Chapter 8: The Ruler of The Forest

10 minutes had passed since Tae Hyun Goo left to search for Cha So-Young.

Right at the house, a girl appeared from within the forest.

So-Young with her happy-go-lucky face returned back safe and sound… She even returned with a basket full of mushrooms and wild veggies…

To understand what was happening. One must understand what had transpired a few hours ago.

…....

~~2 hours ago~~

“Hmm…”

So-Young was seen crouching in front of a cupboard.

Inside the cupboard could be found a container. Within it, she had confirmed the existence of delicious jerkies.

But this forced Cha So-Young to face a dilemma.

Her stomach growled loudly.

“Ughhh…”

Should I eat it? But what if Hyun Goo gets mad?

Such worries circled around in her mind, making her puzzled over what decision to pick.

And as if to mock her. Her stomach rumbled even louder, trying to entice her to grab the alluring jerkies.

Soon, another minute passed by of her mulling over this, but her stomach’s thunderous roar was only growing ever stronger.

And finally for the love of god, after some more bewitching from her stomach. Her fingers moved by themselves and grab 2 of the jerkies.

Crunch!

As she swallowed, she was overwhelmed by the feeling of guilt and satisfaction.

“Boohoo… I need to apologize when Hyun Goo returns…”

But then, she remembered the conversation she had this morning.

“But Hyun Goo told me I should say thank you… But… but… aaaa I don’t know!!!”

The girl grew even more conflicted.

But shortly, a candle emerged on top of her head hinting that she had just gotten a great idea.

She quickly ran towards a corner before grabbing a wooden basket.

Suppose she could bring him more wild ingredients for dinner. She wouldn’t get scolded right?

Taking away some of the mushrooms from the kitchen as a reference. She used the map drawn by Tae Hyun Goo and began embarking on her journey of self-exploration in the forest.

And as she was a good girl, she of course would stay far away from the shaded area.

Now back to the present.

.......

The girl’s nose twitched as she smelled a delicious aroma coming from the kitchen.

“Ooh! Food!”

With sparkling eyes, she promptly ran towards the kitchen. Having just 2 jerkies was certainly not enough for her developing growth.

“Is Hyun Goo back?”

‘Luckily, I’m so smart. Hyun Goo won’t get mad right?’

Taking a look at the full basket, she took a relief and imagine patting herself on the back for being so clever.

“But… where’s Hyun Goo? Did he return back to work after bringing the food?”

Puzzled for not seeing the boy, she glanced around the place.

Shortly after, So-Young took notice of the opened backdoor that led to the forest.

“…”

Did Hyun Goo… go into the forest? But why?

Umm… Hyun Goo knows the forest more than me. So he will return after doing what he wants.

I should just wait here patiently.

With those thoughts going on in her mind. She sat in front of the food patiently.

…….

“Where the hell is this girl…”, the boy’s heart was filled with worry as he maintained his stubbornness to find her.

Stopping for a moment, Tae Hyun Goo took a momentary break as he was left breathless from all the running.

He was still a child. There’s still a limit to how much energy he could muster.

‘Is she not in the shaded area? Should I try to change place?’

He began to consider his options. However, the idea of her encountering those 'people' lingered in the back of his mind.

Actually, the chance of that happening was pretty much non-existent. Mostly because ‘they’ didn’t even know that he was still alive.

But… if in the slightest chance that they knew…

The child shook his head, refusing to relive that memory again.

In the end, he decided to explore the area a little bit more, just in case.

But before he started running, he felt a movement behind him.

Tae Hyun Goo reacted quickly, leaping meters away from his spot while at the same time, taking a peek behind him.

Swish!

The mysterious attack only hits the air.

‘A wolf?’

Realizing his enemy, his pupil glowed slightly as he scanned his surroundings.

‘4… 7… 10…’

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‘…I’m surrounded’

Exactly 10 wolves were hiding around him.

Some were huddled in the bushes, while some stood behind the trees.

However, the boy didn’t seem to be overly concerned. Instead, he relaxed a little after finding this out.

‘It’s just normal wolves, it’s not that dangerous’

That was true. For any first-rate warrior, a couple of wolves won’t be a life-threatening situation.

But that was only if it was just 4 or 6.

10 however was a different matter. Unless you could kill a wolf within 2-3 slashes. You will be overwhelmed by the sheer number.

And for someone who was starting to get physically exhausted. This was no laughing matter.

A howl immediately erupted from within the trees, signaling the rest of the pack to start attacking.

4 wolves instantly charged at him from all directions.

Tae Hyun Goo, on the other hand, reacted indifferently.

With decisiveness, he ran in one direction to gain a split second of 1 on 1 with a wolf.

The wolf reacted by jumping to his neck to bite him to death.

But Tae Hyun Goo cleanly avoided the vicious jaw with minimal movement and even took that as a chance to blade through the wolf’s belly.

The belly was immediately ripped apart, forcing the insides to splatter out.

But he didn’t stop.

He raised his speed at breakneck momentum to attack the wolf lurking within the bushes.

This wolf tried to fight back, but before it could do anything, a white light mercilessly slashed at its face.

As it roared in pity over the unbearable pain, the boy quickly put an end to it by puncturing its brain.

Within a span of a few seconds, he easily escaped from the wolves’ entrapment.

Tae Hyun Goo flung his sword from the wolf’s head to shake away the remaining blood on his blade.

Witnessing everything that had befell upon their comrades so easily and instantly. The rest of the wolves couldn’t help but flinch in dread at the small creature that they were facing.

Tae Hyun Goo’s eyes then shifted to the lone wolf standing at the far back.

When their eyes connected, his eyes once again shone in slight brilliance.

The leader of the pack froze in horror from just that one glimpse.

A great terror was slowly engraved deep into its flesh.

But all of a sudden, the youngster crouched down and rolled to his back.

Right after he did that, a huge creature arrived from the side and pounced onto his original spot.

‘Why is that thing here?!’

The boy was taken by a complete surprise.

A figure of an enormous tiger was shown in his eyes. And unlike any ordinary tiger, it was a beast capable of controlling Ki energies just like humans.

At this point, the boy’s heart was racing. Till the last second, there were no sounds created at all. If the corner of his eyes didn’t detect the creature, he would have become its dinner.

In the past, the forest was originally several times bigger than it was now.

But since there were 3 cities surrounding it, it was slowly chipped down year after year.

But one day, the deforestation stopped.

Creatures that could utilize Ki energies appeared one after another to assault the humans.

But of course, despite the risk, human’s greed prevailed.

There was once a large group formed to clear these creatures out. But while they were butchering the animals left and right. A tiger appeared and slaughtered the group overnight.

This was immediately used by the opposing parties to ban the people from overly clearing out the trees.

And since then, no influential group tried to attempt it again. Simply because the cost would outweigh the benefit.

This allowed the forest to heal little by little.

Only select fools will dare to attempt it again every couple of years. But all of them would die by the claw of this tiger.

In a way, this tiger could be considered the ruler of this forest.

In fear for their lives, the wolves’ pack flurried everywhere. Meanwhile, the tiger roared thunderously for failing in its surprise attack.

Tae Hyun Goo also decided to flee. Fighting this tiger was by no means beneficial to him.

But as expected, the tiger decided to pursue the boy regardless of the other easy prey.

Perhaps its hatred toward humans was rooted deep in its instinct.

The boy kept running and running. He used all sorts of obstacles and tricks to dodge the barrage of strikes and pounced at the huge creature.

Trees were falling down one after another while rocks were shattered just from the sheer strength of that tiger.

“Dammit, we are clearly out of its territory. Why the hell was it still going after me?!”

Not only were they out of the tiger’s territory. Tae Hyun Goo had actually escaped from the shaded area.

But it seemed that this savage creature wasn’t planning to let go of him that easily.

‘This damn tiger!’

With anger flashing in his eyes, Tae Hyun Goo clenched his teeth. Sensing the ferocious tiger located behind him, about to launch a deathly jaw.

The child suddenly spun his body, aiming the sword’s edge right toward the tiger’s throat.

But regrettably, it wasn’t easy to kill this beast.

The tiger, with a faster speed than the boy, hunched its body toward the ground, only allowing the blade to cut a few of its fur.

But suddenly, the tiger flinched while its pupil constricted at an alarming rate. A knife had emerged from on top, seeking to stab right through its brain.