The Berserker’s Second Playthrough in the Game - Chapter 161



Only Krnovel

Episode 161 Forest of Dreams (4)

Gurrrrrr… … .

A vibration arose from the black hole. The self-proclaimed patrol members were not surprised and started flirting.

“Tch, that woman is too good to be used as prey… … How can’t I sneak her out and bring her home alone?”

“Arthur, have you seen that savage-sized man that your husband is? If you mess with him, he looks like he could tear off a person’s limbs with his bare hands.”

“ha… … Damn, I’m going crazy. Fiction One day, while watching the idiots who came to visit the elves, I saw a nice girl for the first time in a while, and she never calmed down… … .”

“But why did that woman have to have sex with that savage? She looks so normal… … .”

“Oh my, you little brat, don’t you know that? I saw that savage a while ago, and he’s not only big, but his lower body is also… … .”

There was a lot of vulgar obscenity going on among the group of people sitting together in groups of twos and threes. I didn’t worry about what this vibration was, what would happen to the travelers, or what would happen to my colleagues who went in with me. All of this was routine anyway.

This den was a blessing for the patrolmen.

They were once mercenaries who came to the Great Forest looking to make a fortune with the elves. After realizing that this forest was not an easy place, he quickly changed his profession to a thief. But when I actually tried it, it wasn’t that easy to be a thief.

Plunder always carried considerable risk. This was true even when targeting a small group, let alone a large group. If we had the misfortune of encountering a traveler who resisted fiercely, we had to be prepared to sacrifice one or two of them.

However, everything changed after I stumbled upon this ‘man-devouring oyster’.

There was no need to suffer and shed blood like before. All they had to do was lure the traveler, push him into the cave, and lead him to the ‘camouflage’ with a ministration. Then, the oyster automatically secretes gastric juice and completely digests the food that enters without realizing it.

What if the travelers were suspicious and didn’t go in? It didn’t matter. It was true that the only way to enter the forest was through this cave. If they were to let him go and figure it out on his own, he would most likely wander around the forest for a few days and come back looking like a beggar, and then quietly go into the stomach on his own.

Thankfully, the gastric juices only dissolved the creature’s flesh. Once the fire extinguishing was complete, all we had to do was go into the cave and search through the wreckage to pick up money and equipment. Thanks to this, they were able to plunder without a single drop of blood on their hands, no matter how powerful and numerous the group was.

And that wasn’t the end of it.

One day, they realized that the more the oysters swallowed their prey, the more they ‘changed’. And that ‘change’ allowed them to dream again the dream they had given up on. That one day, they would find sweet fruit deep in the forest and make a fortune…

However, while they were chatting, one of the crew members suddenly grumbled.

“What? But why aren’t you guys coming out? It’s past time for you to come out… … .”

“… … .”

Everyone’s eyes turned to the dark cave.

To send travelers into the ‘camouflage’ of the oysters, they created two roles. The front line, and the second line. The role of the lead is to lure the prey to the border where the stomach wall closes, and the role of the follower is to pull the lead out or deal with any possible friction.

Two meals have already passed since the travelers entered the cave. The front and rear teams should have gotten out a long time ago, but there wasn’t even a human nose to be seen at the entrance to the cave. A not-so-good premonition slowly tickled the back of my head.

Eventually, the conversation turned to who should go in… …

Pararararararararararararararararaak, write – oops!

… … Suddenly, a sharp flash of light came from the edge of the forest.

“… … hmm?”

“Kwaek! What, what… … ?”

Someone fell forward with a thud. He was dumbfounded and tilted his head, not knowing why he had fallen. On the other hand, his colleagues, who had figured out the reason, looked embarrassed and sullen.

“Hey, you, your ankle… … .”

“……uh?”

Looking back, I see a severed piece of foot.

The cleanly torn tendons and blood vessels were crying out and spitting out blood.

“Uh, uhh, my, my feet… … Aaaaaaaaaaa!!”

The color of the fallen man became paler than that of the corpse. Fortunately or unfortunately, it was not his tragedy alone. The flash returned to the forest and shot repeatedly, adding to the number of lost feet on the grass.

Parareraerarack, sse – ugh! Parareraerarack – sse – ugh!

“Keuuk!”

“Ahh!”

“Kuaaaaaaah!!”

Those who were far away, those who were close by, those who were running away… … There was not a single exception. The patrolmen all stumbled and fell like broken furniture. Those who fell last, sensing their fate, screamed before even seeing the severed ankles.

“Kuaaaaaaah!! Kuaaaaaaah!!”

“Ugh, ugh, huh… … .”

“Ughhhhh!! My ankle!! “My ankle!!”

In an instant, the area became a bloody mess. Screams of pain flowed into the cave and echoed. Soon, the mastermind who had caused this tragedy appeared indifferently from the forest.

A barbarian holding an ax soaked in blood.

The patrolmen’s eyes opened wide at once. They couldn’t figure out why the person who went into the cave was coming out of there.

“Huh, huh… … ? Why that, that guy… … .”

“Ugh, what, what is it? Uh, how did you get there… … .”

“… … .”

But that wasn’t what was important right now. If I stayed still, I might not end up just losing my ankle. As the barbarian approached, several of the men threw spears and daggers from their seats.

“Kuaaaahh …

“Oh, don’t come!! Don’t come, you piece of shit!!!”

Tap, tap, tap!

It was a futile struggle. The barbarian blocked them without even using an axe. Seeing him swat away metal with his bare hands as if catching some kind of fly, everyone lost their senses.

Kadim first recovered the donated food. Then, they piled the one-legged patrolmen in one place like a pack. Ilenia gathered vines from behind, and Duncan hesitated and brought a few more bundles, and they tied everyone together to form a human bundle.

“Ugh… … .”

“Aaaah… … What is this… … .”

Half of the patrolmen had already lost consciousness due to excessive bleeding and shock. Those who remained conscious were groaning incessantly. One of the patrolmen asked in a trembling voice.

“Ugh, w-what are you doing… … ? Boo, I was sure he guided me into the cave, but somehow he popped out from nowhere… … . The stooge who went with you guys… … Oh, no, the guide, what happened to the guide?”

“… … .”

The return is silent. Kadim quietly dragged the human pack into the forest. The agent urgently twisted his body and asked again.

“Ugh! Ooh, where are you taking us? Well, there seems to be some misunderstanding, so let’s clear this up first and talk… … .”

“… … “Is that really what you’re curious about?”

“Uh, what… … ?”

“Are you really curious about where I’m going?”

The agent who asked the question suddenly felt an extremely ominous feeling. He wanted to prevent the answer somehow, but his callous lips fell without mercy.

“Don’t worry. We’re going to the place you always try to guide travelers to. First of all, I threw all your colleagues there… … .”

“… … !!”

Kurrururururung… … .

A heavy tremor shook the ground. As if the tremor had been transmitted, the pupils of the bound agents shook violently as a group.

Kadim stared at the ground and muttered absentmindedly.

“… … As expected, it looks like those guys alone aren’t enough.”

*

The beginning of a densely forested forest.

A scream of evil rose from the hole in the ground.

‘Kkaaaaaaah!! Kkaaaaaaah!!!’

‘… … Ahhh!! Take it out!!! Take it out… … .’

The screams of a human mass that had just been shoved down. Occasionally, a bubbling sound could be heard, and a puff of steam mixed with a sour stench rose up. It felt like looking into a hole leading to hell.

“That… … This, that, uh, what is… … .”

“… … .”

Duncan was pale and puffed like a goldfish. When Kadim glanced sideways, Ilenia explained everything.

“Um… … Sir. As you might have guessed, the place we entered was not an ordinary tunnel. The true identity of this tunnel was a giant worm that looked like a tunnel… … In other words, it was a ‘root worm.’”

“… … Huh!?”

When the ‘rootworm’ is asleep, it simply acts as a passage. However, when it wakes up, it becomes a predator that digests the prey that enters its stomach. When it is awake, it basically cannot pass through the passage, but if it consumes enough advanced creatures such as humans, the passage will temporarily open.

“T-then what is this, some kind of devilish thing? No, some kind of bug that pretends to crawl out of a hole and eats people… … .”

“No, not a demon, but… um… a kind of dangerous mysterious monster, like a golem or a dragon. The purpose of this bug is not to cause pain and despair, but simply to pass along its path and consume higher life forms. Humans don’t eat animals with the malicious intent of causing pain, do they?”

“… … .”

“Well, of course, the guys down here had similar malicious intentions and deceived people… … .”

‘… … Ahhhhh… … .’

‘… … Kkwaaaaaa, s, s aaaaaaaa… … .’

“… … Right now, it seems like you’re paying a sufficient price, so don’t worry about it.”

Ilenia smiled as if nothing had happened while listening to the sound of people dissolving in gastric juice. Duncan, on the other hand, could not keep his composure at all. The roar of that terminal was terrible, but it was also because they were inside there just a moment ago… … .

They escaped the root tunnel by breaking through the ceiling in their stomach.

Kadim had deliberately followed the minions into the den to do just that in the first place. It finds the location of the stomach and makes a hole, so that it can feed a lot of food directly through it and use the gourd as an input port.

It was said that the rootworm could digest its prey without difficulty even with such a large hole. Thanks to this, the patrolmen were spared the trouble of carrying each one on their backs through the narrow tunnels… … If Duncan had known about this plan in advance, he would not have followed along so obediently.

The archaeologist purred, his lips trembling as if he knew this would happen.

“Ugh, so I told you. I couldn’t tell you because I was afraid the man would say I wasn’t going in. Still, it’s not necessarily a bad thing that it woke up. “The more fresh food they eat, the bigger they grow and the longer they can travel.”

“… … !”

The mystery contained in the ‘root worm’ leads to a farther exit. That is why, only by passing through the worm hole, can one enter the forest, bypassing the circling entrance.

However, if the bug was awake, it was possible to feed it, grow it, and go further.

These self-proclaimed patrollers also said that their goal was to feed the burrows deep into the forest by feeding them plenty of food. Looking at the amount of white bones piled up inside, it was clear that they had worked hard. In the end, they too ended their lives as prey to this oyster… … .

Kurrururur… … .

The tremors of the ground gradually subsided. It seems that the oysters, which had been eating greedily, are slowly feeling full. It was worth it since it swallowed more than twenty living humans.

“Phew… … .”

Duncan sighed and nodded his head sheepishly.

Although it was a terrible sacrifice, it was understandable if you think of it as karmic retribution. If those fake patrolmen had been left alone, there would have been many more victims. And since so many people were sacrificed as food, the king would have been satisfied with this… … .

however.

Kadim was not satisfied with just this.

Those patrol officers were only included as appetizers, but there was a separate main course in mind from the beginning. perhaps… … A menu that goes beyond common sense and may drastically shorten your journey.

Before putting the plan into action, I asked Ilenia one last time.

“Hey, is it really okay for this bug to overeat?”

“yes?”

“Is there any problem even if I feed my stomach until my stomach explodes? “There’s a big hole in the stomach, and it seems like everything you feed comes out of here.”

Illenia hesitated and answered.

“Uh… … Yes. There probably won’t be a problem. When the ‘rootworm’ eats a lot of food, it grows immediately, and its stomach size also increases accordingly… … . If the stomach wall expands significantly, that perforation will naturally heal.”

Then there was no hesitation.

Kadim immediately took out the iron water bottle and gulped it down. As his peripheral nerves began to flush with blood, he raised the Iron Demon and headed towards the lifeboat.

“Oh, will I get better?”

“Hey, mercenary? What are you doing…?”

And with no time for anyone to stop him… …

Ugh – Ugh!

… … She cut off her own left arm and threw it into his stomach.

*

――――― Kugugugugugugugugugung – !!

A vast echo shook the earth. The beautiful trees at the foot of the forest swayed like silver grass, and all the shapes in the world trembled and spread out in a pale white color.

“Ugh, hot hot hot hot!!!”

The humble mercenary, Benson, crouched down and screamed.

Even though dust flowed into my throat and my bones trembled coldly as they touched the ground, I did not move. I just hoped that this natural disaster would be safely avoided.

Rumbling, rumbling, coo coo coo… … .

After what seemed like eons, the tremors that struck the ground finally stopped.

Benson carefully got up and spit out the dust.

“Cluck, clack, clack…” … . Kyaak, kyaak, kyaak… … .”

I couldn’t figure out what was going on. I was just about to chase after that girl and the group of savages… … but then an earthquake suddenly occurred and got in the way… … I almost left this world before I could even talk to that girl.

However, it was not the earthquake that made the ground shake.

Benson, who had been following the trail of Kadim and his party, was met with a jaw-dropping sight.

“W-what, what is this…” … .”

The entrance is too large to be considered a cave.

Even when viewed from a distance, its scale was surprisingly grand. It almost looks like a dragon with its mouth wide open.

Looking closely, it seemed like the cave wasn’t that big to begin with.

The old tree that had spread its roots had collapsed, and the edges of the tunnel were cracked. It must have been the aftereffect of rapid expansion. In addition, the road surface along the tunnel path had bulged like freshly baked bread, and the forest was a mess of uprooted trees.

Although I thought it couldn’t be true, a thought occurred to me that it might be true.

‘Could it be… that earthquake earlier was caused by this cave growing?’

The cloudy pupils shook pitifully. How could the cave become so large… … Who could have done this… … How deep could a cave this large lead to… … A supernatural fear swept over me like a storm.

What’s more frightening than anything else is that the footsteps of Kadim and his party lead right into that huge cave.

“… … .”

Benson hesitated, wondering if he should stop chasing and turn back now.

But at this point, I’m starting to get a little angry. It’s not like I’m asking for much… … Since I’ve come this far, I should probably get at least one of them, either the elf or the girl… … But they’ve already passed through this cave… … What could possibly happen?

The tree was in danger of breaking before it even entered the cave.

To be exact, we reached the red grass near the cave.

“… … Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!”

After seeing lost ankles scattered all over the place, Benson fell to the ground, screaming like a girl with a spider on the bridge of her nose.