Disconnected

Chapter 4: Untold Beginning (pt.4)

The Red path soon came into view. Serein watched as five people withered in pain and slowly died along with the two horses.

"Arghhhh!!! Save me! Save me—!" 

The armored man's voice died out as his body slowly melted from the rising acid on the ground.

Serein covered her face with a cloth, which she used to cover her mouth and nose. With her scarf acting as a mask, her brows furrowed slightly as she tried to get closer.

'This strong acid...'

A pitcher fly trap.

Blasphemous Woodland was essentially a gigantic pitcher fly trap disguised as a rainforest.

"Cherry... hurry up and go."

As she approached, Serein heard the weakened voice of a young knight whose right leg seemed to have touched the acid. From a distance, she could see him leaning pitifully on a robed girl who refused his plea.

"Stop saying nonsense and save your energy, idiot! I'll get us out of here!"

The girl sounded desperate as her bright pink hair was no longer concealed by magic. Seeing this sight confirmed the young adventurer's initial guess about the real identity of this mage and the injured knight. By now, she also knew for a fact that this Cherry girl wouldn't be able to cast flight magic on both of them to reach a safe distance, let alone teleportation. The young mage had exhausted herself fighting off the monsters for hours. They both appeared worn out, with the sense of death looming above them.

"It's okay. So, please. You don't have to stay here because of me–"

The young knight seemed to have accepted his fate as the acid slowly consumed his right foot and the two dead horses they were using as stepping grounds.

"Shut up already. I need to concentrate," the girl snapped back.

"No. Listen to me--"

"I. Am. NOT. Leaving without you!"

The young knight was about to convince her further when another voice startled them both.

"Such a heartwarming scene."

Serein's nonchalant voice caught their attention as they finally noticed her presence.

"Who’s there!? Show yourself!"

To which Serein then replied with her raspy voice, "Hey, little girl," she called out to the mage, who was barely in a better situation compared to the other survivor, the one-legged knight.

"There's no place for me to land there. But if you can cast flight magic to this branch, I'll lend you a hand for 100 gold coins each." Without wasting any precious moments, the adventurer made an offer while rearranging her ruined plan due to this unexpected encounter.

"What in the world—?"

"100 gold?"

Distrust and shock were visible in their eyes, but Serein knew better.

"Yes. 100 gold coins EACH. That means 200 gold coins in total." She understood well that these people were desperate and likely to agree to her terms.

'I don't want to be their hero.'

Being a savior to these individuals would only bring misfortunes for her in the future. She would rather be labeled as a conman or something similar than get unnecessarily entangled further.

If anything, she was actually impressed by the young knight, who had lost most of his energy but could still manage a piercing gaze toward her. The knight even tried to point his sword at this suspicious newcomer despite his apparent disadvantages.

'Great. It's working.'

The corner of Serein's lips twitched upward as she managed to provoke him. After all, she planned to sever ties with them once her part was done, and there was another reason why she taunted the two, especially the heavily wounded knight.

She couldn't save anyone who had given up before the fight. Hence, she decided to heighten the tension and add some dramatic sprinkles to spice up their first meeting.

'At least he's a proper knight.'

Serein glanced at the mage, who looked astonished at the mentioned condition. Perhaps she found it incredulous that someone would ask for money in this kind of situation.

Not that it mattered to her.

'She has the money, and they obviously need help.'

It was only a fair trade since she knew exactly why these two were venturing so far from their homeland to this dangerous place.

"Well? Can you or can't you do it, little girl?"

Serein tilted her head slightly, knowing that she had the upper hand. Meanwhile, Cherry finished biting her lip and quickly made a decision.

"I..."

Their eyes maintained contact before she spoke.

"Acquiring that much gold is impossible at the moment. But if you can truly save us, I swear upon my life that I'll definitely pay you back."

"Deal."

Cherry then levitated both of them with flight magic to the branch that Serein pointed to. Unfortunately, she ran out of mana too quickly since she needed to carry two bodies instead of one, as it was in the original plot. She nearly failed and slipped, but Serein managed to grab hold of her clothes and prevent her from falling.

'Great. This secures me at least 200 gold coins.'

The young adventurer snickered beneath her mask as she helped the pink-haired girl regain her balance on the branch before supporting the young knight to prevent him from falling as well.

"Five minutes," she said again, leaving no room for questions.

"That leg can no longer be saved. There's nothing we can do about it. However, if you can endure another five minutes, jumping onto tree branches like I did, at least you won't die, little lamb."

Serein casually spoke as she glanced at the glaring knight.

Little lamb, because that's the meaning behind the knight's real name.

Well, his name and his thick, curly hair made him resemble the said mammal.

"I can go on."

Fortunately, before the knight could say something foolish, the robed figure intervened.

"Please help Gil with the move."

Serein nodded once before providing proper support to the knight.

"Follow me."

Cherry and Gil.

Serein knew the real names of these two childhood friends. She also knew for a fact that Gil was supposed to die here, while Cherry had a hard time completing her personal mission with a broken heart after losing her dearest friend.

'This dream has distorted the plot a bit.'

Serein wasn't supposed to meet Cherry until later. But honestly, it wasn't so bad.

Min Suhyun had always felt pity for "killing" Gil too early anyway. That guy had so much potential in the future, yet she treated him as nothing but a stepping stone for Cherry's growth.

'It can be done in other ways.'

After all, although growth through despair is relatively strong and quicker when done right, now that she had matured and gained more real-life experiences, she realized it wasn't always the best solution.

There were many other ways to motivate someone to become a better version of themselves. In fact, having a person witness someone they cared about dying was more effective than having the beloved die before their eyes.

Min Suhyun had learned that the hard way.

And now, with the chance to switch things up presented before her on a silver platter, she decided to go for it for her own peace of mind.