She nodded, looking at me with surprised eyes, her mouth covered.
'What's going on?'
'for a moment.'
Although they didn't say anything, they exchanged glances and had a conversation. I took my hand off her mouth and quietly walked closer to the fence, my ears pricked up.
As if he had noticed that my mood was serious, 'The Moon Rises' just watched without moving an inch from its spot. I kept checking to see if I could hear any strange noises outside the fence, looking at the map window floating above my head.
And I waited for a while, holding my breath, my nerves tense. Had about ten minutes passed? The red dot I had seen on the map a moment ago no longer appeared.
'Did I see something wrong?'
At that moment, the restless 'Moon Rises' couldn't hold back her curiosity and came over to me and whispered very quietly.
"Shall we wake up the warriors?"
"······."
I hesitated for a moment, but I shook my head immediately because I wasn't sure.
"No. Wait. A little. More."
'The Moon Rises' nodded with an anxious look.
"huh."
I continued to carefully check the outside situation on the map. perhaps··· It could be that they mistook a carnivore, such as a bear, lurking around the fence for an intruder.
And so time passed again.
'Well, unless there are dozens of invaders, he can't come in alone.'
As the tension eased, I was momentarily embarrassed by the current situation that had resulted from my mistake. I said to 'The Moon Rises', who was looking at me with her eyes wide open.
"The moon is rising! Animals. Me. Misunderstanding."
"okay?"
"huh."
"What a relief. Phew!"
"The Moon Rises" muttered to herself, her expression brightening as she let out a sigh of relief.
"······Do you know how anxious I was that the Pequot tribe would invade our new settlement again? I waited quietly as you instructed, but I was secretly debating whether or not to wake my father and the warriors."
I waited until she finished speaking and then apologized with an apologetic expression.
"sorry."
"I'm sorry for something like that. I could have misunderstood. And you already accepted my apology for my mistake earlier. It's okay. It's okay."
'The moon rises' was talking to itself as if it were a god. Just then, a voice was heard calling for her.
"The moon is rising! What are you doing there now?"
"······."
When her daughter, who had gone to urinate, did not return even after waiting for a long time, 'Flowers on a Tree' came outside worriedly and was glaring at 'The Moon Rises' with a fierce look on her face.
"I'll go in."
"Come in quickly."
"okay."
'The Moon Rises' looked at his mother with her arms crossed, let out a short sigh full of discontent, and then said to me.
"I think I should go. Get some rest."
"you also."
She made a regretful expression for a moment and ran towards the 'flowers on the tree'. Although I didn't want to hear it, I could hear the mother and daughter nagging and talking back to each other.
As I entered the hut with my daughter, the 'flowers on the tree' looked at me with a sharp gaze. Is it like I got caught doing something bad?
I felt awkward for no reason, so I gave her a quick hello.
Bow!
As the mother and daughter disappeared, I shook my head and walked towards the shack where I was staying.
"We just happened to meet by chance. Why should I be concerned? Seriously!"
* * *
Deep night. Not far from the village of the 'Big Turtle' clan, reeds as tall as a person swayed along the river.
"They're coming."
Two Pequot warriors who had been waiting in hiding rose from their seats. Just then, a man appeared in front of them, breathing heavily, and said:
"We found the Lenape men who gave us water."
"Thank you for your hard work."
"They didn't find out?"
"Not at all. I only checked the village from afar."
"Any traces?"
"Don't worry. I erased it cleanly."
"Okay. Now that we know where they are, let's go back."
"I get it."
Three days earlier, three Pequot warriors had crossed the river and spent several days combing the forest in search of a Lenape village.
After completing their mission safely, they ran towards the canoe hidden on the riverbank without looking back. They climbed into the canoes one by one with skillful movements and began to cross the river, rowing vigorously.
"The day will soon break. Let's cross the river quickly!"
* * *
A few days passed quickly. As soon as the sun rose, I started my day by leaving the shack and going for a run as usual.
Although it is a small town, I didn't get tired at all even after walking around it fifty times. I could run further, but I've already completed the life quests I had to do today.
[Quest: Run more than 10 kilometers every day (2). 3/20]
After taking a quick look at the newly updated quest, I took a quick stretch. The children of the tribe who had been following me also stopped running and began to stretch their bodies.
The children, with their faces full of playfulness, tried their best to imitate even the difficult stretching movements. Cute guys.
After I had stretched out a bit, I looked at the kids and said.
"It's dangerous. Get back."
"Yes, very big uncle!"
Now, as if they were used to this situation, the children of the tribe stepped back and stayed far away.
'I feel like I've become the bully of the neighborhood,'
As the mood began to build, I slowly closed my eyes. I took a deep breath, opened my closed eyes, and began practicing martial arts in earnest.
One! Two! Uppercut! He swung his fists alternately at his imaginary opponent. The virtual opponent's face was covered in a whirlwind of consecutive attacks.
This time, a kick. The imaginary opponent raised his guard and stepped back repeatedly at the threatening and strong kick.
He distracted them with a light jab.
Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!
'now!'
The imaginary opponent, who had been absentmindedly blocking his face, was hit in the side by a flying kick like an awl, and collapsed on the spot, gasping for breath.
I stood there with both fists raised above my head and roared.
"Wow! I won."
I enjoyed the victory for a moment, but before I knew it, I felt eyes gathering around me.
"······."
The young warriors of the tribe were looking at me with strange eyes. For a moment, my face, drenched in sweat, turned red with embarrassment.
'I was watching you all. You're so annoying.'
At that moment, the 'fast deer' approached me with a questioning look in his eyes and asked me.
"Why are you yelling by yourself?"
"···huh?"
I spoke with a shameless face, as if making excuses.
"Battle... combat skills. Suppress the enemy's initiative."
"···okay?"
As the 'fast-footed deer' tilted its head as if it still didn't understand my actions, I hurriedly left the place looking uncomfortable.
"I sweated a lot. I'm going to the river to wash."
"······."
I kept feeling like there were eyes watching me from behind.
* * *
The hut where the chief resides. The 'Hunter of the Forest' tilted his head as he recalled Lee Cheon-il.
"···It's awkward."
At that moment, when the husband's mood became unusual, 'Flowers on a Tree' approached him cautiously.
"What are you thinking about so early in the morning? Is it because of the big two thousand days?"
The 'Forest Hunter' nodded without confirming or denying, his eyes filled with doubt.
"···Everything is awkward. Hunting, building a house, everything. They just have to rely on strength, and they don't even know how to cut down a tree."
'Flowers on the Tree' took a quick look at the just-fallen 'Moon Rises' and answered as if it was nothing.
"But you're good at fighting. Maybe the tribe the white man originally lived in raised him to be a warrior."
"···That could be the case."
The 'hunter of the forest', who spoke calmly, still had doubts. Even if 'A Very Big Two Thousand Days' was raised as a warrior, the skills to survive in the forest and the skills needed for real life were things that every man should know.
However, Lee Cheon-il knew nothing like a child. Lee Cheon-il simply watched in wonder as if it was his first time seeing prey being butchered, hides being dried, and weapons being made.
Suddenly, the 'Forest Hunter' remembered the words prophesied by the tribe's shaman, 'Big Mouth'.
'Leading to a new world?'
After watching for two thousand days, I can't believe the prophecy of 'Big Mouth' and just laugh at it.
'What is it that leads us?'
While the 'Hunter of the Forest' was lost in his own thoughts, the 'Flower on the Tree' spoke again.
"And I think you're interested in 'The Moon Rises', so you should teach 'The Very Big Two Thousand Days' well."
Just as his wife had noticed, the 'Hunter of the Forest' also knew that his daughter had feelings for 'Very Big Two Thousand Days'.
"I don't know when I'll leave, so what can I teach you? You should just take good care of your daughter so she doesn't get hurt."
"Is it up to me? It goes according to the spirit's will."
"······."
The 'Hunter of the Forest', unable to refute her words, simply took a drag on his pipe without saying anything.
* * *
When I got to the river, I took off my leather clothes and ran into the river.
Splash splash!
"I can't exercise comfortably. Should I create a personal training center?"
I washed my sweaty body clean, recalling the embarrassing situation from earlier.
"No. Let's make a sandbag first."
To make a sandbag, you need leather and sand. There was a lot of sand around the river. The problem is leather...
"I'll have to ask 'Moon Rises' for the leather."
After simply solving the sandbag problem, I came out of the river. He roughly wiped his body with a leather that had animal fur attached to it.
After putting on the leather clothes I had received as a gift from 'The Moon Rises', I looked around to see if anyone was there.
"Thank goodness there's no one there."
I walked to a place with some shade from a tree and sat down.
'Status Window'
[Lv 4. Lee Cheon-il]
[Affiliation: No.]
[Characteristic (1/8): Map.]
[Ability]
Strength: 26
Agility: 17
Stamina: 23
Wisdom: 16
[Remaining points: 4]
[Beginner combat skills]
– Martial Arts (10/20.)
[Beginner Non-Combat Skills]
– Lenape Language (3/20)
A few of the ability values had minor changes. And skills. As expected, there was a small change as I expected. As I practiced martial arts every morning, my proficiency in beginner martial arts gradually increased.
"Seven to ten."
That wasn't all. As I spoke more frequently with the tribesmen, my proficiency in the elementary Lenape language also improved.
"Hmm! If you use or train a skill often, its proficiency will increase?"
This means that if you continue to use the skill, you can grow from beginner to intermediate, and then from intermediate to advanced.
I nodded with a pleased expression as I learned something new about the game system.
"I need to use these skills more often in the future."
I turned my head and checked the map window that was always open. Nothing was displayed inside the very small circle.
but. I shouted in surprise.
"What? Why did the radius suddenly increase?"
The map, which had a radius of about 10 meters, had expanded to 15 meters.
"When did things change like this?"
I turned the status window back on with an unknown expression.
"Nothing has really changed."
This time I checked the message. I looked through the quest and level-up messages, but I couldn't figure out why the map radius had changed.
"Does a map grow like a skill if you use it often?"
At that moment, a message about a recent level-up caught my eye.
"Could it be because of this?"