Chapter 4 - Vampire Bat Cave 2 (2/2)

“Did you plan this from the very start?”

There stood Kang Taejoon, blocking the exit while wielding a black machete and trident in each hand.

“Oh, so you didn’t run away.”

“Run away? Don’t be ridiculous, after everything I’ve been through to get here.”

Woohyuk nodded to himself.

It was indeed the case that people were not likely to simply give up after seeing such special items.

“Do you really think you can win against me?”

“Well, at least I can try.”

He was confident in his advantage in weapons due to the longer range of his trident.

“Come, I will give you a free lesson.”

Woohyuk provoked him with a gesture of his hand wielding the Vampiric dagger.

“Haaa!”

Kang Taejoon rushed towards Woohyuk and hurled his black machete. Woohyuk casually deflected it with his own machete, bringing a smile to Kang’s face.

‘Chance!’

It was brighter in the room due to a moonstone placed in the ceiling, so it was possible for Kang to see Woohyuk clearly even with his regular eyesight. As soon as he saw the opening, he struck with his trident. So far everything was going according to plan, and he was confident in his victory.

Shortly after...

Ting

The sound of steel meeting its counterpart rang out

‘He avoided it!?’

After sidestepping Kang’s lunge, he struck down on the trident, knocking it away. An incredible reaction time.

‘Ridiculous’

Kang couldn’t help but mumble to himself as Woohyuk closed the distance. He tried to strike once more with his longsword, but Woohyuk had already come too close, and so his longer ranged weapon became a hindrance instead.

Pook

The Vampiric dagger plunged deeply into Kang’s stomach, greedily beginning to absorb his blood.

“You son of a bitch! You’re a criminal against humanity.”

He glared daggers as he shot out one poisonous curse after another. Woohyuk simply tilted his head with a small smile.

“Why do you say that?”

“You used us completely and then abandoned us at the most crucial moment.”

“I used you?”

“...What?”

Kang Taejoon couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but Woohyuk continued.

“Someday you would kill your own colleagues just to take their items”

“What nonsense are you….”

“You seemed pretty skilled so I went through my memory. Sergeant Kang, It’s a rather old story but it stayed with me because it was so outrageous. An adventurer who during the night went ahead and kill all the others in his base camp, using a Pardon card to eliminate his sin. He then used all the items he collected as capital to start a hitman business.”

Woohyuk went ahead and pulled out the dagger, causing a fountain of blood to spurt out from his stomach.

Kang Taejoon groaned painfully as he dropped to the ground.

“Sergeant Kang would then lead a life of depravity, doing anything for the sake of money and never sparing anyone that might become an enemy. In order to continue on, he would constantly need to change his face, but in the end he was still killed. Aren’t you curious as to why?”

Kang naturally had no idea what Woohyuk was talking about.

‘What future, I am gonna die here.’

“Bullshit.”

“One day Seargeant Kang received a request to kill a man. Since the pay was quite substantial, he was happy to go ahead with the contract without asking any questions.”

Woohyuk squatted down and met Kang Taejoon’s gaze, causing the man to tremble unconsciously.

‘Are these really the eyes of a human?’

He had met all kinds of people during his time in the military, but this was the first time meeting a pair of eyes that didn’t exude any arrogance or superiority, simply murderous intent.

The eyes of a demon

“Right before dying, Kang’s killer explained to him why he was being targeted. It was because he had murdered a great person, a close friend of his.”

“Wh..who are you?”

Kang stuttered as he asked nervously.

The story was reaching the climax.

[Death Sentence].

Kang felt like hes was receiving a judgement from the God of Death

Woohyuk stood up and said.

“A man who will sit on the Divine throne.”

“....”

“I’ll kill you a second time.”

Kang Taejoon who felt his time was near, closed his eyes firmly.

Swish!

The black machete was drenched in blood.

* * *

Woohyuk arrived back at base camp just as the sun began to fall. Upon leaving the Vampire Bat cave, he had gone to a different hunting ground.

‘Today’s objectives have all been achieved.’

It was time to rest in order to have another successful day tomorrow. Although the Vampiric dagger was useful to replenish stamina, lack of sleep and fatigue would still cause his overall ability to drop.

‘I still need to eat well.’

Simply consuming bread and water wouldn’t be enough to sustain him through his active schedule.As he approached the camp’s fire, he could hear them arguing.

“This is all on you. You were the one that recommended we go there, else we never would have gone.”

“How is it my fault? It was a decision we came to after much discussion.”

Ma Gwangpil and Lee Jaesung. Woohyuk immediately knew what they were arguing about without even needing to hear the rest.

‘They’re talking about the Central Lake.’

Lee Jaesung had seen the lake on the map and suggested they go there. They had then encountered many monsters and suffered casualties, but it was also difficult for Ma Gwangpil to avoid the blame since he had led the group.

For this very reason he was trying to shift the responsibility to Lee, because he had been the one with the idea to explore there.

‘It was wrong of them to move forward without first scouting the area.’

It wasn’t Lee Jaesung’s fault since he had merely pointed out an option on the map. Woohyuk however kept his opinions to himself, as he had no intention of interfering. Instead, he dropped down the deer which he had just hunted next to the fire.

“Hey, isn’t that a deer?”

Ma Gwangpil asked as he approached with a surprised expression. Woohyuk then used his black machete to draw a line on the ground.

“Don’t cross that.”

“Why, do you really plan on keeping the deer to yourself, there are many people here you know?”

Woohyuk watched the others silently, seeing everyone stare hungrily at the deer.

“What’s wrong with me eating what I’ve caught?”

“Sure, but wouldn’t it be better for us to help each other out? I mean we’re all on the same boat right?”

Woohyuk chuckled to himself as he began to consider it.

“I might have some leftovers, you can share what’s left once I’m done.”

“Ah… okay, we will wait.”

Others nodded in agreement with Ma.

‘Helping other people is not my style.’

Well, in the end it was also beneficial for him if others were able to keep the base camp in good condition.

Woohyuk cleaned Spirit grass and dagger, before butchering the deer.

‘The blood can be used as bait to attract other monsters.’

He had already drained it of blood, all he needed to do now was separate the meat. Having done this thousands of times, his movements were quite skillful. Skinning the deer and separating the fat, before removing any unwanted organs. After dividing the meat from the bones, he added rock salt to it to enhance the flavor.

‘If only I had some spices it would be even better.’

He could have gone out of his way to pick different herbs, but he didn’t want to waste any time.

Woohyuk stabbed two Y shaped branches into the ground as support, on opposite sides of the fire. Then, he pulled out the trident from his Gladiator’s Belt and attached a piece of meat, wrapping it in Spirit grass.

‘The fire won’t be able to burn it.’

Although it was typically used for alchemy, the grass also had this kind of use. Using the trident as a spit, he placed it on the two supporting branches and turned, slowly roasting the deer. As the meat began to cook, a delectable aroma spread throughout the camp.

‘If I could have just one bite.’

‘I almost fainted just smelling it.’

They could hardly suppress the urge to rush to the fire. Afraid to annoy him, they also refrained from speaking out.

‘The taste isn’t bad.’

Woohyuk had a satisfied expressions as cut strips of venison with his dagger. He placed the cooked meat on a large leaf, as he continued to eat all alone like a huge glutton.

‘I also need to think about tomorrow.’

He couldn’t forget to cure some meat using the rock salt, that way he’d have enough jerky for quite some time.

“The rest is yours.”

As soon as he stood up, everyone rushed towards the fire and began arguing about how to divide what was left.

Woohyuk simply observed them from his own corner as he thought to himself.

‘This is bound to affect the future.’

Since it was early on the changes wouldn’t be dramatic, but it might result in important differences down the road. Be it the first clear on the Vampire Bat cave or the fact that he had killed off Kang Taejoon earlier on, both were crucial points

‘Well it was unavoidable in order to secure an early advantage.’

Aka, a snowball effect.

Overwhelming strength was the best way to deal with any future uncertainties.

‘I look forward to tomorrow.’