Memorize

As I approached the vagrant, who was muttering in disbelief, the female mage looked up at me with eyes full of fear. I also lowered my head slightly and exchanged glances with her, my eyes indifferent. She had the typical beauty of a catlike woman, with slightly raised eyelids. Suddenly, seeing her trembling, I was overwhelmed by a strange sense of déjà vu.

I spent most of my first life operating in the shadows. Despite my activities, not many people knew me, but those who did referred to me as a "Vagrant Hunter" at one point.

Later, as the boundary between the original players and the vagrants became blurred, but when you think of vagrant, you tend to think of negative images of murder, robbery, and rape. As the activities of the vagrants intensified, the existing players, in secret, formed a clan. A group dedicated to hunting vagrants. This clan became known as the vagrant hunters, referring specifically to players who specialized in hunting vagrants.

The clan, as the name implied, did not care what they did as long as their target was a vagrant. Whether enslaving them, conducting human experiments, committing murder, or rape, any despicable acts were forgiven if the target was a vagrant. The atrocities committed by this clan were so severe that even some of the original players, who were aware of their actions, began to distance themselves from the vagrant hunters.

I briefly participated in that clan, and the memories of the things I did as a part of it surfaced in my mind. I lowered the blood-soaked sword that I had used to slay the previous vagrants. Despite being a mage, she had a fair amount of skill and sense, which sparked my curiosity about her information.

Player Information

Name: Lee Bo-Mi (0 years)

Attributes

[Strength: 36] [Resistance: 28] [Agility: 42] [Vitality: 34] [Magic Power: 62] [Luck: 40]

As I had suspected, she was a player who had been active for less than a year. Her experience as a vagrant was likely even shorter. Given her status as a mage, her stats were respectable. While her stats were average in terms of other players, they were above average compared to someone who had only been around for a year. If I had met her during the rite of passage, I might have considered recruiting her as a companion, but as it stood, she was part of a group of vagrants who had attempted to kill us.

"Ahhh…"

Perhaps sensing my cold murderous intent, Lee Bo-Mi let out a weak scream. Even as she squirmed, trying to free herself from the bindings, I stepped down on her fingers and slowly raised my sword. As a drop of blood from the sword fell and stained her cheek, it seemed that she finally realized death was near. In a panic, she pleaded.

"P-please, spare me!"

I ignored her words and shifted my gaze to the kids who were just staring blankly.

"See? If you try, you could have done it. Anyway, this battle wasn't too bad. You definitely showed some improvement compared to before, probably because you've had some experience fighting other players. Of course, there were some parts where they let their guard down, but still, not bad."

"I'll do whatever you want! Please! We're both from South Korea, right? I didn't want this! Please, please…"

The kids' expressions were very mixed. They seemed happy to hear my praise, but they looked uneasy as they watched the woman struggling helplessly beneath me. I continued to completely ignore Lee Bo-Mi and spoke.

"You can't just get by with familiar battles. Sure, experience will help over time, but you can't be thrown off guard. Like just now, always focus on what you need to do. And like I said before, never hold back when facing vagrants. If you let them live, they become troublesome… Ah, wait a minute. It's really loud."

"I'll give you everything I have! If you want, I'll become your slave, or even—ugh!"

Her incessant muttering was annoying, so I swiftly drove my sword into her neck. As the sword pierced her thin throat, she let out a final scream before spitting up blood and dying.

"Ah…"

"Ugh…"

I pulled the sword from her neck, swung it once to shake off the blood, and heard the shocked voices of the kids. At that moment, I realized I had slipped. The old habits from my first round as a vagrant hunter had resurfaced. It was a reflex, really. I had killed without thinking, just as I did back in the first round. I realized that this might feel a bit out of place compared to the way I had been acting in front of the kids so far.

Just to be sure, I glanced over, and I saw the kids' Adam's apples bobbing as they swallowed while looking at the woman with her head hanging limply.

*

The day was already drawing to a close. The faint sunlight that had been shining earlier had completely vanished, and slowly, the pitch-black darkness was encroaching on the surroundings. Looking back at the distance we had traveled, we had still barely passed the halfway point. Since this wasn't a journey that could be completed in just a day or two, I decided not to get too anxious.

It was clear that the kids were growing stronger with each battle. While they weren't perfect, they no longer made the same mistakes they had in the very beginning. Today, we had fought six battles in the Midnight forest, and if it hadn't been for the last one, we might have made it through the day fairly smoothly.

"Heal (Cure)!"

"Ugh…"

I looked at An Hyun, lying in the forest, groaning. Above him, Sol was casting a healing spell while sweating profusely. An-Hyun's body was covered in bite marks from wolves. It had been the result of an ambush by a pack of 16 Forest Of Midnight wolves. Eight of the wolves had attacked him, and there wasn't much to say about it. He had probably held out desperately, thinking that if he went down, Sol would be in danger.

Wolves weren't usually a tough opponent, but the buff they received in the Forest Of Midnight made them much more aggressive and agile than normal wolves. Despite being bitten and torn apart, An-Hyun had managed to fight back, using my support and the sense well. In the end, he managed to take down most of the eight wolves that had attacked him. However, after the battle ended, he collapsed, covered in blood, and there was no avoiding the consequences.

I quickly took out the healing potions I had prepared, applied half of it to his body, and drank the rest myself. Sol, seeing that An-Hyun was injured, also poured more Cure spells on him than necessary, shedding tears as she did. In the world of Hall Plain, injuries like this were nothing out of the ordinary. With the potions and the presence of a healer, there was no concern that An-Hyun would lose his life.

After the treatment, when An-Hyun managed to sit up while groaning, Yun-Jung, who had been looking worriedly at him, let out a sigh of relief.

"Phew… you idiot. I'm glad."

"Whether it's praise or insults, just say one or the other."

"Are you worried?"

"Hyung, did the sun set in the east today?"

Yun-Jung paused, thinking about An-Hyun's words, and then realized he was teasing her. She narrowed her eyes and glared at him. Seeing the two bickering as soon as he got up, I couldn't help but shake my head.

"How are you feeling?"

"…I think I've recovered. My joints are still stiff, and I don't have much strength, but I can move without much trouble."

"Then continuing the battle today is impossible. It's better to set up camp here. The day is already over. Anyway, you did well. You hung in there."

"It wasn't just me. If it wasn't for your support, I would have probably collapsed a long time ago."

Even while swinging his spear frantically, it seemed that An-Hyun had noticed that I had helped him out. No matter how many wolves came at me, they wouldn't have been much of a threat. Still, the reason I had allowed An-Hyun to take some hits was deliberate.

When someone gets injured in battle and recovers, it's possible to increase their resistance stat. Additionally, I suspected it might help trigger one of his potential abilities, which would be useful in the long run. While An-Hyun might have struggled now, he would definitely benefit from this in the future.

The day was already ending, and after six battles, I figured we had done enough for today. Once I mentioned setting up camp, Yun-Jung, aside from An-Hyun, began moving quickly. I took the bag off Sol's shoulders and rummaged through it to pull out a mana stone.

Yun-Jung, who had been sweeping the ground and clearing the leaves and brush, tilted her head when she saw the mana stone I was holding, then spoke.

"Oppa, does that mean we're going to sleep here in the forest tonight?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I mean, isn't that a bit dangerous? Monsters might attack us at night. I feel a bit uneasy just relying on watchmen to keep guard."

"Hm. I bought a mana stone for camping, so it should be alright."

Seeing how naturally the kids were talking to me, I was relieved that they didn't seem to have any issues with me killing Bo-Mi earlier. Of course, they might have been pretending not to be bothered. But if I had been constantly saying things like, 'I just killed someone, isn't that scary?', it probably would have been pretty annoying. Thankfully, since they had all been thoroughly trained at the Player Academy to handle the vagrant situation, there was no uncomfortable tension like there had been during the rite of passage.

When Yun-Jung saw the mana stone, her expression changed. She looked back and forth between her weapon, the weapons of Hyun and Sol, her backpack, the empty potion bottles, and then the mana stone, before speaking in a confused tone.

"Oh, Oppa."

"What now? If it's not urgent, just help with setting up camp for now."

"No, it's not that… It's just... where did you get all of this?"

"What?"

I replied nonchalantly, and Yun-Jung immediately started pointing at things one by one, continuing to speak.

"The weapons. The inn fees. The backpack. The mana stones. The potions. And everything else. Even if you add up the money we gave you and your weekly allowance, it's barely 10 gold, right? I've heard mana stones are ridiculously expensive…"

"The mana stones used for camping aren't that expensive. They have energy that repels monsters. And these aren't top-quality ones, so we'll still have to keep watch."

"Still… no matter how I think about it, I can't wrap my head around how you got all this for just 10 gold. Did you somehow get extra money?"

When Yun-Jung finished speaking, An-Hyun and An Sol also nodded in agreement. I wanted to brush it off, but seeing their curious faces, I could tell they were determined to get an answer. While pretending to choose a spot for the camp, holding four mana stones in my hand, I spoke in a calm tone.

"Player Academy."

"Academy? Did they give you extra money for being a top performer or something?"

"No, I got it when I accepted a clan offer."

"Huh? But you rejected all of them. So they still gave you money?"

"Hyung, wait… did you take the money and run?"

As Yun-Jung and Hyun took turns asking, I let out a sigh. I could see their bodies flinch as they noticed my sigh. It seemed like the anger I had shown earlier was still on their minds. After just one sigh, Yun-Jung looked like she regretted asking, and An-Hyun, worried he'd said something wrong, scratched his head.

I clicked my tongue once and then continued speaking.

"They just gave it to me as a gesture of goodwill. They said if I ever changed my mind later, I could come to them. It was just a simple gift, so there was no reason to refuse."

"Oh…"

'Oh? I was making up a wild excuse. It wasn't the worst excuse either, so it seems like they bought it. But I don't feel entirely at ease telling lies like this. Still, I can't exactly share my past, so I just respond with a calm face.'

"I figured it would be better to just accept it rather than make a big deal out of it. I'm not exactly swimming in money. They didn't give me that much. If I don't make back what I invested in this expedition, I might not even be able to afford an inn, let alone a meal."

"Heh. I wouldn't want that to happen. So that's why you told us to look over the vagrants' belongings earlier. I didn't like that much."

The Black Scorpions and wolves didn't have much that could be worth anything. Some monsters were profitable to hunt, while others weren't. One reason there were more vagrants was because killing a fellow player could bring in far more money than hunting monsters. On the flip side, catching a vagrant could bring in a pretty decent profit.

Honestly, if the kids weren't around, I would have stripped the vagrants down to their underwear and taken everything. But with the slush fund and the kids watching, I only took the obvious valuables. I guess after all the struggle of surviving in the first round, I still couldn't shake the habits that had formed, even if they were unconscious.

"Stop talking like you're well off. Gold coins grow on trees, you know. Anyway, let's rest for today and push forward again tomorrow. Let's get the camp set up."

After telling An-Hyun to lie back down when he tried to get up, I reached for my backpack. When I lifted it slightly, I noticed it was heavier than before, probably because I'd taken more from the vagrants than I had planned to.

I pulled out the sleeping bag from inside the pack and glanced over at Yun-Jung and Sol, who were preparing dinner. Both of them looked tired, but there didn't seem to be any shock in their expressions. There were still areas that needed improvement, and I planned to observe them more, but for now, I felt it was safe to relax.

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