The 31st Piece Turns the Tables
chapter-112

The three of them sighed simultaneously as if they had practiced it. The situation turned awkward.

- Yeah… it was always like this.

- This was what I was waiting for… It’s been a while since we had this reaction.

- We will turn your mocking laughs into cheers of joy!

Somi, realizing what they did, laughed awkwardly.

“Ha… Haha… It’s incredible that the three of us did that at the same time like it was planned, haha… That wasn’t on purpose, oppa.”

“......”

“Hey, Gyeongtaek, say something.”

“Hyung, I think we’re screwed.”

“You little! Do you want to die?!”

“Argh, who cares! What am I supposed to do when this is reality? Are you telling me to make up something positive?”

“I’m not, but…”

Seol then asked the two party members who were fighting.

“What’s the issue?”

Gyeongtaek responded while scratching his head.

“The two party members that died were our vanguards. It’s just become awkward now that our tanks have died.”

“Well, those are the facts. It would have been problematic if either group had died, though. But since you suddenly appeared out of nowhere when we had to confront an unknown monster, Seol oppa, we thought you would be our saving grace and fill that gap. Ah, I know she's here too, but elves aren't transferees, so...”

“Hm…”

They clearly placed expectations on Seol, counting on him to pull them out of an impossible situation, especially since he had recently joined their party.

‘But that’s the difficult part about summoners.’

That was the common belief about summoners.

A class that wasn’t particularly important whether you had one in a party or not.

However, Seol didn’t comment further. After all, they wouldn’t believe it unless they saw it.

“This might’ve been for the better instead. We no longer have to worry about what decision to make, and we can solely focus on the objective. Don't you agree, Gyeongtaek?”

“...That’s true. We planned on doing that regardless of whether hyung joined our party anyway.”

Their objective.

What was their objective?

“What are your objectives right now?”

“First, are you aware of where we are?”

“Isn’t this the Great Forest?”

“It is. Is this your second Adventure this cycle?”

“Yes, my first Adventure was in the Great Forest as well. I must have just happened to be near this area. I was dragged into a Sudden Adventure.”

“As expected… You must have been in the Great Forest alone, huh?”

“I was.”

“So sloppy…”

“Huh?”

“You’re too sloppy, too clumsy. I’m sure you were lulled into a false sense of security, right? Something like, ‘It’s normally a safe area, so a Solo Adventure is probably fine.’”

Somi nodded to herself constantly with a smug expression that showed that she believed she had read Seol.

The perfect follow-up to that cliché would have been to place her hands on Seol’s shoulders and give him a pat.

Like Sherlock Holmes had possessed her body.

Seol smirked and played along with her.

“How did you know?”

“Huh? Well, obviously it’s… because we were the same?”

- And you’re proud of that? LMFAOO

- She’s super proud!

- So it was an assumption made based on her experience LOOL

“Ahem, ahem… Still, since you mentioned that you knew we were in the Great Forest, oppa… I'm guessing you can also deduce our exact location, right?”

“... Are we extremely close to the center?”

“Correct. Woah, I just got goosebumps…”

“Don’t make such a fuss, noona. Anyone could have predicted that.”

“Shut up, Gyeongtaek! Stop butting in on everything that I’m doing.”

Seol then asked them a question instead.

“Have you guys known each other for a while?”

“No!”

“No! Me? And her?!”

“Rather, we’re sick of each other. He keeps trying to make light of our age difference.”

“Don’t you think it’s hilarious? We’re just a year apart, yet she’s acting like that.”

“You little…”

The two quarreled again.

When Seol’s face started to sour, tired of their antics, the two stopped their fighting.

“Surprisingly, this place is near the center of the Great Forest. Our guide was the one who happened to die as well, so we were wandering around before arriving here.”

“Wasn’t your party planning on entering the center anyway?”

“Are you crazy? Why the hell would we go there? We’re just trying to get out of here as fast as we can. I just want a nice hot bath right now…”

For some unknown reason, the center of the Great Forest was brimming with monsters, and not only that, they stayed near there. Cases of monsters straying from the center were rare.

“Did you party members die nearby?”

“Ah… yes, they did. The cause of all our troubles was their thorough scouting, even though we could have simply pretended to have done it.”

“......”

“I’m just talking to myself, so don’t worry about what I said, oppa.”

- How am I supposed to ignore it when you’re saying it to my face LMFAO

- She’s weird as hell too lol

“If we’re near the center of the Great Forest… our primary objective should be to return to Nobira.”

“Yes, but… since we don’t know if the monsters who wandered from the center of the Great Forest will chase us, it should take us two or three days max to reach safety.”

“So, our options are either evading the monsters by running away or hiding from them for two to three days…”

“Yes, and since it's not an invasion of many monsters but a single powerful one, Nobira should be able to handle it. They should be able to handle it easily since the Adventurers who ran away are slowly returning.”

They would have done more than enough as scouts if they could notify them.

“Alright, then, let’s plan out our route.”

* * *

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - Karane

* * *

Not too long after the party started moving toward Nobira, Somi broke the silence.

“It would be nice if it was like this the entire way.”

“Do you really have to jinx us?”

And at that moment…

Kuaaaaaargh!

Flinch!

Everyone except Seol and Karen collapsed to the floor while holding their ears.

‘It’s near us.’

It was clear the monster was fairly close to them.

Seol simply scratched his chin while waiting for everyone else to get back up.

“Gasp… Gasp… did you hear that?”

“That was insane. What kind of monster makes a sound like that?”

“I-I want to go back already… Are we still far from Nobira?”

“We just started, ahjussi.”

“Sorry…”

Munho was very timid.

When everyone shared their opinions, he was the only one who didn’t say a word.

“As expected… didn’t we make our move too quickly? Should we have waited for morning?”

“Since we don’t know what the monster is, we can’t be sure what the correct decision is.”

“Right? So we should keep going, right?”

Seol then spoke once more.

"What's most crucial right now is to distance ourselves from the center as much as possible. Even in the worst case scenario where we encounter the monster, being away from the center increases the likelihood of facing only one instead of multiple."

“We’re only acting like this because even that one monster is too much for us to handle… but I understood what you said, oppa.”

“...Then let’s get out of here as carefully as possible.”

The other party members nodded.

The party then slowed down their pace to avoid attracting the monster.

Although much slower than their initial speed, their silent, continuous movement already allowed them to cover a considerable distance.

No, ‘already’ was not the appropriate word for this situation.

The sun had risen, and they had spent a lot of time walking.

Thud…

Thud…

The ground trembled faintly as if something massive was moving far away.

"I wonder if the other transferees who came out to scout also got entangled in this."

“We should worry about ourselves first.”

“Haha… that’s true. But oppa, I’m exhausted because all we did was walk for hours. We haven’t properly eaten or slept yet.”

“...Let’s take a break then.”

“Yeah?”

Karen left to find a suitable place and waved everyone in.

“This place is surrounded by grass, so it will be hard to find.”

“Fuu… that's a relief.”

“I’m way too sleepy right now, hungry too.”

“L-Let’s sleep a little before we go then.”

They grabbed a seat in the open area hidden by the grass.

“Haah… I feel like I can finally breathe now. When should we start moving again?”

They were only able to say that because nothing happened at night.

Seol responded.

“Since it seems like the day is more dangerous, we should rest and go once the sun sets.”

“Then we have a bunch of time left. Urgh… I can definitely sleep fine, but I’m still hungry.”

“Did you run out of food?”

“We all ran out of the food we were carrying individually. A lot of it was ruined when our party members were crushed too. Normally, we would forage the forest, but as you can already tell, we can’t really do that…”

The three of them looked exhausted.

The quickest way to make someone unhappy would be to starve them. They clearly haven’t eaten a proper meal in a long while.

“What food do you like?”

“You’re only going to make me hungrier…”

“Hyung, do you have food?”

“I don’t not have food.”

“Really? Then could you give us some? I’m okay with even dried foods. I’ll just soak it up in water.”

“Is there anything in particular that you want to eat?”

“Me? I… I like meat the most.”

“Gyeongtaek apparently used to work at a Korean BBQ restaurant. He worked a part-time job there because he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do after graduating high school.”

“And Noona was someone who took the CSAT three times to get into college.”

T/N: CSAT, or Suneung, is an eight-hour standardized test given once a year which plays an extremely high role in university placement. Oftentimes, students aren’t satisfied with their test results and wait a year to retake it.

“Hey! Who said you were allowed to say that?!”

“And what gave you the right to tell him about my past then, huh?”

“Who cares if I retook the test three times?! Shouldn’t I be applauded for my tenacity instead, huh? Also, hardly any of the people from my high school who attended college before me are still alive. You got that, huh? That is how autonomous I am. I can survive on my own splendidly!”

“Oho… So that one year of difference makes you much more experienced in life than me, right?”

“Oppa, I hope it isn’t too much trouble, but could you also kill a monster called Gyeongtaek too while you’re at it? I’ll make sure to give you plenty of rewards.”

“I’ll give you double, hyung. Please just drop her down to hell.”

Seol clearly only asked them what they wanted to eat. He wasn’t sure how the conversation went the way it did.

Still, Seol smiled without realizing it.

It was because he remembered the kids from his orphanage.

- Argh, Seol oppa! Look at what she just did!

- Blehhhhhhh! You’re telling Seol oppa again! Only lazy, fat people tell on other people! sEoL OpPa! LoOk aT WhAt sHe jUsT DiD!

- Argh! Fucking… It’s even more annoying because you’re such a little kid! Hey, come right here!

- Are you going to hit me, huh?

- I’ll show you what a ‘Girl Crush’ really is. I’ll crush you!

- Argh! Argh! How are you so strong… stop hitting me!

It was nothing more than a faint memory now.

However, the lingering imagery flashed in Seol’s head as the two were similar.

“When was the last time you ate?”

“Uh… a little over a day ago?”

“Give me a second then. I’ll make something that won’t be too heavy.”

“Wh-what? You’ll make something?”

Seol dug a small hole instantly and placed a warm stone inside. He used a warm stone instead of firewood, as monsters could easily spot the latter.

Fssss…

“Uh… is that a mosquito repellent incense?”

“It’s incense to block smells, you idiot. How does an Adventurer like you not know that? How did you survive up to this point? Huh? Please…”

“Noona, I just asked if it was a mosquito repellent. Were you charging up right now just to insult me?”

Crack.

The warm stone made a small sound as it overheated.

Seol had learned about this method to use the warm stone as he made his meals.

The warm stone temporarily became an impressive fire once it was overheated.

The only drawback was that this effect was a one-time use.

Seol placed a small cauldron on top of the warm stone and added the ingredients one by one.

Having prepared the ingredients in advance and stored them in his Fresh Ingredients Pouch, he didn't need to do much else.

‘I’m using this more than I thought I would.’

The Fresh Ingredients Pouch was an item that Seol bought from Janet in the Madness Shop. It was an incredible item that kept ingredients fresh.

It wasn’t too expensive either. Well, it wasn't expensive for Seol.

After a bit of time, a savory smell filled the air.

The party members were unfamiliar with this smell.

“Uh… Uh… Hyung, did you used to cook?”

“My talent is Cooking.”

“Oh my god. There was someone who picked that shitty talent? I thought it was just for decoration or something. The Cleaning talent was right next to it, so I–”

“Hey! Is that something you should be saying to someone who’s cooking for us? Oppa, you picked that because men who can cook are popular nowadays, right?”

“I didn’t.”

“......”

- Why are you making a sad face like that, Somi? LMFAOO

- They’re much more innocent than I thought.

- The old man next to them is getting excited for food too haha.

Not too long after, the dish was completed.

[You have finished cooking.]

[You have made a Porridge With Salted Venison and Minced Vegetables.]

[It smells great. The dish was a success.]

[Your cooking skills have slightly improved.]

Gulp…

Gyeongtaek gulped.

“That’s killer…”

Karen laughed.

“Why do you say kill so much? Haha…”

“Huh? N-No it’s just because of the smell…”

Somi, seeing Gyeongtaek become flustered, started to mock him.

“Look at his face getting red. You can’t even hold yourself together just because you’re talking to a beautiful woman. Pfft. I hope you can understand, unni. It’s because he hasn’t dated anyone yet.”

“...Stop.”

Seol grabbed a ladleful of porridge and passed it around.

Nom…

The hot porridge slowly coated their stomachs.

The party members all reacted the same.

“Thank you for the meal, Seol. This is delicious, though. I bet you can sell this if you wanted.”

“Summoners might not be too bad of a class?”

“I didn’t know summoners were this important for parties… Who said they were bad?

- Huh? He didn’t summon anything, though?

- And you guys were the ones who complained LOL

- If I want to be a summoner… learn cooking too… noted.

Somi continued laughing as she ate her porridge. It seemed like she enjoyed the situation.

“It really was fortunate that we met you, oppa. I didn’t think I’d have a meal like this out here.”

“It’s nothing.”

“No, really. We were super fortunate. It almost makes me feel like nothing will happen until we arrive in Nobira.”

- Why does she keep jinxing them?

- She’s crossing the line.

Gyeongtaek butted in.

“We still have an open spot, though. Shouldn’t they give another person a Sudden Adventure too?”

- This piece of shit LMFAO

- ???: You just have to wait and see for now lol

Somi agreed.

“Yeah, it would be perfect if that person joined our party.”

“That person? Ah, them…”

Seol, curious about who they were talking about, stepped in.

“Who?”

“Did you not hear about it? The transferee who saved all the people that got kidnapped to Yognatun.”

Seol paused as he lifted the spoon to his mouth.