🔊 TTS Settings
CHAPTER 03
“I’m sorry, but I can’t enter a castle. I won’t be able to escort you inside.”
“Oh, no—it’s fine. Just guiding me to a village is already more than enough help.”
At least I wouldn’t starve to death in the mountains anymore. And I was also less likely to get ripped apart by monsters.
I chewed on the jerky Calion had given me and drank some water. At his waist hung a small pouch. It was only palm-sized, but it seemed to contain plenty of stored food, camping supplies, and even spare clothes.
Is that like an inventory?
Since I already suspected this might be a game world after seeing the system window, I wasn’t too surprised. Probably some kind of compression magic.
“We should find a place to stay before it gets dark. Can you walk?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
My legs ached a bit from how long it had been since I last hiked, but this wasn’t the time to complain when monsters were involved. I followed Calion briskly. He matched his pace to mine and occasionally looked back to check on me.
It looked like he wanted to hold my hand and guide me, but he hesitated and lowered it again.
My pace wasn’t actually slow, but to Calion, it probably felt frustrating. I couldn’t become dead weight the moment I joined a party. I took a deep breath and looked around with renewed determination.
“Calion, I see a cave over there.”
“Yes. It would be good if we can rest there.”
“If we can rest?”
“There may be monsters nearby. We should check inside first.”
Ah, I see.
Calion went ahead to inspect the cave, and after confirming there was no sign of monsters, he signaled me to enter.
The cave was fairly wide and comfortable. It went deeper inside, but as he said, it didn’t seem like anything was living there. Honestly, I was more worried about snakes or insects than monsters, but thankfully there was no sign of any living creature besides humans.
Long live bug-free shelters.
“Stay hidden here, Joo-in.”
“What about you, Calion?”
“I will check the surrounding area. It won’t take long.”
He spoke slowly and politely, as if trying to reassure me.
For a brief moment, I felt a flicker of anxiety—what if he leaves me behind?
But if I had been a burden, he would’ve left me from the start. I decided to trust him.
“Yes. I’ll wait here. Please be careful.”
“Yes, Joo-in.”
Calion left the cave, leapt over a rock in one motion, and quickly disappeared from sight.
Even in heavy-looking armor, he moved lightly and effortlessly.
With his completely white appearance, he looked like a snowflake dancing on ice.
I watched the cave entrance he disappeared through, then curled up inside.
He told me to hide, so I would hide properly.
Don’t move even a single step. Just stay here and survive like I’m dead.
In stories like this, the classic “annoying, burdensome character who disobeys and causes trouble” trope always dies first. I had no intention of becoming that kind of frustrating liability.
So I would endure. Until Calion returned.
However, despite my determined plan, that damn system window appeared without any sense of timing.
[Lazy Righteous People Are Disliked!]
You have stayed in a shelter for too long.
In 15 seconds, the shelter will collapse.
Time until burial: 15 seconds
Are you kidding me?
It really can’t stand seeing someone rest peacefully.
Sure enough, a rumbling sound came from deeper inside the cave—kurururur—as something began to collapse. If I stayed here any longer, I would either be crushed or suffocated.
Only then did I understand why all those “annoying side characters” in stories behaved so irrationally.
It wasn’t that they wanted to annoy readers—it was because they had no choice.
Just like now.
Sorry, Calion! I want to live!
Even a 30-day death sentence was unfair enough—I definitely didn’t want to die right now.
I quickly ran out of the cave.
RUMBLE— The collapsed entrance blocked the cave completely. If I had stayed inside a moment longer, I would have been dead for sure.
Luckily, it didn’t seem like a landslide situation. This world didn’t appear to be a disaster movie.
Thank goodness…
The moment I relaxed, I heard another unsettling sound behind me.
“Grrrrr…”
The cave collapsing had sounded like kururur, and this was a different, low growl.
…But I didn’t have time to think about that.
I didn’t turn around, but just the size and shape of the shadow looming over me told me everything. It was definitely some terrifying monster.
Could this be the monster Calion mentioned?
As if pleased by my deduction, I heard a distorted “clap clap” sound, and a system window popped up.
[Skill Acquisition Chance]
Sudden Quest! You have encountered a monster.
Please scream as loudly as you can.
Success if your volume exceeds ??? dB.
Reward: Skill [Scream]
Thanks for kindly confirming that the thing behind me is a monster. Really appreciated.
But scream? Not fight, not run—just scream? What, does it get stunned or something?
“Grrk… grr.”
I had no time to think.
The shadow raised something massive that could’ve been an arm or a leg.
“GROOOAR!”
“Kyaaah!”
I screamed as I dodged the monster’s strike. Barely evading the first attack, I finally saw it clearly.
It was enormous—house-sized—and covered in something black like tangled threads.
No, not threads. It was writhing. Like thousands of living worms crawling over its body…
“Ah—ugh—Aaaahhh!!”
A scream burst out from sheer disgust and terror of dying. The sound was so loud it almost numbed my own ears.
And for a moment, the monster seemed to hesitate.
Did it work?
Just as that thought crossed my mind while I was gasping for air, a smaller window appeared beneath the quest screen.
Current progress: 77%
Try a little harder ㅇㅅ<
Time remaining: 5 seconds
I’m confiscating that damn emoticon.
Anger surging at the annoying system, I screamed even louder.
“HEEEEEELP MEEEEEEEE!!!”
THUD.
The ground shook, and everything suddenly went silent. The world felt like it was moving in slow motion—including me.
The monster charging at me seemed to split in half, tearing apart left and right.
Through the clean, precise cut beneath its grotesque, bumpy exterior, I saw—
Calion’s face holding a silver sword.
“Joo-in! Are you alright?!”
He had rushed here after hearing my scream. As soon as I realized that, another festive fanfare sounded, and an even larger system window appeared.
[Chain Success!]
Congratulations!
You have successfully acquired the skill [Scream].
[Scream Lv.1]
When your allies hear your scream, they rush to your location.
Effect: Ally movement speed within hearing range x2
Duration: 20 seconds
Can stack up to 5 times.
So instead of being a useless “annoying character,” it was actually a buff skill.
And it could stack up to 5 times.
At maximum stacks, movement speed becomes 32 times faster—which theoretically means you could turn a marathon runner going 20 km/h into someone running at 640 km/h.
That’s twice the speed of a KTX train. Is that even physically possible?
If I scream at this volume five times for 20 seconds, my throat is going to give out first…
Still, I survived. I relaxed my stiff shoulders and turned to Calion.
“Thanks for saving me, Calion.”
“I heard the cave collapse and rushed here. I thought it was safe, but I still put you in danger. I apologize.”
So he didn’t come because of my scream, but because of the cave collapsing.
Well, I only got the skill after he split the monster in half anyway.
“Don’t apologize. You were just trying to protect me.”
The cave collapsing wasn’t Calion’s fault—it was that damn system’s trick. From what I saw, it didn’t look like a place that would collapse so easily.
But this means I can’t even hide safely anywhere anymore.
And my new skill wasn’t self-buffing—it was only an ally buff.
So now I can’t even hide alone. I just have to run around screaming every time I find a monster so I can buff Calion?
From Calion’s perspective, I’d look like some useless troll who keeps running out and causing chaos.
Not a burden he’d abandon—more like someone he’d eventually want to kill.
Me… a nuisance troll… a troll?!
I had lived my life diligently without causing trouble to others.
And yet this damn system had turned me into a troll.
