Chapter 17

-croak?
“Ha.”
The creature that emerged from the bushes was the great fox. Ming Hu breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the great fox.
-Crunch!
Swoop
Then he smiled as he saw the great fox running toward him with an aggressive glare and a short roar.
Puck!
The Great Fox’s forepaw slammed into Ming Hu’s face.
‘500. It’s the great fox.’
Wondering if it was something else that looked exactly the same, Ming Hu saw the shaved life force and threw a punch at the Great Fox.
Puck!
whisk
[Level Up!]
As the Great Fox collapsed, Ming Hu felt the tension completely dissipate.
-You have acquired the pelt of the Great Fox.
-You have mastered the claws of the Great Fox.
After picking up the item, Ming Hu looked around. A lush bush came into view.
“What kind of place is this?”
According to the Claw Key, this was a forest, and since we had just seen the Great Fox, it was obviously a fox-related forest. But that didn’t tell us what kind of place this was.
“Let’s go.”
Ming Hu began to walk again.
Squeak
But the sound came again, and Ming Hu had to stop walking. Ming Hu turned his head in the direction of the sound.
“Ha…”
Turning his head to see who was responsible for the sound, Ming Hu breathed a sigh of relief.
“You’re making me shiver.”
Ming Hu turned to face the Great Fox, who was looking at him.
-Crunch!
The great fox let out a short roar and raised its forepaws as it ran through the bushes toward Ming Hu. Ming Hu saw the great fox and quickly punched it.
Puck!
Shake.
[Level up!]
The great fox collapsed, still in the position of swinging its front paws. Ming Hu picked up the dropped item from the fallen fox and couldn’t help but shake his head in thought.
“Wait a minute. This place is really weird.”
The Great Fox is definitely a boss monster, but strangely enough, it doesn’t feel like a boss monster, it feels like a normal monster.
“Is it the place?”
Ming Hu looked around. Grass and wooded brush, definitely not a place for a boss monster.
“No way… if the Great Fox is a normal monster here…”
Ming Hu thought for a moment at the hypothetical that flashed through his mind, and then muttered with a wry smile.
“That’s ridiculous. What good is a boss monster?”
Ming Hu’s face hardened for a moment. Ming Hu remembered the fox that had chased him. A fox whose size and attack power were overwhelming compared to the Great Fox.
“If he’s the boss here…”
If the fox was the boss of this forest, then it would make sense for the Great Fox to appear as a normal monster. But since he was still unsure of his own thoughts, Ming Hu dismissed the idea and resumed walking.
Jumbled
The lush grass and trees around him began to shrink in size. Ming Hu smiled at the shrinking size of the grass and trees, but then he heard a sound that made him shake his head.
-…
-…
“What is it?”
I could hear the sound, but I couldn’t make out what it was because it was coming from quite a distance.
“…Huh?”
But the further he walked, the louder and louder the sound became, and Ming Hu had no choice but to stop walking and listen.
-Crawl…
-…Mr.! Heal! ..!
“…”
It wasn’t exactly audible, but it was enough. Ming Hu picked up his pace and began to run through the bushes toward the source of the sound.
-Crack!!!
“Ms. Leren, give Vante the heels!”
“Yes!”
“Bantenim stun and get out. AoE going, Ice, keep dishing!”
“Okay!”
“Got it!”
Almost at the source, Ming Hu heard a sound from across the bush and peered through the bushes to see what was happening. Four users were hunting a single great fox.
“Hit the shield!”
Vante, a user with a shield and a short spear, jumped up and shouted, and his shield began to glow with a white light. Vante struck the Great Fox on the head with his shield and it fell backward.
“That’s it!”
“Fire Strike!”
A magic circle formed at the Great Fox’s feet, but the Great Fox was unable to move at the sight of the magic circle, and soon afterward, flames erupted from the magic circle with a roar.
-Crawl…
Soon enough, the Chapter faded and the Great Fox fell.
“Whoa.”
“Ha.”
The Great Fox fell, and users breathed a sigh of relief. It was time.
“Wow, I got the big three!”
After checking the items dropped by the Great Fox, Bangteh exclaimed. Bante’s shout brought a smile to the rest of the players’ faces.
“…Hmm.
Ming Hu looked at the situation and wondered what to do. But the answer was clear. Ming Hu distributed the dropped items and started walking towards the resting users.
“Huh?”
“…?”
The resting players jumped to their feet when they spotted Ming Hu emerging from the bushes.
“Hello. I’m Myung-Hoo.”
“Uh, yeah. I’m Fabien.”
Fabien, dressed in an impressive brown robe, stepped forward to accept my greeting.
“…”
“…”
That was it. After the greeting, awkwardness began to creep in between Ming Hu and the users. Realizing that prolonging the awkwardness would do him no good, Ming Hu quickly opened his mouth.
“There’s something I wanted to ask you…”
“Oh, sorry, it’s a social party.”
“…?”
Ming Hu was puzzled by Fabien’s way of cutting off his question. Ming Hu realized that Fabien had misunderstood him and opened his mouth to speak again.
“Oh, that’s not it…”
“I’m so sorry. I’m sorry about the distribution.”
However, Myung-hoo was quite perplexed to see Fabian cut him off as quickly as before. All he had to do was ask him what this place was like, but Fabian’s reaction made it clear that it would be difficult.
“Oh. Excuse me?”
“I apologize. Honestly, fellowship is fellowship, distribution is distribution, and we’re still inexperienced…”
Fabian muttered something to himself, glanced at Ming Hu, and then opened his mouth to speak.
“I don’t think I can protect you…”
Ming Hu was offended by the way Fabian’s eyes scanned his equipment and his subsequent words, but he couldn’t say anything about it since he hadn’t gotten the information yet.
“It’s not that…”
“Sorry.”
Fabien interrupted once again.
“…what is this guy.
Ming Hu was really frustrated with Fabien, who kept cutting him off without finishing his sentence. I thought, “What kind of person is this?
‘If I’ve said it so many times, I should understand… Is he embarrassed?
Fabian was as frustrated as Fabian could be. He frowned at Ming Hu’s insistence on continuing to talk.
“It’s not a party, I have a question.”
But something about Ming Hu’s next words made Fabian realize that something was wrong, and then he looked at Ming Hu’s overall appearance and realized that something was definitely wrong.
“I thought you weren’t trying to join the party…?
I thought they wanted to join the party because they saw the shabby equipment, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
“Is this your first time here?”
Fabian asked Ming Hu. Ming Hu nodded wordlessly.
“Oh.”
Fabian’s face flushed with embarrassment, and after coughing a few times, he looked at Ming Hu with a broad smile and an invitation to ask him anything.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I was mistaken, haha, what do you want to know?”
At Fabian’s words, Ming Hu sighed inwardly and opened his mouth.
“Where the hell is this place?”
“Oh, it’s called Gumiho’s Forest, but there are no mobs to catch except for the Great Fox, so it’s often called the Great Fox’s Forest. Monsters that appear include the Great Fox, Monster Fox, and the boss monster, Gumiho.”
“Oh.”
Ming Hu nodded as if he finally understood. Fabian looked at Ming Hu and smiled, then continued.
“And as for the level, the Great Fox is around 60-70, and the Monster Fox and Gumiho are unknown except in name, since no one has caught them.”
“How do we get out of here?”
“Oh, well, you used a claw key to get in here, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“I need that claw key to get out of here, and if you look at this clearing. Oh, you see that hole in the rock over there?”
Fabien pointed to a rock in the corner of the clearing. Upon closer inspection, the center of the boulder was deeply dented.
“There are rocks like that in every clearing, and if you put your claw key in the center of one of them, you can get back to where you came from.”
“I see.”
“But… claws are hard to come by. We can catch the Great Fox, and we can save you, but you’ll be blinded and killed. It would be quicker for you to die once and return to the village.”
“…”
Ming Hu couldn’t say anything to Fabian’s words. He could see enough of his equipment to think and say that, but that didn’t mean he didn’t feel bad. Ming Hu was offended enough. That was when it happened.
-Crunch!
Suddenly, the roar of a great fox could be heard, and it was Jichuck. The four users, except for Ming Hu, swallowed hard and looked toward the direction of the roar.