“ARGHHHHHH!!!”

  A troll’s roar reverberated through the forest, sending a wave of pure panic through all who heard it.

  Birds' monsters fly away from their nest, leaving their eggs and young behind. An ogre hunting group fled in the same direction as the monster they had been hunting. Trees shake and tremble like they want to grow legs and run away—which some actually did.

  Luk did a double take on that last one and had to hold back his laughter lest he give himself away.

  Any normal person—or maybe a silly one—would immediately run if they heard the sound of a troll, especially one this large.

  It was around 15 meters tall with red skin marking the troll as being on stage two. But Luk was not normal or silly—he was a hero!

  That’s why, instead of running away, Luk was hiding on the branch of a tree, far from the troll, but still close enough to watch it through his binoculars from his vantage point.

  It makes perfect sense, a hero has to stay alive so they can do more good things.

  That’s what his big brother had told him, so it must be true, and Luk is the greatest hero that ever was and ever will be!

  Besides, running away was a death sentence—at least for him.

  Right now was the most dangerous part of The Harvest, when monsters duke it out with each other.

  Running may be better for some people with the right skill, or more importantly Skill, but he was not that guy. He specializes in hiding, not running, which was obviously more fun.

  Hiding makes it possible to watch the show that was about to happen.

  Watching through his binoculars, the troll raged and destroyed everything around it.

  A single punch sent a tree flying into the distance. The shockwave of another attack obliterated a monster too slow to run. It threw a boulder into the sky effortlessly, and the rock smashed into a wyvern flying overhead.

  Then, it punched the ground.

  The explosion that followed shook the earth that even he could feel.

  The impact formed a massive crater, sending geysers of dirt into the air and revealed the now dead and unrecognizable monster that had been hiding underground.

  Both of the troll’s hands disintegrated from the impact, but a second later, they were already halfway to being as good as new.

  A troll’s regeneration can be scary, and also disgusting.

  It looks like a million wriggling worms are inside of its flesh trying to make a brand new arm. Which doesn’t surprise him if it’s true, monsters can be weird.

  But wow, the troll must have had a bad morning or something.

  If Luk has to guess, it probably has to do with the fact that someone has the bright idea to throw a knife at its private part. Not an ordinary knife mind you, but an Artifact with the Skill [Extreme Pain]. A shame the Artifact got destroyed by the troll.

  Nevertheless, someone who intentionally does that is pretty cruel.

  Sure it was Luk who did it, but he didn't do it intentionally. He was aiming at the troll's eyes, not its groin. [Lucky Strike] activating was not in his control.

  [Lucky Strike] was a Fate Skill that only activated when he was close to being dead.

  Why do monsters need that part of their body anyway?

  Monsters don’t reproduce like sapient beings. Their young appear out of nowhere near where their species is. That’s why no one assigns gender to monsters.

  It was also pretty small if you factor in the troll size.

  It would have been nearly impossible to hit it if not for [Lucky Strike] and the goggles that granted him [Long Throw]. He was a few kilometers from the troll after all.

  The strike also had [Misfortune Strike] behind it, but he wasn’t sure what it did to the troll.

  The Skill only made one action the target did the worst it could possibly go out of thousands of possibilities. A [Novice Swordsman] could slip and fall if they tried to do an overhead swing after getting hit by [Misfortune Strike], but for a [Sword Master]? Their form wouldn’t even be affected.

  It couldn’t grant the impossible, like, say, a hundred meteors falling on them just because they breathed. He was only a Level 22 [Lucky Survivor].

  What confused him was that any of what happened to the troll looks like an effect of [Misfortune Strike].

  Like how it slipped on a fallen tree, or how it jumped into quicksand filled with leech, or how it stepped on a mushroom that released poisonous spores, and so much more.

  The troll was either stupid, clumsy, unlucky, or all of the above.

  [Misfortune Strike] likely didn’t do a thing. The troll's whole life probably felt like it was always under the effect of [Misfortune Strike].

  But all the misfortune that befall the troll looks like it didn’t affect it at all. All of the injury disappeared instantly, and the only thing that it accomplished was making it even madder.

  The troll’s skin turned even redder, its strike even more powerful, it moves even faster, and even its ridiculous regeneration looks like it improves even more.

  No being can be over Level 49 if they are inside the barrier, then how in the tarnation is the troll that powerful?

  A chuckle almost slipped out of him.

  Tarnation, what a silly word.

  Sounds from all around him snapped him out of his thoughts. Dozens of powerful monsters start to wake up from their slumber one by one.

  A giant snake slithers through the forest, crushing anything in its path. A giant bear—bigger than even the troll—roars in fury that creates shockwaves visible to the naked eye. In the sky, a couple dozen wyvern covers the sky—shrieking.

  His ears pick up more sounds in the distance, but his eyes train on those three monsters, wondering if they would fight the troll.

  They were all close to the troll and looked really angry.

  Looks like the others are also successful, I hope no one died.

  The next step is to have all the monsters duke it out in a free for all and hope they all kill each other.

  That, of course, includes the weaker monster or the more intelligent one, but they usually show up near the end.

  It was the Hunter's job to take care of that, but maybe he will help near the end when it will be way less dangerous like his big brother had told him. Luk may be a Provocateur, but that doesn't mean his combat skills are zero.

  Right now though, Luk can only sit back and enjoy the fight that was about to happen.

  The snake was suddenly flying in the air, killing one wyvern at a time while the wyverns tried to fight back with its breath attack, but found no success in hitting it.

  The snake just keeps dodging by changing its size with no delay whatsoever. One second it swallowed a wyvern in a single bite, then a second later, the snake was smaller than Luk’s arm and was suddenly moving really fast.

  The snake appears to be winning, but one good hit when it was small could probably spell its doom.

  The snakes would probably win, not a single wyvern has managed to even hit it. Half of the wyverns were probably… already… dead, wait a second.

  The numbers of wyverns did not look smaller compared to when the fight started. Which should not have been possible.

  Luk didn't see any new wyvern joining the fight, so was the wyvern multiplying? It’s certainly possible, Skill can be weird.

  Meanwhile the troll was fighting against the bear; it was way more direct than the fight between the snake and the flock of wyverns. The troll punched, while the bear bit and slashed. That was literally it, no defense, no strategy, just pure brutality.

  If you look at it from who did the most damage, the bear was clearly winning by a wide margin. The slash from its claw always severs the troll limb, while the troll punch did not even leave a bruise. But the troll just keeps on regenerating.

  The bear lunges and topples the troll to the ground, before it bites the troll’s head and swallows it.

  Although common sense dictates that it was supposed to be over, the bear was still attacking the troll. Which is proven to be the correct move soon after as the troll was still regenerating.

  What the flippity flop is the troll made of? And how do you even kill it?

  Luk really wanted to know how the fight would end, but he was already pushing his luck watching the fight for this long.

  He was supposed to signal that his mission was a success after the troll woke up and immediately activated all of his Skills that helped him hide, but he really wanted to watch the monsters fight.

  Sighing silently, Luk put his soul energy into his necklace that had a little sword at the end of it.

  If you put mana into it, that means you fail your mission. But if you put soul energy, that means the mission was a success.

  The necklace was actually his adventurer badge. It not only can give a signal to the [Adventurers’ Guild Headmaster], but it can also give you Skills and check what Skills you got.

  Luk spent a whole five minutes setting up how his status screen would look, and it seems pretty good.

  It was useful to check what Skills you got if you forget, but it was mostly used for sharing to other people what Skills you have.

  You can hide some Skill from showing up on your status screen and even name your equipment, but you can’t lie about it.

  Taking out a sleeping bag that had the Skill [Stash] from The Infinite Gloves, Luk was ready to take a nap.

  Because [Play Dead] was a Fate Skill that requires you to be asleep while being surrounded by things that want to kill you to activate.

  An annoying requirement, but the Skill was pretty good. Corpse was way harder to find than living things.

  Couple that with [One-Time Miracle], an Active Skill that really didn’t need to be explained except that it had a cooldown of one month before he could activate it again, it would be nearly impossible to find him.

  Luk hopes that there isn't any casualty at the end of this, though even he doesn't believe it could happen.

  Closing his eyes, he activated two of his Skills.

  “[One-Time Miracle], [Play Dead].”

  Because other Skills like [Hide Presence], [Stealth], and [Untraceable] were Passive Skills, so they were always active.

  ———

  A loud thump woke him from his nap.

  The first thing he noticed was how dark and cloudy it was.

  The sleeping bag he had been using vanished into his gloves, and he looked down to see what had awakened him.

  In the base of the tree, lay a male orc on the verge of death. His breaths were short and heavy, his right arm and both of his legs were bent the wrong way; signs of internal bleeding could be seen everywhere on the orc’s body. Blood flowed from his head, covering his face, but rather than making him look weak, the determination shown on his face made look like a cool warrior.

  The sound of multiple footsteps stole Luk’s attention, and he saw a trio of ogres in the distance.

  The ogres were coming towards his location, with the highest one being around 4 meters tall, with all of them carrying what could only be described as a big stick.

  The ogres look at ease, as though their victory is all but guaranteed.

  Although they were injured—like some cuts and burn marks here and there—they definitely didn’t have the same grave injuries that the warrior had.

  An ogre is one of the monsters that always show up in the end, never before, not because they were weak, but because of their intelligence.

  Luk surged upright, feet planted wide with his arms crossed, while his cape swayed from the wind. But his whole body was shaking, though that wouldn’t stop him from doing the right thing.

  “Behold, I am Luk! The son of fortune, who was blessed by the fates themselves and he who will one day be the greatest hero!”

  The shaking didn’t stop, but it definitely lessened.

  A knife appeared on both of his hands, and Luk threw it at the ogre in the middle.

  “[Misfortune Strike].”

  It was the tallest and the biggest of the bunch, but also the most injured.

  The big ogre noticed the knives flying at it too late, and it landed true on its stomach.

  More knives infused with [Misfortune Strike] came flying towards it, but this time the troll blocked it with its stick.

  Not deterred, Luk switched his strategy.

  Summon.

  Throw.

  “[Misfortune Strike].”

  Luk switched target to the smallest ogre on the right, and the blade sank deep into its eyes.

  The small ogre screamed and flailed its stick around, clearly panicking now that it lost its vision.

  “[Misfortune Strike].”

  All that flailing around only managed to hit the big ogre, making it fall; it did not stop the knives from sinking deep into its neck. He felt [Lucky Strike] activating, but he didn’t know why.

  “[Misfort—"

  Luk’s Skill activation was cut off as he lost his footing and fell, making him unable to activate any Active Skill and move his body for a few seconds.

  He’d forgotten that he was on a branch, not solid ground. Just as he braced to meet the ground, the warrior caught him in a princess carry.

  Luk smelled a thick scent of blood from the warrior. But before any of them could say anything, a loud crash caught their attention.

  The top half of the tree he was just standing on a second ago, was now completely gone.

  Tossing Luk to the side, the warrior grabs his axe that was beside him.

  The final troll probably had some kinda Skill that made him forget about its existence, or maybe he just forgot. Both possibilities had an equal chance of being right.

  The forgotten troll was now running at them, barehanded, and the warrior looked ready to meet the ogre charge head on.

  They were the same height—maybe around two and a half meters—but isn’t the warrior dying just a second ago?

  As Luk took stock of the warrior condition, he was surprised to find that most of the warrior injuries are already healed.

  Was it a regeneration type Fate Skill that only activated when he was on the verge of death? Or was it some kinda illusion?

  “Are you just gonna sit on your ass over there or are you gonna help me?”

  “I’ve got Skill recoil, should be good in a bit.”

  The warrior nodded, and after the forgotten ogre was around 100 meters from their location, the warrior activated his Skills.

  “[Mighty Leap], [Limit Break].”

  The warrior flew through the air toward the ogre—not in a head-on charge, but on a steep, almost vertical path, as if he were trying to delay the confrontation.

  When the warrior was at his peak, Luk Skill recoil was gone.

  “[Misfortune Strike].”

  Luk threw two knives at the ogre coming towards them, penetrating deep into both of its legs.

  It falters only for a second, but it trips on a particularly hard root—making it fall. Just as it was about to get up, the warrior fell like a meteor toward the ogre.

  “[Furry Strike]!”

  The warrior axe split the ogre head in half. It stops moving and lays dead on the ground.

  Looking at the remaining ogre, the big one is charging toward the warrior's direction, and the small one is being peppered by arrows?

  There was probably another person helping them, so he put his thoughts on the small ogre out of his mind and focused on the other ones.

  Looking at the warrior, he doesn't look like he will use his jumping Skill again, so there was probably a cooldown on it.

  “[Misfortune Strike], [Misfortune Strike], [Misfortune Strike].”

  Knives flew through the air, but the ogre blocked them easily with its big stick.

  Luk kept attacking, yet no matter how many blades he sent flying toward the ogre, it block them as if they were nothing.

  Looking closer at its movement, Luk realized that the ogre isn’t just blocking it randomly, there was logic to its move. The way the ogre dealt with his attack is almost beautiful, like an art form. But it was not flashy, just very efficient.

  There was something strange about its movements, though. Not once did the ogre’s big stick obstruct its vision.

  Even when Luk targeted its head, it simply tilted its head aside instead of blocking—always keeping both him and the warrior firmly in sight.

  It was coming towards the warrior not in a rush but at a relaxed pace, as if his attack was nothing but an annoyance.

  The warrior never moved from his location and Luk’s attack was clearly useless, as not a single one of his attacks managed to do anything.

  Range attack was clearly not working, should he lift his self-imposed reaction on only using knives? No, the warrior looked confident, so maybe he had a plan?

  Getting closer to the big ogre seems like the best idea for any possibility though.

  When the ogre came within striking distance of the warrior, Luk watched him take a deep breath, tension draining from his body.

  The ogre tries to hit the warrior with its big stick, only for him to just dodge to the side without striking back.

  Luk caught the smirk that was plastered on the warrior's face, and the warrior quickly put his axe on his back, making Luk confused.

  A side swing was dodged by only moving backward, the follow up kick not doing much either as the warrior was not even close to where the attack landed.

  The dance keeps going for a few seconds with the warrior keeping distance and dodging, while the ogre attacks.

  Luk tried to hit the ogre with his knives when there was a good opening, but just like before, it easily blocked it. But this time Luk couldn't just chalk it off as the ogre being skilled, because it clearly was not.

  Not once has the ogre managed to hit the warrior. The difference between when it was dealing with his attack and when it was attacking was strikingly obvious.

  There was a possibility that it only trains in dealing with range attack so its skill in melee was lagging behind, but it was much more likely that it has a Skill to deal with range attack or something close to it.

  That certainly explains why all of his attacks are being dealt with ease, but why hasn’t the warrior attacked it? The ogre was full of opening after every attack.

  Luk was getting closer to them, but before he could join the fight in melee, the warrior put his right hand up, index finger pointing to the sky—the hand signal for "stay back.”

  Even though Luk just meets him, he follows the order regardless. Dismissing what others were trying to say is a one-way ticket to the cycle of reincarnation in this line of work—at least that is what his brother had told him.

  He was what you call a newbie, so Luk stops and assesses the situation.

  The warrior visibly yawned to taunt it, which caused the ogre to attack more aggressively, but it just makes it easier to dodge its attack.

  The straw that broke the camel’s back was when the warrior closed his eyes, yawned, and easily dodged one of its attacks.

  As if saying it has enough, it jumps and does a downward strike with all of its strength in which the warrior easily dodge, making the ogre full of openings.

  It was the perfect time to finally attack; the warrior took that opening to get close to the ogre and atta—gets behind it?

  Luk realized what the warrior was doing when he saw the ogre quickly turn around as if in a panic. Which was a mistake, because the ogre was putting its back to him.

  “[Misfortune Strike].”

  Two knives immediately flew towards the ogres, but this time, it finally hit the troll.

  Even though it was a rather shallow wound, it doesn't matter; because [Misfortune Strike] effectiveness doesn't scale with the damage his strike does.

  The ogre head instinctively turns around to glare at him, which Luk replies with a wave. Luk doesn’t really understand the situation, but he knew that pissing it off was part of the plan.

  A flash of red lighting immediately struck the ogre, momentarily blinding him. An instant later, a clap of thunder crashed against his ears.

  “[Furry Strike].”

  Luk thought he heard the warrior shout his Skill, but the thunder was so loud that it temporarily deafened him, so he wasn't sure.

  After he opened his eyes, Luk saw the ogre without its head; its body was charred black and smoke was coming out of it.

  The ogre was definitely dead, so Luk turns his attention towards the last ogre who he blind earlier.

  It lay dead on the ground with a couple of arrows stuck in its head.

  Standing beside it was a figure—likely a woman—wearing a yellow hood patterned with yellow leaves, which revealed only her face. Her face was painted with the same leaf pattern, and she wore goggles and carried a bow strapped to her back.

  She was probably the orc teammate, so Luk relaxed.

  Getting closer to the warrior, the smell of burned corpses hits his nose. It smells horrible, but he smells worse things before, so it doesn’t really deter him from approaching the cool orc.

  “HELLO! You are so cool! What is your name? Also, my name is Luk!”

  “I know, you already introduced yourself before, and I’m Ursag.”

  “Even your name is cool! I thought you were dying when I first saw you! But then I saw you again and you were suddenly alright! Then you went whoosh! Boom! And dashhh, then yo-!”

  Ursag’s hand suddenly covered Luk’s mouth, cutting off his rumbling.

  Luk kept getting closer and closer as he talked, so Ursag pushed him back, annoyed at the intrusion into his personal space.

  “Thank you for the help, but I think I got it handled before you arrive.”

  “You’re welcome, I am just glad to help.”

  Luk crossed his arms and grinned, proud of himself.

  Ursag just rolled his eyes at him. A pretty good first impression in Luk’s book for a grumpy person, and Ursag is definitely a grumpy guy, although a pretty cool one.

  “Why didn’t you attack the ogre when there was so much opening? Is it because of its Skill? Can I join you? I am part of the Provocateur group, so I don’t have any Hunter team, please, please.”

  Ursag stares at Luk jumping up and down with a frown, before grumbling.

  “I have to discuss whether you can join or not with my team members.”

  “Okay, then is the reason you only dodge and don't attack is because of the ogre Skill?”

  Luk was getting into Ursag's personal space again, so Ursag gently pushed him away.

  “Aye, it was obvious that the ogre’s Skill improved its ability to deal with any attack. Its Skill probably required it to look at the attacker to activate.”

  “Ohh, I get it now.”

  Luk finally understands Ursag’s action, no wonder Ursag didn’t attack.

  “If you attack it, then you will be open to a counter attack, but how do you figure out its Skill?”

  “When I fought it before you arrived, it blocked all of my attacks easily. But suddenly, it couldn’t handle your first attack, which should have been easier to block.”

  Which was true, Luk realized—his own initial attacks had landed easily. But it could also be because the ogre wasn’t expecting it.

  “So my first thought was that ranged attacks were its weakness, since Bow’s arrows were also hitting it. But that assumption was obviously wrong when it starts to block your knife's throw, so its weakness was probably something else.”

  Ursag checks his surroundings for any other monster. Not finding anything that was concerning, he continued.

  “So my next assumption was that it has to see the attacker to activate its Skill, it was obvious when it tried to needlessly keep you and me in its vision. It didn't even try to focus on your thrown knives even though the last time it easily hit it.”

  The puzzle finally clicked in place in Luk’s head. It seems obvious in retrospect, maybe he was more nervous than he thought.

  “So you created a situation where it had to look at either you or me. But couldn’t you just… I don’t know, throw dirt in its eyes or something?”

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  Ursag looked at Luk to check if he was serious, and seeing from his expression that he indeed was, sighed.

  “Throwing dirt in its eyes definitely counts as an ‘attack.’ There are probably other ways to deal with the ogre, but this was the first plan that came to my mind. Besides, it really sucks at fighting without its Skill.”

  They were interrupted by a feminine voice—human like—that made both of them turn to face the speaker.

  “Hello kids, what are you two discussing? Does my little brother finally have a friend?”

  “I’m only like one year younger than you. Not everyone slightly younger than you is a child, old hag.”

  Ignoring Ursag, Bow approached Luk.

  “Your name’s Luk, right? I’m Bow. I heard you want to join our team—well, you’re in.”

  She ruffled his hair with a smile, and Luk didn’t really mind.

  At first, Ursag wanted to complain—why ask what they were discussing if she had clearly heard their conversation? But he stopped when he processed what Bow said.

  “Wait, I haven’t agreed to this!”

  Ursag glares at her, but she just rolls her eyes.

  “Well, too bad, cause the majority says yes.”

  “We are a two person team, how is that possible?”

  “Well Luk, do you agree to let Luk join our team?”

  Luk was practically vibrating with excitement, nodding his head up and down.

  “Yes!”

  “Look 2 out of 3, so the majority says yes.”

  Bow looks at Ursag with a blank look, like she was looking at an idiot. While Ursag could only gape at her, lost for words.

  “Welcome to the team Luk! High five!”

  Of course Luk doesn't leave his new companion hanging, he immediately high five her.

  “That doesn’t make sense!!!”

  “It does.”

  Ursag stares at Bow in silence, she stares back.

  “Okay, debate’s over, I win.”

  “What? That is not how that works.”

  “It is, I am older, so I have more wisdom and know more than you.”

  Ursag wanted to argue further, but he stopped when he saw something in the distance. It was flying towards them, and when he saw what it is, he grew alarmed because what was—

  Ursag saw an owl in the distance, it was Pip, Bow’s companion.

  Seeing Ursag’s face go blank, Luk followed his gaze to see what makes him go quiet like that.

  It was an owl, at least Luk thought it was an owl. It has the shape of one, except it was covered entirely by what looks like human skin patched together by needles. On its head, was the skin of what was definitely a human face; while blood trickled from the gap between its skin, making the air around it smell of fresh blood.

  All of them saw an owl landed on Bow’s shoulder, it made a piping sound while flapping its wing in place. Bow expressions immediately turn serious.

  “We have someone in trouble, let's move immediately, I will get the mana stones from the ogre. Pip, guide!”

  Saying that, Bow put his hands on the corpse of the ogre and said, “[Extract]”

  The corpse looks like it was absorbed by something in the middle of its body, and when the corpse was gone, a small navy blue sphere was lying on the ground.

  The owl finally flew away after a second, while Luk and Ursag immediately moved to follow it.

  [Gut Feeling] activated, and that means what he was doing had a good chance of killing him. It was a Fate Skill that gives him general but vague information about the danger he will be facing.

  So after thinking it over, he communicates it with his new companion.

  “Can your Skill tell us what level of danger we will be facing?”

  “It is much worse than the three ogres we just faced.”

  Ursag gave a tired nod but continued moving, even though he clearly needed rest.

  A few minutes later, Bow was already catching up to them.

  Bow looks at Luk and Ursag for a second, before making a sideways V sign with her right hand. It means don’t speak.

  Ursag and Luk just nodded, when travelling you always listen to the scout, which anyone with a brain could tell why.

  Luk just hopes he was not too late.

  ———

  After moving for around 30 minutes, the owl was circling in the sky, marking their destination. They encounter a few monsters on the way, but they all agree to ignore them because of the emergency.

  As they got closer, Ursag was pointing up with his index finger before also raising his thumb and pinky finger. He follows it up by making a sideway V with the finger on his right hand.

  It means stay back, hide, and don't speak. Ursag first instruction was pointing up first and not down, so it was not instruction for retreating but to prepare to attack

  Luk and Bow don't argue and Bow silently casts her Skill while he gets up on a tree.

  “[Silent Hunt].”

  Shortly after, Luk could hear the groans and screams of people. Ursag quickly picks up his pace and Luk follows behind from tree to tree while Bow disappears out of nowhere.

  Luk could see a clearing without any trees, grass, or anything really. He stopped when he saw Ursag suddenly stop in his tracks.

  At the edge of the clearing, Luk could see a silhouette of a man. Taking a closer look, Luk saw it was a human man wearing a white coat. Needles stick out here and there on the man's body; on his right hand was a needle, while on his left was a scalpel.

  Oh, it was just Doctor Benjamin, but why is he here?

  Ursag starts walking again, but this time much more relaxed. Though staying vigilant was crucial during The Harvest, Luk couldn’t blame him—in fact, he felt happy for him. After all this time, Ursag finally got the treatment he deserves.

  So Luk also relaxed, and slowly climb down from the tree.

  Doctor Benjamin is one of the best Doctors that he knew of. When he, Ursag, or Bow gets injured, he would always be there to fix them up.

  Even when they got no money, he just smiled and said it was fine. He was a genius Doctor and more importantly, a kind man.

  “Hello, long time no see friend. You must be tired.”

  Doctor Benjamin voice was gentle and comforting; whenever he was nearby, Luk couldn't help but felt that he was safe

  “Yeah, thank you for being here Doctor, even though it must have been dangerous staying here.”

  Doctor Benjamin smiles and pat Ursag's shoulder.

  “Ah, it was nothing; I mean you guys are out there, always risking your life! It would be shameful if I don’t do the same.”

  “But your Class isn’t for combat, Doctor.”

  Doctor Benjamin laughs. Though, Luk thought it was kinda fake.

  No, probably not, he was just imagining it.

  “I am fine, you don't have to worry about me. By the way, where are your teammates?”

  Ursag took a second to reply, before he smiled and reassured Doctor Benjamin.

  “They were hiding in the back, so they could protect me when I am receiving treatment, Doctor.”

  “Is that so? What a good teammate you have, friend. Come, let's not waste any more time.”

  Doctor Benjamin turns around and starts walking into the clearing, while Ursag follows close behind.

  Luk considers staying here and watching out for monsters, but he dismisses the idea and follows them while hidden.

  It was better to protect Ursag when he was in sight and his [Gut Feeling] were telling him the danger was ahead of him.

  When Luk gets close to the clearing, he could see men and women scatter in the ground—groaning.

  There are 16 people that Luk could see; though it was hard to tell what species they are, maybe human?

  The scent of blood was thick in the air; overpowering all the other scents, though Luk couldn't see any blood anywhere.

  They look like they are in pain, and even though Luk was not a [Doctor] or a [Healer], he doesn't see any injuries on them, just regular red flesh.

  As Doctor Benjamin walks past them, they start to speak, though it looks like it causes them a great deal of pain.

  “Is it my turn? Is it my turn now?!”

  “Our hero!!!”

  “It hurts, please make it stop.”

  “HAhAhAHaHahAHahAHAhaHaHAha.”

  “Just kill me, please.”

  “It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts.”

  “We are grateful! Grateful! Grateful!.”

  Ursag never took a second glance at these people and just followed quietly without speaking.

  Luk couldn’t believe it, is Ursag really that cold to not feel anything when he looked at them?

  Judging by the number of people, Doctor Benjamin must have been here for a long time. Maybe even before the Hunter arrived.

  The bravery and self-sacrifice that he shows moves Luk to tears.

  Judging by the looks of it, he was also alone without any assistance. Luk should learn how to be a hero from him, cause he is definitely one.

  Ursag and Doctor Benjamin arrive in the middle of the clearing in front of a big metal table. Lying there was a human man whose hands and feet are both tied up in chains.

  “Friend, would you help me out first before I start your treatment?”

  The Doctor smiles brightly, his lips widen until they reach his eyes.

  “Of course Doctor, what should I do?”

  While pointing directly at Luk location, the Doctor said, “Can you get your friend over there?”

  Luk's entire body froze, though he doesn’t know why. His instincts are telling him to run, but why—

  The people lying on the ground all stop screaming.

  Stop shouting for help.

  Silence descended onto the clearing.

  Someone will be receiving treatment.

  So it makes sense that they become quiet.

  All of them will eventually be receiving treatment.

  So it makes sense that they are naked.

  Without any clothes.

  Without skin.

  Their eyes without blinking all stare at Luk.

  [Gut Feeling] is telling him to run NOW, or he will be dead, maybe worse. Though he still doesn't know what the dangers are, does that even matter? Maybe some powerful monsters are heading towards his location.

  There are other people here, I am not alone.

  The thought made Luk stop in his tracks. He could just run away, but he couldn’t live with himself if he makes that decision, so he has to figure out what his [Gut Feeling] is trying to tell him.

  Thinking about it, the smell of a huge amount of blood—especially sapient blood—should definitely attract monsters to come here. It was a miracle no monster attacked yet.

  Maybe there were wards or a rune hidden somewhere here? But they were obvious if they were activated. Unless they were really well hidden. The more likely possibility was that, this was the work of a Skill.

  His [Gut Feeling] are getting stronger the longer he stays here. The last time that happens is when the area is filled with poison.

  Two arrows embedded themself on Doctor Benjamin’s head, cutting off Luk’s train of thought. Ursag immediately readied his axe, but before he could act, two more arrows flew through the air—only for Doctor Benjamin to block them with his right hand. They bounced off as if his arm were made of metal.

  “Bow?”

  Ursag was confused, and so was Luk, why would she attack the Doctor? Does she realize something that they don't? Though Luk only just met them, Bow doesn’t look like someone who will attack someone else without reason. So it is only logical that she—

  Realization struck him, and without hesitation, Luk immediately threw two knives at Doctor Benjamin.

  “[Misfortune Strike].”

  Distracted by Bow, both of Luk knives lodge themselves into Doctor Benjamin's back. He turns around and glares at Luk, fury in his face, no, maybe ‘its’ face.

  Either its arms are the only things that are hard or it has to focus to make its body hard.

  Doctor Benjamin or whatever it is, looks at Luk, and after thinking for a moment, quickly makes a decision.

  “Friend, can you take care of the annoyance over there and I will take care of this one.”

  The monster first points in the direction of where the arrows came from, before facing Luk again.

  It was logical, sending someone else to face off against an unknown opponent, meanwhile you, face off against an opponent that you can see.

  It was safe, and was a smart move when you take into account whatever information this monster has on them. But it was the wrong one, if Ursag's face is anything to go by.

  Two arrows came flying towards Doctor Benjamin's face, and a beat after that, Luk threw two knives from both of his hands infused with [Misfortune Strike].

  Both of Doctor Benjamin's palms enlarge and turn into a shield-like shape before it blocks both of Luk and Bow’s attacks.

  The blades and arrows bounce off as if it really hit a shield. Which is a bad idea if the shield is a part of its body. [Misfortune Strike] would still take effect.

  The rustle of leaves behind him stole Luk's attention. He turned around to find a normal human man slowly walking towards him.

  Making him realize there are a lot of people around him—all of them humans.

  They all carry weapons like swords, spears, axes, etc. But Luk noticed that there isn't a single range weapon.

  The feeling of relief came flowing through him, reinforcement finally came.

  It was a good thing that they have the foresight to send out messages asking for reinforcement before engaging with the monster.

  Though his [Gut Feeling] flared up when he laid eyes on them.

  Wait, no, that doesn’t make sense. Something was wrong. They were in a hurry to get here, so they didn't have time to send messages to anyone. But it isn’t that far-fetched to say that they did.

  Another weird thing was that it felt like they were surrounding him. They also hadn’t spoken at all, just walking silently toward his location.

  “Hello? Are you guys friendly?”

  Not the smartest thing Luk could have said, but it did confirm Luk suspicion as they don’t even show any reaction to his voice and just keep walking towards him.

  Without any hesitation, Luk threw two knives at a human man that he first saw.

  “[Misfortune Strike].”

  The blades embedded itself in its chest, making it stagger, and for some reason [Lucky Strike] activated.

  For a second, it doesn’t show any other reaction—until all hell breaks loose.

  All of them start to run towards his location, their weapons flailing wildly in the air, damaging both themselves and everything around them.

  If there was any hesitation in Luke’s mind, it was all gone now.

  Luk summoned two knives from his gloves, but these one was not created by [Produce Knife]. Since this is not the time to safeguard his Artifact.

  One had the Skill [Frost] on it, while the other was from a gift from his brother. It doesn’t have any Skill on it, but it was very durable and sharp.

  “[Verbal Spotlight].”

  Before Luk could make any move, Luk hears a voice that makes him involuntarily turn around.

  Even though he knows he was affected by a Skill and that his life was in danger, he couldn’t help but put all of his attention to the doctor monster.

  A mind based monster or whatever they were called, is really taking the spot for the most annoying monster.

  “It’s too late to come to your sense now, [Flesh Explo—“

  Ursag suddenly tackles the monster from behind—cutting the activation of its Skill.

  The backlash of cutting off a Skill mid-activation causes the monster to show visible pain and paralyze it for a few seconds.

  “[Mighty Leap].”

  Ursag grabs the doctor monster and jumps—taking the monster with him.

  Before Luk could see anything else, he heard footsteps right behind him—making him turn around.

  Just in time too, as a human with a sword was about to stab him, but Luk quickly rolled to the right—dodging the attack and dropping his favorite knives in the process in his panic.

  Before he could react, an axe was coming straight at his face—

  The human movement stops as a flash of light appears before the sound of thunder reverberates through the forest.

  Luk doesn't stop to think why or how it suddenly froze up, he just took the chance that has been given to him.

  “[Misfortune Strike].”

  Luk stabs at its torso with the [Frost] knives, before quickly wrenching them free.

  The smell of something foul hit his noise, and he looked down to see acid eating away on his blade.

  Luk quickly scraped the blade against the dirt below him, wiping away the acid before it could destroy his knife.

  Its blood was acidic.

  The wound had been frozen before any blood could splatter into him. Good thing he switched from his mass produced one.

  All of them were still weren’t moving, so he took the chance to back up and grab his favourite knife that he dropped earlier.

  Just in time too, as the monster (at least, he thought it was one; for now, he’d call it a “mayster”, as in “maybe monster”) started moving again to complete its downward strike.

  The sound of an explosion could be heard coming from the direction of where Ursag threw the doster (Doctor Monster).

  He doesn’t have time to check what that was all about as the mayster starts charging at him again—

  A flash of light appears before the sound of thunder reaches Luk’s ear, followed by the mayster freezing up again.

  This time he could pinpoint that the thunder probably came from where Ursag threw the doster into the sky.

  Rather than blindly attack, Luk took a second to figure out what was happening while the mayster are still frozen.

  His first thought was that if the doster got hit by lightning, the mayster would freeze up. The timing lined up perfectly, so the theory was basically confirmed.

  If he had to guess, the lightning probably was caused by [Misfortune Strike] hitting the mayster.

  Of course it could be because of Ursag or Bow Skill, but he really doubted it. The burn marks that he saw from the three ogre before was definitely not something that comes from lightning, but was probably from some kinda explosion if he had to guess.

  Which means the lightning was from [Misfortune Strike], and that means the doster and mayster are one being.

  Bow was definitely the cause of these explosions though, maybe for keeping the doster up in the air? That was possible.

  Luk put his knives away, and picked up a rock from the ground. [Misfortune Strike] worked for anything that he considered a weapon—that includes a rock.

  Stabbing or slashing it is definitely a bad idea, and he doesn't want to tip his knives in acid, that is just wasteful.

  The mayster starts to move again, but this time, their movements are more sluggish and uncoordinated; which is a good sign.

  Time to test my theory.

  ———

  After throwing the sixteen rocks, the mayster fell to the ground at the same time.

  Luk waited a few seconds for any sign of a trick. After confirming none of them were moving, he threw a rock at the nearest one.

  “[Misfortune Strike].”

  Luk held his breath, waiting for the thunder that had followed every time he activated his Skill.

  Seconds bled past, yielding only silence. Luk’s shoulders finally slumped, tension draining from his limbs.

  Overall it has been a pretty boring fight. You can get only so much adrenaline by repeatedly throwing rock at the same unmoving target over and over again.

  The reason he repeatedly attacked the same “guy,” was because it was the only ones that triggered lightning strikes to the doster.

  It probably means that one “guy” is the only thing that counts as part of the doster. He got lucky to hit that mayster at the beginning, or else the fight will be way harder than throwing rock at an unmoving target.

  Relief washed over him—then evaporated as his eyes locked on what he’d been fighting all along.

  The monster's defeat ripped away the veil that had been forcefully put upon him.

  What he saw left no room for doubt that what they were facing was a monster.

  Not the one in front of him, they were definitely people, no doubt about it.

  Looking at them, he wished that what he saw was another illusion or some kinda trick to fool him—but it was not.

  The human that he first stabbed—and it was definitely not a monster—laid broken like a forgotten toy.

  Luk wasn’t even sure if what he was seeing was a human; the skin was definitely human—but it was wrong.

  Human skin clung to him, held only by the stitches he could see on some parts of its bodies.

  The skin was damp with blood that leaked out from underneath the skin, making it smell like rotten flesh; which probably isn't far from the truth.

  Probably because he was a hobgoblin himself, he could tell that what was lying there was a hobgoblin, not a human.

  Human eyes. Human skin. Blunt human teeth. Yet Luk’s own blood knew—it was not a human corpse, but a hobgoblin corpse.

  Sudden realization makes his blood run cold, only to be vaporized by hot fury soon after.

  Someone—no, something—was trying to turn a hobgoblin into a human, replacing a hobgoblin feature into one that makes it look like a human.

  When he looked around at the body lying around him, he realized that not all of them were hobgoblins, but probably orcs too.

  He has no proof of it. But every fiber of his being was sure of it.

  Then, the reason his [Misfortune Strike] affected the doster was probably because it was using its own skin with this hobgoblin. A move that costs it its own life.

  Monsters always try to kill anyone, but what even is the point of doing all this? Because they were bored? Because they just want to know what would happen? Because they can? Why? Why? Why? I don't get it, I don't get, I don’t get—

  Luk snapped out of it when an explosion that he was becoming familiar with resounded behind him.

  Not wanting to waste his new friend's precious resources, Luk quickly sets off to inform them that the doster is dead, and maybe, to get out of here.

  It was only a few walks away to the clearing, his fights didn't really move him all that much from where he was first spying. Fighting—if you can really call it that—paralyzed opponent doesn’t really require him to move all that much, courtesy of them also not moving.

  When Luk steps into the clearing, he stops in his tracks. If Luk was expecting a normal looking clearing when he got back, then he was completely wrong.

  The terrain itself is slightly weird with no grass in sight and looks much bigger than what he was expecting, but that was not what made Luk stop in his tracks.

  Bodies of humans strewn around the ground. Their skin is gone, revealing red flesh underneath that makes their blood flow freely to the ground—painting the ground red.

  There were only hollow sockets where their eyes are supposed to be, and no teeth could be seen in their mouth.

  The memories from before are coming back to him, but this time without the monster obstructing his mind.

  These people were still alive when he got there—screaming for help. But he ignores them and causes all of them to die by killing that monster.

  The only thing on his mind was finishing it off as quickly as possible, afraid that the monster had any more tricks.

  He was selfish, only thinking of his own safety and not even trying to dig deeper on what is really going on, or think on what parts of his mind that was being messed up; even though he knows there is something wrong with it.

  He didn’t deserve to call himself a hero. What kind of hero doesn’t save people and just lets them die?

  Frustration and sadness overwhelm him. His mind goes blank, followed shortly by the dizziness that blurs his vision. The pounding in his heart and the chest pain that follows make him feel like he was about to die.

  It’s difficult to breathe. Am I going to die?

  Luk's hands were shaking.

  Maybe the monster wasn't dead and he was being tricked. His heart hurt; it was pounding too much, his ribcage would pierce his heart at this rate.

  He doesn’t want to die, but maybe it was karma for not saving them. But he doesn’t want to die, there are so many things he wants to do.

  He doesn't want to die like this. But it was his fault, it was his fault, IT WAS HIS FAUL—

  Luk feels warm enveloping him, stopping his spiraling thoughts.

  After a few seconds, he realized someone was hugging him, making him think of his brother. His shaking hands were calming down, followed by the slowly receding fog in his head, making his mind clearer.

  Bow was hugging him for who knows how long. It felt comfortable, even if it was a little embarrassing. He immediately tries to get out of her grasp only for her to hug him tighter.

  He tried to speak to make her let go, but only chokked sobs came out of his mouth, making him realize he was crying. Then he gives up and stays like that for a few seconds.

  When the tears dried up and the pain in his chest finally went away, he gently pushed Bow away.

  “It’s okay, I am fine now.”

  There was some resistance but she finally let go.

  "Don't hesitate to ask for help when you need it, okay?”

  The sounds of heavy footsteps could be heard approaching, followed shortly by the sound of a gruff voice.

  “First time on the job? Adapt quickly if you don't want to die.”

  Ursag was storing away the corpse into some kinda bag. His eyes never looked at their direction as he put away the corpse one by one.

  “One more reason to decline his offer Bow. He’s obviously a greenhorn, and nothing personal, but I don't trust or even know you.”

  It was a harsh but fair assessment. Whether you live or not depends heavily on your teammate. You can't just willy-nilly pick someone to be on your team with no thoughts behind it; especially because you can only travel with a group of eight.

  Although the rejection stung, Luk wouldn’t press the issue. He will find another comrade eventually.

  Still, Luk couldn’t shake the feelings that being their teammate would have been fun.

  Even though Luk agreed with Ursag's statement—Bow absolutely did not. How could she agree? She knew a fact about goblins—a fact that Ursag, in his non-existent social life, had never learned.

  It was common sense to her, that’s why she didn’t even think for a second that Ursag didn’t know it.

  “Luk, could you leave us alone for a bit? I want to talk to my brother for a bit. You can leave it to us to take care of the corpse.”

  Bow was smiling, but anyone with a brain could tell that she was pissed.

  “Can you keep watch of our surroundings for any signs of danger in the meantime?”

  Not finding any reason to refuse, Luk immediately nodded his head. Of course, he knows that Bow is being considerate by sending him away, but he doesn't mind and was even thankful to her for it.

  ———

  Thanks to the corpse bag, it wasn't difficult to handle the corpses. It was a dimensional bag specially designed to carry the dead and their equipment.

  You always brought back the fallen if you could, especially since some people's Skill could persist after death, that’s how Artifact was created, after all.

  As she works on putting in all of the corpses, her mind wonders how badly this encounter could have been.

  Some things are worse than death, and this was definitely one of them.

  She looked as the corpse flesh was infested with black maggots, rotting away without the protection of their own skin.

  Some of the corpses looked like they had been dead for months or maybe years. But she knew that they had been alive just a minute ago, probably because some Skill the demon possessed makes them cling to life for maybe years without their consent.

  Well, maybe not years. She just remembered that corpses rot away much slower than they were supposed to, thanks to Skill from who-knows-where. But they were alive, so that means the Skill wouldn’t have applied to them, making them rot faster than corpses.

  I hope I was right, but that doesn’t change the fact that this was fucking horrible.

  A Skill to make somebody cling to life despite their injury is impressive, and would have been really useful if used the right way. But demons will be demons, though that Skill is the reason she was still alive.

  Someone possessing the [Belt of Companion] will die if their animal companion was dead, and Pip definitely should have been dead if not for the demon Skill.

  Pretty huge drawback, but it allows the user to store their animal companion and heal them in a separate dimension, no matter the type or severity of the injuries—except death of course.

  Pip was slowly healing in the [Belt of Companion], but she wasn't sure Pip would be fully healed when the next Harvest came, his injury was horrible.

  The thought of her owl makes her furious. Not only at the demon, but at herself.

  She was the one who ordered him to scout for her, because she has no talent in it. That means her incompetent is the reason for his suffering.

  Pip was still in pain—she felt it through their bond—and yet, even through all that suffering, he had warned her about the demon as soon as he could.

  Before engaging in a dangerous fight, she would always put Pip in the [Belt of Companion]—a decision that made her realize her mind had been manipulated, as Pip warned her through their bond when his mind was healed.

  No one had died, and it could even be said that the decision to make Pip scout saved their lives—but Pip was in so much pain that she could not, in good conscience, call it a good one.

  Right now, she just wants to take away her companion’s pain or transfer the pain to her.

  As the last corpse was placed into the corpse bag, she turned to find Ursag frowning at her. It worsened her mood, especially because of what her dumb brother had said earlier.

  “Have all those hits to your heads finally catch up, you idiot. Luk helps us a lot, and probably saves us. Abyss, he probably contributes more in this fight than you.”

  Ursag’s brow twitched and he crossed his arm.

  “We can handle it just fine even by ourselves.”

  Bow rolled her eyes, clearly thinking otherwise. Ursag, of course, noticed and defended himself.

  “The fight with the ogre was just bad luck. I freaking landed on a chameleon monster when I used my jump Skill—still handled it fine, though. And yeah, the guy pulled his weight against the demon, I’ll give him that. But that doesn’t mean I trust him, and I think we could handle it just fine even without him.”

  “Sure, sure, we could with one hundred percent certainty, take out a demon that’s probably Level 49 all by ourselves, when we haven’t even hit Level 25 yet.”

  Ursag, realizing that he probably can't change Bow's opinion on the matter, did not continue that line of argument.

  “You probably want him on our team because he is adorable and a goblin.”

  Ursag was rolling his eyes, not believing for even one second that Bow wanted Luk to join their team only because he was useful.

  “I know all of your crushes were goblin Bow. What other reason could you possibly have for inviting a stranger, someone we know nothing about, into our team huh?”

  The look of triumph and the grin on Ursag’s face vanished when he saw the obvious disgust on Bow's face.

  “What in the abyss are you talking about?!”

  A punch connected with Ursag’s stomach, and a second later he was in a chokehold, unable to fight back. He was so damn tired, that he couldn’t even do anything before its too late.

  “Are you fucking insane?! What do you think your sister is, you stupid, dumb, idiot, disgusting, smelly, ugly, shit eating idiot.”

  Bow outburst makes Ursag a little taken aback, and a little bit confused by her strong reaction.

  “Don't try to-”

  “SHUT UP!! I don't know what you think of me, but I absolutely and definitely with one hundred percent certainty are not attracted at all to a FUCKING KID, NO MATTER HOW THEY LOOK OR WHO THEY ARE!!!”

  Ursag managed to get out of the chokehold, and immediately threw his sister into the air.

  An arrow came for his head, but he dodged it by merely moving his head to the side.

  Bow expected this though, as the arrow was attached to a string and her right leg. She used it to fly towards his brother like an arrow and do a flying kick at him.

  Ursag blocked it with his arms, but the kick still made him take a step back.

  The rope disappeared, and Bow back flipped into the air and landed some distance away from his brother, but Ursag was right on her tail.

  After a couple of minutes of fighting like, well, siblings, both of them were out of breath and left with bruises on their bodies.

  “I swear to the star, if you ever implied that shit to me again, I will beat you up until you are on the verge of death, do you understand?!”

  What Bow said to him before finally registered into his mind, but Ursag didn’t believe it at all. Luk was not a kid.

  “Ursag you have been so annoying this entire time, suggesting we leave a kid alone in the middle of a forest full of monsters and now this! If I don’t know that the demons are already dead, I would still think you were still influenced by it.”

  Her own words made her freeze up, because it was a likely possibility. Unlike other living beings, all demon—if not taken care of properly—will have at least one of their Skill linger after they die every time.

  The only reason she didn't exorcise the demon right away was because she suspected that one of the Skill that persisted after its death was protecting this place from being detected.

  Assumption that was proven correct as there were no signs of any monsters even with all the dead bodies around.

  This place could become a safe zone, so exorcising the demon felt like a waste. But if their minds were still being manipulated by it, then removing the demon now was probably the wiser choice.

  “Are you crazy? That guy is not a kid, Bow,”

  “What? Of course he is, what the abyss are you talking about!”

  Maybe the mental manipulation really did still affect him, making him think that Luk was an adult, but what even was the point of that. The more likely possibility was probably…

  No, he can't be that stupid.

  “You’re still under that demon’s influence, Bow. That guy’s a hobgoblin idiot, a full-grown adult.”

  That statement erased the doubt in her mind. Her brother was not being manipulated, he was just fucking dumb.

  “Ur, you think Luk is an adult… because he is a hobgoblin?”

  “Well, yeah? Why are you looking at me like I’m dumb Bow?”

  “Because you are, stupid.”

  “No, I’m not. Have you considered that maybe I’m still under its influence, or maybe you are, but I’m definitely not dumb.”

  “What’s even the point of that? Yes, there’s a chance the demon is still influencing us, and we should probably get it checked when we get back, but this? This is just you being dumb.”

  “Well, demons are weird, so who knows what they were thinking. Also, how am I being dumb?”

  “Just because someone is a hobgoblin doesn't mean they are an adult Ur.”

  Ursag looked at his sister for a second, before he snorted.

  “Yeah right, and just because someone is a baby doesn’t mean that they are not an adult.”

  “Okay smart guy, do you also think Smith is a kid because he’s a goblin then?”

  “Yeah?”

  Bow searched her brother’s expression for any sign that he was joking, and found none. She stared at him for several seconds, unable to believe what she was hearing.

  “You serious?”

  “Yeah, of course I am, stupid.”

  “Wait, so all this time, you thought all the goblins we met were kids? Also Smith is over fifty years old.”

  Ursag rolled his eyes, not buying it.

  “Stop speaking nonsense, the demons are clearly still influencing you.”

  “Goblins turn into hobgoblins when they reach a certain power level—usually through leveling up—but they can choose not to. The reasons are usually that goblins need less food than hobgoblins. The only thing that changes when someone becomes a hobgoblin is their physical body; their mind stays the same. So being a hobgoblin doesn’t mean they are an adult, and vice versa. Do you understand?”

  Bow used a lecturing tone that Ursag hated, and he was sorely tempted to ignore her, but figuring out what was wrong with her, took precedence over his personal feelings.

  “Cool, wanna figure out what’s wrong with the place? My theory is that there is a barrier that hides it.”

  “YOU!!… Ahh, whatever, we can just ask Luk what his age is.”

  It was a long day, and she was really tired. But she was definitely gonna make fun of her brother for the rest of his life for this.

  “And my theory is the same as yours, pretty obvious considering there aren't monsters attacking us even with all the blood and bodies.”

  “That makes sense. It certainly explains why, when I left the clearing earlier, I looked back and saw a discrepancy between what I was seeing and what I should have been seeing. It also explains why I haven’t seen a single monster around.”

  Luk suddenly appeared, surprising the siblings.

  “Luk! Since when have you been here?”

  Bow was a little bit embarrassed for not noticing him despite being a Scout.

  Awareness isn’t really her strong suit. Which is a bad trait to have for any combat related role, more so for a scout. But to be fair, she is forced into it because the only other option is having Ursag be the scout, which is not happening.

  “I just got here, sorry for surprising you.”

  “Don’t worry about it, more importantly, how old are you?”

  “I am 8, no, today is my birthday so I am 9 now, why do you want to know?”

  Bow grinned, and started poking Ursag’s ribs.

  “Look, like I told you, he’s a kid.”

  “Stop poking me!”

  Ursag swatted Bow’s hands away but found no success.

  “The demon can mess with more than one mind at a time, we know this, dumb dumb.”

  “Then why aren't you affected? Stupid idiot.”

  “I don't know, maybe because I got more muscle than any of you.”

  Ursag flexes his bicep, and even kisses his muscles. Proud of himself.

  Bow rolled her eyes, while Luk nodded like that stupid logic made sense.

  “Ursag does have more muscle than any of us. Yup, yup.”

  “Thanks, adult goblin.”

  “Don't agree with him, Luk! Why are you even agreeing with him?”

  “But Ursag really is more muscular than us—how do you do it?”

  Without any of them noticing, Luk was dangling from Ursag’s arm.

  “Ur has a Skill that regenerates his muscle, that’s why he doesn’t look skinny even if he is 237 cm tall and eats like a normal person. Besides, it’s not that impressive compared to people from the past. We’re just skinny because food is scarce in our era.”

  Ursag’s right hand imitates a talking mouth, mocking her.

  “Yeah, yeah, you’re just jealous, Bow.”

  Ursag flexed his bicep again, and only just realized that Luk was dangling from his arm.

  Okay, maybe she was a bit jealous—not that she’d ever admit it, even under the threat of death. But that wasn’t where their focus needed to be right now.

  “Whatever, can we get back what is actually important? Ursag, just look at him, he looks like a kid, not to mention he acts like one.”

  Bow pointed at Luk, who was now swinging around using Ursag’s arm.

  “Okay, that was just rude. Even though Luk’s a shortie who defies all logic by being shorter than you, that doesn’t mean you have to rub it in.”

  Ursag shakes his head, and stares at Luk. He didn’t know what to do when someone used his arm like a swing. So he didn’t do anything, waiting for his brain to give him a solution.

  “What? That’s not what I said. Luk are you gonna defend yourself?”

  “I don’t see the point in arguing about it. If one of us is still being manipulated, there’s nothing we can do about it.”

  Luk swung 360 degrees on Ursag’s arm, then began spinning faster and faster like a windmill. What was more impressive, Luk can still talk while doing whatever it is he was doing.

  “We’re not hurting anyone, and [Gut Feeling] didn’t activate. Besides, we can always get checked when we go home. Isn’t there a [Psychologist] who specializes in this kind of thing?”

  Bow tried to think of a reply, but found nothing. Looking at Ursag’s dumb expression, she knew his attention was elsewhere, probably thinking dumb stuff.

  Luk slipped, and somersault multiple times in the air, before crashing to the ground, dizzy from all the spinning.

  Bow and Ursag stared at Luk.

  “This is the hero, huh? I never imagined any of them as kids. In my head, they were these imposing figures that were larger than life.”

  “Huh? Where did that come from?”

  [Lucky Survivor Level 23!]

  [My Luck Isn’t Just for Me Obtained!]

  [Beast Scout Level 23!]

  [Share Senses Obtained!]

  [Headstrong Warrior Level 23!]

  [Feral Rage Obtained!]