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Day 1 in the Deep Layer.

Countless monsters rushed at me as if to welcome the new arrival.

There was a gigantic anaconda that looked triple my size. A wolf that seemed starved for days. Even a massive wild boar that had tasted meat.

Just because I entered the Deep Layer didn’t mean that the mutated beasts from the Middle Layer wouldn’t show up.

They just got stronger and more ferocious.

Still, since it was the starting area, I didn’t have too much trouble dealing with them.

They didn’t all attack at once, and usually, they appeared one at a time, so there wasn’t much danger.

However, all of them were at a level above the Aoulbear.

I had no choice but to use my abilities.

For the monsters in the Deep Layer, humans that occasionally wander in are nothing short of excellent prey.

At least from their perspective.

They would show up at the slightest disturbance and approach when the smell of blood was in the air.

Thanks to that, I had to go through quite a few battles.

Despite my determination to delve deeper, I could only alternate between the entrance of the Deep Layer for a while.

In a way, I completed a sort of initiation ceremony.

The first day passed like that. Covered in dried blood, I dug into the ground under a tree and tried to sleep.

Thanks to the earthy scent around me, no monsters seemed to be on the prowl yet.

And so began Day 2.

“There they are!”

Waking up groggy, I soon encountered an Otherworlder.

It was a scout, so to speak.

The Knights, with only one life, couldn’t approach easily, but Otherworlders could revive even after death, making them perfect for scouting dangerous areas.

As soon as he spotted me, he tried to take my picture.

I let him be and quickly subdued him for a brief interrogation.

He probably expected to die the moment he entered, but being captured and interrogated was a different story.

Anyway, from what I heard, the Knights were slowly making their way here.

They were eliminating nearby threats as carefully as possible.

Having anticipated this, I wasn’t particularly moved. It simply gave me another reason to push deeper.

Now that my position was exposed, I had no choice but to move.

So, I logged out the Otherworlder and started heading inside again.

There were quite a few monsters charging at me that day as well. It seemed the initiation ceremony was still ongoing.

Day 3.

By the third day, the number of monsters rushing in recklessly had decreased significantly.

The initiation ceremony was finally over. The monsters in the Deep Layer began to realize that I was not an easy opponent.

I never expected it to end so swiftly.

Could it be that these monsters had some sort of vast network like Otherworlders? It crossed my mind for a fleeting second.

Thanks to that, I was able to cover a lot more ground than expected. It was a relief that I hadn’t encountered any high-level beings like the Mountain Lord yet.

If this luck continues, it would be wonderful.

But just as such hopes blossomed, they were shattered on Day 4.

Not long after I started moving again, a massive monster appeared before me.

It was a Twin Head Ogre.

A creature with two heads and a bulk that looked twice as large as an ordinary ogre.

Having already had experience dealing with ogres, I rushed at it without a second thought.

Boom!!!!!

“Whoa, crap!”

After taking one hit from its club, I made a hasty retreat.

I thought it would naturally be strong since it was twice the size, but I never expected it to be so mindlessly powerful.

In terms of sheer power, even our Mountain Lord brother would have to concede.

A direct hit would definitely mean death, and even a graze would likely mean losing a limb, so I decided to make a clean getaway.

Fortunately, it was relatively slow, making my escape easy.

It was probably one of the few monsters that had its own territory in the Deep Layer.

Anyway, this meant my path forward was blocked.

For a moment, I considered turning back, but I dismissed that thought.

After all, there could be monsters that were even stronger deeper inside.

At that moment, running away wasn’t an option.

Thus, that day ended with me retreating. I searched for a suitable tree and burrowed beneath it to sleep.

Then came the morning of Day 5.

That day brought a rather unusual visitor.

An Otherworlder had returned to the Deep Layer again.

I contemplated whether to deal with them immediately but hesitated for a moment.

“Seriously. What a sight. Haven’t you bathed lately?”

The visitor was Shin Hanbyeol. She and I had quite the peculiar relationship.

For starters, she was friendly with the Knights, and when we first met, we had immediately begun fighting.

Though I had made a sort of mental connection as her “pet,” that was about it.

Aside from trading holy water, our interactions had remained somewhat awkward.

“…What are you staring at so intently? Without a word.”

“I’m thinking it through.”

“Hmm?”

“Wondering if I should just kill you right here and now, or if I should try to talk first.”

“What the hell… Is that a joke?”

“Well, then why are you here?”

Honestly, I thought she would be another scout.

After all, she had ties with the Knights, her personality wasn’t exactly sweet, and the situation was as it was.

But her next words were quite unexpected.

“Uh…”

She spoke in a voice that trailed off.

“Since it’s been almost a month since our last trade…”

“Yeah?”

“I came to bring you holy water again…”

Hearing that left me momentarily bewildered.

It didn’t really fit the current situation. The Knights were surrounding the area, and users were drawing lines between allies and enemies.

Was she really risking her life to come all the way to this dangerous Deep Layer just to trade holy water?

‘What’s her angle?’

It sounded like a flimsy excuse, so I decided to use Dantalion’s ears.

I had been trying to conserve the item due to its limited use, but I was curious about her true intentions.

I wanted to gauge if this was some sort of elaborate bait or if she was being sincere.

– Damn, did I look a bit foolish? But how do I make an excuse to meet her then…

The thoughts I heard were rather complex.

– Why did she have to get caught up with the Knights… Honestly, it feels wrong to just let her die like this. …I feel bad about it.

– But then again, I can’t just turn my back on the Knights. I’ve built connections with them. …Should I just toss her some holy water and leave? That should help her a bit, no matter what she plans to do with it.

– I don’t know, maybe I’ll just say I couldn’t find the Knights.

It was clear she was caught in a dilemma between me and the Knights.

Perhaps it was just a passing thought, but it was oddly detailed and messy. However, that made me trust her even more.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at her predicament.

“Pfft.”

“Hey, why are you laughing?”

“Nothing, it’s fine. So, you came all this way to trade holy water?”

She nodded. And at the same time, I could hear a soft cheer from her inner thoughts.

– It worked!

At that point, I decided to wrap up my use of Dantalion’s ears. The draining speed was picking up quickly.

I accepted the two bottles of holy water she handed me and expressed my gratitude.

I had been using quite a bit of blood lately, and the side effects had started to worry me.

As I didn’t have anything to give in return, I noted the price as a debt.

“Thank you. I’ll pay you back double later.”

I intended to send her back after that. This place was dangerous.

However, she seemed to have more to say, hesitating for a moment.

“Well, there’s something I’m curious about. Can I ask you?”

“What is it?”

Her question caught me off guard.

“You use blood as a weapon and also wield a spear, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“But why don’t you wrap blood with the spear aura?”

“Hmm?”

I cocked my head in confusion. But after a moment’s pause, I quickly found my words.

Maybe I had begun to trust her, so I felt there was nothing to hide.

“Well, it’s simply because I can’t use it.”

“Hmm, why not?”

“Why…?”

I found myself at a loss for words at that moment.

It had always been obvious to me that I couldn’t use blood enchantment and spear aura simultaneously.

So, I never really thought about why that was the case.

I just thought, ‘Oh, I guess it just doesn’t work.’

I had one excuse that came to mind: The impurities in blood’s magic might clash with mana.

But even that thought was quickly overshadowed by a counterexample that popped into my memory.

“But Seere used spear aura just fine, right?”

Thinking back, that demon had walked around covered entirely in magic and was still proficient enough to wrap the aura around his hand.

“…Well.”

In the end, that was all I could muster as a response. I hadn’t really learned much about this kind of thing.

Honestly, I had used the spear more out of sheer luck than anything else.

As I continued to think about this, Hanbyeol spoke again.

“Well, based on what I’ve heard from the Knights…”

For a while, I listened to her explanation and engaged in conversation.

Our talk that day left me with many thoughts lingering in my mind…

And then came Day 7.

I had defeated the Twin Head Ogre. Keeping my distance, I threw daggers and blood at it, and it quickly showed it had no choice in the matter.

After disabling one of its legs and one of its arms, the fight became winnable.

It was a loss for a creature that couldn’t fight as cunningly as a human.

“I’m going to be in trouble when it goes berserk.”

One concern was that I had used a lot of blood.

Still, I wasn’t overly worried. Even if my use of holy water rose to five or six, I was prepared.

So I pressed on.

Day 8.

I found a lake!

Just when I was about to run out of drinking water, it was perfect timing.

I took a refreshing bath for the first time in a while. Perhaps having defeated the ogre was a stroke of good luck, as no monsters rushed at me easily.

“Damn, these pesky insects…”

But problems arose at night. That night, monsters started to charge at me again.

Whether it was due to the unfamiliar scent that replaced the usual smell of blood or because they thought attacking at night was more advantageous, I couldn’t say since these beasts couldn’t communicate.

But from that time, my sleep was severely disrupted.

Whenever I fell asleep, monsters would sneak up on me, waiting for a chance to strike.

Even as I drifted off, I couldn’t rest deeply.

For now, all I could do was maximize the hearing that Amducias had granted me and stay vigilant.

Day 9 was much the same.

Day 10.

The situation remained unchanged. It could even be said to have worsened.

After two sleepless nights, I had to endure the morning in a hazy state within the Deep Layer.

And those monsters weren’t the type to let me rest kindly.

Whenever I tried to catch a short nap or find a resting spot, they came charging.

With my heavy body, I had to fend off the creatures attacking me.

Perhaps because I was in poor condition, dealing with them felt even more laborious than against the ogres.

As a result, I had no choice but to retreat once more.

Day 11.

I had a pursuer.

This time it wasn’t from the Knights; it was a beast that had latched onto me.

It was a black jaguar, roughly double my size.

What on earth was not in this forest?

Regarding the standards of the Deep Layer, it wasn’t exceedingly large.

However, what it lacked in size, it made up for in speed and cunning.

In other words, it knew how to bother me.

I could always hear its footsteps nearby, and sometimes when I woke up from a brief nap, it was close enough to come into view.

Frustrated, when I chased it, it quickly began to run away. I had indeed drawn the attention of a pest.

For now, all I could do was amplify the hearing gifted by Amducias to endure.

Day 12.

I felt sleepy. I wanted to rest. I just wanted to have a peaceful sleep.

Day 13.

The hearing that Amducias granted certainly proved to be a tremendous help.

But one downside was that it consumed a lot of mental energy.

All the information combined from my ears flooded my mind.

It felt like my exhaustion was piling up, but it wouldn’t be easy to cut it off. The nighttime ambush events were still ongoing.

As if that weren’t enough, I hadn’t been able to shake off the jaguar for three days. It didn’t attack directly but loitered around, clearly waiting for me to tire.

It was evident that it too was probably unable to find proper rest. Truly, it had remarkable endurance.

There was no way out. It would either tire and fall or I would wear down and become its prey.

It was one or the other.

Day 14 dawned.

My condition was the worst it had ever been.

My vision was blurry, my body felt as heavy as if crushed by a rock, and my mind felt foggy. My stamina was nearing its limits.

“…”

Yet at the same time, I experienced something bizarre.

I could hear the sounds of the surrounding monsters, the ominous presence of the jaguar, and even the movements of my own body all too clearly.

It felt like I was observing myself in the third person. My senses and body seemed to be operating separately.

Had I been so on edge for too long? Or was it finally time for me to leave?

Regardless, the day of great battle was certainly approaching.

It felt like I could very well engage in a fight, since the jaguar’s presence was gradually getting closer.

I figured that I would have a resolution at the latest by tomorrow.

Day 15.

I survived. I had no choice but to put it that way.

Victory was mine. Unlike the prolonged standoff, the fight itself was neither lengthy nor flashy.

I simply outsmarted the creature a bit and acted boldly.

After pretending to sleep for around two hours, the jaguar cautiously approached, and I didn’t let that opportunity slip away.

Even with my eyes closed, I could gauge the distance thanks to my sharpened senses.

Just as it closed in on me, I thrust the spear in my hand right into it with all my might.

Even though it seemingly sensed my presence and swung its front paw, I simply brushed it aside.

Swoosh-!

My chest was torn open, a sharp pain surged through me, and blood poured out.

But at the same time, my strike found its mark in the creature’s neck.

It surely didn’t expect to charge while ignoring its wounds.

Thus, I comically claimed its flesh and sought a safe location to finally get some rest.

The large wound brought me pain, and I worried about the monsters nearby, but…

It was the deepest sleep I had been able to get in a while.

Day 16.

“…I guess it’s delicious since I went through so much trouble to catch it.”

Aside from the fact that the Deep Layer was incredibly dangerous, another feature of this place was that the creatures living here were highly nutritious.

Considering they were brimming with mana, every bite felt like a boost to my strength.

In fact, when I gave the meat of the Mountain Lord to Shin Hanbyeol, the description mentioned a boost in stats.

So, I didn’t believe it was all just in my head. Perhaps thanks to this, the serious chest wound was healing more quickly than expected.

However, I was still filled with curiosity.

“Then why are there no herbs around?”

There should be at least a couple of magical herbs if the mana here was this thick.

There wasn’t a single trace. I figured I’d be better off looking for herbs in the Middle Layer.

But what was stranger was that as I ventured deeper, the magic itself felt like it was thickening. The concentration was almost otherworldly.

Suddenly, I recalled the memory of Dantalion visiting this forest.

At that time, the bone he held had pointed toward the interior.

I didn’t know if it was indicating me, the cave deeper inside, or something beyond that…

But now I was sure of one thing.

Deep within the layer, something awaited. Something that the Lemegaton was searching for.

What could it possibly be… My curiosity flared.

“I guess I’ll find out when I go.”

But for now, I let out a brief chuckle and moved forward.

After all, my steps were directed inward.

Days 17, 18, and 19 passed.

Sometimes I advanced only a few steps and sometimes retreated due to lack of proper rest.

I faced annoyingly solid turtles that tested my limits and encountered poisonous snakes that tried to evaluate my agility.

Each day was a brush with death, but every experience was all the more valuable.

Then came Day 20.

A strangely familiar creature appeared.

Grrr…

Letting out a fierce roar and sporting a scar nearly healed on its side, the Mountain Lord finally revealed itself. Considering its wide range of motion, its appearance was later than I had expected.

Was it because of the wound on its side?

If so, that was a relief.

Even still, when I encountered it, my senses raised alarm bells. I could feel the hairs on my skin standing on end.

But this time, I didn’t choose to run or panic.

“Hey there, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

It felt like it was finally time to end the connection between us.