I returned to Horunka Village after some time away, immersing myself in hunting "Little Nepents" to gather the materials required to upgrade my weapon.
At first, I considered accepting the "Forest Toxin" quest again for the easy gold and experience points. However, the memory of completing that mission with Alice surfaced, and I decided against it. Alice wasn't by my side today; we weren't in a party, and I was hunting entirely solo.
I watched yet another Nepent—I had lost count of how many I'd slain—shatter into fragments, then turned my gaze toward the deeper parts of the forest.
My primary objective was resource gathering. Having cleared the initial hurdle and reached Level 10, the experience points from Little Nepents were no longer worth the effort. Their higher-tier counterparts, the "Large Nepents" that roamed the forest's heart, still offered a substantial experience yield.
As I pushed forward, cutting down any monsters in my path, my "Searching" skill pinged with a sudden signal.
"...That's unexpected. Has someone actually ventured this deep?"
Within the radar of my skill, a single icon stood out. It wasn't the red of a monster, but the green that designated a player. I moved toward the icon, but I saw no other player markers nearby. It appeared this person wasn't with a group; they had come here entirely alone.
(How reckless. This area is full of obstacles and easy to get lost in. Even escaping isn't a simple task.)
Blaming others while ignoring my own presence there, I slowed my pace as I approached. I moved with caution, making sure I wouldn't be noticed. Peering from behind a massive tree trunk, I saw them—a lone player, their body entirely concealed by a cloak, armed with a large scythe. They had pale purple hair and sat with their back against a tree a few yards away. I scanned the surroundings; they were indeed alone.
The scythe user—whom I'll call Miss "K" for now—looked utterly exhausted, even from a distance. While I hesitated to call out to her, a monster respawned directly in front of her. It was the very target I had been seeking: a "Large Nepent".
"This is bad...!"
The monster appeared right before her eyes. It would sense its prey and attack immediately. Although Miss "K" noticed the monster's arrival, she made no move to react. Was her exhaustion that severe?
In the heat of the moment, I cast aside my hesitation, drew my spear from my back, and lunged toward the Large Nepent. The priority was to pull the monster's "Aggro" away from her. I delivered a sudden thrust to the creature's stem while its guard was down. This direct hostile act worked; the monster's focus shifted entirely to me, and it lashed out with its vines from both sides.
"That's it! Over here!"
I drew the monster as far from Miss "K" as possible and engaged it. Even though it was an evolved type, its attack patterns were identical to the Little Nepents: dodge the vines and caustic fluid, and aim for the weak point where the stem meets the base.
"—Hah!—"
Seizing an opening, I triggered the consecutive two-handed spear skill "Helical Twice", striking the weak point with heavy impact. Although it was Level 7—quite high for the first floor—I outclassed it. The monster let out a final death rattle before its body exploded and vanished.
"—Hey, are you alright?—"
I approached Miss "K," who remained seated, and asked after her. I received no response.
"...If you're tired, it's best to head back to town. I can give you some healing potions and map data for the return trip."
Had she been fighting until she ran out of supplies? Her HP bar was in the yellow—right on the verge of turning red.
"...Ah..."
Despite my words, Miss "K" remained silent. Just as I was scratching my head, wondering how to start a conversation, she finally spoke.
"...You shouldn't have helped me."
The moment she spoke, I confirmed she was indeed a female player.
"...What do you mean by that?"
"Exactly what I said."
"You've surely heard what happens to those who 'lose' in this world."
"I know. If we die here, we die in the real world too—just like that girl."
"...Were you with someone else?"
In response to my question, Miss "K" gave a slight, somber shake of her head.
"...It sounds like there's a story there. I'm willing to listen, if you want to talk."
After a short silence, Miss "K" began to recount what had happened in a fragmented voice.
She had been hunting with a friend, a beginner she had invited to the game. Unfortunately, the friend had shattered a Nepent "fruit." She tried to help, but they were separated by obstacles in the terrain. She attempted to reach her immediately, but the shortcut was blocked, and the detour was swarming with an overwhelming number of Nepents. She had run out of healing items.
And—in the moment their HP bars were about to vanish—she had unilaterally dissolved the party and fled alone to save herself.
For several days now, she had continued fighting Nepents in this manner—as a form of atonement for dragging her friend into this death game and then abandoning her. She had intended to die in the same place her friend did.
"...That friend, is she definitely dead? Did you check the monument in the "Black Iron Palace"?"
"Even I, a beta tester, had no choice but to run. How could a beginner possibly survive? You know how terrifying Nepents are when their fruits shatter."
She spoke as if she already knew I was a beta tester. Truthfully, no one else would take the risk of entering this part of the forest alone.
"..."
I recalled my own memories of the beta test. The core horror of Nepents lay in their sheer numbers. Facing a swarm attacking from every direction was a suicide mission even for a beta tester; that was precisely why we were so meticulous about avoiding the fruiting types.
"But it isn't working... no matter how much I come here intending to die, the moment I face the monsters... I find myself wanting to live. I'm truly pathetic...!"
"That's why you stayed here until you were completely drained and unable to fight. You used up every potion so you would die no matter how much you tried to resist."
"Yes... I'm grateful for your help, but please leave me alone. —And thank you for listening, in the end."
Miss "K" curled into herself, pulling her knees to her chest.
"...Atonement isn't only found in death."
She looked up at my words.
"Dying by suicide and dying after fighting with everything you have to survive... the result might be the same, but the meaning is entirely different, isn't it?"
"...You mean I should fight?"
"Exactly. Since she was hunting Nepents, it means your friend was fighting to clear the game too, right? Then wouldn't the true atonement be to fight and survive for her sake as well? And if you die after all that effort... then so be it."
I hesitated to explicitly justify death, so I trailed off with an ambiguous tone, which made Miss "K" offer a faint smile.
"Heh... you really are strange. In a situation like this, aren't you supposed to say something like: "Your friend wouldn't want you to die"?"
"I don't intend to pretend I speak for the dead. Besides, it isn't certain your friend actually died."
As long as she hadn't checked the Monument of Life, the possibility that a passing player had saved her wasn't zero. The worst-case scenario to avoid was the friend being alive while she threw her own life away for nothing.
"I see... honestly, you might be right."
Miss "K" stood up, skillfully twirling her massive scythe before resting it on her shoulder.
"Whether she is alive or dead, the fact that I abandoned her won't change. I believe the time will inevitably come to face that truth—and until then, I will fight. I'll fight and prove that I can survive."
"...Good."
Seeing her resolve return, I opened my trade menu and transferred several healing potions to her. I also materialized one into a physical item and tossed it over.
"Don't change your mind on the way back. And don't waste those potions I gave you."
"I won't. I'll do my best."
I watched Miss "K" head back toward town before returning to my hunt.
(By the way, I forgot to ask her name...)
As I continued deeper into the forest, Miss "K"—the player known as "Mito"—walked back toward safety. Our paths would cross again before long.
(Atonement, huh...)
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Hope you guys enjoyed the story.
if you want a bonus chapter the goal is 30 power stones and you'll get one