Free Web NovelRoy set out for Wilderness Mountain on his own today.
The reason was obvious.
“I’m looking for something, and I need your help. You’re a good bear, so you’ll help me, right?”
From the morning effort of bringing and feeding him meat, there was reward.
The problem was, Roy didn’t actually know what he was looking for.
He stared up at Wilderness Mountain, trying to recall his memories from the first day.
I think it sparkled somewhere around there.
It was the ridge between the advanced course and the beginner course.
On the first day of training, Roy had reached halfway up the high peak but found nothing.
Honestly, he’d been too pressured to return in time to survey his surroundings.
So today he planned to ride Bearorghini and look around slowly. But of all people, Jo Yeonil led his team onto the beginner course.
He’d insisted on the advanced course so stubbornly—then as soon as he heard we passed, he switched courses right away.
Idiot. We never even went to the beginner course.
Thanks to having a competent leader, the D-rank contestants were set up for another rough day.
Or maybe they had it coming, since they’d all agreed to split from us on day one.
Either way, Roy decided to take care not to overlap paths. The beginner course would be littered with cameras like landmines.
Then should I head for the advanced course myself?
Since Bearorghini seemed to enjoy climbing rock faces, maybe it was for the best.
Roy pointed to a lower peak and asked,
“Bearorghini, can you carry me up there like yesterday?”
“크엉!”
Bearorghini crouched as if to invite him to climb on.
Roy settled onto the soft back and tapped his head to signal start.
“Let’s go!”
As Bearorghini began moving, Roy’s body swayed gently.
Thus began the morning of day three.
The start was smooth.
The clever creature had learned that pulling its right ear turned right, and pulling its left ear turned left.
Thanks to that, Roy avoided accidentally veering onto the beginner course.
However, at some point they’d climbed along a wild animal trail rather than the human path, and they were a mess.
Leaves and cobwebs clung to him as if he’d been lost. Roy brushed them off roughly and wondered,
What on the mountain could sparkle? It must be an item, right?
Hadn’t F2 said there was a legend that great power lay buried in Wilderness Mountain?
If Paju City hadn’t just made it up for tourism, it must be true.
After all, it wasn’t just any mountain—it was named for the world view itself.
Legends don’t spring up for no reason. Statistically, the chance of a legendary item being buried here was high.
I’m definitely taking it.
Usually in these cases, the hero finds an item in one of three ways.
First: encounter a fateful chance. Deep in the mountains, meet a recluse master or an otherworldly being. Sometimes rescue someone in danger and receive the item in return.
But here...
There couldn’t possibly be anyone around.
This wasn’t even a trail, and who would climb a cliff face like this for no reason?
Without Bearorghini, he’d never have dared it.
Second: suffer an accident. Fall from a cliff or twist an ankle. The event begins when he wakes up after the accident—only to find himself at the hidden treasure spot or at the recluse’s hut.
But would he really misstep now?
Let’s see...
Roy leaned over to inspect the cliff below.
Hm.
He could plummet to his death. And there was no guarantee he’d only be injured enough to survive. Best not to even think about that method.
With those two out, nothing remained.
What good was being a heavy-reader of web novel ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) clichés if he lacked the courage to act?
His limits so far: riding a god-spawned bear.
Then the third and final way: wander until he stumbled upon it.
Like finding a needle in a desert, but who was he? A luck-cheating protagonist!
He’d already escaped the highly secured Jincheon Athlete Village with ease.
Actually, he’d planned from the start to try the third method.
It might take time, but with his crazy luck, he was sure of success.
The mountain was huge, and alone it might’ve been tough, but now he had the most reliable ally.
Then—
빠각!
Something cracked under Bearorghini’s paw.
“...Did you just step on something?”
Bearorghini, unfazed, pressed on.
빠각!
Under its front paw once, under its hind paw twice, something hard crushed.
“No, wait—stop.”
Roy tugged both ears at once and Bearorghini halted.
With a hop, it jumped down, and Roy prepared to inspect the paw prints on the ground.
But—
빠각! ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
The moment he placed a foot down, something solid gave way underfoot, and a sinister crack echoed.
“...”
A chill ran through him.
Roy’s head creaked as he looked down.
It couldn’t be a landmine, could it?
He dug around the disturbed ground but saw nothing suspicious.
That made it even more frightening: he’d heard the sound but couldn’t locate its source.
“크엉!”
At that moment, Bearorghini let out a short call to draw his attention.
Then it lifted a forepaw toward one spot that jutted up more than the rest.
“No—wait!”
빠각!
Four cracks in rapid succession.
And someone said even misfortune is fate.
쿠구구궁!
The ground shook, and rubble began to cascade down the rock face.
I have to get out of here.
His instincts screamed to flee immediately.
“Bearorghini!”
He called frantically—but his bear companion had already bolted far off.
“You—loyal beast!”
His shout was lost in the rumble of the cliff.
Determined to escape on his own, he began crawling away as fast as he could—
끼기기긱!
—when the ground beneath him started to shift.
“????”
차르르륵—
Before he could even grasp the situation, the floor tilted and sank, forming a slope downward.
“Wait...!”
Roy grabbed the wall to steady himself, but it was no use.
“Uaaah!”
He tumbled down the makeshift stairway.
✧
When he came to, he was in pitch-black darkness.
Every part of his body ached, but he didn’t seem to have any serious injuries.
Oh man, I nearly died.
His limbs were intact and his head unfractured.
He’d almost begun his third life cycle.
He grimaced and caught his breath. As his eyes adapted to the dark, shapes emerged around him.
He was in a spacious cave that could easily hold a hundred people.
Unfortunately, the entrance he’d come through seemed closed off while he was unconscious.
A quick survey showed no signs of habitation and no hint of hidden items.
In other words: a hopeless fate.
Still, he couldn’t give up, so he decided to explore further. freewebnøvel.com
“What’s this?”
Not far off, a pile of what looked like trash had accumulated.
Tracks showed someone had been here, but...
“Ah! Sh–!”
On closer look, it wasn’t trash at all but human bones.
When Roy—startled—picked up what looked like a skull, he threw it away and rubbed his thigh, stifling a scream.
Sh–! Sh–! Sh–!
He’d cracked many fiend skulls before, but a human skull was another matter—his hands shook uncontrollably.
Had he ever been this frightened in his life?
Oh, maybe when he first realized he was in Wilderness.
No—his heart hadn’t raced that fast even then.
Almost panicking, Roy straightened his resolve.
He willed himself not to look at the bones, setting his neck stiffly.
I have to escape.
The worst part: he didn’t know where the exit was.
There ought to be an exit if there was an entrance. But here, he saw no crack or gap of any kind.
He groped the walls with both hands, searching for anything—but found only a cold, damp surface.
“...”
He was screwed.
The only place left to search was near the bones—but he couldn’t bear to approach.
He should’ve stayed holed up at the dorm.
Sneaking out to find an item, he’d ended up in this mess.
He’d relied too much on luck.
Burying his face in his palms, Roy let out a quiet scream.
If I don’t return by midnight, the others will think something’s wrong.
He had no idea how long he’d been unconscious.
Cold sweat ran down his back.
He really didn’t want to go there, but to find the exit he had to approach.
Oh, Lord.
Roy, ever the selective believer, closed his eyes and prayed.
He wasn’t afraid of ghosts, but these bones had been human. It felt wrong just being near them.
Even if it wasn’t intentional, he felt guilty for having cracked one earlier.
Then he remembered—the energy bar in his pocket.
I have to offer something.
To look around, he had no choice but to touch the bones—unless he intended to crush them underfoot.
Roy carefully approached, placed the energy bar before the bones, then hurriedly backed away.
He bowed deeply twice in silent prayer for the deceased.
I did my best.
Honestly, after that effort, the bones shouldn’t start moving out of respect.
Angry words popped in his mind like popcorn, but only one escaped his lips.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
As he muttered apologies and gently shoveled the scattered fragments aside with his foot—
Thunk—
A weighty object caught at his ankle as the bone dust swirled.
“Ah! Sh–!”
