His check was complete!
“Hyung-nim, everything is ready!”
“Okay, then let’s depart!”
Ark and his new brother stepped into the sandstorm.
————————————————————————–
“Hey! Burum!”
The beginner zone R-14 was still bustling with crowds.
The users didn’t know it properly but Burum was the elder of the Charenjok cleaning R-14’s air circulation pipes. Burum who was holding a rag flinched as Cheksun approached him. He squinted at the activity log in Cheksun’s hands and asked.
–What’s wrong? Is there a problem?
“No, it isn’t a problem but….”
Cheksun scratched his bald head and said.
“I’ve examined the activity log several times and it seems like the maintenance rate of the pipes are rising. This is a good thing but I’m confused. I was just wondering if you could explain the circ.u.mstances?”
–That matter….
Burum sighed before answering.
–We need to survive.
“This is too much.”
–Huh?
“I’ve worked here for over 10 years. You’ve been living in the pipes that entire time. Do you really think that I’m unaware of what you have been doing? Aren’t you operating a s.p.a.ce bug hunting ground?”
–T-that….
Burum stuttered with an upset expression. Then Cheksun smiled and tapped Burum’s head.
“It is okay. I told you, I already knew. Wasn’t the person who started the hunting Ark? In fact, I knew it from the beginning. In other words, I’ve been turning a blind eye. The reason why? I’ve been mourning your plight. I am an official of the Galactic Federation but I honestly think it is too much. I’ve been trying to find information about how to help you. So I turned a blind eye when Ark helped create the illegal hunting ground.”
–Ark…..
The words reminded Burum of his old memories. Cheksun nodded and continued talking.
“Yes, that nostalgic expression. Indeed, I sometimes recall those times. I’ve worked here for 10 years but I’ve never seen someone with that type of spirit. Sometimes I hear things so apparently he is doing well.”
Cheksun look nostalgic for a moment before shaking his head.
“No, weren’t we talking about the activity log? I was wondering because of it. Haven’t you been making quite a lot since the paid hunting operation started? It should be enough to pay for the civil rights of the Charenjok so why are you still cleaning the pipes? No, that isn’t wrong. If you are going to do that then I will pretend not to notice.”
–Cheksun-nim…..
Tears dripped down from Burum’s eyes. Cheksun was embarra.s.sed by Burum’s reaction.
“Oh, this…why are you crying? Well, you must be impressed knowing that I’ve been pretended this whole time….aha, this is true….”
–That’s not it!
“What? It’s not?”
-We have a network! Sob! We are screwed!
Burum suddenly flopped down and shouted.
“A network? What do you mean? What network?”
–It is all due to Ark! Ark!
“Ark?”
Cheksun’s eyes widened.
Tears dripped down his face as Burum explained the situation.
The origin of the incident occurred when he met two pioneers at the job market. Burum attracted these pioneers to the paid hunting ground. Yet the two of them had just started so they didn’t even had 1 copper.
However, Burum accepted both men. After a short conversation with the two men, he learnt that they knew Ark. Ark was the person who created the paid hunting grounds on R-14.
The Charenjok were doomed until he stepped in. Since then, pioneers rushed to the paid hunting grounds on R-14 and they prospered. He decided the two men could pay the entry fee after hunting the s.p.a.ce bugs.
“So? Why would that relationship ruin the hunting ground?”
-….They caught everything.
“Eh?”
–Those two guys caught all the s.p.a.ce worms!
Burum’s face was streaked with tears and ink.
The s.p.a.ce bugs didn’t grow infinitely in s.p.a.ce. This was originally a s.p.a.ce bug farm. However, the Charenjok stole the eggs and raised the bugs for the paid hunting ground. Of course, the s.p.a.ce bugs on R-14 were genetically modified to multiply faster but….
“Ohh, there are so many s.p.a.ce bugs here? Good! This is the right place to loosen my body!”
A skinny man said.
“Well, isn’t this the facility to circulate the air of the s.p.a.ce station? If the bugs are here then it can cause serious hygiene problems. For the health of the people who live here, I need to use all my strength to eradicate the bugs.”
These were the words of a muscular man. Burum didn’t realize the seriousness at this point.
–Yes. Unlimited hunting. This is a place where you can do that.
He even encouraged them. Now he wanted to rip out his lips that said that. But he really couldn’t imagine it.
At that time, the s.p.a.ce worms were growing rapidly and needed to be reduced by quite a lot. But even so! Burum and the Charenjok woke up only to find them all gone! Two people had hunted overnight but all the s.p.a.ce bugs had been wiped out!
They were pioneers who just entered the universe!
“There should be quite a few s.p.a.ce bugs so how many could they catch overnight?”
-At least 300 s.p.a.ce bugs were caught!
“3-300? Two people caught 300 s.p.a.ce bugs in one night? Oh my G.o.d! Is that possible?”
-It is possible and they did it! Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds! The guys called Isyuram and Justiceman. And the both of them only paid 1 gold each.
Burum shouted while coughing up blood.
–We worked hard to clean the pipes in order to live!
————————————————————————–
‘d.a.m.n, why is this…..?’
Ark looked around with annoyed eyes.
The sandstorm on Ikyullos was still continuing. He didn’t know whether this was the original weather or caused by the emergency pods of Marquis Martin and the other crew members landing.
The face guard protected his face from being hit by sand but his vision wasn’t perfectly secured. It also wasn’t easy to move. He was swept by strong winds so simple walking was a tough action. Therefore he was bound to consume more stamina and satiety.
Of course, Ark was the owner of Steel Stomach. He could put any creature into his mouth and endure for several months. However, Hoksullo’s durability was no match for Ark.
Immediately after Ark became his hyung-nim, he tried to eat a centipede and vomited.
“Ohh! I can’t even pretend to eat such a thing.”
-Hoksullo has looked at you with eyes of respect.His respect for Ark rose again but….
‘He unnecessarily wasted food!’
Hoksullo’s satiety went down and he was also coughing blood. He needed to eat a few s.p.a.ce foods to recover. In fact, right now Ark was most worried about the s.p.a.ce food.
Of course, there were other emergency supplies. But that would increase when finding other emergency pods. It was the reason he was trying to find the emergency pods but the amount of emergency food wouldn’t increase.
Just walking in the sandstorm would reduce satiety. Hoksullo became anxious whenever he heard a sound.
‘In this environment, it will be hard to resist for a few days to a week. It is difficult even with Hoksullo eating the emergency food. It is meaningless if the other crew members join. It will only be good for the first three days. I need to find a way to escape that planet in the first few days or we will die of starvation.’
Three days wasn’t a short period of time. But it wasn’t a lot of time to find a way to escape the planet. And if he didn’t find the crew members then they would starve.
Ark wouldn’t starve due to the centipedes but he couldn’t just wander around in the middle of nowhere. If he didn’t find a way to escape from the planet then he would eventually starve to death.
A sigh flowed again at the thought. Ikyullos was Ark’s planet. Yet the lord was going to starve on his planet!
‘Dammit, this is so embarra.s.sing that I can’t even complain about it. And it will be useless if Marquis Martin died. I need to find Marquis Martin and his crew and then an escape method.’
So Ark deliberately chose a mountain.
There would be broader visibility and the range of the radar would increase. Instead, his stamina consumption would worsen. And it consisted of huge rocks that one misstep could cause serious injuries.
‘…..Is it useless?’
Ark had that idea as the terrain became increasingly steeper. After messing around with the detector, Hoksullo exclaimed.
“Hyung-nim, a signal is being picked up!”
“What? Signal?”
“Yes, it is clearly a signal for an emergency pod!”
Hoksullo finally detected an emergency signal. Ark jumped back and asked.
“Where?”
“It is 2 kilometres away. In the direction of that ridge!”
“Okay. There is no time. Let’s go!”
Ark and Hoksullo’s pace was quick due to being filled with hope. And after several large rocks, they finally went down a gentle slope. The signal became stronger as they neared their destination.
“U-unbelievable!”
Hoksullo burst out with confusion.
The two clearly arrived at a n.o.blesse emergency pod. And there were the crew members. But the two crew members aboard the emergency pod were turned into gory corpses.
“T-the firemen of the n.o.blesse. Why are they…..?”
“They’ve been a.s.saulted.”
Ark looked around and said.
The dead bodies were torn to pieces so they hadn’t died of starvation. In other words, something had slain them. So far it wasn’t that strange.
Ark had already caught dozens of centipedes. It was an habitable environment so it was natural for monsters to be present. The problem was that the wounds on the bodies didn’t appear to be from monsters.
‘It is too clean to be from a monster’s claws or fangs. This is definitely a sword cut. And there are also gunshot wounds. Obviously the attackers used weapons.’
However, Ikyullos was in a vanished state. It was an empty planet which is why Ark had been given ownership. Of course, Ark and the crew of the n.o.blesse would be present. But some crew members had been found with sword and gun wounds.
‘Are there other people here in addition to us? Then it is highly likely they entered before the planet became invisible….’
While Ark was busy thinking. Suddenly a red dot on Hoksullo’s neck caught his eyes.
‘….Is that?’
“Danger!”
Tu tu tu tu! Tu tu tu tu!
Ark slammed into Hoksullo’s body as a gunshot was heard. The projectile slammed into a rock 10 feet away! If Ark’s response had been a little late then Hoksullo would be riddled with holes. Hoksullo and Ark were surprised by the sudden situation.
“H-Hyung-nim!”
“Withdraw to the rear!”
Ark said as he pulled out his Equalizer. And he looked in the direction of the bullets before flinching.
“T-those guys are?”