Ten minutes before the Gate of the Demon's Cave opened, the players of the World Tree camp gathered near Oreum, prepared for the worst fight while sticking to their places.
"Whew, Demon's Cave…"
"The demons are really terrible. Are we going to be okay?"
Although they had never experienced the monsters firsthand, they witnessed them on broadcasts, namely the mysterious monsters that ripped apart steel shields like a piece of paper.
"Everybody, to arms! Concentrate all attacks on the Gate of the Devil's Cave!"
Inho's shout resounded over Oreum. He took mand of the World Tree camp players in this operation.
"Our firepower is definitely huge, but we're not sure it's enough…"
He was really frustrated because he didn't know how powerful the monsters were.
After looking around the battlefield once, he made eye contact with Jisu.
"Jisu, we will stop them as much as possible with long-range firepower first. But when they break through us and the melee begins..."
Thinking of the worst, he spit out one last word with difficulty.
"I hope I'm in your good hands."
Trusting her was the only thing he could think of in that situation.
"Don't worry."
"I will trust you."
The monsters from the Demon's Cave were so powerful that ordinary players could not even dare to confront them.
But there were some people who could confront them one-on-one. Among them was Jisu. She showed tremendous power by hunting several low-level monsters before she had obtained "Awakening", not to mention "deity" status.
Now, she had acquired both.
'I can hold out. I should hold out by all means,' Jisu murmured to herself.
There was no Sungwoo here anymore. So, she had to take care of herself.
"It looks like you're pretty strong."
Somebody spoke behind Jisu's back. It was her half-sister, Jimin.
"You were blacklisted in our family, but you are treated as a hero here?"
Jisu made eye contact with her without saying a word.
Talking to a family member was always difficult. She was like an uninvited guest in her family.
She was the shame of the family as her father's illegitimate child. So, she was oppressed and discriminated against by other family members while growing up. She had a childhood that could happen to a tragic heroine.
Jimin gave a bottle of water to her sister with her hand wearing iron knuckles.
"Well, you are old enough not to run errands for your sister and brother. You have led an independent life for four years, right?"
Jisu took the bottle and said, "Thanks."
Her stepmother gave her a hard time, but fortunately, her half-sister and half-brother didn't harass her.
All the troubles started because of her father. As the eldest son of a martial arts family, her father ran a fairly venerable martial arts training center. And he gave his children moral education, acpanied by corporal punishment, day and night.
"I guess Dad would feel pretty satisfied if he saw you now because you are doing well even after running away from home. Well, he wouldn't express his feelings, of course…"
Was it because they had to check their father's moods all the time while growing up? Her half-brother and sister didn't try to push Jisu out.
Rather, they used to take good care of her just like a stray kitten that lost her mother on the road. Of course, they cared about her out of a sense of obligation, not affection.
Jisu thought to herself at that moment, 'Sometimes they took care of me so much that I felt like an unfortable guest. Of course, I could endure it thanks to their care…'
Jisu lived like an invisible man in the house and took the martial arts training center as her refuge. That's how she spent her childhood.
However, as she grew up and reached puberty, she began to feel frustrated even at the training center. After all, she left her house and the training center.
- Caution!
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