Subscriber of the Gods

[LV 21]

Level.

Originally, it was impossible to see an opponent’s level on this map. The only way to see their level was to have a hidden job or to gain a hard-to-get superpower.

‘All I could see was my level and stats.’

But now he could see his opponent’s level.

The wolf was level 21.

‘Okay, this makes it worth the four likes.’

Ethan couldn’t help but smile.

A skill that could be used to exploit weaknesses and read monsters’ levels.

Knowing the level of the opponent was a huge advantage.

It allowed him to determine quickly how strong or weak they were.

In short, it would increase the chances of winning because he could intuitively check and make judgments.

“As expected of monsters in the Dark Forest, their level is high.”

“Grrrrr.”

“Young Master, stay as far away from me as possible!”

“I know.”

A normal forest monster would be in the single digits, or at most level 10.

So level 21 was a very high level.

Moreover, they had just entered the Dark Forest, so they were at the very beginning.

It was clear that the further you went, the higher-level monsters would come out.

But as long as he could see their weaknesses, he had a better chance of defeating them.

‘I wasn’t planning on fighting them directly.’

Ethan knew how to take them on.

He didn’t know their exact weaknesses, but he knew what weapons and attributes they were vulnerable to.

‘But that was when I had good stats, and this time I was about to use a surefire way to get away.’

Running away was one way to deal with monsters that one could not fight.

So this time, he was going to run away and get to Hecate’s granddaughter.

But this changed things.

‘There are achievements for killing monsters, I think. 100, 200, 300.’

He remembered getting one achievement for each higher number.

“Become my likes.”

Ethan grinned and plunged his sword into the wolf in front of him.

These wolves’ weak spot was their forehead. A bright red dot was stuck in the middle.

‘I have to be precise. The dot is very small.’

However, the entire forehead was not the weak spot. It was right in the center. No, a little above it.

There was a tiny red dot, and that was the forest wolf’s weakness.

‘It’s usually hard to hit a spot that small with precision.’

However, for the current Ethan, it wasn’t too difficult.

Due to his talent as a sword prodigy and his repeated practice of Heo’s Acupuncture, the precision of his swordsmanship was quite high.

“Whimper!”

The sword stabbed out with precision, instantly causing the wolf to go limp.

Critical strike!

Schudlen, who was swinging his sword at the wolf from behind, opened his eyes wide.

“No, Young Master! How……”

“Schudlen. The forehead is their weak spot. Aim precisely for the forehead.”

“Yes!”

Looking at Ethan, who was far calmer than he was, though he didn’t know how Schudlen nodded and plunged his sword into the wolf’s forehead.

“Whimper!”

It didn’t kill it in a single strike like Ethan had, but it was enough to mortally wound it.

“We go to the center of the Dark Forest like this, Schudlen.”

“Yes, Young Master!”

* * *

Whimper!

The screams of the monsters spread through the dark forest.

“Heup!”

Ethan breathed heavily as he thrust his sword in, killing the wolf with a single strike.

“Yo-Young Master. How did you know this? You’re amazing.”

“They were secretly trying to protect something on their face, I just observed it.”

Of course, it was thanks to his skill.

The wolf’s weakness, Ethan had always known, was its right leg, where it carried its source of power, the magic stone.

His new skill, Monsters’ Calamity, was incredibly powerful, but only on monsters.

He could see his opponent’s weakness, and all he had to do was stab it.

‘And on top of that.’

Ethan was grinning from ear to ear.

If there was one thing that was a big part of MePan, it was the monsters.

The history of the humans here was a history of wars with monsters, and monsters were everywhere.

Slaying monsters was a common occurrence, and entire cities were often destroyed by powerful monsters.

So there was a lot of fighting with monsters.

Gaining these skills in such a place would be very helpful in the future.

‘The great thing is that I can deal with whatever monsters come out of this dark forest right now.’

“Schudlen.”

“Yes.”

“The corpses of monsters are money. You know that, right?”

“Yes, I am aware of that. But I don’t know much about dismantling them. It’s something you have to be a professional hunter to do in the first place.”

The monsters of the Dark Forest were each powerful, which meant that their byproducts were also expensive.

Teeth, hides, claws, blood, and, of course, magic stones.

There was nothing to throw away, but the problem was dismantling.

If one did not know how to prepare them properly, it was safe to say that all but the magic stones were practically worthless.

Ethan chuckled to himself as he approached the monster carcass.

“Watch and follow along.”

“Yes?”

“From now on, the monsters we kill will be dismantled by you. If you don’t understand, ask me again.”

“What do you mean……”

As soon as Schudlen spoke, Ethan raised his sword and slashed at the wolf’s corpse.

Twak!

“This is how you dismantle them, and when you do the skinning, you should be careful not to damage the skin.”

Ethan’s touch was gentle.

The wolf’s corpse was dismantled in an instant, transformed into something that could be found in a shop.

“The magic stone is in the foot.”

“Yo-Young Master, how did you……”

Schudlen could only open his mouth in disbelief.

How could Ethan, a noble, be able to expertly do this kind of dismantling!

Although Schudlen hadn’t done it himself, he had seen it done quite a bit, so he knew that Ethan’s skills were excellent.

Ethan then spoke as if it was no big deal.

“I saw it in a book.”

“My god.”

* * *

“Grrr!”

The monsters of the Dark Forest were dangerous.

They attacked at all hours of the day and night.

Only the strongest could escape them unharmed.

And Ethan was not one of them. It was because he knew so much about the monsters, but he wasn’t strong enough to put that information into use.

“We need to go a little faster. If we stay here for the night, we’re a hundred percent dead.”

“Yes, Young Master!”

Schudlen had already become a knight, faithfully following Ethan’s orders.

Despite his lack of experience in hunting these monsters, Ethan was handling them naturally.

Therefore, Schudlen could only trust Ethan’s words completely.

He had already stopped overthinking it.

“I can’t believe you utilized something you saw in a book. You are a genius!”

Schudlen had already reached the level of a fanatic for Ethan.

Normally, it would be hard to believe and he would have to be suspicious, but Ethan was a swordsmanship genius.

In Schudlen’s eyes, Ethan was already beyond the category of normal people.

“That is why people need to read books.”

Ethan continued to roll his eyes.

The same monster could have different weaknesses.

Depending on their condition, their weaknesses would change, or if the monster had a previous wound, it would show up as a weakness.

‘This one must have hurt his foot.’

Ethan’s sword sliced right through the wolf’s foot, and the wolf died instantly.

“Huu.”

‘It’s almost time for another monster to appear.’

The monsters of the Dark Forest didn’t live in harmony. The forest had defined territories between monsters.

“Hmm.”

Ethan frowned as he thought he had reached the next area.

‘This is bad.’

For the most part, each area had its own monsters, but there were exceptions.

It was not uncommon for an area to have multiple monsters.

‘If the monsters are following a single monster, there can be multiple monsters, and that can be very dangerous. They can compensate for each other’s weaknesses.’

Patter, patter, patter.

Ethan could tell who they were by the sound of their footsteps.

Light footsteps and heavy footsteps.

“Damn it.”

Ethan clicked his tongue. Never in a million years did he think they’d be in this part of the Dark Forest.

“Young Master.”

“Schudlen. On my signal, you pick me up and run straight ahead. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Now!”

Ethan gave the signal, and Schudlen quickly lifted him up. As he ran forward with Ethan on his back, a crude arrow shot from where they had just been.

“Goblin rider!”

Schudlen shouted in alarm.

Goblins were tiny creatures, smaller than humans and weaker in strength, so they weren’t inherently threatening, but they were cunning and intelligent, and one had to be careful.

Some, especially those called Goblin Riders, rode boar-like creatures to compensate for their slow speed.

The Goblin Riders in front of them now rode boars with long, pointed, protruding tusks.

They looked much stronger than the usual goblin riders, with several weapons strapped to their waists and bows in their hands,

“I think the goblins have tamed those horn hogs.”

This was once the domain of horn hogs.

[Lv 28]

Having tamed a level 28 horn hog, it was safe to say that the goblins were stronger than that.

“Keep running!”

“They’re faster than I thought!”

“We have to go faster!”

Ethan dug into his pockets.

He pulled out the wolf’s blood he’d after dismantling the wolf’s carcass.

“Kiiik!”

A few of the goblin riders smelled the scent and split off, following the blood.

But many were still chasing Ethan and Schudlen.

“Faster! If we get caught, we die! You and I!”

“Aaaahhhhh!”

Schudlen ran forward frantically.

Ethan grabbed his hair without realizing it.

“Right!”

He grasped the right side of his head, turning Schudlen’s body to the right.

“Left!”

This time he grabbed his left hair.

“Go straight ahead, stand in front of that tree for a moment, then crouch!”

As Schudlen stood in front of the tree and crouched down, an arrow containing magic shattered the tree and pierced through it.

If he had been standing, the arrow would have gone straight through his body.

“The goblins here can shoot arrows. They’re laced with a terrible poison.”

“Wh-what kind of poison?”

Schudlen asked urgently as he started running again.

“Dung poison.”

It was the foulest poison in the world.

“If you get hit, you’ll be a dead knight with a dung poison, and you’ll be a knight who died of a dung poison and failed to protect his master. A dung poison. It’s sad, but I suppose it’s inevitable.”

Ethan’s words energized Schudlen’s entire body. He was exhausted, but he couldn’t stop.

A knight who died of dung poisoning? That’s ridiculous.

I cannot suffer such dishonor!

“I-I’m fine if I die slaying a dragon, but I certainly don’t want to die of dung poison!”

“Then run! Just a little more!”

“Aaahhhhhhhh!”

With a sound that one could not tell if it was a scream or a cry, Schudlen sprinted forward.