Damned System

Chapter 42. Traces (2)

When you keep doing something, you naturally improve. Tracking was no exception.

As I crawled around the land continuously searching for traces of blood, by the second day, I became capable of distinguishing pressed grass marks.

From then on, tracking picked up speed.

‘There aren’t just four, there are six.’

Discovering traces of a campfire, grass pressed down as if someone lay there, and even spots where the ground was flipped to hide waste, I became certain with each step that I was heading in the right direction.

Sometimes, their trail crossed through areas teeming with monsters. Each time, I cast Invisibility and ran like mad.

I was focused on tracking, so I tried to avoid confrontations as much as possible. Even so, there were a few creatures that pursued me, so there were some scuffles.

There wasn’t a moment of serious danger.

After five days, I left the grasslands and entered a mountainous region.

On the slope, thanks to the center of gravity shifting forward, many footprints were left behind.

This made tracking much easier.

Then, when I reached deep within the forest, I suddenly halted.

There, sticking out from the bushes, was something that looked like a human leg.

Gulp.

As I swallowed nervously, I stepped cautiously forward.

Throughout the seemingly endless tracking, I had imagined many scenarios.

I pondered what I would do if, by some chance, I happened to meet those who left these traces.

If they showed hostility towards me, if they showed friendliness, or if we couldn’t communicate.

If they weren’t human. Even if I didn’t meet them, what if I arrived at a populated area?

I relentlessly considered countless possibilities, especially since I had all the time in the world, as the only messages I occasionally received were from Ethan and Kim Yul.

Even so, when I thought about many of those scenarios possibly unfolding before my eyes, it made me tense.

However, that tension didn’t last long before it dissipated into a meaningless puff.

As I closed the distance, the leg visible beyond the bushes hadn’t moved even once.

Realizing that fact, my pace hastened.

“Sigh.”

Finally arriving at the location, seeing mummified corpses, a sigh escaped my lips.

Six bodies were lying where traces of a fierce struggle remained.

It matched the number of people I had been tracking.

Looking closer, blankets and backpacks were scattered and torn apart.

Their traces ended here.

‘Was it a pointless endeavor?’

I felt a complex emotion beyond mere relief and disappointment.

I ran my hand over my face, then crouched down beside the corpse.

Here, unlike the swamp where I found only a lone hand, there was much to examine.

Eyes, nose, mouth, hands, feet, ears, and even hair—all were similar to mine.

‘They resemble humans in appearance.’

After removing my hand from the corpse, I let out a suppressed sigh.

‘And what’s with this mummified appearance?’

What had they gone through to end up like this?

‘It’s not just the passage of time causing them to dry up.’

Under normal conditions, corpses should decompose rather than dry out.

However, instead of rotting, the bodies had shriveled, with small holes densely dotting their skin, as if they had been pierced by toothpicks or needles.

After examining the outward appearance of the bodies meticulously, I moved my hands to check their belongings.

Four water containers with a musty odor.

Three long swords and five daggers, some with chipped edges.

Among them were two daggers slightly longer and curved than the one I had.

‘These look good.’

The two daggers, both identical in shape, were owned by one person.

I gathered all the weapons in one place and infused mana into them.

‘It works.’

All eight weapons could materialize mana.

The weapons I got on Earth didn’t hold mana; it only dispersed.

That’s why I had been using the tutorial-provided weapons all this time.

Luckily, the weapons obtained from the mission area could be infused and materialized with mana.

I fastened the two curved daggers around my waist.

‘There’s even a leather belt; that’s nice.’

The remaining items would be auctioned or stored away.

After securing the weapons, I continued to inspect the corpses’ belongings.

‘Paper…’

Inside the upper garment, a few sheets of thick, rough paper, cruder than A4, were tucked in.

‘… I can’t read this script.’

It seemed like writing, but I couldn’t decipher it.

‘Better take it.’

I pilfered every pocket, gathering anything that resembled useful information.

Even leather pouches that the corpses wore didn’t elude my grasp.

Inside the pouch, amid miscellaneous items, were several pieces of hard flour dough and jerky.

Two rainbow-colored stones caught my attention.

I knew what these were.

「Attribute Stones (Lowest-Rank)」

Stones containing a small amount of attribute mana.

Insufficient mana for attribute imbuement.

‘Why are these here?’

The stones were smaller than I knew them to be.

The high-rank attribute stones were as big as my fist, but these were only pebble-sized, akin to one or two knuckles.

However, they were indeed the attribute stones I received as a reward from the promotion test.

‘Lowest-Rank…’

Holding the attributes stones in my hand triggered a sparkling idea in my mind.

‘I already have an attribute.’

What would happen if I used an attribute stone under such circumstances?

After brief hesitation, I injected my attribute mana into the attribute stone.

「Using Attribute Stone (Lowest-Rank).」

「Determining suitable attribute for the user.」

「The user already possesses a suitable attribute.」

「Absorbing 34.8 attribute mana.」

A message appeared, prompting me to clench my fists tightly.

‘For someone who already possesses an attribute, using an attribute stone converts it into mana.’

I quickly utilized the remaining attribute stone as well.

「Using Attribute Stone (Lowest-Rank).」

「Determining suitable attribute for the user.」

「The user already possesses a suitable attribute.」

「Absorbing 37.2 attribute mana.」

Thus, I found a way to secure attribute mana apart from the mission rewards.

However, the attribute stones sold in the shop cost a hefty 30,000 mana for a low-rank stone.

‘If the attribute mana gained is meager, it’s a loss.’

Imagine spending 30,000 mana only to gain 100 attribute mana.

Would that be considered efficient?

‘I think I’d rather purchase skills or gear with that much mana.’

While attribute mana significantly contributes to combat power, other aspects cannot be neglected either.

‘I can’t afford to waste mana.’

It needed to be consumed in the most efficient way possible.

Of course, this wasn’t a problem requiring an immediate decision.

After all, I didn’t have enough mana to afford attribute stones right now.

The matter of securing attribute mana still lacked a fundamental solution.

With nowhere to seek advice, it was increasingly frustrating.

“Sigh.”

Just as I exhaled another heavy sigh, the sky lit up.

What was that?

Climbing a nearby tree hastily, I scanned the horizon.

A rapidly descending dot appeared in the distance.

‘Not a bird.’

If it were a bird, it might move across the airspace, but this was simply plummeting downward.

‘One, two, three…’

Counting to five, the sky flashed again with light.

Higher up, larger points appeared suddenly.

“Huh?”

They emerged out of nowhere in the previously clear sky.

‘What’s that, can they teleport?’

As the question surfaced in my mind, my eyes widened.

From where the points appeared, fire masses began forming and plummeted downwards.

“Such madness…”

The sight of vivid flames moving across a clear sky devoid of clouds looked surreal.

Under normal circumstances, I might have been captivated by the scene, dumbfounded.

However, as the fire mass collided with the lower dots, a devastating explosion erupted.

With the ensuing hot wind rushing forth, I instinctively raised my arm to shield my face.

“Ugh!”

The explosion’s force was beyond imagination.

Standing atop a branch, I was easily blown away like a mere piece of paper.

Drawing upon mana urgently, small red plates materialized in the empty air, forming a series beneath me.

While grasping and stepping upon them, I succeeded in stopping my previously rapid flight.

This was the result of painstakingly studying the mana structure of barriers over five days.

A method to counteract the limitation wherein deploying the barrier barred any offensive action.

Creating precisely sized barriers at the needed locations.

Though this divided barrier was inherently weaker, it was sufficient to prevent me from flying away.

Soon after, the explosion settled.

“Whew.”

As I caught my breath, composing myself, loud sounds began echoing one after another from the explosion’s direction.

The sounds grew steadily louder—no, they were approaching.

Although not yet within detection range, an inexplicable presence was creeping closer.

The situation was not difficult to infer.

The dots that appeared in the sky were living beings.

And they were engaging in a battle with an unfathomable force.

Sitting low and concealed among branches and bushes, I enveloped myself with Invisibility.

During that interval, another explosive sound rang, followed by a jolt that shook the ground and turned my vision upside down.

“Fuu, fuu!”

The smoke was already thick around me.

I didn’t know what caused the booms and flames, but something was repeatedly clashing intensely.

To avoid inhaling carbon monoxide, I covered my mouth with my clothing.

Suddenly, I froze as if my body had turned rigid like a dead branch.

Mana masses had entered my detection range.

Two of them stood out remarkably.

Describing them as merely immense would not suffice.

Their majestic mana, if visible, would have been blinding and radiant, surpassing everything I’d ever seen.

My body began to tremble instinctively. It was a primal fear.

In the presence of this colossal mana, I was nothing but a mere speck.

Even a candle flame in the wind was less precarious than my plight before them.

‘I’d die if I got involved in that mess.’

I could not even entertain the notion of contending with them.

Completely engulfed in terror, I regained composure when an ominous sound ripped through the air, followed by a slight tremor of the ground.

The land quivered softly as if something monumental had landed.

Turning my trembling body towards the source of the sound with trembling hands, I witnessed clouds of dust billowing not far away.

There stood a mass of mana, precariously shaking.

The lingering sounds of explosion slowly receding, the approaching dust at close proximity, and the diminishing mana.

I cautiously yet swiftly moved forwards.

Finally reaching the location, my words were stifled.

The cleanly severed logs, the deep gouges indicating the passage of enormous boulders, and the scattered small embers.

I hesitated for a moment before taking another step forward.

No matter how I looked at it, these traces didn’t seem human-made.

‘People can only perceive what they know.’

At least, I was confident that I couldn’t generate such power.

Confronted by this situation, far beyond my limitations, my previously steady steps refused to advance.

For the first time since starting the game, I desired to retreat instead of progressing forward.

“Gag…”

And yet, I had barely moved when a faint sound drifted into my ears.

Responsive to the familiar sound, my body and consciousness reacted instantly.

Passing a broken tree, I took several steps forward.

“Cough, hack…”

There was a human figure.

Yes, it was a human.

Orange hair, draped in black fabric, with three long rods, probably a meter each, stuck into their back, shoulders, and thigh, hanging limp.

No doubt, it was a person.

Stopping as I discovered them, the usually dormant system sprang into action.

「Trait Capitalism is activated.」

「System transitioning to support mode. Supported player: Kang Hyunwoo.」

With the obnoxious notification sounds, the mission window obstructed my view.

Damned System.