Chapter 176 Dangerous Vacation

Night.

Misty Forest, outskirts.

Flickering orange-red flames contrasted with the cold moonlight spilling through the gaps in the canopy overhead, while the pale gray fog unique to the forest permeated the air.

A campfire, a few sleeping blankets, and four idle adventurers sitting in a circle.

—A perfectly ordinary adventurer squad.

The exploding goblin population during Hunting Day, coupled with bounty payouts that had nearly doubled, attracted countless adventurers eager to strike it rich.

Two or three months here could match a full year, or even several years, of regular income.

Even those "old-timers" who had long retired to live quiet lives in town sometimes found it hard to resist such temptation.

Over the years, whenever Hunting Day rolled around, they would close up shop or take leave, gather three to five trusted old friends, and head to Rivervale Town to earn some extra cash.

For retired adventurers living in the neighboring towns, this had already become a routine.

To some extent, if one ignored the risks of the quests and the high-pressure environment of the forest, every so often they could escape the tedious trivialities of family and work life, drink to their hearts' content in taverns with brothers they had shared life and death with, and spend a few dozen days worrying about nothing else.

For these pillars of their families—fathers and husbands, middle-aged men in their thirties and forties—Hunting Day was like a dangerous vacation.

"This thing should be a turquoise, right? How much is it worth?"

Reflecting the firelight, held between fingertips caked with grime under the nails, was a translucent pale-green gemstone.

Big Ben narrowed his eyes, his face brimming with the joy of a good harvest.

As a veteran adventurer with years of experience, he naturally knew the rough value of such a little stone.

Asking now was purely to set up his next point.

"It could probably sell for seven or eight gold? If you go haggle at Kukunur's store, you might even be able to drive the price up a bit more," a teammate chimed in. They were all old friends and naturally knew his little tricks.

Sure enough, as soon as the words left his mouth, Big Ben took on an exceptionally smug look. He clutched the turquoise tightly in his palm and bragged, "I told you, you've gotta leave looting the chests to me from now on!"

"After contributing so much at the card tables, [Goddess of Luck, Tymora] really ought to look my way a few more times!"

They had reaped a rich harvest on this adventure.

Not only had they smoothly completed their quest objective by clearing out a small goblin lair with fifteen goblins, but while cleaning up the battlefield, they had also been quite lucky to find a small lockbox the goblins had looted from who-knows-where.

Counting the quest reward and the rest of the miscellaneous loot, split evenly among the four of them, each would pocket around ten gold.

For an adventurer squad of their caliber, this was a very generous haul.

It put them all in a great mood on the journey back.

Seeing that they were gradually approaching the Misty Forest's outskirts, where the danger dropped drastically, they didn't immediately go to sleep after setting up their perimeter traps. Instead, they sat around the fire and chatted.

"Buck, don't be in a rush to head back once Hunting Day ends. Let's rest up in Rivervale Town for a few days together. Treat it as a real vacation. It's a shame Bagful of Gold got blown up by something, or I could've gone and scratched my gambling itch."

Faced with his old teammates' proposal, the burly middle-aged man named Buck first showed a trace of hesitation on his face, but then firmly shook his head.

"You guys have fun. I have some things to deal with at home, so I shouldn't delay," he said.

They were old acquaintances. Even if they didn't live in the same city normally, they had more or less caught wind of each other's circumstances recently.

They knew Buck had run into business trouble lately and racked up a lot of debt.

Seeing him decline, the others didn't push the issue and expressed their understanding.

Looking at Buck's crude leather armor, which still bore traces of goblin blood, Big Ben carefully tucked away his turquoise.

With a look of concern, he leaned in and whispered, "If you're really short on cash, you can come find me after we get back to Nym. I have a few channels on hand. I can't promise you'll make a fortune, but it'll definitely be enough to cover your family's living expenses. Of course, as for the specifics... don't be too picky. For people in our line of work, besides taking quests, this is the only way to make a quick buck."

He had only mentioned it in passing, following the flow of the conversation. He didn't actually expect Buck—who was already married, settled, and fully rooted in the city—to agree.

To his surprise, Buck didn't refuse on the spot. After a moment of hesitation, he gave a nearly imperceptible nod. "I'll think about it. I'll give you an answer after Hunting Day ends."

Surprised, Big Ben figured that Buck's current life must be far more difficult than he had imagined.

For a group of middle-aged men in their thirties and forties with few regular hobbies, even though the conversation started around their encounters during this adventure, it took barely ten minutes to shift to the recent upheaval among Nym City's upper echelon, and then to topics concerning their children.

"Kids' interests come and go. Is that boy of yours still clamoring to be an adventurer?"

"Sigh, he's been pestering me for almost half a year now. He won't listen to reason. I figure I'll teach him some basics when I get back, and then... we'll see."

"No, no, no, you absolutely can't open that door! You know perfectly well how dangerous our line of work is. You've worked your ass off for half your life to save up some money. If you let your family do this too, wasn't all that risking your neck for nothing?"

"If you ask me, when you head home, you should sit your son down and nip that idea in the bud. Or just spend the money to send him to the academy. Anything he does after that is fine—it's far better than quietly dying in the forest somewhere down the line."

"Keep your voice down, don't forget about that gnoll tribe!"

"Relax, we're almost out of here. If we really run into any danger now, it's highly unlikely to be monsters."

"I'll tell you what, if Gap-Toothed wasn't already dead, I really wouldn't dare take this main road."

"I think he was killed by that rookie in Greenblood's squad, right? No idea where he came from, but he chopped down their whole group. Vicious!"

"Heh, I got robbed by that bastard Gap-Toothed twice in the past. Serves him right!"

"..."

The casual chatter didn't last too long.

After all, they were seasoned veterans with years of adventuring experience. Even though this trip's earnings had far exceeded expectations, they quickly reined in their excitement once night fully fell.

After tidying up briefly, those meant to rest went to sleep, and those meant to keep watch took up their posts.

Big Ben and Buck happened to share the first watch. They sat by the campfire, minding their own business and occasionally exchanging a few quiet words.

Being near the edge of the forest, they had assumed tonight would be no different from the usual, passing safely in silence and boredom.

But deep in the night, just as the bright moon hung high overhead and its silvery-white moonlight grew thicker...

For some reason, as Big Ben stifled a yawn, he suddenly felt the firelight in his vision dim.

Like a match blown out by the wind, the flickering, leaping flames were extinguished in an instant. Even the stars in the sky above seemed to dim in tandem.

In the blink of an eye, nothing remained in his sight but an unnaturally profound darkness.

He and Buck, responsible for the watch, reacted immediately. They shouted to wake their teammates while jumping to their feet, swords drawn and on high alert.

Yet strangely, the already-poor visibility of the forest felt even more suffocating under the shroud of this darkness.

They couldn't even see the tall grass and shrubs right at the edge of their camp.

He could only vaguely make out the blurry backs of his teammates nearby.

Wooo—

It sounded like the evening breeze brushing through the leaves, yet also like some long, drawn-out cry.

A hazy, black silhouette, barely visible as an outline, suddenly flashed through the air. In less than half a second, it vanished into the depths of the night like a hallucination.

For some inexplicable reason in that moment, Big Ben—a veteran with years of adventuring experience who had survived many dangerous situations—felt an unspeakable sense of terror swell in his heart.

His fighting spirit and courage dissolved into nothing, just like the extinguished campfire.

The moment a slight noise came from ahead and the howling in the air abruptly turned shrill, he screamed, threw down his weapon, and turned to flee.

In the chaos, Big Ben vaguely remembered shoving someone aside, using them as bait to attract the enemy.

He then took the opportunity to bolt in the direction leading away from the forest.

"It wasn't until later, when the three of us met up on the main road in the wilderness leading to Rivervale Town, that we realized Buck was missing," Big Ben said. "That was when I realized... the person I had shoved to the ground in the chaos that night was Buck."

At this point, Big Ben's scruffy face began to tremble. He leaned forward, his eyes unconsciously widening.

"Mr. Xia Nan, you have to believe me, I—I'm really not that kind of person! Even a few years ago when we ran into that bugbear, I didn't just throw down my weapon and run like I did that night. But I just don't know why, I..."

Sitting across from Big Ben, Xia Nan pieced together everything the man had just said and formed a theory.

The suddenly extinguished campfire, the plummeting visibility, their weakened willpower and mental defenses...

Clearly, Big Ben's group must have encountered some monster capable of influencing human minds, or perhaps an adventurer with similar abilities. Only that could explain why they had broken so easily.

"And Buck? He shouldn't have been dead at that time, right?" Xia Nan asked, waving a hand to cut off Big Ben's frantic explanations.

Big Ben took a sip of hot tea to slightly calm his fluctuating emotions. He nodded and recalled, "We originally thought Buck had died in that attack, but... the next day, the very day after the three of us got back to Rivervale Town, Buck walked back on his own. He seemed to have suffered serious injuries. I didn't dare ask too much. He only stayed in Rivervale Town for a few more days before heading back to Nym, without even waiting for Hunting Day to end."

Big Ben's voice suddenly trailed off. He lowered his gaze to stare at the wooden table in front of him, his expression complicated.

"I actually haven't been back long myself. I was planning to visit his place and explain that I didn't mean to do what I did that night, but by the time I got to his house, the incident... had already passed for many days."

Understanding dawned on Xia Nan. After hearing this account, he finally had a rough grasp of the whole sequence of events.

If things had truly played out as the constable suspected—that Buck had contracted lycanthropy, failed to suppress his bestial nature, and gone mad, slaughtering his own family—then the source of his lycanthropy was highly likely that attack on their return journey.

"Aside from this, is there any other information you think might be useful?" Xia Nan asked.

"Probably... no," Big Ben said, shaking his head numbly while cradling his teacup in both hands.

Seeing the trail go cold once again, Xia Nan sighed silently.

He stood up and swept his gaze over the messy room.

He beckoned to Ironhead, who was waiting at the door.

"Let's go."

...

It was still that same sprawling Slums, overflowing with mud and wastewater, its alleys more convoluted than a maze.

Following Ironhead as he led the way, Xia Nan kept part of his attention on guarding against his surroundings, while his mind wandered slightly.

Although this trip had roughly clarified what Buck and his group had encountered, as well as the likely origin of the quest, there had been no clear progress in finding Buck's current hiding spot.

According to what Big Ben just said, the other two teammates in their squad didn't live in Nym.

They might not even have heard news of Buck's death yet, and likely wouldn't possess any inside information.

The last lead had thus been cut off.

"This is troublesome."

Ironhead, who had been standing to the side earlier and had more or less gathered the gist of the situation, seemed to notice Xia Nan's current mood.

While leading the way, he turned back and said, "Mr. Xia Nan, if you don't mind, our brothers in the Gray Badger Gang might be able to help out a bit. You helped drive off the rat swarm and saved Boss Eight-Fingers; the boys are all very grateful. There might not be many of us in the gang, but we're mostly kids who grew up right here in the Slums. We know this place like the back of our hands. We don't have much going on anyway, so finding a person for you is just a walk in the park."

It was a gesture of goodwill, and since Xia Nan was stuck in the middle of his quest, he naturally had no reason to refuse.

He nodded slightly and opened his mouth, just about to say something.

Suddenly, he saw Ironhead—who was navigating them through the alleyways—plow head-on into a passerby coming from the other side at a particularly blind corner, all because he was looking back to speak.

Ironhead's burly body was instantly knocked backward, tumbling to the ground.

On the contrary, the passerby in front of him—wearing a baggy cloak with their face hidden in the shadow of a hood—only took two steps back before steadying their balance.

"Damn it, don't you have eyes when you walk!?"

The pain shooting up his back made Ironhead grimace as he scrambled to his feet.

Even though he was the one in the wrong, he still glared wide-eyed, wanting to march up and argue with the stranger.

Perhaps seeing that Ironhead might be a gang member and not someone to mess with, or perhaps catching sight of the fully armed Xia Nan behind him, the burly passerby, completely shrouded in the cloak, didn't say a single word.

They simply spun around and vanished into the depths of the winding alleys.

"Fuck, if I didn't have business today, you think I'd let you just run off?"

Cursing up a storm, Ironhead showed a flash of dismay on his face as he wiped at the mud stuck to his clothes.

As he slapped and rubbed the fabric, one could faintly see a few tiny, powdery dark-red crystals reflecting a metallic luster as they gently drifted to the ground.