Chapter 3 - Vampire Bat Cave 1 (1/2)

They inhabited dark caves and old, abandoned mines. Living in a colony, when the sun went down, they’d go out and hunt for food.

They weren’t easy opponents, as the adult ones could get as big as a tall human.

‘Last time around I came with a group’

Woohyuk reminisced as he walked along the trail.

On the sixth day, the survivors had banded together to explore the Vampire Bat’s cave.

Still, most of them had given up early on, and only 10 of them had managed to make it to the

Boss room.

‘That was the first time I killed.’

The reward consisted of only three items.

Naturally, this was a source of conflict, and the group led by Ma Gwanpil had tried to cut out the rest.

Ma Gwanpil had died as a result of his greed and only 3 people had walked out the cave with their lives, each with a single item.

‘Now that I think about it I was quite lucky.’

He had prepared a secret weapon, otherwise he would have died then.

Thanks to that he had learned a valuable lesson.

‘It’s not worth grouping up with just anybody.’

Rather than trusting strangers, he would be better off going at it alone. After all, one couldn’t know when a so called ally would decide to stab you in the back.

‘Careful preparation is more important.’

Woohyuk crouched down and picked a blue blade of grass

[Spirit Grass]

It was a common ingredient used by many alchemists. Best known for its antiseptic properties since it could be chewed and placed on an open wound.

‘I’ll be needing a few other things as well.’

Woohyuk scanned his surroundings as he made his way through the forest.

Walking around with the black machete in his hand, he spotted a light blue mushroom growing in the shadow of a large tree.

‘There you are.’

Woohyuk grabbed it and placed it in his leather bag

[Ghost Mushroom]

It was typically used to make the Hermit’s Elixir, but simply eating it would, to a certain degree, conceal your presence, at least for a short duration.

It was a very useful item if you planned on entering a location that was crowded with monsters.

‘It might not be super effective against bats due to their excellent sensory abilities….’

The caves were very deep, so it was best to avoid any unnecessary battles.

If he were to kill every monster one by one, by the time he’d make it out the sun would have fallen.

‘Now just one more left.’

Woohyuk approached a silver thorned tree and began to peel its bark with his dagger.

This one would be useful when it came to dealing with the boss monster.

‘I can’t only collect plants all day.’

Not unless his dream was to become an alchemist.

“Ah! Someone is here!”

“Are you all by yourself?”

They stared a Woohyuk in surprise.

It was a normal reaction considering that he looked like an ordinary college student strolling around in this dangerous forest.

‘This is annoying.’

Woohyuk frowned as he observed the party before him.

It was a mishmash of 20 people, all seemingly from a different base camp.

“Are you lost?”

The man holding a black machete asked. He wore a military uniform with a sergeant’s insignia.

“No”

“Would you like to join us? From the looks of it you’ve also come to explore the cave.”

They indeed had the same destination, causing Woohyuk to be somewhat conflicted.

‘If I don’t join them, they will simply follow from behind.’

It seemed like he had little choice but to join them, otherwise he’d be giving them a free ride.

“Alright”

“Good choice, here take this first.”

The man handed him a makeshift torch, the cloth dipped in oil causing Woohyuk give the man a second glance.

“He came well prepared.”

Indeed a military man’s survival skills in the wilderness were on a different level.

Of course, when compared to the knowledge that Woohyuk had acquired over the years, he would barely qualify as a rookie.

“The name’s Kang Taejoon, nice to meet you.”

“I’m Chun Woohyuk.”

He had no reason to hide his name.

They shook hands and he joined up with the group.

“Mana Channeling”

Kang took out his flint stone and lit his torch, before going around and doing the same to the others.

‘They are indeed afraid of fire.’

Unfortunately the torch would also serve as a beacon to attract more monsters.

Woohyuk simply walked into the cave, by wielding the black machete his night vision was sufficiently high to not require additional lighting.

“Let’s all go in!”

Kang Taejoon declared as he lead the party inside.

Everyone stopped chatting among themselves and followed him inside with a nervous expression.

“I can’t see anything.”

“Are there no monsters?”

The cave was pitch black. Of course the torches would help to see things nearby, but the cave was so deep that the surroundings were bathed in darkness.

Swoosh!

The flapping of wings could be heard as a giant Vampire bat appeared before the group.

“Ba...bat!”

“It’s so big!”

The people in front were caught in a panic as they swung their torches defensively.

As the bat retreated from the fire, someone stepped out and stabbed it with a trident.

Chizic

The bat fell to the ground with a squeal.

Seeing an opportunity, those closeby brought their torches to bear.

Wharr

The Vampire Bat ignited into a ball of fire, still pinned to the ground with the trident.

The smell of burnt flesh assailed their noses.

“This place looks a bit dangerous….”

“What to do, should we continue?”

Many were frightened as they looked to Kang Taejoon for guidance.

However Kang firmly rejected them.

“Other places will be just as dangerous. There might be some good items inside so we have to keep going.”

“Can’t we just sit this one out?”

“I’d rather go out and do something else.”

As expected, there were many who wanted to back out.

Kang let out a sigh before continuing.

“Fine, those that want can go out and stand as lookouts at the cave entrance.”

“Thanks”

The group of frightened people instantly ran outside.

Unfortunately for them a monster broke out from the ground, blocking their escape.

It was a Brown worm.

“Kyaaaah!”

“Mommy! Help!”

Their loud screams rang out through the cave.

Woohyuk couldn’t help but be embarrassed at the sight.

‘By making all that noise even more monsters would be attracted.’

Things might get a bit dangerous in that case, so although he didn’t want to stand out, he had little choice right now.

Cut

His black machete severed the oversized brown worm in two.

“Ah, thank you!”

A woman that was about to come under attack from the monster thanked him profusely.

After which she immediately bolted towards the exit, without once looking back.

‘So he isn’t just some regular guy.’