Kim Sia, an A-rank Hunter from Korea.
Or rather… Kim Sia, a Plane Transcendent who had just entered the Second Gate, was realizing anew that she had lived her life like ‘a flower in a greenhouse’.
Every single mont she spent here in the Gateway Zone was far more taxing than the countless raid experiences she had since the first Rift.
To make matters worse, she had briefly heard from her Acolyte Priest that this Gateway Zone was rely a tutorial version of the Upper Plane to co, so a sense of despair was bound to well up.
Grit—
Of course, regardless of such burdens and despair, she had to adapt to and pass the Second Gate.
No matter how hard it was, dying here was out of the question.
‘…Seo U-jin. I have to find him.’
Tap, tap, tap, tap—!
According to her Acolyte Priest’s advice, it was better not to move during the so-called ‘Dayti’ when the Cyclops road.
While there might be a chance to deal with the Cyclops's hounds, being spotted by the Cyclops itself ant certain death.
The Cyclops wasn't a Magical Beast put there to be hunted like an Orc, nor was it a lowly creature that could be handled by a beginner who couldn't even properly wield mana yet, no matter how much they used their head.
But she was moving, risking death.
The reason was simple.
She didn't have the confidence to endure the coming ‘Night’ alone.
“……”
In the First Gate, she had managed to pass just before the ti limit by luckily finding an Orc's emblem that soone had hunted but not collected while fleeing from Orcs with Oh Chan-young.
But hoping for such a fluke again was too greedy.
According to her Acolyte Priest, after experiencing two days and two nights, it was inevitable that one would encounter a Cyclops's hound at least once, no matter how well one hid.
While the chances of being found were significantly lower by simply not moving during the day when the Cyclops itself was on guard, the hounds, true to their na, could track scents and were statistically more nurous than the Cyclops.
She was told that only by defeating them in battle or surviving until daybreak could one pass this Second Gate.
But Kim Sia had no confidence.
No, she knew well that it was impossible to do alone.
Although she was furious to the core at Choi Kang-hyuk's words calling her a 'tool bastard', objectively speaking, he wasn't entirely wrong.
Her Innate Ability, classified as a healer-type, certainly ant she couldn't hunt monsters alone like those with physical-type abilities.
Having quickly accepted that fact, her plan was to find a companion during the dayti, when the 'risk of discovery' was relatively low.
The first person who ca to mind was U-jin, who had seed distinctly different.
Of course, finding U-jin in this vast vineyard was no easy task.
As her Acolyte Priest had advised, the standard procedure was to hide and not move during the farm's 'Dayti'.
However, it wasn't as if she had set out to find U-jin without any plan at all.
[Trait, ‘Reconnaissance Unit (★☆☆)’, is activated.]
[Reconnaissance Unit: When you focus your attention, the sensitivity of your five senses increases by up to 500%.]
She was one of the few Plane Transcendents who had obtained a Trait in the Second Gate.
Of course, she hadn't obtained it in the First Gate like U-jin, nor had she received it for free.
After entering the Second Gate, she had signed an Exclusive Contract with a Constellation who highly valued her recovery-type Innate Ability and had been sponsored with the Trait.
That was the only thing she could rely on.
‘…I have to find him as quickly as possible.’
To capture the faint mory of U-jin's scent and trace his location.
In itself, it was an absurd task, but thanks to the Reconnaissance Unit Trait, which showed outstanding effectiveness in 'searching', it was a thod she could attempt with at least a small chance of success.
Fwaaat—
And so, at one point, after wandering for about two hours in search of U-jin without even a hint of his direction.
Perhaps her wish had reached the heavens.
Sniff, sniff—
“…Huh?”
Carried on the cool breeze, a not-unfamiliar scent wafted over.
‘Finally…….’
A thrill of emotion shot through her entire body, and an indescribable feeling welled up, but Kim Sia suppressed it and focused even more on her sense of sll.
It was certain.
That was U-jin's scent.
The strange thing was, it was coming from a distinct direction, quite thick and clear, suggesting he hadn't moved from the sa spot for a while. Also, for so reason, a rather unpleasant sll ca with it.
But none of that mattered.
Kim Sia imdiately moved toward the source of the scent.
Thud, thud—
As she got closer, she focused more on her sight and hearing than her sense of sll, pinpointing his location.
‘…The base of a tree?’
Having arrived in the vicinity by following her senses, Sia realized that U-jin's scent was emanating strongly from the roots of a particularly large tree.
Sia cautiously stepped toward it.
Step—
Step—
Step—
Approaching carefully without making a single leaf rustle, Sia finally found the U-jin she had been searching for inside a giant knot hole ford at the base of the tree.
But now…
Nod— Nod—
“Wait a minute……”
He was dozing.
“Should I wake him up or not……”
***
「U-jin.」
「What is it, old man.」
A familiar figure in ragged clothes and a conical hat appeared in my dark field of vision.
He asked .
「…Are your preparations more or less done?」
「Well… I think they’re just about more or less done.」
「…Is that so.」
I thought he would nag as a master usually would, but he, who had co to see shortly before my Regression, was uncharacteristically calm.
「…Being talented is also a problem, isn't it?」
「……? What are you talking about all of a sudden.」
「If I’d known this would happen, I would have just taught you half-heartedly.」
「…….」
「I didn't know either. That I'd have more talent for teaching than for fighting myself.」
Scratch, scratch—
「So what… are you here now to say sothing pathetic like, ‘The fact that you were chosen as the Regressor is all thanks to my brilliance’?」
Heh heh— he let out a hearty laugh and shook his head.
And then he said.
「Not that… just, if it gets overwhelming when you go back, don't just sigh alone. Bla instead.」
「…….」
「Ah, my life got so twisted because I t that damn man.」
「…….」
「It got so ssed up because of that ragged old man in the conical hat. Just say that.」
「…….」
「That's why I'm telling you this.」
Words so unlike his usual self.
「What nonse—.」
「Didn't sound like it?」
「…Stop acting out of character. If you have ti for this, go smash another Magical Beast's head in.」
Heave—
At my blunt reply, he placed his hands on his knees and stood up.
Then he deliberately changed the subject.
「The kids were all crying, you brat……. You and your damn ddling, always leaving your mark everywhere.」
This ti, I asked back.
「Crying? Them?」
「Yeah, you brat. They were all wailing their eyes out.」
When I asked again in disbelief, a curse ca back.
「Cheong-i too?」
「I don't know, you little bastard. Don't ask .」
「…Hey, it's a yes or no question. Why are you getting mad?」
「Honestly… I should have smashed your head a few tis when you were still weak, not a Magical Beast's.」
And so.
With him muttering, 「Damn it, being talented is the problem. Being talented is the problem,」 as he left.
The scene in my mory faded to black.
**. . .**
“Haaah—.”
As I woke up with a stretch, feeling refreshed, an all-too-familiar face suddenly ca into view.
“……”
“Oh.”
“…Hello.”
Scratch, scratch—
“Uh… right. We’ve t before, haven't we?”
“Ah, yes… I’m the A-rank Hun— no, my na is Kim Sia.”
“We et again.”
Why?
Why was this woman here?
No, more importantly, how did she find this place?
Several questions popped into my head.
But I pushed those thoughts aside for now and opened the system window.
[The Constellation, 'Dog-headed Judge', is disappointed by your surprisingly boring actions.]
[The Constellation, 'Olympus's Ruffian', asks if you seriously closed the sponsorship window just to take a nap.]
[The Constellation, 'Enemy of the Eight Serpents', asks about your plan.]
[The Constellation…….]
I scrolled up past the notifications from the Constellations listing their various complaints and checked the ti notification.
[It is currently ‘Dayti’. The Cyclops personally guards its farm.]
[Ti remaining until Night: 00:05:59]
“I slept more soundly than I thought. I was going to review my plan one more ti……”
“……”
“Did you… wake up for sothing? Do you need anything?”
When I asked Kim Sia, she jumped in surprise and waved her hands.
“No, no! I was actually debating whether to wake you or not for a while. I figured you wouldn't be sleeping without a reason, so I waited.”
“Uh… well, alright then. Good job?”
Unable to think of a proper response, I shrugged and replied.
Suddenly, she bowed her head to express her gratitude.
“Thank you.”
“……”
Scratch, scratch—
…How should I put this?
This woman was being incredibly subservient for so reason.
There didn't seem to be any need to be this thankful for that remark.
In cases like this, it was right to assu the other person wanted sothing from .
Well, at least it didn't seem like she was hostile…
As I thought that, I mulled over her overly polite attitude.
Suddenly, her Innate Ability flashed through my mind.
“So… you're a healer, right? Ms. Kim Sia.”
“Ah, yes! That's right. It takes so ti, but it has fewer restrictions than other healing abilities, so it’s quite useful!”
Her face brightened in an instant.
Her posture suddenly beca proactive.
I got the gist of it.
“From the looks of it, you ca here to team up and give it our all… sothing along those lines, I assu……”
“To be honest… yes. That's right. Of course, I'm not in a position to force you… but for , the only way I could think of was to find you, Mr. Seo U-jin… and also……”
Her words trailed off as her expression hardened into seriousness, and she bowed her head.
Then she continued.
“Of course, I'm not asking with empty hands… 50 coins.”
“……”
“I don't have it on right now, so I don't know if you'll believe … but I can give you my entire fortune.”
Her lips pressed into a thin line.
It showed her determination.
Of course, only she knew if it was the truth or a lie, but with an expression like that, it seed worth being deceived even if it was a lie.
‘50 coins… looks like she already signed an Exclusive Contract.’
50 coins was not an amount anyone could hold when not even a quarter of the Second Gate had passed.
It was a huge sum, almost impossible for a Plane Transcendent to secure on their own, so it was obvious she had signed an Exclusive Contract.
I couldn't rember if it had been the sa in my past life, but signing an Exclusive Contract at the very beginning of the Second Gate was quite fast.
After all, over 90% of all Exclusive Contracts were made in the Third Gate.
Well, whatever the case.
…I had seen enough of her will to live.
Coming to find was likely to be the right choice in the end.
However.
“Uh… I get it for now. You can put away the talk about coins. I have plenty of sponsors myself, so I don't need coins.”
“…Ah, yes. Then……!”
There was one problem she needed to be aware of before that.
“But now… well… how should I explain this.”
Scratch, scratch—
“In the end, it seems you did well to find , but Ms. Kim Sia, do you even know where you are?”
Her head tilted to one side.
It seed she had found my location without any thought.
“…Excuse ? Isn't this the Second Gate?”
“Haha… um… can you hear that sound right now?”
“Pardon? A sound? What……”
She trailed off while asking back.
Then, her pupils slowly dilated as she sucked in a breath.
“Huuup……!”
Thump— Thump—
The sound of heavy footsteps, not far away.
Kim Sia covered her mouth with a trembling right hand.
“Didn't you notice… that this tree is particularly large compared to the others? The fruit on it is plump too.”
“Don't tell this is……”
*Nod—*
That's right.
This tree was none other than.
“This is where that bastard sleeps.”
It was the place where the Cyclops slept during the night.
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