Endless Evolution As A Skeleton In A Game-Like World
Chapter 14: [14) Disobeying Orders

Chapter 14: [14) Disobeying Orders

The party immediately went to work preparing camp. Considering that they could potentially be taking on a high grade mob, Soo-Jin decided to give them enough time to rest.

When they had gathered a pile of sticks around into the center of the camp, everyone glanced at Ark.

"I’m not a lighter..." he muttered as he walked over and sparked the camp fire to life.

[Camp effect active! Players fatigue will continually reduce over time, and players health will continually increase.]

The camp fire effect was pretty slow, but it was decent enough to not be a total waste of time

Ark rested his back on a log and stared up at the clouds, trying to devise a plan.

’Diamond scale anaconda huh...’

There was a chance it was something else, no one apart from Olivia had seen it after all, but Olivia wasn’t exactly the most attentive in class.

Soo-jin’s instruction to everyone was to rest, and stay as far away as possible to avoid alerting the creature.

Ark fully agreed, there was no telling how sensitive it was, and if it attacked them unprepared, they would be wiped out before they even realised what was happening.

Still, because of this, there was no way to confirm Olivia’s observation.

But if she was right...

"Hmmm..."

Ark pulled out a dagger he had strapped to his waist. It was a rusty weapon, one that he had taken off the corpse of a goblin.

He lifted it into the air and observed it.

The weapon was crude, but the craftsmanship wasn’t too bad. It was jagged on one edge, and the other end which was meant to be sharp was dull.

Wrapped around its handle was what seemed to be animal hide tightly strung together.

If they were really going to fight the serpent, he needed something sharp. The crowbar would not be very effective against a monster that large.

Ark made sure no one was looking before he activated Dark Harvest.

[Harvest successful! You have successfully removed impurities from Dull Goblin Dagger]

[Dull Goblin Dagger has been upgraded!]

[Dull Goblin Dagger >> Basic Dagger!]

Ark scrolled through his system tab and was surprised by the results. The weapon was actually rated higher than his crowbar.

It was still trash, but F+ was better than an F right? The extra qualifier did not show up until he looked into [more details], but it was good to know.

While Ark was scrolling through his system, the brothers suddenly stood up and walked to the corner of the camp.

Soo-jin had also gone on a walk earlier, so no one stood up to stop them. But as Ark watched them go, he couldn’t help but hope deep in his heart, that they wouldn’t do something stupid.

<•••>

"Are you serious? But Soo-Jin said we should stay put—"

"Soo-jin is not my mother!" Charles cut Noah off with a snarl. "Have you forgotten why we need to make it out alive, Noah?"

Noah shook his head, his face downcast.

Their family had once been a reputable group of players, but after their father died, their family had slowly been degrading, and now they barely had anything to their name.

Thankfully, they had awakened as players, and so their mother took out a large loan to equip them for the tutorial.

He and his brother were the last shot their family had at a revival, they could not afford to die here.

"I understand." Noah said through gritted teeth. "But aren’t you doing the opposite? If you go after that monster, you may end up dead!"

"I am not going after it. I am just going to take a peak." He sighed.

"Listen brother. Whether I like it or not, it would be best to stick with that bitch, but we can’t risk dying by following her. If I find out that it is something we can’t handle, then we’ll have to part ways with her."

Noah did not seem convinced.

Charles did not feel good leaving his brother without reassuring him, so he suddenly vanished into thin air before reappearing seconds later.

"W-what was that?" Noah’s eyes widened as he watched him.

Charles smirked. "It’s my ticket out..."

[Invisible hand]

It was a D-Rank skill that allowed him to completely mask his presence, and boost his agility for twenty seconds.

He only had three uses of the skill a day, but it was more than enough to escape whatever monster was out there.

"I’ll be right back brother. If anyone asks, I took a walk, okay?" Charles held his brother’s shoulder.

Noah nodded. "Yes. Stay safe."

"I will."

After his discussion with his brother, Charles immediately set out, dashing through the forest as noiselessly as he could.

He dismissed his sword and shield, leaving on a dagger that he had strapped to his thigh.

’Olivia said it was in this direction...’ he mused as he charged north.

Although Charles was praying he did not encounter any monster, after more than five minutes of straight running, he still hadn’t encountered anything.

’Is this place supposed to be this safe?’ It was almost as if the monsters were avoiding this part of the forest...

Pushing the thoughts out of his mind, Charles kept running, up until he finally arrived.

He had not believed there was a place like this when Olivia told them what she saw, but now, standing just at the border of the place, Charles let out a breath.

"What is this place?"

It was a wide clearing that was bare and moised, not a single plant in the wide space. And surrounding this clearing were tall trees with crimson leaves, swaying gently in the wind like relics of a forgotten time.

It was an eerie view, and just staring at the place filled Charles with dread.

This was not a place he wanted to be, deep down in his gut, he could feel it.

But he could not come this far without exploring.

Charles activated his skill, vanishing into thin air, before he took one step into the clearing. The ground parted as though he was stepping in butter.

Silence...

After five seconds, nothing had happened.

Charles looked around the place. Where were the tracks Olivia told him about? She had told them it was as wide as a bus, but there was not a single blemish on the smooth ground.

’That girl needs to get her eyes checked. There is nothing here.’

He should have known it was a hoax when she claimed she could see from that far, no human could see from that distance, he didn’t care what her race was—

?!

"What the—" Charles nearly vomited as a thick smell of rot invaded his nose. He stepped back and spat on the floor.

’What the hell is that stench? Did something die inside that muck?’

He shook the sand off his feet and turned around to leave, feeling something bitter climb up his throat.

Apart from whatever dead monster was lying around, there was nothing to see there.

Olivia’s story was a hoax.

Not wanting to spend another second in the eerie place, Charles sprinted back the way he had come...

<•••>

Back in the still forest clearing, a ripple suddenly spread through the ground as though it were a river.

At the spot where Charles’s saliva lay, the ground depressed, and sharp teeth suddenly sprung up around it, pulling it into the soil.

A few seconds passed in still silence.

And then something rose, a gigantic creature, one so large that it blocked out part of the moon.

It sniffed the air. Once. Twice. Then it moved, heading right in the direction of their camp—