Be more cautious of the old wolf than the big one.
Surviving in that harsh nature until old age means they possess considerable wisdom and hunting skills.
In a straight fight, the big wolf may have the advantage, but one cannot afford to be careless around the old one. You never know when it might snap your neck.
And this isn’t only true for wolves.
Anywhere, aging in a harsh environment is synonymous with survival.
The Mountain Lord Tiger, the guardian of this forest, is no exception. I can’t help but wonder why it has ‘mountain’ in its name when it lives in a forest. But let’s just move on; it isn’t that important.
What matters is that he’s a survivor.
He was born as a Great Tiger.
That must have certainly been an advantage for survival; he likely had no equal.
However, considering that, the deep layer he inhabits is teeming with monsters.
Man-eating plants surround him, and high-level monsters are everywhere.
There’s luck involved in life, so it’s likely that he’s experienced a close brush with death at some point.
But even so, he must have overcome it.
Using his physique and the cunning of a beast.
Of course, I haven’t seen him in combat.
But I didn’t need to; the countless scars on his body testify to those fierce battles.
His strength doesn’t come merely from his physique but from the countless years he has endured.
That’s how he has lived until old age in this forest.
Thus, the name ‘Old Tiger’.
Old age isn’t an insult; it’s a term of respect from explorers filled with awe.
Even if his body declines and grows weaker, his cunning will shine brighter than ever.
In short, I’m in deep trouble.
Even with my pure combat capability, I fall short, and on top of that, he’s more cunning than any monster I’ve seen.
‘When did I last see that guy?’
It was years ago, back when I cluelessly ventured deep into the layers.
That was when I encountered him, and I was nearly killed.
By desperate effort, I managed to leave just one organ intact, but that was it.
Even with regeneration, I was barely in fighting shape.
His tenacity was frightening as well.
Last time, he chased me all the way from the middle layer to the surface.
Honestly, luck was on my side that time. I happened to lose him and just so happened to find another monster, allowing me to cover my tracks with its blood.
If luck hadn’t favored me then, I wouldn’t be here now.
‘So, what’s the situation now…’
Well, I couldn’t help but frown. I had no optimistic thoughts.
One thing was for sure: if I wanted to live, I had to run for my life.
Huff! Hiss!
I threw daggers in intervals toward the direction where he was.
He was big enough that aiming wasn’t necessary.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure how effective it would be.
I usually refrain from throwing daggers like this.
High-quality throwing knives are expensive, and tossing them while fleeing means I can’t retrieve them.
However, I had no choice this time.
If I could hinder his pursuit even a little, I had to take the loss.
“Hah, hah, wait, I’m going too fast…!”
“No! If you stop, you’ll die!”
“Hah, but…!”
“Ugh.”
At one point, I had to carry Im Haneul because she was too slow. It was faster to carry her than to run together.
I briefly considered the idea of leaving her behind since she was an Otherworlder…
But I quickly dismissed that thought. How could I abandon someone I barely knew?
For now, I would take her with me as far as I could.
“?!”
As I carried her, I heard her surprised voice from behind.
“Hold on tight. I can’t support you right now.”
I said that and ran again.
She pressed against my back with her… well, whatever that is. Very firmly, I must say.
Since I couldn’t keep her steady, she had no choice but to cling onto me for dear life.
Every time, I could feel a soft and heavy sensation pressing down on my back.
It was like being squashed by a warm water balloon. Wasn’t that enough reason to take care of her?
In reality, I would’ve loved to enjoy some sentimental moment, but I had no time for that; a monster was chasing us.
And the reason I was looking out for her wasn’t purely out of camaraderie.
“Can you use some magic?”
As I said last time, she was a support-type Mage.
Even if her effects were weak, it was better than having nothing.
Swoosh—
As she cast her spell, wind encircled my feet. It was a spell called Haste.
A simple spell that slightly lightens the target’s feet.
It was ridiculously simple, yet at this moment, there was no better buff.
“Graaah!”
Even so, shaking off the Mountain Lord Tiger wasn’t going to be easy.
Human beings with two legs have their limits.
But that’s fine. At least we were maintaining our distance. I wasn’t fooling myself into thinking I could shake him off in one go; this would be a long chase.
The scenery flew by quickly. The gigantic trees whizzed past and gradually shrank.
That meant we were slowly returning to the middle layer.
We must have strayed far from our territory, yet the Mountain Lord remained undeterred in its pursuit of us. It seemed determined to make us its prey.
Finally, it swiped its enormous paw toward us. I quickly ducked.
Whoosh!
An incredible force of wind swept over my head.
A few trees cleanly fell to the ground. Just because it was the middle layer doesn’t mean the trees are small or weak; that was some beastly strength.
‘This won’t do.’
Running away would only lead to me being caught; that was obvious.
If so, what should I do?
I had to make it turn back on its own. I needed to injure it enough for it to feel that continuing the chase would be dangerous.
Even it didn’t have the stamina to flit back and forth between the deep, middle, and surface layers.
Plus, I had to prepare for a situation where I might encounter competitors back in the deep layer.
Although the Mountain Lord was the ruler of this forest, it wasn’t as if it had no enemies among the predators.
So, the conclusion was simple. I would injure it. And then I’d run again.
With the plan roughly set, it was time to put it into action.
Just ahead, I saw a giant tree obstructing our path.
I said to Haneul, “Let’s hide behind that.”
“But that’s where it’s chasing us! It will notice us right away!”
“No, listen. I have a plan.”
I sprinted while briefly explaining my plan to her. This time, her role was especially important.
“…Alright.”
She nodded resolutely after hearing my explanation.
We soon reached the tree I had planned for, and without hesitation, we hid behind it.
We then prepared and quietly waited for our chance.
“…”
Fortunately, that chance came quickly.
“Grrr!”
The Mountain Lord came to a halt right in front of the tree.
With its excellent sense of smell, it must have known we were behind there.
The overwhelming bloodlust pressed against my skin.
I shook off hesitation and quickly hurled my spear at the beast.
Normally, it would react. It might even strike out at the cost of taking a wound, trying to crush me.
“Grr?”
But this time, the reaction shown was one of confusion.
And understandably so. To its eyes, I must have looked like two people.
It was a simple illusion created with ‘Illusion’.
I couldn’t help but chuckle internally.
‘Gotcha.’
In that brief moment, many thoughts would likely race through its mind.
Which one is real? What should it attack? What if both are real?
And that confusion would breed hesitation.
With that level of hesitation, I’d have enough time to strike.
Whoosh!
At last, my prepared strike pierced its paw. The attack smoothly sank into its flesh, deeper than I anticipated.
The injury was relatively small considering its massive body.
But it was a clear wound that drew blood. Not something to be ignored.
Having seen that, I couldn’t help but cheer inwardly.
‘Got it!’
Now, if I ran properly from here, I could survive.
Just as I thought that, I tried to make my escape with Haneul.
And then it happened.
Whoosh!
The gigantic paw swung once again, but it targeted not me, but Im Haneul behind me.
“Uh?”
Slash!
With a fearsome sound, her body was struck by the paw.
Before she retired, she shot one last glance my way.
“Ah, no, Yor…!”
Sliding down.
With that, she was gone, her body logging out.
All that remained was the Mage’s hat lying on the ground.
“…Huh.”
I let out a hollow sound.
At least I could tell that in the midst of the attack, I figured out who was casting the spell.
Thinking it would be a hassle, it attacked before I could.
What a sly creature it was.
“Grr?”
The beast tilted its head in confusion.
It probably had never seen an Otherworlder before.
The sight of a corpse turning into light particles and vanishing would surprise anyone on their first encounter.
“…”
To be honest, I didn’t suffer a loss.
She was an Otherworlder, and she would respawn in three days, coming back as if nothing happened.
If anything, I should count myself lucky; since she took the hit, I managed to conserve my stamina.
Yet, what was this dirty feeling?
Even if there were no real losses, watching a friend get attacked and disappear right in front of me was not a pleasant sight.
“Damn cat.”
Because of that, I decided to change my stance.
I would run.
But since I had already wounded it and had made it back to the middle layer,
Wasn’t it okay if I took my time escaping a little?
So I thought I could afford to show a bit of composure.
Gripping my spear, I made a small cut on my skin.
The blood slowly oozed out, forming a thin layer around the spear tip.
“Let’s give it one more scar today.”
It might be a bit risky, but the beast needed to suffer a bit too.
