Chapter 99

There are many eccentrics in this world, and they come in all kinds.

A primitive-technology specialist is one such breed of eccentric. They restore the techniques humanity used during its hunting-and-gathering days and study how to survive in nature with nothing but their bare hands.

How to start a fire. How to chip and break stones to make tools. How to set traps…

In the past, Woojin had scoured the internet to learn every survival skill he could in order to live through the Demonic Realm. And every night, he honed those abilities in his dreams.

Therefore, dismantling a lion, skinning it, and butchering its meat was hardly difficult.

‘Lion meat isn’t particularly tasty.’

Woojin chewed the fire-roasted lion meat several times. Like most carnivorous beasts, the flesh was extremely tough and reeked with a strong gamey odor. The characteristic bitterness of demonic beast meat was an added bonus.

Still, even meat like this was valuable food in its own way. Woojin ground down the tire-tough lion meat with persistent bites and swallowed it.

After finishing his combative meal…

“…Time to check.”

Wiping the grease from his fingers, Woojin rose to his feet. He intended to see whether his sewing materials had finished curing.

A simply crafted wooden rack stood nearby. Draped over it were the carefully tanned male lion’s hide—stripped of fat—and its sinews.

‘Dried nicely.’

The materials had reached the proper level of dryness. It seemed about time to begin the work he had put off.

Properly dried animal sinew becomes stiff and hard. Woojin lightly tapped the corded tendon with the butt of his machete handle.

Thud, thud-thud…

With each pounding, like grinding grain in a mortar, the lion’s sinew gradually softened and began splitting along its fibers. Extremely thin yet resilient muscle strands. He carefully separated those fibers and gathered them aside.

Too thin to use as they were, he overlapped a few strands together and briskly rubbed his palms, twisting them tight.

Fwap, fwap-fwap—!

The fibers that passed through Woojin’s hands twisted firmly like braided dough. The speed and precision resembled something drawn straight from a machine.

He had made thread.

Thread crafted from a demonic beast’s sinew possessed astonishing strength. With just a bit more thickness, it would easily suffice as a bowstring.

Making hunting clothes required quite a lot of thread. Woojin patiently repeated the same process over and over.

“…That should do.”

He had secured enough thread.

With the groundwork complete, it was time to begin the real task. Using a dagger made from a fang, Woojin started slicing into the male lion’s hide.

This was no easy feat either.

‘Incredibly tough.’

Its durability defied common sense. That was because the male lion possessed the Stonehide trait.

Not surprising.

To reign as a predator in the depths of the Demonic Realm, Stonehide was practically a required virtue. It would have been stranger if it didn’t have it.

Thus, cutting and stitching this hide would be extremely arduous work… but fortunately, Woojin had mastered various techniques.

Kiiiing!

A dark blue aura wrapped around the dagger.

Mana Arts. A technique that reinforced an object’s durability and sharpness through mana. Using it made the task far easier.

‘Good thing I learned this before.’

Anything you learn eventually proves useful.

After cutting the male lion’s hide with the mana-infused dagger and repeatedly stitching with his needle, the shape of clothing gradually took form.

When that grueling span of time finally passed… Woojin lifted his creation with both hands.

A glossy black hunting outfit. The lion’s mane around the neck looked magnificent. The buttons were made by grinding down the lion’s claws, and the skin of the lion’s head had been fashioned into a hood.

From thread to fabric to buttons—every part of the hunting outfit was made from the lion’s body. As Woojin examined it, he tilted his head slightly.

‘Feels like I made a mistake.’

Not a bad one. Simply that the result had far exceeded his intended level.

He had made it too well.

No matter how he looked at it, the piece surpassed his own ability. If asked to make it again, he doubted he could. Thinking so, Woojin put on the new hunting outfit.

“…Nice.”

A comfortable fit wrapped around his body. It made him feel one step closer to civilization.

Having completed one task, the fatigue he had been holding back came rushing in. Woojin let out a leisurely yawn. If it were up to him, he would crawl into sleep right now…

“…I still need to make a scabbard.”

There was a mountain of work left.

He could do it after waking, but since he had already started, it was better to finish. With that resolve, Woojin continued without rest.

****

After finishing his work, Woojin rested comfortably inside the cave. It felt slightly wasteful to spend time like this, but rushing at a moment like this would only backfire.

‘It’s not a distance I can cover in a day or two.’

The road ahead was long. Not a short-term battle, but a long campaign. Therefore, it was right to rest as much as possible and prepare the necessary items before setting out.

He spent several days resting, alternating between sleep and meals. Thanks to that, his body recovered to a decent degree.

“…Time to depart.”

Woojin picked up his pack—made from the remaining lioness hide.

Perhaps because he had poured too much passion into the hunting outfit, his enthusiasm had cooled; the bag’s craftsmanship was comparatively rough. Still, it was sturdy and fully functional.

“First… let’s survey the surroundings.”

From a high vantage point, he needed to scan the area and check for potential dangers.

A rocky mountain caught his eye. Approaching it, Woojin climbed the steep slope with the sure-footed ease of a mountain goat.

Before long, he reached the summit.

As he looked around, the first thing that entered his view was a line of volcanoes rising along the distant horizon. They stood clustered together like a mountain range. Though far away, they appeared massive.

Black volcanic ash billowed from each summit. That ash blanketed the sky, and the deeper one went into the Demonic Realm, the darker the shade grew.

Thus, the volcanoes marked the north. The opposite direction, where the shadows thinned, was south.

“…What lies beyond those mountains?”

The thought struck him suddenly.

According to legend, in the far north there existed underground ruins from a forgotten age. And within those ruins lurked the source of all calamities.

The Gate to Another World.

The mad king of the old north had personally seized its handle and twisted it, allowing the Demonic Realm and ancient beings to cross into the present world.

“Are those ruins beyond that mountain range?”

If so, Woojin had just discovered the ultimate destination sought by the Order Alliance.

Thinking that…

He felt it would be a shame to head straight south from here. For the sake of the future, it would be better to gather information in advance.

“…Let’s at least confirm it.”

After checking what lay beyond the mountain range, he would head south again and return to the city. With that conclusion, Woojin began walking toward the distant north.

Naturally, the path was not smooth.

Chrak, chrraak—

An eerie sound tickled his ears. It was like a maraca filled with grain being shaken. A rattlesnake flicked the end of its tail, releasing a warning rattle.

The tail’s tip was grotesquely large and thick—shaped like a massive hammer.

‘A Stonehammer Rattlesnake.’

It was Woojin’s first time seeing one in person. A demonic beast mentioned in Yurgis’s Records of the Demonic Realm.

The creature subtly raised its head. Its body was so large that even coiled up, its eye level nearly matched Woojin’s.

Bwoong—

A chilling sound pierced his ears. Sensing danger, Woojin instinctively stepped back.

KWA-BOOOOM!!

The rattlesnake’s tail lashed out like a whip, smashing into the ground and shattering it. The power was far from ordinary. Woojin narrowed his eyes.

‘Strange way of attacking.’

The Stonehammer Rattlesnake continuously shook its tail, building momentum side to side. The instant its prey exposed an opening, it thrust the tail forward to strike.

Fast as a whip, powerful as a battering ram. Carelessly approaching would be dangerous.

‘Let’s test the waters.’

Woojin drew a dagger from his waist—a throwing blade made from lion bone and fang—and hurled it toward the snake’s brow.

Clang!

The snake flicked its tail, easily deflecting the incoming dagger. But Woojin had more.

He threw four daggers in succession. The projectiles shot from his fingertips and converged on the rattlesnake. In response, the snake spun the tip of its tail rapidly like a pinwheel.

Clang-clang-clang!!

All the daggers were knocked away. That kind of attack wouldn’t work on this creature.

‘Fast—and fairly strong.’

How should he kill it?

As Woojin pondered, the coiled rattlesnake swayed its tail tip mockingly, as if sneering, Is that all you’ve got?

Seeing that, Woojin grabbed something hanging at his waist and threw it. Once again, the snake easily blocked the incoming object.

Smack!

Something shattered. The object that struck the snake’s tail burst apart. What Woojin had thrown wasn’t a dagger, but a bamboo water flask.

The snake was drenched in its contents—a sticky liquid with a pungent scent. Pine resin he had collected from trees earlier that day.

‘Not very intelligent, I see.’

Woojin conjured a small flame in his palm and tossed it toward the rattlesnake.

Resin burns well.

“Kiiik, kiiiik—!”

The snake shrieked as flames engulfed it. Thrashing violently, it smashed the surrounding area in a frenzy. At times like this, it was best not to engage directly.

Stepping back at a safe distance, Woojin calmly watched it convulse.

‘Can’t drag this out too long.’

Naturally, tricks like this wouldn’t be enough to hunt a powerful demonic beast. Before long, the flames died down. The enraged rattlesnake glared at him as if it wanted to devour him whole.

But the time he needed had been bought.

Whoooosh!

At that very moment, having finished his incantation, Woojin formed a large fireball between his palms.

“Kiiik?!”

Having already tasted fire, the rattlesnake panicked and tried to flee—but the fireball left Woojin’s hands first.

BOOOOM!!

“SKREEEE—!”

The snake writhed once more in agony. Watching, Woojin gave a small nod.

‘Fire is its weakness.’

Perhaps because it was cold-blooded, snake-like creatures tended to be vulnerable to fire. This rattlesnake was no exception.

After thrashing for a long while, the snake eventually exhausted itself and collapsed limp.

Now, all that remained was the finishing blow.

Woojin stepped forward. The rattlesnake gathered its last strength and tried to bite him, but the machete swung first, slicing cleanly through its neck.

The snake’s head fell onto the dirt. As if protesting its unfair end, it snapped wildly at empty air—seemingly unwilling to accept death so easily.

The last thing the rattlesnake saw was the sole of the hunter’s foot growing larger.

Crunch!

Woojin stomped down, crushing the snake’s head into the ground.

‘Handled it easily enough.’

He had used a fair amount of mana, but he had conserved his stamina and the strength of his more devastating attacks—overall, a gain. In the Demonic Realm, preserving one’s strength was crucial. Like running a marathon.

After chewing and swallowing the snake’s inner core, he skinned it and stuffed the hide into his pack.

‘Let’s move again.’

Hunting several demonic beasts that blocked his path, Woojin pressed forward without pause toward the north.