The red glow created by the campfire pushed back the darkness of the night. Ruon, who stared at the flickering flames, took a dry piece of jerky from out of his pocket and stuffed it into his mouth.
‘Damn, it’s tough.’
The jerky, dried with salt and lacking any spices, was no different from rubber. The foul smell that rose to his nose annoyed him. The more he chewed, the more he missed the 6,000 won jerky that he used to get from the convenience store. Back then, he had even complained about the price.
Ruon missed the 26 years of life he had spent in South Korea. A life where he drank beer and ate flavorful snacks, not just this foul-smelling jerky.
Even though time had passed, rather than fading away, the memories had become clearer to Ruon. He clenched his teeth in frustration.
“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..”
An abrupt, indiscernible sobbing halted Ruon’s train of thought.
The eerie sobbing, out of place in the dark forest, would make an ordinary person’s hair stand on end, but Ruon casually brushed off the ground and stood up. Instead of fear, a faint smile hung on his face.
‘You fell for it.’
“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..”
Muffling his footsteps while approaching the source of the sobbing, Ruon saw someone huddled under a large tree.
He couldn’t see the person’s face, with it being buried in their raised knees, but the long, flowing hair and slender ankles implied it was a woman.
Rather than give a cliche “Are you okay?”, Ruon drew his sword from his waist. The moonlit sword glistened with a fearsome aura. Regardless of whether he spoke or not, the tears of the woman wouldn’t cease.
“Sob, Sniff, Sniff.”
‘Are you trying to deceive me until the end?’
Ruon chuckled and slipped his opposite hand into his pocket. The firm grip of his dagger sent excitement through his fingertips. Clutching the dagger, he extended his hand forward fearlessly. It soared through the air, slicing through the wind, just moments away from piercing the woman’s forehead.
Clang!
A metallic sound reverberated through the forest as flesh and steel collided. The slender arm of the woman deflected the dagger. Simultaneously, the sobbing abruptly ceased.
The silence was quickly broken by Ruon.
“Get rid of the act, will you?”
“Eeek!”
With a sharp scream, the woman jumped up, revealing the face that was previously covered by her knees. Her skin was withered and shriveled like a mummy, and from her empty eyes, maggots wriggled and fell.
A sense of horror crept into Ruon’s narrow brow. It was times like these he wished he didn’t have such good eyesight.
“Eeek!”
The woman, or rather the monster, screamed again and rushed towards Ruon. The curse embedded in her screams pressured him, but he effortlessly scattered the intangible force into the air, as if brushing off dust.
The monster, with its long limbs flailing, suddenly came within reach of Ruon’s nose and swung its hand. Ruon, who evaded the monster’s sharp claws by simply turning his head, raised his pre-drawn sword and struck upward.
“Eeek!”
Ruon kicked the chest of the monster, which screamed after losing one of its arms, and immediately swung his sword. The opposite arm of the disoriented monster was severed. Then, he swung through its chest, and finally, through its neck.
In an instant, the fragmented body of the monster fell to the ground.
“Not bad.”
Ruon smiled, feeling satisfied. The monster had given him a decent amount of experience points.
From within the remains of the monster, now a grayish dust, Ruon spotted something sparkling and reached out to grab it. It was a necklace, heavily rusted with age. He searched the ground, hoping to find something more valuable, but there was nothing worth taking. A rag-like garment infested with maggots was all that remained. This is why he hated ghosts. Even if you manage to catch them, all they end up having are the things they wore in their past life.
Spitting on the ground, Ruon turned away without hesitation.
***
“Welcome!”
At the sound of the bell, Hopson, the innkeeper, raised his head and greeted his guest. Whenever he received guests at such an early hour, it meant good luck for the day, so the innkeeper smiled widely at the fortunate guest who had arrived after a long journey.
“You must have walked all night. Would you like some warm milk?”
“That, and a light snack, please. Something soft, if possible.”
“It looks like you’ve been eating jerky for the past few days.”
“My jaw is about to come loose.”
As if he knew that was the case, the innkeeper chuckled and went into the kitchen. Ruon flopped down in a chair and stretched, feeling a little tired, but not overly so. Thanks to the consistent stamina he had gained with each level-up, it had been a while since he had felt fatigued from a journey.
After defeating the ghost, it was dawn when Ruon finally entered the small village nestled on a hill and walked straight into the inn with smoke billowing from its chimney.
The interior of the inn appeared old, but rather than a sense of dilapidation, it exuded a vintage atmosphere, as if the owner had put a lot of effort into maintaining it. Ruon quite liked the ambiance.
A little while later, the innkeeper placed a plate and a cup in front of Ruon, from both of which rose hot steam.
It was warm milk and a thick pie with a sweet aroma. When Ruon took a deep bite into the pie, the red jam flowed out temptingly.
“This is our best-selling item in the inn. It sells out even before lunchtime, so some customers don’t even get a chance to see it.”
The pie spoke for the self-assured innkeeper’s words. It was exceptionally delicious. As Ruon savored the satisfying taste of a well-cooked meal, a commotion erupted from upstairs, and a group of people descended the stairs.
A man with a shaggy head of hair, who was leading the group down the stairs, fixed his gaze on Ruon, who was having his meal.
“Oh?”
Seeing someone like Ruon, with broad shoulders and a sturdy physique, carrying a bow on his back and a sword at his waist, was unusual in a town such as this one. After exchanging a brief conversation with his companions, the man with shaggy hair approached the table where Ruon was sitting.
The man, sitting across from Ruon, asked, “Are you a mercenary?”
Ruon’s forehead wrinkled, having been enjoying the softness of the pie.
“Don’t you see that I’m having a meal?”
“If I was rude, I apologize.”
“You know it, so give me some space.”
“Ever thought about working together? I know of a rather enticing job.”
What kind of situation could it be to make someone who acknowledges their rudeness so adamant in speaking? Slightly curious, Ruon stared intently at the shaggy-haired man. He wanted to hear what the man had to say.
The shaggy-haired man interpreted the silence as a positive response and curled up the corners of his mouth.
“There’s a notorious banshee in the vicinity, you see.”
Ruon’s expression, which was previously impassive, became subtle. Banshee? He had a feeling he knew what the man was talking about.
“It seems to be a quite powerful entity, considering how long it has been dormant. It can easily annihilate a few inexperienced fools who dare to approach it with its screams. Well, thanks to that, the reward money has increased nearly threefold, so it’s a good thing for us. At this point, you’ve probably realized it, but me and my colleagues are planning to deal with that banshee. However, I must admit that there is some unease based on precedent. It seems like you also make a living by the sword… So how about it? Join us in hunting the banshee. The more comrades, the better, right? Don’t worry, we’ll split the rewards equally.”
When the shaggy-haired man finished speaking, Ruon was already thinking about something else.
‘Easy money.’
Other than the worn-out necklace, there hadn’t been any income to speak of, so he had been disappointed. But as it turned out, there was a bounty on the banshee’s head! It was a stroke of great luck for him, considering it wasn’t too difficult to handle.
Of course, the banshee was a powerful spirit. However, that only applied if one were exposed to the banshee’s screams without any defenses or resistance.
For Ruon, who possessed the special advantage of [Resistance to various debuffs] as one of the protagonist’s perks during character creation, it was a non-issue.
“So, do you want to join us?”
When the shaggy-haired man asked in a low voice, Ruon, who had been off in his own world, replied.
“Is the banshee’s artifact a necklace, by any chance? A rusty necklace adorned with a small green gem?”
The shaggy-haired man’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“That’s right. The description of the item to be presented as evidence was exactly that. What’s the matter? You knew all along and pretended not to until now?”
“No, today was the first time I had heard about it.”
“Then how do you know about the necklace? It doesn’t make any sense.”
The shaggy-haired man raised his eyebrow. From his skeptical gaze and the determined look in his squinted eyes, it was clear he believed Ruon was lying.
Not wanting to go into a lengthy explanation, Ruon didn’t respond, instead pulling out the necklace he obtained by slaying the specter from his pocket.
“What? Could it be that…?”
Ruon looked at the man, who was staring at the necklace with surprise plastered across his face.
“That banshee. I killed it on my way here.”
