Chapter 11 (1/2)

It was a harsh wilderness; the other side of the 'gate' was a terribly barren land.

I stepped into the wilderness and took a look around my surroundings. But whichever way I looked, nothing but the occasional rock came into view.

'If I remember correctly, the altar is to the west.'

I had never been here before. All I knew of this place was either from doc.u.mented information, or rumours and the like; because my original beginning had been at Mt Halla, not Mt Bukhan. But right now, Mins.h.i.+k was at Mt Halla instead of me.

For now, there was nothing but to hope for the best and try walking westwards.

'At any rate, a pioneer huh.'

It had been so long since I've seen such messages like the one from before entering here; I was almost glad to see it. Now that I think about it, there were various benefits to being the pioneer. Points were one of them, and occasionally you could receive blessings that raised stats or half-completed maps.

But at the same time, the pioneer's reward was a poison to humanity.

'Because of those who concealed everything in order to monopolize the rewards.'

It was the biggest reason why the existence of 'gates' came to be known much later!

The superhumans quickly convened and intentionally kept information to themselves, finding 'gates' and monopolizing the pioneer's reward. This happened throughout the entire world. It was to the point that there was even an official paper that pointed out how humanity's advance towards the superhuman era was delayed by a year because of this.

If they had lessened their greed, it was possible that hundreds of powerful heroes may have come into being. Many more could have come across opportunities, sharing information with one another and growing stronger together.

'Mins.h.i.+k. Which path will you walk?'

I mused to myself, looking in the direction of Mt Halla where Mins.h.i.+k should be training the basics of a magic swordsman. He had said that he wanted to become a hero. A hero that would outs.h.i.+ne me and save the world.

A forked road lay before him.

To publicise information, or to monopolize it!

But someone who could be swayed by desire, unable to part with worldly gains, could not become a hero. The t.i.tle of hero, belonged to one who could be humble, who could let everything go, giving it all away.

'That's why I hate being a hero.'

Once was enough. In this lifetime, I was going to indulge in a life of staying in the shade. I was going to choose the path of solitary peace, not burdening myself with the expectation of others.

But that did not mean I was going to ruin myself.

The 'conscience' I had from the time when I was a hero still remained. It could be called dignity, even. If even that small line did not exist, how would I differ from an uncivilized gangster?

Putting away my thoughts, I turned my gaze once again.

'Let's go towards the west.'

Lightly clicking my tongue, I began to move.

Monsters would become more active when night falls. Before that, I had to move as far as I could and secure a safe place.

Hwiing!

Puk!

The iron marble shot through the air, lodging itself in the head of a gnoll.

A gnoll was a small monster with the appearance of a dog that walked on its two feet. At best, it was a lowest-grade Lv1 monster, but they often moved around in packs.

'So there was a den of gnolls nearby.'

I took off my clothes; gnolls had a good sense of smell. With a den of them nearby, simply wearing clothes with the scent of humans could incur danger.

Approaching the instantly killed gnoll's corpse, I carefully collected its blood and then smeared it all over my nude body. It would at least reduce the frequency of sudden gnoll attacks.

I only took along the rucksack as I began to move again. I had spent around 3 hours like that, moving west, when I came across strange gigantic flowers.

'Since there are giant man-eating flowers here, the surrounding area should be safe.'

The ident.i.ty of these giant flowers were monsters determined to be at Lv4. Normally, it would only gobble up anything that pa.s.sed by its side. But when it sensed noise, it would stretch out its tentacles to s.n.a.t.c.h up prey up to 30m away.

As long as it wasn't provoked, however, it happened to provide you with a surprisingly safe shelter; it wasn't often that other monsters would reside near giant man-eating flowers.

I took out the small shovel in my rucksack to dig a hole in the ground, then laid down inside of it.

Nights in the wilderness were bitterly cold. There was no other way to maintain body temperatures but to rely on the earth for insulation, because starting a fire could attract a bunch of nocturnal monsters.

'I should try using the Dominator skill tomorrow.'

I decided to take it easy. Searching for the altar would take at least several days anyway. So I made up my mind to spare no time but to fully use it to grow stronger.

As I closed my eyes, drowsiness immediately overtook me.