Because this was a hastily assembled team with uneven strength and no chemistry, the eight of them didn’t coordinate; they split up and moved in according to their original squads.
Once everything was set, they charged the monster camp head-on.
“So fast!”
Out of the corner of his eye, Gauss caught only the afterimages ...
Exposed?
Gauss’s heart gave a quick jolt at first.
But when he caught the sounds that followed from farther off, he felt that wasn’t it. And that strange cry from the sky just now hadn’t come from directly overhead.
Either way… run!
Alia swung onto the gray wolf Ulfen. Gauss triggered Enhanced Leap; strength f...
At dawn the campfires were long out, leaving only wisps of blue-gray smoke.
Gauss and Alia washed up, bolted a simple breakfast, rubbed feeling back into cheeks numbed by the cold, and headed to that day’s rendezvous point.
People hadn’t fully gathered yet, but low conversations from nearby squads drifted over.
“Seems ...
The Magic Missiles stripped the warrior of his last breath; Gauss, ever cautious, followed up with two finishing strokes. Only after he was certain the man was truly dead did he and Alia start putting the ravaged field in order.
“I didn’t expect something like this,” Alia murmured, taking in the bloodstains and chaos on the snow.
Every hair on the rogue Dilan’s body stood on end.
It wasn’t as if he’d never seen a Magic Missile—on the contrary, he knew the spell well. But the threat these missiles carried was unlike anything he’d felt before.
Too fast.
Piero’s Magic Missile never looked like this!
And how had he missed that, besides...
As soon as Gauss finished speaking in that flat tone, the air went oddly still.
No one said a word. Only the keening wind and the faint, unhurried sound of Gauss chewing jerky remained.
Up front, the warrior Blake glanced back at his companions; out of Gauss’s line of sight, a wolfish resolve flickered in his eyes. He gave the ti...
Jade Forest, afternoon.
Fine snow began to fall again, the cold wind carrying icy grains that moaned and circled through the branches. The winter hunt’s killing chill seeped into everything as the weather turned ever more bitter.
Frost had crusted over the heavy pauldrons on the warrior Blake’s shoulders. With every step he too...
While the two of them rested, a stray handful of monsters that had fled the main front wandered through—and Gauss, Alia, and Ulfen dispatched them without a second thought.
Gauss followed the line of the nearest corpse with his eyes, gazing into the depths of the forest. His sight felt as if it pierced layer upon layer of green, all the...
Gauss picked off most of the mosquito bats first.
Then he glanced at the raven, Echo—who wasn’t idle in the least. Wings pumping, it had already darted after the bats trying to climb for the clouds. It flew faster than they did, and its hooked beak and talons were far deadlier. In terms of agility and killing power, those last two or ...
[Elite Path unlocking.]
[Current Stage: 1.]
[Special Skill Earned: ‘Brute Force.’]
[Brute Force – When actively triggered, the user’s Strength increases, granting greater destructive power. Stamina consumption, however, multiplies, and prolonged use risks bodily harm.]
[Stage 2 Unlock Condition: Slay 5 distinc...
Gauss waited patiently for the two to finish “talking” before he spoke.
“Any intel?”
“Any intel! Any intel! A—ny…” Echo twisted its head toward Gauss and parroted the words back at him in a harsh caw.
The corner of Gauss’s mouth twitched; he fought the urge to rub his forehead.
This… wasn’t the f...
The wind on the open plain, gritty with sleet and smelling of wild country, keened as it swept across the boundless waste.
Beneath that fine white mesh of snow, the distant edge of the Jade Forest arched like the spine of a crouching behemoth, casting a shadow that made the heart tighten.
A silent column was pushing toward the hori...
Once everything was ready, Gauss and Alia waited in Grayrock Town for a few more days.
In those few days, the weather steadily turned colder.
At last, the notice they’d been waiting for arrived: the Adventurer’s Guild was calling everyone to assemble for the final muster.
On Grayrock’s main avenue—
The townspe...
“It’s snowing—so sudden.”
Over breakfast, the two of them talked about the unexpected early snowfall.
“It usually doesn’t come this early, does it?”
“True,” Gauss nodded. In truth, he didn’t feel much about it. He had the original body’s memories, but they weren’t the same as lived experience. For Ali...
“That guy’s a Bronze adventurer!”
Marlin’s teammates all gasped, staring at him in disbelief.
Worked together at the smithy? That meant Gauss couldn’t have become an adventurer much earlier than Marlin himself.
“You must’ve seen wrong,” Marlin muttered, unable to believe it. He hadn’t been in the trade long...
Gauss had absolutely no doubt — in front of this man, he wouldn’t last more than a few breaths. He might not even have the chance to draw a teleportation scroll, let alone channel magic to activate it.
And as for what level this man might be… Gauss couldn’t even begin to guess.
After the Guildmaster’s brief opening remark...
Gauss, Alia, and the grey wolf Ulfen walked across the bleak, windswept wilderness.
There were far fewer travelers and wagons on the road than there had been days ago, and the chill in the air was sharpening.
Both of them were in good physical condition—especially Gauss. Though he lacked a warrior’s class bonuses and heavy comb...
[To Gauss:]
Hearing that you’ve advanced to Bronze Adventurer, all of us in Night Owl are genuinely happy for you.
It’s no surprise… but it still happened faster than we expected.
Laevin and Doyle were in disbelief when they heard. That night at the tavern, they both drank a few extra rounds. Everyone’s happy for you...
“You’ve really worked hard today.”
Before they knew it, evening had fallen.
Gauss and Alia had been running around all day, and only now were all their errands finally done.
They’d met with the broker, discussed terms, finalized details, and placed an order at the food workshop.
The jerky they commissioned—m...
“It’s getting a bit chilly.”
Gauss exhaled, white mist forming in the air as he lifted his eyes from the book in his hands.
He remembered that autumn always seemed to arrive suddenly—but this year, it felt colder than usual.
“I’ll need to buy some warmer clothes.”
All of Gauss’s current clothes were fo...
Night deepened.
The chill of autumn crept in quietly through the window cracks, the air crisp and clear like spring water. The world outside had fallen into an unusually serene silence.
Aside from the occasional distant barking of dogs and the soft, rhythmic chirping of autumn insects in the grass, there were no other sounds. Every...
[Next Milestone: 1,000 Total Monster Kills.]
Gauss's mind buzzed as if it were running on overdrive.
It felt like rusty gears had just been oiled, like an out-of-tune string was finally being tuned—his thoughts and mental flow were becoming smoother and more precise.
It was as if his consciousness had been lifted from his ...
The heavy wooden lid was lifted.
A wave of rich, steaming aroma rushed out to greet them.
Through the swirling mist rising from the pot, Gauss stared into the thick, amber-colored broth—chunks of tender white frog meat floated within, framed by golden potatoes and orange carrots.
Amid the rising steam, the stew gave off a ...
Gauss and Alia exchanged a glance, but neither of them seemed to notice the strange look in her eyes.
Their attention was already locked on the massive frog corpse in front of them.
“It’s been a while since lunch anyway,” Gauss nodded to himself. “Can’t let a rare edible monster like this go to waste—would be a shame no...
After grabbing a simple lunch in a nearby village, the duo and their wolf companion set out toward the known habitat of the Rustfrogs.
“I haven’t run into Rustfrogs before,” Alia said, flipping through the monster manual as they walked. Her tone was curious. “According to this, their spit can corrode metal.”
“No wonder ...
Gauss and Alia spent a few days resting in Grayrock Town.
The nightmares never returned.
Bit by bit, Gauss’s mind and body returned to peak condition.
“Alright, thanks to you and Ulfen again.” Gauss lowered his staff, finishing another round of coordinated spell training.
“No worries. We had free time anyway, ...
The early morning sun spilled slantwise across the slightly worn but tidy counter of the inn. Sophia and Gauss were chatting idly when a shadow moved by the door, and a light-footed figure stepped inside.
“Welcome,” Sophia greeted out of habit.
But the newcomer’s gaze bypassed her entirely, landing directly on Gauss with a so...
Shirley, the red-haired warlock, stayed and chatted with them for a while longer—mostly about recent news in Grayrock Town and updates from the Adventurer’s Guild.
After a bit, she rose gracefully to leave, her fiery hair swaying behind her like living flames.
The door closed softly behind her, and with it, the pressure in the ...
Gauss could definitely feel it—something heavy was hanging over the whole town of Grayrock.
But what exactly… he couldn’t quite put into words.
Was it sadness? Not really.
Oppression? A little, but not overwhelming.
Maybe it was more like... a collective sense that the wheels of history had just turned, that som...
“Could that have been... some kind of dark ritual?”
Alia finally broke the silence.
“Dark ritual? As in... involving an evil god?” Gauss followed up. Fragments of old knowledge floated to the surface of his mind—stories of evil deities, chaotic beings in opposition to the divine.
“Yeah,” Alia nodded gravely. ...