Chapter 30

Chapter 30

“Izak! Everyone protect the Shaman!”

Zakan shouted urgently.

“We may never eat potatoes again!”

“Zakan, trust me! I protect Izak!”

“Huh?”

For once...

Malko stepped bravely in front of me.

I looked up to see what was happening.

BZZZZZZZZZZ.

A bizarre flying creature hovered right in front of my face.

It sounded like a machine motor.

What the hell is that?

“BARBARIAN!”

I instinctively swung the axe hanging from my waist.

At the same time...

I activated Peeking.

The creature dodged backward from the axe.

A system window appeared.

==========

【Target Information】

• Name: Three-Stripe Piercing Mosquito

• Classification: Pest

【Details】

• A blood messenger that announces the arrival of the northern summer.

• A mutant mountain mosquito equipped with an adamantium-grade proboscis capable of piercing any hide.

※ A bite causes swelling the size of a golf ball and severe itching.

==========

“A... mosquito?”

I stared.

“This thing?”

For a moment...

I had thought it was a crow.

The terrifying creature floating in front of me definitely had the shape of a mosquito.

But it was nearly the size of my fist.

Maybe even bigger.

And from its face extended a long, sharp proboscis.

The tip gleamed blue like a steel skewer.

A memory from my previous life flashed through my mind.

The thick blood-drawing needle used during a health examination.

That syringe-like thing pierces flesh and drinks blood?

Oh, hell no.

Please.

Anything but that.

Three clear white stripes ran along the mosquito’s long legs.

To a Korean...

It was the unmistakable symbol of terror.

Basically...

The horrifying fantasy-world version of those dreaded three-striped mosquitoes back home.

The bigger problem?

The mosquito in front of me wasn’t alone.

BZZZZ! BZZ! BZZZZ!

Suddenly...

The sky darkened.

A storm cloud?

I looked up.

A massive swarm of crow-sized mountain mosquitoes was approaching from the edge of the village.

Like an actual black cloud.

Those bastards were literally blocking the sunlight!

And so...

With the arrival of the intense northern summer...

An unwelcome army descended upon our village.

“E-Enemy attack! Everyone, weapons!”

Then...

“AAAAAH!”

Too late.

Our children had been focused on repairing the defensive wall.

They had no time to properly prepare for the surprise attack.

Worse...

The clothes they were wearing were full of holes large enough to fit a hand through.

Several children quickly grabbed weapons and tools.

But dozens of mountain mosquitoes rushed at them like vampires.

Their proboscises plunged straight through the holes in the children’s clothes.

STAB! STAB!

“AAAAAGH!”

“Ghk...!”

Barbarian skin strong enough to smash logs with bare hands...

Was pierced like soft tofu by the adamantium-grade proboscises of the Three-Stripe Piercing Mosquitoes.

And the description I had read with Peeking...

Was completely accurate.

The instant the proboscis pulled out...

A massive red lump swelled up.

Almost the size of a golf ball.

“I-I can’t see!”

Malko threw away his hoe.

“I-Itches! My face is burning!”

A moment ago, he had bravely promised to protect me.

Now...

He rolled on the ground while violently scratching his face with both hands.

His right eyelid had swollen so badly it completely covered his vision.

It looked like someone had punched him until his eye turned blue.

Malko completely lost control.

He began swinging his fists wildly at the merciless mosquito swarm.

“M-Malko! Calm down!”

Zakan swung his greatsword furiously.

Several mosquitoes were cut apart.

But even he couldn’t kill all of them.

STAB!

“...!”

Zakan.

The great S-Rank Chief of the Rock Tribe.

Always cold.

Always calm.

But then...

One agile mosquito slipped past the path of his greatsword.

A moment later...

The center of Zakan’s forehead swelled like an erupting volcano.

A lump the size of a fist appeared.

“Kgh!”

It was hilarious.

But I had no time to laugh.

I was too busy running from the mosquito swarm myself.

“Sh-Shaman, save me! I-I can’t see!”

Topu crawled across the ground.

Both of his eyes had swollen shut.

This was complete chaos.

Raise front leg.

“...Huh?”

While I desperately ran...

The leader beetle suddenly raised one front leg.

Then it turned toward me proudly.

“R-Right.”

Hope returned to me.

“Beetles! Beetles can beat mosquitoes!”

The leader proudly charged the swarm.

The rest of the Beetle Craftsmen Guild followed.

WHACK!

The aerial battle unfolded exactly as I expected.

A beetle flew into a mosquito’s blind spot.

Then kicked it in the back with its powerful hind leg.

BZZZZZ!

The mosquito lost its balance.

It crashed to the ground.

Then flipped onto its back.

All six legs flailed uselessly toward the sky.

The leader beetle didn’t stop there.

It flew down bravely.

Then severed the mosquito’s neck with its blade-like serrated jaws.

Perhaps the mosquito swarm had already filled their bellies with barbarian blood.

Or perhaps the beetles’ combat ability frightened them.

Either way...

The swarm eventually disappeared with a thunderous buzzing of wings.

“Haa... haa...”

I breathed heavily.

“What the hell was that?”

Zakan stood among the barbarians.

Nearly everyone had swollen eyes or lumps.

He scratched the golf-ball-sized bump on his forehead.

“The frontier summer has begun.”

His voice sounded worried.

“This year, they seem especially severe.”

Then he added,

“There are many other dangerous pests in the frontier besides Three-Stripe Piercing Mosquitoes.”

Damn it!

Even the bugs are monster-class now?!

How is anyone supposed to live here?

Wait.

If pests are appearing...

What about my field?

A terrible thought flashed through my mind.

I immediately ran toward the farm.

Then...

“NO!”

Something huge clung to the fresh green leaves of my potato plants.

==========

【Target Information】

• Name: Steel-Jaw Pig Grasshopper

• Classification: Pest

【Details】

• The incarnation of gluttony that evolved in the barren lands of the north.

• There is nothing it cannot eat.

==========

CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

Mosquitoes weren’t the real problem.

These horrifying Pig Grasshoppers were targeting...

My potatoes!

The potatoes I had planted yesterday after nearly breaking my back!

And the Ancient Seed!

I had to protect the B-Rank Unidentified Ancient Seed planted in the Prime Land.

“Zakan! Malko! Protect the field!”

I screamed.

“They’re after the potatoes!”

The swollen barbarian warriors came running.

And for a while...

A fierce battle broke out.

After the warlike chaos ended...

Huge grasshopper corpses lay scattered around my farm.

We somehow stopped them.

But...

What do we do now?

I held my head in frustration.

Jack approached while wiping away sweat.

“Shaman. For now, we’ll try stopping them with this.”

He pointed toward the field.

“It’s only temporary, but it should be better than nothing.”

Jack and the beetles had quickly woven together the Iron-Sinew Kudzu Vines we collected before.

They created a huge pest net over the field.

Of course...

The pests in this world were so ridiculously large that the holes in our improvised net were wide enough for my fist to pass through.

That was also why they could build it quickly.

Still...

It should slow down another attack.

But just like Jack said...

This is only temporary.

It could defend against an initial charge.

But it wasn’t enough.

We needed something that completely prevented the pests from approaching.

The same applied to those insane mosquito swarms.

Summer hadn’t even properly begun...

And we were already dealing with this nightmare.

What kind of hell would appear once the rainy season ended and the true heat arrived?

Just imagining it made sweat run down my back.

I divided the villagers between defensive wall construction and farm security.

Then prepared for our second expedition.

It wasn’t exactly a grand expedition party.

Only four of us.

Chief Zakan.

Malko.

Me.

And Gamjadori...

Who sat proudly on my shoulder with its adorable little Piggy Bank hanging from its side.

“...Do not let your guard down, Izak.”

Zakan led us through the bushes.

He tightened his grip on his greatsword.

“Anything can happen in the northern forest.”

I looked at him.

Then almost laughed.

“Pfft.”

“Zakan, doesn’t that itch?”

“...Do not laugh.”

That golf-ball-sized mosquito bite sticking out of his forehead made him look more cute than dignified.

I barely held back my laughter.

But collecting building materials wasn’t my only reason for this expedition.

I had another, much more important goal.

Lure that creature.

“Dori. Take it out.”

We stopped in a quiet clearing deeper in the forest.

Gamjadori jumped down from my shoulder.

Then lifted the pink heart-shaped Piggy Bank upside down.

It shook it in the air.

Rattle! Tap!

A small wooden table Jack had made dropped out.

Then a clean cloth.

Then tableware.

“Wooooow! Izak doing magic again!”

“POTATOOOO!”

I’m the one doing magic here.

Gamjadori seemed to say exactly that.

It glared at Malko and smacked him.

Anyway...

I set up the small table in the middle of the forest.

Then spread a clean cloth over it.

On top...

I beautifully arranged the Manong Sauce Fries I had prepared before leaving.

“O-One bite...!”

“Tsk!”

Malko had discovered the greatness of Manong.

He immediately went crazy when he saw the fries.

I glared him back into place.

Zakan looked around cautiously.

Then frowned.

“Izak... what exactly are you doing in the middle of a dangerous forest filled with monsters?”

“We are welcoming a special guest.”

“Special guest?”

I smiled meaningfully.

I had played the original game.

I knew exactly what lived in this forest.

Another Hero NPC.

One who could stand beside Zakan.

Right now...

It was still only a baby.

But if raised properly...

It would easily devour most Demon Beasts.

The stronger it grows, the higher my survival rate.

Normally...

To become involved with a legendary creature like that, you would need some kind of formal contract.

But I was only an ordinary Northern Rock Tribe member.

There was no way I could perform some legendary contract.

So...

What else could I do?

I would seduce it with food.

Last time, it sure enjoyed those potatoes.

If it loved plain boiled potatoes that much...

How could it possibly resist fries covered in sweet, fragrant Manong sauce?

Right on cue...

A breeze passed through.

The rich Manong aroma spread through the forest.

Rustle.

It didn’t take long.

A small bush ahead of us trembled.

Is that it?

Zakan’s eyes sharpened like a predator’s.

His hand moved toward the hilt of his greatsword.

Just as I expected...

The black puppy from before silently stepped through the bushes.

“This creature...”

Zakan let out a low sound.

“It is the one we met before.”

He seemed instinctively drawn toward it.

It definitely seems to like food.

But surely a proud and arrogant legendary Divine Beast won’t surrender just because of one plate of fries.

What if it didn’t work?

The creature’s proud blue gaze made my palms sweat.

The black Divine Beast looked between Zakan and me.

Then...

“KYUANG!”

Without even a moment of hesitation...

It charged straight toward the Manong Sauce Fries.

Chomp-chomp-chomp-chomp!

Its tail wagged violently.

The Divine Beast aggressively devoured the fries like it was fighting a battle.

What?

I stared.

Were you always this easy?

I laughed in disbelief.

Within moments...

The entire plate was empty.

The puppy looked up at me with bright blue eyes.

“Want another plate?”

Pant, pant.

Its tail wagged happily.

This feels promising.

I might tame it quickly.

A short while later...

Chomp-chomp-chomp-chomp!

“Izak...”

Malko crouched beside the puppy, watching it eat.

“That is already fifth plate.”

Yeah.

How can something so tiny eat so much?

The black furball finally finished its fifth plate.

Then stepped backward, seemingly satisfied.

Its belly is about to explode.

Its round pink stomach was completely swollen.

I smiled victoriously.

Good.

Now that it was full...

Time to get to the point.

“Well? Was it good?”

I crouched.

“If you come with us, you can eat plenty of delicious food like this...”

Before I even finished...

The Divine Beast, which had been lying on its back rubbing its stomach...

Suddenly rolled over.

It jumped to its feet.

Then looked up at me.

And...

“...Hmph.”

It snorted.

Its expression was unbelievably arrogant.

And incredibly annoying.

“Huh?”

While I stood frozen...

The creature slowly stretched its front legs forward.

Raised its rear end.

Then stretched lazily.

After that...

It jumped.

FWOOSH!

It disappeared so quickly my eyes couldn’t even follow.

“...!?”

Silence.

A lonely breeze passed through the clearing.

“...”

“...”

I stared blankly in the direction it had disappeared.

Then slowly looked down.

Five empty plates.

“...What?”

You ate everything.

You liked it.

You ate a lot.

My eye twitched.

“YOU ATE AND RAN?!”