I Became a 6★ Gacha Character-Chapter 531: Terror of the Deep Forest 1
Both mercenaries and adventurers constantly risked their lives. In this dark fantasy world, death was commonplace—even farmers tilling fields or herding livestock might encounter wild monsters.
If there were dangers from wandering monsters in the Kingdom's countryside, how much worse would it be inside the Tower where the Goddess's touch couldn't reach? Our party, packed with high-★ experts, could navigate these challenges without much difficulty, but other adventurers were dying every moment.
Like the man before us now.
"What could have done this? It doesn't look like the chameleon's tongue attack."
"It wasn't the monkeys' stone-throwing either. There aren't any visible wounds... poison perhaps?"
The man's breathing was so labored he seemed to be gasping for air. His expensive-looking, well-maintained armor and finely crafted sword that could easily be called a masterpiece marked him as an adventurer who could pass for a noble's guard—yet here he was, dying alone in the depths of the forest.
Irene frantically summoned her holy power, but it had no visible effect. Even if her specialty was barriers rather than healing, she should have been able to provide basic first aid, but even that wasn't working.
He was clearly suffering from some kind of healing-prevention debuff.
"Poison that blocks holy power healing effects?"
"How is that possible?!"
In RPG games, debuffs like reduced healing or healing prevention were common counters to dot heals, area heals, single target heals, and resurrection.
But for fantasy world inhabitants more familiar with priests than doctors, poison that prevented holy power's healing effects would seem more unreal than demons crawling up from the gates of hell.
Imagine going to a hospital with a cold, getting medication, then discovering it contained a microchip marked with the beast's 666 that made Satan himself jump out of the pill bottle. You wouldn't think "God and demons are real!"—you'd deny reality and assume you'd taken hallucinogenic drugs.
Yes, denial of reality.
This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
"Is that even possible? Healing is the Goddess's authority."
"Maybe he wasn't attacked by an ordinary monster but by the Demon Lord's forces."
The party was shocked that holy power couldn't heal him. Irene, who actually wielded the holy power, silently began to pray while Grace and Katie chatted anxiously.
Watching them, Han Se-ah's expression turned serious.
"Hey, this map gimmick is really dirty. Stealth ambush monsters everywhere, and now named monsters with healing-prevention poison? If your barrier reaction time is slow, your party gets wiped."
-Just pack antidotes and potions instead of bombs, you maniac LOLOLOL
-I told you she'd set fire to the elves' village after burning down the forest LOL
-Forbes' #1 Most Suspicious Streamer: Han Se-ah
-Well, healing blockers had to appear eventually LOL It's a common game mechanic
-There must be a solution? Maybe a 6★ healing specialist can break through, or purification works even if healing doesn't? Remember our Mama is barrier-specialized
In this deep forest, anyone short of special forces would make noise while moving. Regular monsters ambushed with camouflage, and named monsters attacked during the confusion with healing-prevention poison.
Just hearing about this gimmick was frustrating.
The viewers seemed delighted by this stress-inducing setup. They watched Han Se-ah's broadcast because they enjoyed her success, but too much success made them uncomfortable—they wanted to see her stumble occasionally.
Perhaps it was because the gap between her and Kim Seok-hyun, the bean-line sword-mage-warrior, had widened considerably. She was so overwhelmingly ahead that people felt comfortable criticizing her.
"This... to the guild..."
"Are you... regaining consciousness?"
"Report... with my badge..."
While Han Se-ah speculated with viewers about the named monster, Irene sensed it was too late despite her ineffective holy power. She pulled the pendant from her chest and held the dying adventurer's hand with her symbol-clasping fingers.
Though healing wasn't working, he could apparently still feel the holy power's presence. With a groan, he forced out his final words. Summoning his last strength, his trembling hand pulled something from his belongings, placed it down, and then went limp.
"What's this?"
"A claw? A tooth? From the named monster?"
He passed us a large, pointed fang as big as a person's forearm.
※
Analyzing unknown monsters was naturally the Magic Tower's responsibility. Like university professors and graduate students securing funding for research projects, mages conducted magical research on specific topics to receive sponsorships from the state and nobility.
Obviously, the monster ecosystem of the newly opened 61st floor was a priority subject. Whether from a vain noble's purse or an inquisitive wizard's wallet, this topic generated gold coins.
So the 61st floor, poison that blocked holy power, named monster—the mysterious fang passed from the dead adventurer to Han Se-ah was incredibly valuable.
"...We've confirmed the adventurer's badge. The guild won't forget your dedication."
"It's a bit of a shame."
-In RPGs, aren't items from dead people yours to keep? Having to give this up sucks LOLOL
-If she hadn't handed it over, the chat would have roasted her before Roland could say anything. Smart move
-So the reward goes to the dead adventurer's party as insurance money, but Han Se-ah gets the information?
-For the medieval era, their insurance system seems pretty good
-This is why people risk their lives climbing the Tower and paying guild fees, right?
The fang was valuable enough that Han Se-ah forgot her usual pretenses and openly expressed disappointment. In a standard PC game with keyboard and mouse, she might have taken it and run.
But in a virtual reality game almost indistinguishable from reality, a hero couldn't take another's belongings for a few gold coins. While she muttered regretfully to her viewers, she dutifully returned the item and the adventurer's badge to the guild.
I didn't know if the adventurer was from the Empire, but he must have been quite famous judging by how quickly the guild worker's face darkened.
"What happens to this fang now?"
"Normally, we'd sell it to the Magic Tower and send part of the proceeds to his family... but as you said, the Temple might purchase it instead of the Magic Tower. Of course, your party will receive the information immediately."
"I see. I should come to the guild for that?"
Maybe they knew each other, like Elize and me. After carefully storing the adventurer's badge and fang behind the counter, she weakly nodded at Han Se-ah's final question, seemingly without the energy to speak.
Seeing this, our companions' faces also darkened, as if they'd mentally written a romance story between the adventurer and guild worker.
...Ever since the innkeeper went missing, and the priests and mid-to-low rank adventurers who went searching for her never returned, everyone seemed on edge. It took me a long time to get used to people dying around me too.
"Should we head back to the 61st floor then? Now that we've confirmed there's a named monster, we should learn its identity."
"That seems best. A famous adventurer party died without putting up a fight, so we should gather whatever information we can."
"Without putting up a fight?"
"There were no injuries besides the poisoning. If he'd been attacked by a fang as big as a human forearm, there should be wounds or damaged armor, but he had no marks at all."
The fortunate thing was that instead of losing their resolve, they were fired up. Burning with determination to face this stealth-ambushing named monster, they exchanged glances before looking at me.
Did they think I'd deeply empathize with the death of a fellow tank in armor and shield? I just thought, "Another one dead," but there was no need to dampen the mood.
The guild worker who had been silently listening to our conversation slowly spoke up.
"Um, Hero... in-information about the new named m-monster would be very helpful to the guild. The M-Magic Tower would also be in-interested..."
"Don't worry. We'll definitely hunt it down."
"Please... I'm begging you..."
Overcome with emotion, she sniffled and sobbed. Irene gently took her hands to comfort her, but different words echoed loudly in my and Han Se-ah's ears.
[Unidentified monster devouring forest fairies in the deep woods]
[The monster welcomed humans who suddenly appeared in the forest depths]
[More prey in its territory is always welcome]
The quest window updated, clearly directing us to pursue the named monster.
...But isn't this a bit vague? Just a story with no hints.
Enjoy the chappy!
