CHAPTER 327: ROOM 203, CURSED ROOM - 'NEW BEGINNING' RE (7)

0% – Yu Songee

I woke up to the feeling of something hard yet somewhat sharp tapping my cheek. At the same time, the pungent smell of an animal hide stung my nose.

– Squawk!

“Good morning!”

Just as I was stroking Perro’s beak that had woken me up, primitive humans who heard my voice pushed aside the hide at the cave entrance and came in.

“Oh! Have you awakened, Lady Songee?”

“Yes.”

Not long after, the event I was already experiencing for the third time repeated itself.

The primitive humans were greatly moved and cried seeing me wake up normally, and soon various gift bundles started coming into the cave. Thanks to this, I had to calm the atmosphere by sending everyone out, saying I was still tired.

Afterwards, I blankly stared at the various “gifts” placed on the dirt floor inside the cave.

“Perro.”

– Squawk!

“Look at this. This caterpillar is incredibly big, right? I’ve never seen such a big caterpillar before.”

“...”

“I guess they gave it to me to eat. Maybe they brought the biggest caterpillar they could find nearby to offer to the precious Divine One?”

I thought of it as a gift to show their reverence for me in their own way. At first, I thought they were making fun of me though.

I probably didn’t need to eat this myself.

Fortunately, there was an animal next to me that might like caterpillars.

While the parrot was having a happy time next to me, I started recalling my hazy memories.

Perhaps because I woke up once on the spaceship in between, I couldn’t recall the meeting contents well.

I had no choice but to wander around the tent alone, rummaging through my memories.

The broad framework of the plan seemed to have been exactly what Seungyub came up with.

Didn’t we say we’d find the item called the “core”, which turned out to be the spaceship’s power source, and then head to the mountain range with it?

According to the information Adravita gave, since searching for the core was the top priority for the spaceship AI, it wouldn’t attack us if we brought the core.

But why is my role important in this plan? Let’s recall step by step in order.

To find the core, we first needed to find out its location.

The only information we knew about the core’s location was that it was near Miro and that Adravita was guiding us to that location.

Therefore, we needed to either follow Adravita’s traces or find Miro.

But how do we find Adravita or Miro in this vast primitive continent?

Eunsol-unni could see through the sky to find Adravita. Kain-oppa could find Miro using the teammate location information on the Status Window.

Although frustrating information like 284km southeast came out, having such information and not having it made a world of difference.

Is it over once we find out the location?

No, according to what Kain-oppa found out, Miro’s location was also 284km away.

We didn’t have a means of transportation to get there easily. The distance of 284km was a distance that could be reached in three or four hours by car on a well-maintained road, but it was impossible on foot.

Moreover, considering the time spent wandering around to find water and food due to the primitive era characteristics, it wouldn’t be strange if it took a month to meet Miro.

When I recalled up to this point, I finally realized what my role was.

I need to find a means of transportation that can move us to Miro’s location.

“Perro! I just remembered. We’re planning to ride you for 284km from now on, so eat caterpillars well in advance.”

– Squawk?

“Eat until your stomach bursts. From tomorrow, we have to move 284km without eating or drinking. If you don’t want to die from exhaustion, you need to exercise in advance.”

Just as question marks were filling Perro’s small head, I called the primitive humans outside the cave.

Of course, Perro couldn’t carry us for hundreds of kilometers. Although Perro’s Grotesque transformation was strong, such a feat was impossible.

***“A-are you serious? Are you saying you’re going to punish the ‘Cutter’ now?”

“Yes.”

“Divine One! Please calm down. You haven’t fully recovered yet and—“

“I’m completely healthy though?”

As I spread my arms and jumped up and down as if doing calisthenics, the old man in front of me bowed his head in bewilderment.

“But still—“

“I’ve already made my decision, so gather the warriors. I plan to leave within 30 minutes. If no one else comes, I’ll leave by myself.”

“Please, just one more time—“

“Ah, prepare nets. We need to capture it alive.”

“C-capture alive?”

“Urgh!”

I didn’t want to argue anymore, and I could even hear crying sounds from somewhere, so I returned to the cave. I thought that these tribe members’ reactions were different from other tribe people.

At first glance, it was a rational judgment to fear that a Divine One might be defeated while clashing with a monster in an insufficiently recovered state.

In this harsh world full of heteromorphic monsters, primitive tribes could endure because of the power of Divine Ones who were stronger than monsters. My death was no different from their death.

But...

What was strange was not the judgment but the attitude. Not only did they bring gifts to the cave as soon as I woke up, but when I said I was going to fight, dozens of grown adults cried like little children.

What is this emotional reaction?

It was probably because they were feeling excessive friendliness towards me due to the influence of my Blessing.

That was why I was even more certain. At the point where they reacted to Affinity, they were clearly not ordinary humans.

***I left the cave where the tribe members were staying and moved towards the green-filled plains.

Usually, when one arrived at plains with soft grass and fruits giving off sweet scents after being in a damp and dark cave, what thoughts came to mind?

Probably even someone who had lived in the city all their life would feel a deep sense of peace and their mind and body would relax.

However, the warriors moving with me were in a state of fear noticeable even to me, despite their relatively sturdy physiques.

“Big Rock Face. Are you that scared?”

“L-Lady Songee! You must be quiet.”

“Why?”

“Because—“

“Are you stupid? We usually move quietly because we’re afraid of being detected by the Cutter, but now we’ve come to catch that monster, so we should move noisily instead. It needs to know we’ve come to appear, right?”

“...I see.”

Well, this man wasn’t usually this stupid. He had quite a reputation among the warriors. It was just that fear was paralyzing his reason.

“You all know you need to move according to the plan, right? As soon as it appears, immediately spread out and throw the nets!”

“Yes!”

– Screech!

As a harsh metallic sound echoed through the air, Perro transformed into Grotesque.

“Prepare the nets!”

Soon, a strange creature that looked like a mix of a giant beetle, mantis, and pincers pounced on us.

***It didn’t take long to bring the Cutter down to the ground.

It was a repeat of the collision we had already experienced in the first attempt, and above all, the “Cutter” had no resistance to my bracelet.

The monster pouncing from the air collided with the ground as soon as its sight was blocked. Immediately after, as its body was entangled in nets thrown from all directions, the monster started screaming in pain and going berserk.

Of course, even the pincer legs that the Cutter was swinging around wildly as it went berserk were very frightening attacks to weak humans.

How did we deal with it before?

Everyone ran away as far as possible until the Cutter tired itself out from thrashing around.

Then, when the monster was too exhausted to move properly, Perro approached in its Grotesque form and crushed its head with one strike of its beak.

This time we needed to capture it alive, so the strategy was a bit different.

“Pull!”

“Urgh! Everyone, use your strength!”

“I-it cut the net!”

Those nets made by intertwining tree roots and bark were, unlike their unremarkable appearance, surprisingly very tough and strong items. Even if one tried to cut them with a knife, they wouldn’t break easily.

However, the Cutter, as if trying to live up to its name, was tearing the nets apart just by swinging its pincers around randomly without even properly seeing the nets.

Fortunately, the net entangling the body didn’t break easily, so the situation of the monster rushing in and cutting everyone to death didn’t occur.

“Do something! The bracelet has a time limit too!”

I immediately hit the back of Perro’s head, and Perro turned to look at me as if in disbelief.

“Hurry! What if it breaks through the net?”

– Roar!

The Cutter’s huge roar shook the plains.

The momentum was so great that ominousness and despair settled on the faces of the warriors pulling the nets. At that moment, the Grotesque let out a majestic voice and charged at the Cutter—making a sharp turn to a nearby warrior, who was holding the net entangling the Cutter’s body, pushed him aside, and pulled the net instead.

As tremendous strength equivalent to combining about 10 people was applied to the net, the monster’s body instantly fell backwards and the long tug-of-war finally ended.

***I slowly approached the struggling Cutter while riding on Perro’s back.

Although I had explained in advance, the people around started sighing as if they found it hard to endure this situation. Everyone’s gaze, filled with fear, was focused on me.

...To be honest, I’m scared too. Is this really going to work?

At that moment, I vaguely recalled the conversation I had with Kain-oppa.

— The monster called the Cutter that Songee met can fly, right? How about trying to tame that monster until I come to find you?

— ...What do you mean tame? You haven’t seen what it looks like, but it’s a monster that looks like it would appear in a horror movie.’

— That’s why your ability would work on it even more.

— But—

— Hey, if not at a time like this, when else are you going to use your Blessing? Just try it. If you fail, it’s the Patron’s responsibility.

Honestly, that was true. When else would I use my Blessing if not at a time like this?

The problem was the situation if I failed. I didn’t know whose responsibility it was if I couldn’t tame that monster with the power of Affinity, but I was the one in immediate danger if it failed.

“Please... Please be nice.”

– Growl!

“Look at me! Aren’t I pretty? What do you think of seeing Yu Songee, the world’s—no, monster’s number one beautiful girl? Aren’t I extremely beautiful and noble?”

Strangely, Perro suddenly turned its head to look at me as if it couldn’t bear it.

“Look ahead!”

Now we’ve come right in front. Even if the Cutter was exhausted, it wouldn’t be difficult for it to tear and kill one high school girl.

Having come this far, it was either succeed or fall deceased.

As the power of the bracelet wore off and the monster started looking ahead again, my figure was reflected in its compound eyes. I thought as I stared intently into the monster’s eyes.

If I fail, I’ll have to give Kain-oppa a piece of my mind when I get out!

***– Yu Songee

I came to my senses in the cold air. I had heard about it in advance, but an unbearably strong stench stung my nose.

“...This is truly a terrible place.”

“Shh!”

A heavy and firm hand grabbed me and pulled. We left the Protective Suit with Miro, who started in the most dangerous place.

– Buzz!

The ground was covered with writhing flesh, and it was littered with huge cocoons the likes of which one would only ever see in movies. This was Miro’s starting point.

“Why are you the only one who starts in a place like this, Miro?”

“S-Songee! I told you to be quiet!”

“Why?”

“Huh?”

“Do you think the wasps here don’t know that you and I are here?”

“B-but still!”

“What do you mean ‘but still’. No matter how inconsiderate the Hotel is, they wouldn’t throw us into a place where we die as soon as we start—actually forget what I just said. The Hotel is quite very capable of doing that.”

As I looked around and assessed the atmosphere, I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Pfft!”

“W-what?”

“It’s funny.”

“How can you laugh in a place like this?”

“No... You don’t understand, Miro.”

“Huh?”

“This might sound strange, but originally my Blessing was quite useless. Honestly, I’m not sure if I’ve used it properly since coming out of Room 103?”

“Really?”

“But now, one Yu Songee isn’t enough, they need two!”

“...”

“Ha! Can’t be helped. I’ll try to tame the wasps.”

“O-okay. Songee, you really have a unique personality.”

I’m hearing this from Miro of all people?

I thought it was subtly unpleasant.

“...If it doesn’t work well, try to do something using the Protective Suit”

“Okay.”

As I approached the wasps, I prayed inwardly.

Patron, Mister Elephant whose face I can barely remember now.

Honestly, you haven’t been much help so far, right? What? The power to make Beings of Chaos feel friendly towards me?

That Being of Chaos is right in front of me now. Please help me greatly just this once! If you do, I’ll definitely offer dried persimmons on your memorial table!