Ark Volume 01 - Japtem

by Yoo Seong

  However, when it came to parties now, Ark was the type of person to grind his teeth.

  ‘There’s no way I’m doing it with a party!’

  To be honest, it was a matter Ark had thought about often. The quest’s contents were to deal with the demon Mouse, but at his level of 8, it was impossible.

  ‘A week from now. I have to somehow secretly go into the demon Mouse’s cave and take the treasure.’

  As long as he was able to get the treasure, whatever happened to the demon Mouse was none of his concern.

  As Ark was thinking that, he turned to leave. The closely watching Kraydon abruptly asked.

  “After a closer look, it seems like you don’t have many supplies left.”

  “Yes, as I spent time on the cave investigation, before I knew it….”

  Ark replied with the most pitiful expression on his face. He thought he might be able to receive some free wheat breads. If he could save even 1 silver, he could put on a pitiful expression any day. Then, after staring blankly at Ark’s face, Kraydon opened his mouth again.

  “Do you have any thoughts of learning how to cook?”

  “Cooking?”

  Ark questioned with an expression that said he didn’t follow.

  “Actually, at one time I went traveling to a lot of places like you. The thing that troubled me the most was the problem of food. However, even if you learn how to cook, if you don’t have the ingredients, isn’t that just useless? So in order to solve that problem, I started learning how to cook in a completely different way. It’s a cooking method that doesn’t cost money, and there’s no need to carry around ingredients.”

  “Does such a cooking method exist?”

  It was really a sound that made his ears perk up.

  “Alright, until now I haven’t found any worthy travelers, so I haven’t passed this down to anyone yet. If it’s you, who has unfailingly helped me this long with all your heart, it’s a different matter. You always carried an ample supply of bread with you, so I thought you wouldn’t need this…. if you want it, I’ll teach it to you.”

  “Yes, please!”

  You have learned a new skill. Survival Cooking (Special, Beginner, Passive): The owner of the bar in Harun, Kraydon, created this original method of cooking. If you learn this skill, you can use almost every type of food found in nature as ingredients to make food. However, the result cannot be predicted.

  Therefore, to find out the effects of the food, you may have to put your life on the line….

  Ingredient Foraging (Beginner, Passive): You can gather a variety of food ingredients from nature.

  ‘Put your life on the line to discover the effect of food?’

  The last part was troubling, but he was fairly satisfied with the skill. He could use all the ingredients he could find in nature to make food. Then if he just learned several recipes, he could endure for several days in remote places like the cave even without wheat bread.

  Indeed, Survival Cooking had a name that suited it perfectly. For him to learn such a skill for free… NPCs had to be treated with friendliness after all.

  And on top of that Kraydon pulled out a large pot and handed it to him.

  “If you’re to do Survival Cooking, you’re going to need this too.”

  - You have acquired an iron pot for Survival Cooking.

  “Thank you!”

  Ark bowed1 and slipped out of the bar.

  Because there was a schedule, he didn’t have a moment to waste. Ark immediately went to the general store and sold off all the Wolf leathers he had saved. Then he swallowed his tears and bought one recovery potion.

  Until now, his spirit had somehow endured, but with the demon Mouse, he couldn’t spare money in facing it. This time, with his death he had lost 6 stats. Though he would probably be able to restore his stats killing the Mice in the cave, he didn’t have the time to waste on this again.

  The price for a health potion that restores 100 life was a staggering 5 gold. Thanks to his intimacy, he only had to pay 3 gold and 50 silvers. The fortune he had accumulated bit by bit like a diligent ant was one fifth gone.

  ‘If I add the equipment repair fee to this….’

  Automatically, he puffed out a sigh. However, Ark was resolute.

  This was an investment. If he could get just one decent treasure from within the cave, even that would compensate for everything. For the last time, Ark had his rusted sword and leather clothes repaired at the blacksmith and set off for the cave again.

  * * *

  1. In Korea, it is customary to bow to your elders when you see them and leave them.

  DESPERATE STRUGGLE WITH THE DEMON MOUSE

  * * *

  As Ark scaled the Harilal Mountains, he used his Foraging skill to gather all the grass and fruit he could see, cramming them in his bag.

  It was so he could test out his newly learned Survival Cooking.

  As he’d expected, when he arrived at the cave it was crawling with mice again. Because he had cleared the mice swarm before, he was able to recover 2 stat points in just 1 hour. However, his satiety was down to half and his health recovery rate was falling.

  It was time to use his newly learned skill.

  ‘Well, shall I just put this and that in and mix it up?’

  Ark rummaged around his bag and put mushrooms and some strange looking grasses in his pot. With the Survival Cooking pot, there was no need to make a separate fire. All you had to do was put in the ingredients, and everything would be automatically heated and food would be made. He added water and after about 1 minute, an explosion suddenly erupted from the pot.

  - You have failed Survival Cooking. All the ingredients have been consumed.

  Even after that, he tried again and again with different ingredients, but he just kept getting the failure message. Finally, with his seventh attempt, he completed a soup that radiated a fragrant smell.

  - You have successfully used Survival Cooking. This is a dish made with the use of Land Fruit and Cochran. However, without personally tasting it, there is no way to tell what kind of dish it is. After confirming its taste, the recipe and its special effects will be automatically recorded in the Cookbook.

  Ark quaffed a sip of the soup without a second thought.

  There was a sharp feeling accompanying the food down his throat and, suddenly, his vision yellowed. The strength from his body was sucked right out. As his back helplessly twisted, his head struck the floor.

  ‘W-What’s going on?’

  -You have been poisoned with a paralytic poison!The food you have made using Survival Cooking is ‘Fragrant Poison Soup.’The effects of being poisoned are paralysis, a decrease in satiety and you cannot move for 10 minutes. It’s better not to make this soup.

  ‘Holy cow, so this was what it meant by dangerous?’

  Then didn’t that mean that he’d have to suffer these kinds of effects every time he made a new dish? Fortunately, he had already cleared all the wolves and mice in the area, but if he had haphazardly made the dish and eaten it, he might have even died then and there.

  After groaning and moaning for 10 minutes, Ark was finally able to stand up. With a shudder, he tore into the wheat bread he had brought just in case.

  “Damn, no wonder he taught me this so meekly.”

  After all, life was not that easy.

  « o »

  ‘What the hell should I do with that mouse bastard?’

  Hyun Woo’s mind was entirely filled with thoughts of the Demon Mouse.

  It had already been two days since Kraydon had updated the quest. During the past two days, he had gone into the cave dozens of times, but he gained nothing. The cave’s structure was complicated, but in the end the roads all converged into one place: the lair of the impudently resistant Demon Mouse.

  He had also thought about luring the Demon Mouse to a different place and going in. However the Demon Mouse didn’t move an inch from where it was planted. In the end he just wasted time in a state where he co
uldn’t do anything. All he managed to do was to restore his cut stat points.

  ‘Is there really nothing I can do but to give up like this?’ Hyun Woo puffed out a sigh.

  The deadline was until tomorrow afternoon. But since he had to go to work in the day, if he couldn’t finish this up by tonight, the quest would be cancelled and the Soldiers would be on the move. The room for Hyun Woo to claim his rights would disappear.

  “Eeeek!”

  A shriek burst out from within the warehouse.

  It was Jung Hye Sun, the night university student who worked part-time at the mart. Though she was smart enough to earn a scholarship, the reason why she was at a night university was because of family circumstances.

  He hadn’t heard the details, but it seemed like a tough situation.

  After being awakened by cold reality, Hyun Woo had become a cynical person. He didn’t even get along with his co-workers at work. There were times when he’d been cursed at for that kind of personality. Still, he wasn’t like that to everyone. To the few people who truly worried about him, Hyun Woo also treated them with sincerity.

  No, could it be that it was their reaction to distance themselves from anyone they couldn’t use? He had cared about those kinds of exploiters more than he needed to.

  In this case, Jung Hye Sun was suffering through a plight like his own. After learning about her family situation, he had taken care of her as if it was his business to. He had taken responsibility for her mistakes, and sometimes he gave her sodas that he himself hadn’t bought and drank for many years. If he’d had a little sister, it would be that feeling.

  His consciousness abruptly awakened, Hyun Woo rushed to the scene.

  “Hye Sun, what’s going on?"

  “Mouse, a mouse…”

  Hye Sun, who had collapsed on the floor, pointed to an area as she trembled. As he turned his eyes towards the area, a baby mouse quickly escaped in between some boxes.

  Hyun Woo watched the mouse with annoyed eyes and muttered.

  “Damn, mice are a problem whether it’s here or there."

  “What? Are there mice at oppa’s house, too?"

  “No, there’s something like that.”

  As Hyun Woo cleared away the boxes to find the runaway mouse, Hye Sun was appalled.

  “Don’t, don’t do that. What are you going to do if the mouse comes out again?"

  “It has to come out so I can knock it down."

  “Oppa, aren’t you even afraid of mice?"

  “Scared? Of mice?”

  Hyun Woo laughed. To be sure, in the past he would have been a little scared. These days, there weren’t a lot of chances to see a mouse. However, now he felt no difference between a mouse and a fly.

  New World’s mice were more realistic than reality. He had killed ten thousand of those mice in the village and had killed thousands of them today at dawn. In addition, he was currently waiting for an opportunity to kill the Demon Mouse. Knocking down one baby mouse was no problem.

  “Just wait. I’ll thrash it right away."

  “Don’t, don’t do it. I don’t want to see it again. There’s nothing in the world more scary than mice to me. I’m afraid just thinking of mice being here. I think I’ll have to tell the owner right away and at least sprinkle some rat poison.”

  It was then that Hyun Woo, who was cleaning up boxes, flinched.

  Hye Sun was startled and asked with a shaky voice, “What’s wrong? Did the mouse come out?"

  “Hye Sun, what did you just say?"

  “What? That we’ve got to put out some mouse poison…."

  “That’s it!” Hyun Woo shouted while clapping his hands. “Why didn’t I think of that? It’ll be simple if I do that!”

  Hyun Woo suddenly turned around, grasped Hye Sun’s hand tightly, and shook it enthusiastically. “Thanks, Hye Sun! Thanks to you, I’ve finally found the way to resolve this!”

  “What? What?” As Hyun Woo suddenly grasped her hand and shook it, Hye Sun turned tomato red.

  « o »

  “Hu hu hu, you doomed mice bastards. Today is the day you bastards die.”

  Ark had a satisfied smile as he looked at the bubbling, boiling pot.

  The tasty smelling, strongly aromatic food was Ark’s masterpiece, the ‘Fragrant Poison Soup.’

  Ark stored enough of the completed soup into some pouches and entered the cave. Thanks to the repeated attacks of Ark and the wolves, the cave was already mostly depleted of mice. When he reached the innermost part where the Demon Mouse was holing up inside, a great number of mice rushed at him while making menacing noises.

  Ark fought the rats with his sword and entered further inside.

  Grrrrrrrrr.

  Within the darkness, the red lights sparkled. He had seen it so often that it didn’t even occur to him to be scared. They were annoying, flashing eyes that said the Demon Mouse was there once again. Thinking the Demon Mouse was a hindrance, he went forward.

  “Don’t glare at me like that. Today I’ve come to bring you a present.”

  Ark strode confidently to the Demon Mouse, then grabbed and threw the pouch. The Demon Mouse reflexively swung its front paw at it and tore a large hole in the pouch, which spilled the Fragrant Poison Soup.

  The Demon Mouse hesitated for a bit. However, no matter how large a mouse was, it was still a mouse in the end. There was no way it could go against its nature. After crinkling and darting its nose in and out, the Demon Mouse licked the soup.

  On the outside, poisonous mushrooms are beautiful. The Fragrant Poison Soup also appeared harmless from an outward glance. The smell was incredibly good, and the taste was also alright in its own way. The soup must have been to the Demon Mouse’s liking because, after eating it once, it thoroughly licked the floor. The other rats had also fallen for the seemingly harmless exterior of the soup and swarmed around.

  “That’s right, eat lots.” Ark threw the rest of the bags with a pleased expression.

  Soon afterward, the Fragrant Poison Soup finally took effect. The greedily lapping small mice convulsed and stretched out. Then, the Demon Mouse must have sensed that something was wrong, because it cried out with a sharp sound. But by then, it was too late.

  His trump card cooking was already taking effect in the Demon Mouse’s stomach.

  The Demon Mouse stumbled around and limply collapsed on one side. Belly-up, with its four legs pointed skywards, it started to tremble.

  “Kekeke, you high and mighty mouse shit. You’re no match for me. Then, shall I take a look at whatever you’ve been hiding? No, I should get my revenge on all the times I’ve suffered first, right?”

  Ark hummed a song to himself as he approached the Demon Mouse. Then, in front of his eyes, a terrifying claw suddenly shot out at him. As Ark instinctively pulled out his sword and raised it, his hands shook.

  “How, how could this be….!”

  Ark’s face went pale. The Demon Mouse he had thought was completely paralyzed had swung its front paw at him.

  Something was wrong! Ark urgently turned his body to run away. However, the Demon Mouse had already blocked half of the exit with its body.

  ‘Damn it, am I going to die again?’

  Just then, when a hopeless expression surfaced on Ark’s face, the Demon Mouse breathed hoarsely and wobbled as it stepped towards him.

  ‘No, the drug is working. It’s just that in comparison to its body mass, the drug dose was too small, so the effect is weaker.’ His thoughts racing, a light flashed in Ark’s eyes.

  New World wasn’t a game where you could simply hit and slash anyways. How well he could handle a fighting situation was also important. So there was no reason why he couldn’t handle a Demon Mouse that had consumed a paralyzing drug and couldn’t properly steady its body. In addition, Ark was already at a state where he had achieved level 10.

  “Alright, then even if I die, I’ll see this to the end!” Ark brandished his sword and began to attack the Monster Rat.

  Maybe it was the
effect of his level ups, or because of the paralysis, but his attacks were received differently than before. Every time Ark swung his sword, blood spurted out and the Demon Mouse staggered. However, Ark didn’t hurry.

  ‘The drug effect lasts for 10 minutes anyway. There’s no need to rush.’

  Ark circled around the mouse and while ceaselessly thrusting his sword. The Demon Mouse brandished its front paw several times, but it lacked the power from before. Ark was usually able to slide past the attacks without difficulty.

  However, the system was set up so that avoiding every attack was impossible. As time passed, the injuries on Ark’s body grew and his health fell. After 5 minutes of attacking, the Demon Mouse’s body turned reddish.

  ‘It’s in critical condition! I can see the end at last!’ The critical condition was a phenomenon that appeared after the health was down to 1/10.

  Ark pushed the Demon Mouse with more boldness. But when his victory was almost assured, the Demon Mouse suddenly howled and sprang to its feet. Its front paw flew towards him with a speed incomparable to before.

  “The hell, wh-what’s going on?” Ark barely managed to block the attacks and looked at the Demon Mouse with a devastated expression.

  There were still 3 minutes to go until 10 minutes was up. But the paralysis must have completely worn off because the Demon Mouse was charging at him with full speed.

  With one blink of the eye, Ark had been forced to go on defensive.

  It was too much to defend against, let alone attack. He saw his health dropping each time he blocked an attack. After blocking about ten attacks, the sword shattered.

  - The rusted iron sword’s durability has reached 0 and it has broken.

  ‘Damn it!’

  At last, even the sword he’d believed in disappeared.

  His remaining health was 23. Ark hurriedly downed the health restoration potion. However, the Demon Mouse didn’t miss that action and struck out with its front paw, hitting Ark’s chest. Fortunately, since he had used the health potion, his life was barely saved, but the situation was grim. Like the Demon Mouse, Ark’s body entered critical condition and his body became red.