"Where on earth are you going? Do you have a destination?"
"······."
Is it because we spent two nights together? Now, I too have expressed my dissatisfaction openly. Of course, the young men couldn't understand what I was saying.
Furthermore, now he doesn't even care about my complaints. The young men's indifferent behavior kept making me laugh in disbelief.
"Isn't everyone going too far? Seriously! It's become too comfortable."
Still, sometimes a girl and a short man would approach and talk to me in a friendly manner. Just like now. A girl with dark skin but idol-like beauty approached me, took out food from a basket on her forehead, and handed it to me.
"Cornbread again this time? I'll enjoy it."
It looks like bread, but the texture is like rice cake? Anyway, it was tasty.
'Where is there that is not hungry?'
Just as I was finishing off the cornbread, a man on scout duty came running from the rear in a hurry. And I approached the man who was actually leading us and had a long conversation.
The man with the sharpest eyes suddenly hardened his expression and spoke as if shouting.
"Pequot! Pequot Akura!"
Even though I didn't know what it was, judging by the seriousness of the mood between the other young people and the girl, it was clear that something serious was going to happen soon.
As expected, my prediction came true as the young people, including me, and the girl started running through the forest with all their might.
"Why are you running all of a sudden? What's going on?"
"Pequot! Pequot Akura!"
The girl running alongside me just kept repeating the same thing.
"Pequot? What's a pequot?"
At that moment, I heard the sound of the wind cutting through behind me.
Swish!
I couldn't help but be startled as I saw the arrow passing by me.
Phew!
An arrow stuck in a tree.
"Damn it! It's them!"
I turned my head slightly and looked behind me. In the distance, I saw attackers with mohawk hair forming a wide formation and chasing me fiercely.
The distance was so far that it wasn't shown on the map window, but at a glance, it looked like there were more than thirty of them.
at that time.
[Tiring!]
[Quest has been activated.]
[Quest: Repel the pursuit of the vengeful Pequot warriors.]
[Reward: A small amount of experience points.]
'The previous quest wasn't finished, so all of a sudden?'
The raiders began to shoot arrows continuously, shouting loudly.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
Missing arrows got stuck in trees or fell harmlessly into the bushes. The man in the lead shouted urgently.
"Makara! Makah!"
"······."
Perhaps it meant to run at full speed without looking back. The group ran toward the forest at a faster pace than before.
Especially the girl running next to me was out of breath and beads of sweat formed on her forehead, but I couldn't see any fear in her eyes.
'They say they've come up with some kind of plan.'
I don't know what it is, but... I also ran with all my might to shake off the attackers who were chasing after the group and the girl, believing in them.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
Arrows continued to fly like a hail. Fortunately, no one was injured in the attack by the attackers. And soon after, I heard the sound of water in my ears.
'It's a river!'
Before we knew it, we had left the thick forest and a wide river came into view. The short man paused for a moment, then looked around quickly with an urgent look in his eyes.
And then he gestured towards me and the others with a look of relief on his face, as if he had found something.
"Aka!"
As we followed the sharp-eyed man and the short man a little way up the river, we came across two small boats. canoe?!
'You're not suggesting that we take that boat and cross this river, are you?'
As if my prediction was right, the group, led by the man with sharp eyes, quickly got on board one by one, pushing the wooden canoe.
The garden seemed to be occupied by three people, two young men including a girl in the right canoe, rowing vigorously and moving precariously forward.
I wonder if that canoe can cross the river? I stood there hesitating for a moment with a very anxious look in my eyes.
[Tiring!]
[Quest has been activated.]
[Quest: Cross the river safely in a canoe.]
[Reward: A certain amount of experience points.]
'Damn! The quest keeps triggering at random times.'
At that moment, a sharp-eyed man riding in the left canoe shouted at me angrily.
"Ouch! Ouch!"
"······."
I came to my senses at the sound and glanced behind me. Before we knew it, the attackers were running towards us, screaming.
Adadadadadadadadadada!
"Lenape! Akara!
The raiders shot arrows and threw spears to prevent me from boarding the canoe.
Swish! Swish!
An arrow flew near me and stuck in the ground. There was no time to hesitate any longer.
"shit!"
I quickly jumped into the river, chasing the moving canoe.
Splash splash!
As I approached the canoe, cutting through the water with unsteady steps, a short man held out his hand. I took his hand and climbed into the canoe with all my might.
At that moment, as my weight increased, the canoe lost its balance and swayed violently from side to side. The sharp-eyed man in the front seat shouted, holding the oar with both hands to keep his balance.
The short man also handed me the oar with an urgent look on his face and told me to sit down.
"Sit down? Okay."
As soon as I sat down, two men who skillfully centered the canoe began to row powerfully and move forward. I also followed them and rowed clumsily to help them out.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Swish! Swish!
Arrows and spears flew and crashed into the riverbed in vain. I looked back once while rowing. The raiders, who had now grown to fifty, were screaming in anger as if they had no ships ready.
'If I had not been there in the canoe...'
It was a dizzying moment that gave me goosebumps just thinking about it. I shook my head and sighed in relief.
"Whew! I almost got in big trouble."
Meanwhile, the Horned Toad frowned deeply as he watched the two canoes moving away.
"stop!"
"······."
At that command, the Pequot warriors stopped shooting their bows. For a moment, the 'Horned Toad' nodded his head repeatedly, lost in thought.
"There will be another chance later. Let's go back to the village."
"Understood, Grand Master!"
* * *
We safely crossed the river, repelling attacks from unidentified barbarians.
[Tiring!]
[Quest completed.]
[You will receive 80 experience points as a reward.]
[Tiring!]
[Quest completed.]
[You will receive 70 experience points as a reward.]
Without even having time to check the message, I spent another night wandering through the forest with my companions.
Thud thud!
The sharp-eyed young man leading the group from the front spoke with a slightly excited expression.
"Ouch! Akara!"
The group's movements became faster than before. Perhaps their village was nearby. I went through life and death with them, but I couldn't be sure whether the villagers would welcome me.
'I'm feeling nervous for no reason.'
After a while, a large wooden fence came into view. The man standing guard on the door side greeted us and shouted happily.
"Macada! Macada!"
And then the tightly shut door opened and people poured out.
'The atmosphere isn't bad.'
A man who looked quite old greeted the younger men and patted them on the shoulder. And then a middle-aged woman with a face almost identical to that of the girl ran up to me.
The middle-aged woman held the sobbing girl close to her arms.
'
'I guess you're the girl's mother.'
You could tell their relationship at a glance. I stood a few steps back, in an awkward position. Actually, it was a little embarrassing.
No, not a lot. Moreover, the villagers were looking at me with curious eyes from a distance. Then, a middle-aged man who had finished talking to the young men approached me, raised both hands, and said,
"Wakada! Maraka! Makku!"
"······."
I couldn't understand what he was saying, but the man didn't seem hostile to me. Rather, he was smiling with a calm smile as if welcoming me.
Meanwhile, the young men who had been with me through thick and thin for several days were entering the fence with the villagers.
The girl who had given me food was also walking with her mother towards the wide open door. And then, just then, a middle-aged man turned around and motioned for me to follow him.
"······."
When I was about to follow in, I hesitated for a moment.
'After many twists and turns, we've come this far...'
At that moment, a girl standing inside the door caught my eye. With a bright smile, she was beckoning me to come in.
'Okay, let's stay here for a few days first.'
Once the decision was made, I walked confidently into the fence, guided by a middle-aged man.
[Tiring!]
[Quest completed.]
[You will receive 200 experience points as a reward.]
[Tiring!]
[You have leveled up.]
[You will receive a random +1 ability and +2 ability points.]
[Your Strength stat will increase by 1 based on the random ability increase.]
Thud thud!
As we entered the fence, ignoring the message and pretending that nothing had happened, the first thing we saw were huts covered with tree bark.
There weren't as many huts as there were last time. Dome-shaped huts with only wooden frames could be seen here and there, as if a new village was just being built.
'Why don't you build it with bricks or cement? Isn't it too shabby?'
My appreciation didn't last long. Before I knew it, the children in the village were circling around me and looking at me with wonder.
Sometimes, when they made eye contact with me, the children would run away in terror as if they had seen a monster.
'Oh my! Here we go again.'
On the one hand, those innocent children were cute. At that moment, the middle-aged man who had been guiding me stopped in front of a shack.
"Akara! Makka!"
"······."
I nodded and answered the middle-aged man's gesture.
"Are you telling me to stay here?"
"Oh!"
"okay."
I opened the leather door and entered the hut, conscious of the many eyes on me.
"There's no one here."
I was alone in the shack. I glanced at the leather door, and when I saw no sign of anyone coming in, I slowly looked around the hut.
Sunlight streamed in through a hole in the center of the ceiling, illuminating the inside of the hut. Four wooden poles to support the hut and a place to start a fire.
That was all. And did they build the hut with my height in mind?
"The ceiling is quite higher than last time."
Since there was nothing left to see, I walked over to the leather mat on the floor and sat down. As soon as I had some time to myself, I started using the game system.
"Inventory! Store the stone spears!"
The stone spear in my hand disappeared in an instant and was stored in my inventory.
"Status Window!"
[Lv 2. Lee Cheon-il]
[Affiliation: No.]
[Characteristic (1/8): Map.]
[Ability]
Strength: 22
Agility: 16
Stamina: 23
Wisdom: 15
[Remaining points: 4]
[Beginner combat skills]
– Martial Arts (7/20.)
Although it was a forced march for several days, I wasn't tired at all. Instead, my whole body felt energized.
"I guess it's because the level has increased."
Now that I think about it, the deep wounds I received from the last terrorist attack and the black bear attack were probably completely healed as a result of leveling up.
"I didn't even realize it because incidents and accidents kept happening one after another."
Anyway, I learned something new about the game system.
'When you level up, your body returns to its original state.'
It was a skill essential for survival in a place where you didn't know exactly where you were. When I realized that, a joyful and exultant laugh escaped my lips.
"Hahahaha! The game system… This is an incredible ability."