!!
A metallic clang pierced their ears, tearing at their eardrums.
Sophia and Im Ga-eul turned their heads with bewildered expressions.
Kang Do-hee's gaze was also forcibly redirected.
"Lee Yu-ri-nim...?"
"...Junior?"
"You..."
There stood Lee Yu-ri, holding a shield and a short dagger.
"You, what the hell are you doing right now—!!!!!!"
CRUNCHHH—
Kang Do-hee drew upon her mana, forcibly breaking through the restraints binding her body, and tried to head back into the forest.
But,
CLANGGGGG—!!!
Lee Yu-ri's skill, 'Taunt,' activated once more, seizing them by their ankles.
Kang Do-hee glared at Lee Yu-ri with bloodshot eyes, as if she wanted to kill her.
"Hey, what the hell are you doing right now!!! F*ck, aren't you going to release this—!?"
"Calm down."
"Calm down? You want me to calm down? Right now, Nureongi has been abducted into that place, and we should be rushing to find her immediately! What!? Calm down?"
"Yeah, shut your mouth. Kang Do-hee."
"..."
Lee Yu-ri, biting her lip tightly, spoke with a hardened expression.
At that, Kang Do-hee's jaw dropped in disbelief.
Lee Yu-ri and Kang Do-hee, who rarely clashed with each other.
A sharp killing intent flared between them.
The air turned chillingly cold.
Im Ga-eul and Sophia, though not reacting as intensely as Kang Do-hee, likewise looked at Lee Yu-ri with eyes that pleaded for an explanation.
How could Lee Yu-ri not understand their feelings?
Just a moment ago, the instant Jin Yu-ha was dragged into the forest.
She, too, had been about to rush forward.
But what took precedence was her own principle: in unexpected situations like this, one must remain cool-headed above all else.
'...Everyone's too agitated.'
Acting on emotion when something unexpected happens can never lead to a good outcome.
Moreover, this was the very place Jin Yu-ha and Shin Se-hee had both emphasized as dangerous.
'First, I need to clear my head.'
Lee Yu-ri exhaled slowly, thinking about how to handle the current situation.
"Kang Do-hee, what are you going to do if you follow her in without any plan? Do you even know what that place is, or what it's like, before you try to go in?"
"That's precisely why we *have* to follow her!!! If we leave her like this, we'll only lose her! So stop spouting nonsense and release this right now!"
"No. I can't allow it. That would be playing right into the enemy's hands."
"Who are you to allow or disallow—"
"Because I'm the sub-leader Jin Yu-ha personally appointed."
Lee Yu-ri cut her off with a resolute voice.
"...What?"
"Jin Yu-ha said that if an unexpected situation arises where she's not present, she'd entrust me with full authority."
At that, a thick vein bulged on Kang Do-hee's forehead as she stared blankly at Lee Yu-ri for a moment.
"Hah. F*ck, so you're playing boss with an armband, huh? Fine, whatever. So what? You want us to just wait here? Until Nureongi comes back? When we don't even know what might happen to Jin Yu-ha in there!?"
Lee Yu-ri then turned her head and looked at Sophia.
"Sophia."
"...Ye-heh?"
"Recite what Jin Yu-ha just said. Summarize it, we don't have time."
"Uh, um, so... this forest is truly cursed, and inside, we have to doubt everything... also, that no one, absolutely no one, should be trusted... and to pay attention to any sense of incongruity. And... sacrifice."
Sophia, though stammering at the sudden question, accurately relayed Jin Yu-ha's words.
Lee Yu-ri nodded as if to say, 'Exactly.'
"Yes, Jin Yu-ha said 'sacrifice.' We don't know what's in there. But judging by the fact that they dragged Jin Yu-ha in, they won't do anything to her right away. If they were going to, they would have ambushed us when no one noticed."
"...Ah."
"Ye-yeah, certainly..."
At that, the hostile atmosphere somewhat subsided.
Because for them, Jin Yu-ha's immediate safety was paramount.
"And Jin Yu-ha also said that inside that forest, there are traps that will confuse our senses and distort common sense. Going into a place like that without any plan is simply an act of suicide."
"...Even so, that's just a guess. Can you really be certain? That Jin Yu-ha will be okay?"
Kang Do-hee, her earlier agitation having subsided considerably, spat out the words.
"No, I can't be certain. That's why we need to prepare. The information Jin Yu-ha gave us. The items Shin Se-hee prepared for us, and the terrain of this forest. We need to understand and strategize based on all that information. And that's the fastest way to save Jin Yu-ha."
Lee Yu-ri's clearly shining eyes pierced through all the party members.
* * *
Whooshhhhhh—
I was being dragged deeper inside, held by an unknown shadow.
'Hmm, this is troublesome.'
Swish—
I drew the sword from my waist and slashed at the shadow, but it only felt like I was cutting through empty air; it wouldn't be cut.
However, surprisingly, I didn't feel any sense of danger.
'Hmm, there doesn't seem to be any killing intent...'
The floating sensation wasn't bad, and as I moved through the dense forest, it seemed to be navigating between tree trunks, as if trying not to hurt me.
'Even if I can't cut the shadow...'
SCRAPE—
SCRAPE—
I intermittently slashed at the surrounding trees as they passed by.
If I left marks on the tree trunks like this, the party members would be able to follow the traces and find me.
Even if not, I could use them as landmarks when I returned to the entrance, so it was good to make these preparations.
'But what on earth happened?'
In truth, I was quite flustered right now.
Because when Velvet Sla was a game, I had never heard of or seen such an event.
'This, could it be a personal story exclusive to the Jin Yu-ha character...?'
The first thing I suspected was a personal story for this Jin Yu-ha character, whom I had possessed.
Because sometimes, when an accepted request was related to a character's background, personal stories would unfold in this manner.
'Hmm, an event that occurs if you take the Jukai Forest quest with Jin Yu-ha, the weakest character in Velvet Sla...?'
But I soon shook my head.
'No... If something like that existed, there's no way I wouldn't have known.'
Even if I had no interest in Jin Yu-ha, that "trash character," and had never completed her personal story separately.
There's no way I wouldn't have known about the existence of such a special event.
Moreover, this place was the Jukai Forest, a hunting ground highly favored by veteran players of Velvet Sla.
There's no way not a single one of those game addicts who dedicated their lives to Velvet Sla would have tackled the Jukai Forest with Jin Yu-ha.
If there had been any verification posts, they would surely have been uploaded ages ago.
'Then what is it? Judging by the fact that I'm being dragged, I must be the trigger. Something that other characters don't have, and only I possess... something even Velvet Sla players haven't achieved—'
Then, a hypothesis flashed through my mind.
'Now that I think about it. The voice just now said I was handsome...? Could it be, Charm...?!'
Yes, if it's the Charm stat, then it's a different story.
Originally, this character, Jin Yu-ha, had an unnecessarily high initial Charm stat compared to other characters.
On top of that, as Utopia gained fame from the first semester, her Charm stat steadily increased.
She even experienced a rank-up event while hunting demons.
Due to this, at this point in time, her Charm had reached the monstrous figure of '100.'
'That's right. Jin Yu-ha's base Charm was high. And it was a value made possible by a trick, forming a party from the first semester.'
Charm was also an innate ability that each character was born with, and beyond a certain level, even stat-boosting tickets obtained through gacha wouldn't work.
A stat that only increased through the fame and achievements of the party controlled by the player.
Frankly, it was considered impossible to reach triple digits by conventional means at this point, when the mission window opens.
'Crazy... The condition is to reach 100 in a trash stat that only gives slightly more rewards and a bit of bonus points in chemistry...? Are the developers really sane? Who did they make this kind of Easter egg for, to clear?'
I already thought the developers weren't sane, considering they'd shove a perfectly well-off person from reality into a game just because they had good gacha luck.
But wasn't this too much?
I let out a hollow laugh, dumbfounded.
After reaching that conclusion, the next thought that came to mind was the party members left at the entrance.
I had been separated from them without even being able to properly explain this place.
'Tsk, I couldn't even tell them how to use those items.'
Would the kids be able to figure out how to use the items I brought?
And if they immediately charged into the forest just because I was dragged in, then there'd truly be no solution.
'No, it'll be fine.'
Then, the face of one person came to my mind.
At that, my worried mind regained a surprising sense of calm.
'Because Lee Yu-ri is there.'
Of course, I'm Utopia's party leader.
But I'm the one who stands on the front lines, guiding the party members and showing them which way to go.
I'm not the pillar that ensures the party members' safety and firmly supports them from behind.
Rather, the one who keeps the party grounded and provides stability is Gukbap.
'That's also why I sometimes do things that seem a bit reckless.'
Moreover, in dungeons like this, where mental attacks occur, Lee Yu-ri truly shows her worth.
I might not know everything, but as long as Lee Yu-ri is there, a situation where the party members are truly in danger won't happen.
Appointing her as sub-leader when I received the mission window felt like a truly good decision, even thinking about it now.
'Gukbap has also become much stronger than her original specs through training. Yes, I'll trust her.'
With that, I was able to set aside my worries about the party members for a moment.
'But how far are we going?'
I thought I had come quite deep inside, but the path still continued.
It was only after going much further.
SLIP—
The shadow holding me released me.
And what I saw was.
'Huh...? This person, isn't it *that* person? They were alive at this point...?'
Someone I had never encountered alive in the original game,
the 'requester' for the Insomnia Cure Quest.