Chapter 7
‘How am I going to retrieve that dagger lying on the ground over there?’
It would be fortunate if that man took the dagger and disappeared with it. Given his high agility, if he carried it away, it seemed unlikely anyone could easily steal it from him.
However, lying unconscious and defenseless like that, whether he died from excessive blood loss or from monster attacks, his survival chances were slim. Then ultimately the man would die, and wouldn’t the wandering dagger flow to Jin-sung just like in the original?
Ji-woo, who had been contemplating everything, began to worry.
Should I help that idiot and secure the dagger?
The test had begun. At this point when the forest was shrouded in darkness, the probability of entering the forest and coming back out wasn’t high.
Since it was a profession higher than the heroine’s, he might be able to escape again, but that was not guaranteed. If he couldn’t come back out, he would have to suffer hellishly in that forest of death for over eighty days.
That said, it was also difficult to ignore human life… though that was definitely just an excuse, and his earlier meddling was probably just momentary instinct, because now that the situation had calmed down, only rational thoughts filled his mind.
Nevertheless, the reason he was troubled to this extent was first to eliminate the possibility of Jin-sung obtaining the dagger, and second, it was due to that unfamiliar man’s stats and preferences.
Ji-woo already knew that the information he possessed couldn’t perfectly protect him. He was fortunate to obtain the Third Eye and found the Guardian’s Temple through it, but without the Third Eye, Ji-woo might still be wandering the forest, helplessly trapped inside even now.
Having experienced such a situation, Ji-woo wanted to create at least a minimal escort to guard him by his side. For Ji-woo, who had absolutely no intention of acquiring combat abilities himself, one capable shield was quite appealing.
Looking at his preferences that disliked betrayal and his miserable intelligence stats that suggested ignorance, he seemed good to exploit. Though limited to agility, that ability value was tremendously superior, and most importantly, that idiot was a character completely unrelated to the original work.
All the people Ji-woo knew with outstanding abilities were connected to the original work in some way, whether good or bad. Since Ji-woo, who wanted to avoid troublesome matters, couldn’t ask story characters for escort, someone of that caliber seemed suitable.
As Ji-woo cupped his chin, weighing eighty-three days of hardship against item recovery and sucker creation, the guard who had already called Ji-woo several times forcefully called him again, making his presence known.
“Excuse me, stranger!”
Only when he felt the physical movement of arm waving did Ji-woo respond to the guard’s call and slowly turn his head toward him, and the guard didn’t hide his excited expression.
“The test period isn’t even over yet, so how exactly did you come out? And how did you send that dagger inside just now?”
When Ji-woo found the dagger that Jin-sung should have obtained, he noticed that the moment he dimensional-traveled was earlier than or simultaneous with when the protagonist group was summoned, but through the guard’s reaction of seeing such a phenomenon for the first time, he could prove the current timeline once again.
If it was still before the heroine’s appearance, then Ji-woo would be the first to pop out of the Forest of Trials without completing the ninety-day period, so his surprised feelings were naturally understandable, but even so, the guard’s questions, having lost his proper duties, seemed quite foolish.
If Ji-woo had been an Earth person who knew nothing, those questions would have only aroused suspicion about what their inquiries meant and why they were asking him such things.
“I just walked out. …I’m the one who wants to ask—what exactly is this place? Who are you people?”
Though Ji-woo’s case was different, he couldn’t act nonchalantly in front of them, so while consistently playing ignorant in his response, a new voice came from behind Ji-woo.
“This is a place called the Natrene Empire.”
He hadn’t felt any approaching presence, but suddenly a voice popped out. Ji-woo, whose body had flinched, shifted his gaze backward.
“Oh, Vice-Captain! This is the person I told you about!”
While Ji-woo’s attention had been absorbed in the forest, the guard had faithfully completed his report to superiors, as he welcomed the newly appeared figure. At the guard’s pleased expression, the man called Vice-Captain lightly nodded to his subordinate as a greeting and faced Ji-woo.
Herba [Profession: Empire 5th Knight Order Vice-Captain] (Disposition: Good)
HP 14400/14400, MP 810/810
Stats — Strength 215, Agility 139, Stamina 288, Intelligence 37, Mana 81, Luck 8 [Total Stats: 768]
Skills — (Cannot be acquired)
Preferences — Justice, knights, goddess
Dislikes — Cowards, demons
Herba’s abilities were at such an outstanding level that it was concerning for him to remain as a supervisor of this Forest of Trials. His mere status as 5th Knight Order Vice-Captain didn’t match him. With those stats, shouldn’t he have entered at least the 2nd Knight Order?
The Natrene Empire’s knight orders existed up to the 8th Knight Order. The Emperor’s Shadow 0th Knight Order, whose existence only the Emperor knew and moved only by the Emperor’s commands, and starting with the publicly known 1st Knight Order, the knight orders with sequentially higher numbers were organized up to the 8th Knight Order.
Basically, the lower the number of distinguishing knight orders, the more their abilities were recognized. Officially, the difference between the 1st Knight Order that protected the Emperor and the ragtag 8th Knight Order that couldn’t even reach the mercenary level was clear in superiority.
Usually, someone like Herba with stats exceeding seven hundred would be mid-to-upper tier within the empire, close to the upper tier if excluding awakeners. With his skills, he could aim for not only the position of 3rd Knight Order captain but also a 2nd Knight Order member position, to be a 5th Knight Order Vice-Captain.
Whether it’s due to his good disposition or lack of ambition for advancement, his rank was far too low compared to his abilities.
“The process by which you came to this place is difficult for us to explain precisely as well. However, the empire views you favorably, so you don’t need to be too wary.”
Herba, who had awakened Ji-woo from his thoughts, continued explaining their position that had been interrupted by his subordinate.
Though it was an utterly boring explanation, Ji-woo acted with a deliberately serious expression while listening to his words. Even though there were things he already knew, from their perspective, Ji-woo was someone who had suddenly been dimensional-traveled and was confused. If he was too calm, that itself would arouse suspicion.
“You’re quite composed.”
This was what the Vice-Captain said in response to Ji-woo’s reaction of neither being greatly disturbed nor surprised. He had kept his mouth tightly shut to show confusion, but it didn’t seem to appear that way.
“…Did I seem that way?”
“Usually people cry asking to be sent home, or get angry.”
It seemed he should have been agitated rather than keeping his mouth shut.
He thought he had expressed anxiety well enough, but late regret arose over whether it had shown, though the Vice-Captain’s reaction wasn’t bad.
“Occasionally there are people with special reactions like this. There were a few who rejoiced, saying they finally got a chance to become protagonists in this world, and there are people like the stranger who show quiet reactions and adapt to reality.”
Fortunately, it seemed there weren’t any people like Ji-woo at all. Come to think of it, it didn’t match for characters like the protagonists to fall into confusion and cry loudly. Ji-woo nodded in acceptance.
‘And usually, composed strangers tended to become significant figures who shook the empire.’
The Vice-Captain, who swallowed his latter words, moved his body to lead Ji-woo.
“You must be confused, but if it’s alright with you, could we move locations and have a conversation?”
Herba maintained courtesy while urging him to follow, but when Ji-woo’s steps seemed to hesitate, he bowed and emphasized his intention once more.
“There will be nothing threatening to the stranger.”
Herba seemed to judge that Ji-woo suspected them. However, the brief misunderstanding was cleared when Ji-woo immediately moved his lips to speak.
“Ah, that’s not it—there’s someone collapsed inside there.”
Ji-woo, who had firmed his mind’s scale, mentioned the man collapsed inside while extending his arm.
“…You don’t mean to say you can see inside the forest?”
A pair of eyes filled with surprise and two pairs of eyes that had already witnessed Ji-woo’s activities in a short time, somewhat calmed, followed. Though knowing it was something to be surprised about, Ji-woo calmly nodded.
“How…”
“How? It’s so clearly visible, what are you talking about?”
Ji-woo rather shouted as if he was more bewildered. Herba observed Ji-woo’s attitude and gauged the truth. What helped his understanding were the guards.
“Vice-Captain, from what we observed, he seems to be able to see inside. He kept looking inside, and most importantly, he threw a dagger into the forest earlier.”
Herba, who had quietly listened to his subordinate’s words, turned his shaking pupils to look at Ji-woo. Though it was hard to believe enough to shake his common sense until now, since his subordinate spoke to such an extent, he had no choice but to accept it.
If it had been another superior standing here instead of Herba, they would have ignored the subordinate’s words and needed to confirm with their own eyes to be satisfied, but Herba’s nature wasn’t one to easily dismiss even jokes.
“Even if Moijang’s words are correct, nothing will change. Even if the person the stranger is seeing is pitiful, let’s move with me first.”
At the firm tone, Ji-woo slightly frowned and freely expressed his incomprehension.
“You’re saying to just pass by when someone just collapsed like that?”
“Even if the Forest of Trials is visible and the stranger’s belongings entered the forest, we don’t know if the stranger can enter the Forest of Trials as well. There has never been anyone who could re-enter the Forest of Trials until now.”
Of course, escaping the forest before the test period ended, being able to see inside the Forest of Trials, and sending objects through the barrier were all situations that hadn’t been seen before.
If it was this stranger, entering the forest might also be possible. However, Herba wanted to prevent the stranger from entering the forest as much as possible.
“If I can enter, then I can go in, right?”
