Chapter 18

Chapter 18

I closed the observation screen and threw myself onto the bed.

‘Let’s rest today.’

Ever since Awakening, I hadn’t properly rested for even a single day. Two dungeons, Descent, even a meeting with the Association—I had been running nonstop.

My body was fine, but my mind had tired first.

But once I tried to rest, I couldn’t even think of what I should do.

Swoosh.

With nothing else to do, I picked up my phone and opened my banking app.

[Balance: 34,127,800 won]

‘...’

No matter how many times I looked again, the number of zeroes didn’t decrease.

‘This is really my bank account?’

A laugh escaped me. Only then did I decide what to do on my day off.

“Good. Today, I’m buying everything I’ve wanted.”

___________

The moment the department store doors opened, the scent of perfume struck my nose.

‘This is my first time coming to a department store to spend money.’

The soles of the sneakers I was wearing were so worn down that every time I walked, I could feel the pebbles on the ground against my feet.

So the first place I headed was a sneaker store.

Among the shoes covering one entire wall, I picked up a white pair.

I started to flip over the price tag, then stopped my hand.

‘No. I said I wasn’t going to look at price tags today.’

I called an employee over.

“Could I try these in a 270?”

I slipped my feet into the shoes the employee brought.

After taking a few steps, the soles of my feet were cushioned softly.

‘Wow. Now these are shoes.’

There was nothing to think about.

“I’ll take these. Could you throw away the ones I came in?”

The employee glanced at my old sneakers for a moment, then took them with a smile.

Ding.

A payment notification appeared on my phone.

[Payment] 529,000 won

It was strange that my hands didn’t shake even after swiping my card. If anything, I felt good.

As I left the store, the worn jacket reflected in the glass caught my eye.

Next was a winter coat.

An employee at the menswear store put a coat on me, then tilted his head.

“Your shoulders are broad, so you’ll need one size larger. You must work out quite a bit?”

“I’ve been doing some physical work lately. Give me a larger one.”

A man wearing the coat stared back at me from the mirror.

‘...That’s me?’

My shoulders had broadened, and my jawline had become sharper.

On the way out, I also picked out a dehumidifier from the electronics section. In a studio apartment with mold on every wall, that was the most urgent thing.

As I rode the escalator upward, a familiar word appeared on the floor directory.

[7F Hunter Equipment Hall]

‘Hunter equipment.’

My eyes were drawn to advertisements for magic-stone-enhanced armor and rune-engraved spears.

They were items costing tens of millions of won per set.

‘What would be the point of buying them?’

When I used Descent, I couldn’t bring even a single modern item with me. When fighting alongside the tribe, the spears carved on the planet were enough.

I passed right by the seventh floor and headed up to the restaurant area.

‘Better to spend that money on meat.’

Growl.

I entered a Korean beef restaurant and ordered the set meal listed at the very top of the menu.

“One sirloin set for one person, correct? We’ll grill the meat for you.”

The employee set down a glass of water and walked away.

‘They even grill the Korean beef for you?’

The moment I lifted the glass of water.

Thump!

The inside of my chest heated up. It was a much weaker warmth than during Descent.

Ding!

[Temple Report]

The Awakened Pantelun is offering a prayer at the temple.

‘Prayer?’

A familiar voice echoed beside my ear.

“Ruler. While Valkas and I were scouting the lower reaches of the river, we found a swamp inhabited by scaled ones. They saw us as well, so please give us your command.”

I set down the glass of water I was holding.

‘Scaled ones... Lizardmen.’

I had already been planning to send out scouts, but they had found them on their own.

‘Dependable.’

But the fact that the Lizardmen had seen them too bothered me. In the game, Lizardmen never let anyone who entered their territory go without consequence.

Sizzle!

Of all times, the employee placed the sirloin on the grill right then. The savory smell struck my nose.

Gulp.

I swallowed, but the tribe came before the meat. Suppressing my regret, I stood up from the chair.

“I’m sorry, but something urgent came up. Could you hold onto my things and pack the meat to go?”

The employee nodded with a puzzled expression.

‘My Korean beef...’

I shoved my phone and wallet into the shopping bag and entered the stall at the very end of the restroom.

Click.

I locked the door and closed my eyes.

“Descent.”

Vwoom!

My heart thumped heavily, and white light covered my vision.

_____________

The smell of dirt reached my nose first.

When I opened my eyes, I was standing in front of the temple.

Pantelun and Valkas, who had been kneeling before the statue, both snapped their heads up at once.

“Ruler. I did not expect you to come so quickly.”

Grrrr!

Valkas pounded his chest with his fist as well.

I was about to answer.

Ding-a-ling!

A system window with a red border blocked my view.

[Warning]

A Lizardman tribe has designated your forces as a target for subjugation.

Lizardman warriors assembling: Approximately 240

Classification: Small tribe split from a large tribe

Expected Engagement Point: Southern Swamp Entrance

‘...Subjugation?’

A hollow laugh escaped me.

Just from seeing our scouting party once, they had decided to subjugate our entire tribe.

‘240 of them...’

Even if we gathered everyone on our side who could fight, we wouldn’t have fifty. Normally, that number would have made cold sweat break out first.

But once I read the final line, my tension eased instead.

‘A small tribe.’

In Dawn of the Races, Lizardmen who lost a struggle for chieftainship would leave the large tribe with only their followers and establish a small tribe.

If they failed to secure new territory before winter, they would starve, so small tribes attacked any enemy they came across without exception.

‘If the group that split away numbers 240, how many are in the main tribe?’

Even so, I wasn’t worried.

I had lost tribes to small Lizardman tribes more times than I could count in the game. That also meant I knew exactly how to make them collapse.

Pantelun stepped forward with a grim expression.

“We saw them gathering near the water. There are five times as many of them as us, so Valkas and I will go first and break their front line.”

Grrrr!

Valkas slammed his great spear into the ground.

[Interpretation]

“This body will take every scaled head.”

“You two are going to fight 240 of them by yourselves? There’s no need. We’re all going together.”

If I sent the two Awakened out first and they got dragged into the water, that would be the end of it.

I pointed toward the log drum on the hill.

“Beat the drum. Bring everyone who can fight, whether human or orc. Move the elderly and children into the storage building.”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The drum echoed throughout the palisade.

The human archers grabbed their bows, while the warriors with spears lined up behind them.

When the armory doors opened, the elite orcs each took up a great spear.

In an instant, forty human warriors and seven members of the orc warrior corps lined up in front of the palisade gate.

It was every soldier the tribe possessed.

Looking at them lined up, my chest grew heavy. All of these lives depended on a single decision from me.

Pantelun selected a spear from the armory and held it out to me with both hands.

I accepted it and stood at the front of the formation.

[Remaining Descent Time: 55 minutes]

“We move out.”

We left the palisade and headed south along the river.

When I looked up, the sun was already leaning over the western forest.

‘About thirty minutes until sunset.’

As we moved, I asked Pantelun.

“Pantelun. When you found the swamp, what were they doing?”

“In the middle of the day, they had all climbed onto rocks beside the swamp and were lying there. Then once the shade fell, they all entered the water.”

I nodded.

‘Just like in the game.’

I explained it to Pantelun.

“Lizardmen are a cold-blooded race. They need sunlight to move, and once the sun sets, their bodies stiffen. If they stay out of the water too long, even their scales dry out.”

Pantelun’s eyes widened.

“Then we strike after the sun sets?”

“Half right. We hold out until sunset, then once the sun goes down, we attack.”

Valkas cut in, striking the ground with his great spear.

[Interpretation]

“Waiting is not how warriors fight. We should strike before the scaled ones flee into the water.”

“They’re several times stronger than us in the water. The moment we set foot in that swamp, they’ll grab our legs and drag us under.”

Valkas shut his mouth tightly.

“That’s why we’re not going into the swamp. We’ll take the highest hill beside it and make them come up to us.”

Pantelun asked again.

“What if they refuse to leave the water?”

“They have no choice. If a small tribe fails to secure territory before winter, they starve. More importantly, they’re not the sort to stay still when prey is standing right in front of them.”

Pantelun’s gaze changed.

Without stopping my steps, I poured my will into my voice and sent the order through the entire formation.

“Archers take the top of the hill. Orcs raise their great spears in the front line, and the human spearmen fill the gaps between them.”

Uoooooh!

The human warriors raised their spears.

Then I turned to Valkas.

“Valkas. Do not activate Berserk until after the sun sets. Once they start stiffening up, sweep through their entire front line.”

Grrrr!

Valkas grinned, baring his fangs.

‘And last.’

Lizardmen were a race that followed their leader. If the chief submitted, the entire group lowered their weapons.

“Pantelun, stay by my side. The two of us will take the chief.”

“Pantelun’s spear will always remain beside the Ruler.”

[Remaining Descent Time: 41 minutes]

‘Twenty minutes after sunset. We finish it within that time.’

Thump.

My heart raced. Not from fear.

The thrill came from finally carrying out, with a real tribe, a strategy I had run countless times in the game.

As we pushed through a path where the reeds grew taller than our heads, the fishy smell of water grew stronger.

Animal skulls hung from stakes planted around the entrance to the swamp.

‘Territory markers.’

I turned my head and spotted a dry hill rising beside the swamp.

‘There.’

I pointed at the hill with the tip of my spear.

“Everyone, get on top of that hill.”

The warriors climbed the slope and aimed their great spears and bows toward the swamp.

Bubble. Bubble.

Bubbles rose to the surface of the swamp.

Splash! Splash! Splash!

Lizardmen crawled out, cutting through the water.

A mass of blue and yellow scales lined the embankment on the opposite side of the swamp without end. The bone spears in their hands all pointed toward the hill at once.

I heard someone behind me gulp.

The number shown by the system window and the number seen with my own eyes were completely different things. Scales packed the entire embankment, all staring at us.

Even so, the hand gripping my spear didn’t tremble. I knew what would happen to those scales once the sun went down.

The crowd split apart down the middle.

The largest Lizardman among them stepped forward. It had blue scales, and the tip of its tail split into two branches.

Boom!

It struck the embankment with its tail, sending mud flying everywhere.

Its yellow eyes stared directly at me.

‘That must be the chief.’

I adjusted my grip on the spear.

When I looked toward the western forest, the sun was already halfway below the horizon.

[Remaining Descent Time: 38 minutes]

‘All right. Time to begin the strategy.’

There Is Primitive Humanity Inside My Body

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Webjung

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