Subscriber of the Gods

Into the Dark Forest

-You have done a good deed!

-The people of Pirenne are eternally grateful to you!

-You have earned the achievement [First Step to a Good Deed].

-You have earned '1' likes!

The underworld thugs were definitely the bad guys. Thanks to them, Ethan earned his first good deed achievement and earned one like.

The reward of ‘1 like’ might seem small at first glance, but it was important to keep collecting them as one became five, then ten.

There were a lot of achievements to clear, and the number of likes he could earn was almost limitless.

‘Plus, I've gotten quite a few things out of this fight.’

He realized that Hero's Breathing didn't just make his body stronger, it also trained his mind, and that his current body could only take advantage of the speed of his Whiskers’ swordsmanship.

‘Although I used poison to take out the big guy.’

He hadn't yet unleashed the full power of this swordsmanship.

He had one like, but he was going to save it up and spend it all at once with subscriptions and video purchases.

Suddenly, a bitter smile emerged.

‘I don't usually do good deeds like this.’

Originally, good deeds achievement in MePan had no penalties for completing them or not.

Of course, doing good deeds improves one's reputation in many ways. You could even earn a reputation based on the good deeds you did.

However, the standard for good deeds was vague, so even if you did something that seems obviously good now, such as saving a life, it was impossible to know whether it would end up as a good deed or a bad deed later.

‘That's why no one did it.’

Others would rather spend that time doing other more obvious things: hunting, clearing dungeons, searching for superpowers, or completing the main scenario.

‘I did it in the first round, but I didn't do it in the second and third rounds, and it wasn't until the last round that I really started doing it.’

There wasn't much of a reason for completing the good deeds achievements. He didn't do it out of the goodness of his heart, but because he was trying to get an all-clear.

‘But in my case right now, there's no reason not to do good deeds. My goal is to get an all-clear on all achievements.’

Ethan breathed slowly.

“Is everyone okay?”

“We're fine, we're alive. May I ask who you are, the man who saved us?”

“Ethan Whickers.”

“I see. So the rumors weren't all true!”

“Thank you very much.”

“Thank you, Young Master!”

The merchants had already recognized Ethan's identity.

It wasn't surprising, since this town was so close to Count Whickers' estate.

Many people would not recognize Ethan's name if they were farther away from the county, but since this Pirenne was located near Count Whickers' territory, his name was known to some extent.

Ethan had once been known as a swordsmanship genius, so there were few people who didn't know him.

“I will never forget this favor.”

The merchants thanked him profusely.

He had saved them from certain death, and they were ready to give Ethan their livers and gallbladders. (TLN: To give their livers and gallbladders means, Acting without regard to profit. Please correct me if I’m wrong.)

“Do you happen to know of any warehouses where these guys keep their stuff?”

“Ah! You mean the poisons, of course. They've been doing things out of their league. Damned bastards!”

One of the merchants grunted and spat. Then he pointed inward.

“I saw it! They're bringing poison from over there!”

There was a small warehouse in the back.

Ethan headed straight for it with Schudlen.

“Young Master.”

“Well done, Schudlen.”

“I didn't do anything. You did more than I could have imagined. I honestly didn't realize you were so strong.”

"It was no big deal, and I was only doing it for the Silver Lilies anyway."

Schudlen's eyes lit up as he looked at Ethan.

How could he have such a good heart?

Ethan scratched the back of his neck at that look.

‘I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding, but I don't think I need to point it out.’

“First, we have to get the silver lily. We need it.”

“Are you going to make it into a medicine?”

“Yes. But it's not for me to eat.”

“Yes? Then what are you going to use it for?”

“I'm feeding it to someone I just happened to know, and she's not feeling well either.”

‘Of course, she's been forced to be unwell.’

As they approached the warehouse, he smelled the distinctive odor of silver lilies. Not all of them had been poisoned. Ethan moved further inside.

'This is such a mess. The Poison King's recipe must be pretty good if it still produces poison even though it's made in such a mess of a place.'

When making poison, everything around you must be clean. Only then could you create the desired poison.

A poisoner also had to control the toxicity of the poison.

Ethan gathered up all the silver lilies in a pile to one side.

He then placed the poison in a glass jar nearby.

‘This is why I bought the Subspace Pouch.’

It was very expensive, but it was the best way to store a lot of stuff. It was almost like having an inventory window.

“This is great.”

He got the silver lilies he wanted and the poison.

When he stepped outside the warehouse, the merchants were still waiting for him.

Ethan dismissed them.

“Everyone, you can go back. I'll go clean up the rest of the mess.”

“Thank you!”

“Thank you!”

Now they would never forget Ethan's favor. Of course, he didn't expect anything great in return, but that was what good deeds were.

‘I also get one likes.’

Grin.

“What a good business.”

* * *

"If they were any stronger, I would have had to run.”

Ethan remembered the battle with the thugs.

He'd won, but he'd only had just enough strength left after the battle.

Just breathing was one thing, but breathing while fighting was quite another. And Hero's Breathing was a skill that shined in combat situations.

“My proficiency is now up to 5%, so I can breathe much deeper than before.”

Breathing deeper allowed you to utilize more power.

‘In the end, I need to make up for my lack of offense with a deeper understanding of what I've learned.’

That was when Schudlen came in.

“Young Master, are you all right?”

“Schudlen. I want to ask you to run an errand for me. I'm out of energy, and I was wondering if you could get me some food?”

“Ah, yes! I'll be right back!”

After sending Schudlen on his errand, Ethan immediately began practicing his Heo’s Acupuncture. The more skillful his breathing became, the more mana he could accumulate.

‘Save the mana that can be saved, and drain the mana that has rotted away.’

Even as the mana rotted away, it was steadily building up, little by little.

This little bit of mana was building stamina in Ethan's body.

‘The synergy between Hero's Breathing and Heo’s Acupuncture is great.’

Ethan inserted his acupuncture needles into the five elements and breathed slowly. The rotten mana flowed out with the Hero’s Breathing.

“Huu.”

Feeling his body filling up, Ethan thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to bring Schudlen around with him

‘Normally, I can't keep him around.’

He was basically Count Whickers' knight, not his own.

‘He's good enough to carry out a number of orders without question. He's not overwhelmingly skilled, but he has a certain loyalty to me.’

That was enough. What he needed now was a loyal subordinate who would follow his words.

Ethan immediately prepared to make the decoction.

He took out a pot from his subspace pouch and immediately began boiling the decoction, muttering to himself.

“The effects of the decoction are great, but there will come a time when you're too weak to handle it, and when you're too full to finish it. That's the way of the herbalists. I've never heard of a herbalist swordsman, much less a herbalist wizard.”

Ethan relaxed his body and prepared to leave.

“Let's go. Shudlen. We'll eat on the way.”

* * *

The Dark Forest.

Ethan never stopped training during the journey to get there.

Every day, he woke up and practiced his swordsmanship, using the Hero's Breathing, and healed his body with Heo’s Acupuncture.

“Young Master, are you sure are you all right?”

“I'm fine, so come at me seriously.”

Schudlen swung the sword in his hand.

When Schudlen saw Ethan practicing acupuncture on a daily basis, he was very puzzled at first.

But when he told Schudlen it was for treatment, he stopped asking questions.

Clang!

Ethan trained with Schudlen every day. Schudlen's swordsmanship was pretty good, so he was the perfect person to train with.

His senses were heightened, and he improved his skills. He didn't want to die of the disease, but he also didn't want to be defeated because of his skill.

<Possessed Skills: Heo’s Acupuncture (A) [5.4%], Hero's Breath (A) [7.1%], Whiskers' Swordsmanship (B) [100%], Heo’s Decoction (A) [4%] >.

As a result, the proficiency in Heo’s Acupuncture and the Hero’s Breathing skills went up considerably.

‘Looking at the numbers, it doesn't seem like there's much of an increase, though.’

However, the difference in skill level was much more than the numbers showed.

Bang! Bang!

“You're swinging the same, but the power seems to change from day to day!”

Ethan could feel it, just as Schudlen had said.

‘I can feel my body changing every day.’

He was so weak that once he gained some muscle, he couldn't see his bones anymore.

Also, with Heo’s Acupuncture, he now knew where to insert the needles without having to watch the video.

Of course, it was still difficult to build up some mana.

The mana he had accumulated would quickly become rotten, so he would have to use acupuncture to draw out the rotten mana.

Though, at least he was able to build up some mana.

And it was his physical strength that he needed to train with Hero's Breathing. He needed to harden his body first.

‘And about Heo’s Acupuncture. I'm only at 5% proficiency, but if this is already the quality, I can't wait to see what it's like when I'm at 100%.’

By the time it reached 100%, he was feeling like he could use Heo’s Acupuncture freely.

After completing the training, they moved forward again.

“Now it's time to be a little wary.”

Getting to the Dark Forest wasn't too difficult.

He wasn't familiar with the roads near Count Whiskers' estate because he hadn't traveled there often, but he knew all the roads to the Dark Forest from Pirenne.

Ethan was well aware of how dangerous the Dark Forest could be.

If you relaxed even a little, you would be eaten by the monsters that lived there.

‘I'll have to do everything I can before we go in.’

“Young Master. Are we really going into the Dark Forest?”

Schudlen furrowed his brow slightly.

In truth, Ethan wasn't the kind of man to explain the meaning behind every action.

Schudlen didn't bother to ask either; his purpose was to escort Ethan.

“Yes. The person I'm looking for is in the Dark Forest.”

“It's too dangerous, Young Master. I could actually handle it in the underworld, but it's different in the Dark Forest. This forest is a very dangerous place.”

“I know.”

“Then we shouldn't have gone in there. Your body isn't completely healed, and I can't handle the strong monsters once we get deeper into the forest. If we go in, there's a good chance we'll both die. I don't mind dying, but if I die because I can't protect you, it would be my disgrace.”

The Dark Forest was certainly a dangerous place.

Of all the forests in MePan, those labeled "dark" contained dangerous monsters.

It was the effect of that strange viscous aura the forest gave off.

The Dark Forest would have been dangerous even if Ethan had been in his normal form, but in his weakened state, there was no way he could have handled the monsters in the forest.

“Don't worry, I'll run away if I think it's dangerous.”

“Huh, I understand, but who on earth are you going to meet in there? There's nothing but monsters in the Dark Forest.”

“Someone who will save my life.”

* * *

Before entering the forest, Ethan prepared himself.

First, he inserted acupuncture needles into various points on his body.

This was because there might not be a good time to use his Heo’s Acupuncture once they were in the Dark Forest.

“Ah, and there was one video I didn't watch yet.”

He opened the [New World].

There were two videos of Hercules, and Ethan hadn't seen one of them yet.

“It's titled, How to Beat a Lion. I don't know if this will help me though.”

Ethan now had a total of seven likes.

He'd have to spend four more likes to see the second video.

‘It seems a waste, but I'm sure it's worth the four likes.’

So Ethan pressed play.

-Use likes to unlock additional videos.

‘What is this?’

The videos that came up were pretty simple.

The first one was still trying to explain things, but the second one was literally just a video of catching a lion.

‘No, there must be more to this.’

Watching the video one more time, Ethan realized.

“He's not using his fists, he's using a club.”

Other than that, the video was nothing.

He felt something was missing.

“I already used a good amount of my likes.’

And it wasn't even one like.

A whopping four. More than half of Ethan's current likes.

-You have learned one of Hercules' skills.

-Added Skill: Monsters' Calamity (A)

Still, that didn't mean he didn't get a skill.

“I certainly remember Hercules killing a lot of monsters. What kind of skill is this?”

Ethan immediately tried the skill. But nothing happened.

‘Maybe you need a target to use it.’

He tried to use the skill on the lightly sleeping Schudlen. But the skill didn't activate.

‘Hmm. It doesn't work on people. Does that mean it can only be used on monsters?’

If so, he had no choice but to enter the forest.

Early the next morning.

Ethan and Schudlen entered the dark forest. Despite the time of day, the forest was dark.

There were some glowing bugs, but that wasn't enough, so Ethan and Schudlen grabbed the torches they'd brought with them.

They didn't know how far they'd gotten.

Suddenly, there was a growl.

“Grrr.”

“Young Master!”

Reacting quickly, Schudlen swung his sword and blocked the monster.

It was a wolf with large teeth. Schudlen blocked it once, but a monster appeared from another direction.

Ethan didn't hesitate, pointing his sword at it.

‘Hmm?’

A bright red spot appeared on the wolf for a moment.

Ethan knew what it was from years of experience.

‘Could it be...... its weakness?’

Like small dots, the wolf's weaknesses began to appear everywhere.

‘So this is why it's called the Monsters’ Calamity?’

And then Ethan's eyes lit up with something he'd never seen before.

“Is that.......”