Chapter 38
HISSSSS!
The Lava Maw.
The restricted zone of the Volcano Tribe.
Its interior truly lived up to the name.
The cave looked like the stomach of a living monster.
Streams of boiling red lava flowed between sharp rocks like veins.
At regular intervals...
Gas erupted through cracks in the floor.
The heat distorted the air.
“T-This is hell!”
Malko shouted.
Sweat poured down his body.
One wrong step...
And flesh and bone would disappear without a trace.
Karga looked back at us.
Then laughed.
“We’ll be going ahead!”
He pointed upward.
“If you’re afraid of suffering, you can turn back now! HAHAHA!”
Then he quickly climbed the cliff wall.
He moved toward a relatively safe upper route.
The upper path avoided direct geothermal heat.
Wind carried away most of the gas.
The Volcano Tribe called it the Wind Path.
It was the safe route.
But it has one fatal weakness.
I snorted while looking up at Karga.
Yes.
The Wind Path had fewer deadly traps.
It was easier to breathe.
But...
We weren’t here for a peaceful outing.
We were racing for the honor of our tribes.
The goal was to reach the deepest point of the cave, mine a Dragonblood Stone, and return first.
The safe path Karga chose...
Was a long detour.
We need the Path of Fire.
The lower section of the cave.
A dangerous route directly beside the lava lake.
Heat and gas were everywhere.
But...
It was the shortest route.
If I wanted to crush Karga’s confidence and claim the loot I came here for...
We had to take the dangerous shortcut.
“We’re going this way.”
I took a breath.
Then turned toward the lower path.
Malko screamed behind me.
“Zakan! Stop Izak! He’s trying to kill us!”
Zakan calmly followed me.
“Izak has a plan.”
Oh?
Has his Trust gone up?
He started changing after I helped build the village wall.
Now he even trusts me in front of a literal pit of death!
I secretly felt proud.
Then...
I looked at the lava lake.
“...”
Gulp.
My throat went dry.
Okay.
Seeing it in reality...
Was terrifying.
I had seen this view countless times in the game.
But pixels on a screen were one thing.
Standing here in person was completely different.
I tried to remain calm.
Because from here...
We had to cross the boiling lava lake using those tiny footholds.
And...
Half of them were traps.
Focus, Kang Jinho.
If you die here, you don’t respawn.
Gas eruption cycles.
The locations of collapsing stones.
Hidden mechanisms.
I desperately recalled memories from countless playthroughs.
Good.
Let’s do it.
My current Agility was 17.
Damn it.
Maybe I should have invested more.
Above Izak’s group.
On the upper Wind Path.
Karga looked down and laughed.
“Hehehe...”
“Look at those fools.”
Below him...
The three young members of the Rock Tribe carefully moved along a narrow path beside boiling lava.
“They’re walking straight down the Path of Fire without even knowing they might die.”
Karga sneered.
“How ridiculous.”
In his eyes...
Those Rock Tribe brats were idiots.
Barbarians with low intelligence would wander through the maze-like lower area.
Then eventually choke to death.
There’s a perfectly safe Wind Path.
Yet they blindly follow whatever route appears in front of them.
Most barbarians behaved exactly like that.
Burta had praised those children endlessly.
A great warrior.
A wise Shaman.
But in the end...
They were still ordinary idiots.
They’re going to die anyway.
I should help them go peacefully.
Karga looked around.
Then spotted a massive stalactite hanging directly above the lower path.
Perfect.
Its angle was exactly right.
BOOM!
Without hesitation...
Karga kicked the base of the stone pillar with all his weight.
CRACK... CRAAACK!
Then...
CRAAAAASH!
The enormous stone column collapsed.
It fell like a bombardment toward the path below.
Karga shouted innocently,
“Oh dear!”
His voice was filled with fake concern.
“It seems the flames of the Volcano are angry at the outsiders!”
The rocks smashed apart below.
Lava splashed violently.
Karga laughed.
With the path destroyed by that much falling rock...
Those idiots would be trapped.
They would burn to death.
But before his laughter could finish echoing through the cave...
Tap! Tap!
“...?”
Karga’s eyes widened.
The dust cleared.
And...
Three Rock Tribe children were running across the middle of the red lava lake.
“W-What the hell are those lunatics doing?!”
Small pieces of basalt floated above the lava like stepping stones.
But among them were traps.
Certain stones sank the instant someone stepped on them.
That was why almost no one ever attempted to cross this way.
Not even Karga, who knew the cave better than anyone.
Yet...
The outsider Shaman who had entered the cave for the first time...
Was leading them across without hesitation.
Izak shouted,
“Don’t stop!”
His voice was sharp.
“The moment your left foot touches, jump to the stone on the right!”
Then...
“That stone sinks! Jump again the instant you land!”
Karga stared down in disbelief.
Does he really receive revelations from the Ancestor Spirit?
How could he possibly know?
Izak’s cold, precise commands almost looked supernatural.
“Never step on the third stone!”
Izak shouted.
“Jump directly from the second to the fourth!”
The Rock Tribe crossed the lava lake exactly as he instructed.
Just before each stone disappeared beneath the lava...
They were already leaping toward the next one.
Karga’s pride cracked.
“Impossible...”
His face paled.
“How does he know?”
Then a terrible thought struck him.
“Could he truly be the successor chosen by the Flames of the Volcano?”
No.
Not really.
Izak was simply an unfortunate soul who had played the game for a very long time before being dropped into its world.
The shortcut across the lava stepping stones was common knowledge among L.O.C players doing time-attack runs.
In fact...
Karga destroying the path had helped them.
Instead of following the curved lower road...
They could now cross the lake in a straight line.
