Lee Han held his Karambit tightly as he walked towards that place.
Before long, he arrived at the small hills covered by tree canopy. Trying not to make any noise, he walked toward the end with limited noise. He found a large rock, the perfect place to hide his body.
He was stunned by what unfolded before his eyes. He saw a flat field with grass and wildflowers.
However, what shocked him even more was the area filled with giant black-ant monsters that had mutated into terrifying creatures.
Their size was thousands of times bigger than their original size — looking like the height of an adult.
When Lee Han finally found his hiding spot, Lara's laugh suddenly echoed in his mind.
'Why do you suddenly sound so happy, Lara?' He asked, confused.
Lara giggles before saying, 'Master, there is no need to worry. These giant ant monsters are not sensitive to sound, and as long as you do not have any trace of sweet foods on you, they will not mark you as their prey, so you are pretty safe now.'
'I know, I know. I only worry if they are more intelligent than normal ants,' Lee Han said while preparing to launch his attack. He is holding his compound bow and his unlimited arrow.
Lee Han knew that this giant ant monster was no threat to him, but what excited him was the coin that appeared on their head. The thought of all those coins transferred to his system excited him.
'This can't work. I'm too far from their position.' Lee Han moved down through the bushes that had made him unable to go down quickly. He had to cut some twigs to open the path.
Before long, he arrived at the flat land. He ran faster, marching toward the Giant Ant Monster.
Lee Han no longer cared if his footsteps were noisy because the Giant Ant Monster couldn't detect his movement.
When he was within shooting range, he released his poison arrow toward the giant ant closest to him, remaining only about 80 yards away.
He aimed an arrow at the Giant Ant Monster's head and released his arrow without hesitation; in just a second, the ant instantly turned into black ash and vanished.
A 'DING' sound rang in his mind as a message appeared in his line of sight.
[Congratulations, Adventurer Lee Han, you have received 1 Gold coin.]
A satisfied smile slowly appeared on his lips. He starts to shoot again and kills a few Giant Ants Monster near him. After he clears the area, he walks deeper to the center.
Too excited about farming an easy coin, Lee Han forgot he had spent too much time in that place. He almost finished off half of the Giant Ants Monster there.
Soon, he finally arrived at the center of a flat field, where the Giant Ants Monster were huddled around something.
'What are they eating?' He curiously wanted to find out, but seeing it wasn't easy.
He moved forward, and just a few more meters away, he could see the Giant Ant Monster surrounding a lion beast lying helplessly on the ground.
Lee Han's heart jumped in surprise when he realized something. His lips tremble as he whispers under his breath, 'Fuck!! L-Lara, this damn Giant Ant Monster drinks blood?'
'Yes, it looks like it. These monster ants drink beast blood. I mean—'
'They can sense their prey through the smell of their blood.' Lee Han completed Lara's sentence.
'Indeed.' Lara answered him calmly. 'And looks like you cut your hand, Master...'
Lee Han was shocked to hear Lara's words.
'My hand was cut? How?' he said, lowering his head to look at his arm.
Lee Han was stunned when he saw that several wounds left traces of still-wet blood.
Suddenly, his heart started beating fast when he realized that he had been injured while going down the hill.
'FUCK!' He cursed and retread, hoping the Giant Ant Monster would not notice him.
However, he was too late. The Giant Ant Monster closer to him had already smelled blood from him.
Lee Han didn't wait for the Giant Ant Monster to chase him first; he had already sprinted toward the hill.
It is as if the monster releases his pheromones — the chemical signals that convey information to other ants — to his colony. All Giant Ant Monsters now turn to see in his direction.
Lee Han ran as fast as he could, occasionally looking over his shoulder to see how far the Giant Ant Monster was chasing him.
He was left speechless when he saw how quickly the creatures pursued him.
Lee Han felt immense pressure as the vibrations caused by the Giant Ant Monster's feet made the ground tremble, almost like an earthquake.
What surprised Lee Han even more was that previously, there were only hundreds of Giant Ant Monsters left. Still, now the number suddenly seemed much bigger, tens of times more than before.
Sweat started to drip off his forehead; he was running after thousands of Giant Ant Monsters, and the orange sun above his head somehow felt more intense on his skin.
Lee Han kept running while occasionally releasing his poison arrow; this time, he didn't release one arrow but three simultaneously. However, his efforts were clearly in vain because the number of Giant Ant Monsters continued to increase.
'Lara, is there anything that can distract them?'
'Yes. But it's useless. There are so many giant ants here. Unless you burn the grassland behind you to stop them—' Before Lara could finish her sentence, Lee Han had already taken a jerry can of gasoline from his storage.
There was still a distance of several tens of meters between him and the Giant Ant Monster. He spilled gasoline so that it formed a long line between them.
He threw fire towards the line without waiting for Giant Ant Monster to approach. Instantly, the fire raged, rising several meters high as the wind blew. The intense heat of the fire made Lee Han immediately continue running and leave the area while praying that the Giant Ant Monster was not a fire-resistant ant.
After several minutes of running, he saw the Giant Ant Monster stop before the line.
Lee Han breathed a sigh of relief but didn't stop. He continued running fast toward the hill.
After reaching the top, Lee Han thought he was safe until he felt a hard object hit the back of his head.
Instantly, he no longer heard anything, and slowly, his vision darkened.
'L-Lara... I die!?'