Eunha tossed and turned on her bed, the TV murmuring faintly in the background, though she paid it no mind. Her eyes were glued to her phone, fingers tapping and swiping with restless impatience. Every notification made her flinch — only for the flicker of hope to curdle into frustration when it wasn't him.
"It's already been hours… when is he going to call?" she muttered, her voice sharp with irritation. Her chest felt tight — a mix of worry, anger, and wounded pride. She had never been treated like this before. Ignored. Left waiting. Forced into uncertainty.
Normally, she called the shots — she decided when to talk, when to meet, and how things went.But now… she was the one waiting.
The doorbell rang. Eunha shot up from her bed and hurried to the door, her lips curling into a satisfied smirk.Ha, I knew you'd come to apologize.
"Finally, took you lo—" Her words froze as the door opened — it wasn't who she expected.
"Hey, Eunha! Have you seen the news? Things are going crazy right now," said her neighbor and friend, Minji, breathless and wide-eyed.
Although annoyed, Eunha leaned closer to look at Minji's phone screen. Her expression slowly shifted as she watched.
When the clip ended, a smile crept across her face — soft at first, then widening into laughter.
"Hahaha… of course he didn't come to apologize," she said between giggles. "It's not that he didn't want to—it's that he can't. He's sleeping!"
Relief — mixed with vindication — washed over her. The thought that he wasn't ignoring her, but trapped in the same strange phenomenon everyone was panicking about, soothed her pride.
After a brief pause, she turned to Minji with feigned urgency."Thanks for telling me, Minji. But I need to go to my boyfriend. He must have fallen asleep and couldn't wake up."
Minji blinked, confused. "Eunha, wait—where are you even—"
But Eunha was already running towards her room to change her clothes, determination flashing in her eyes.
When he wakes up and finds out I stayed by his side the whole time… he'll feel guilty for treating me like that. Her smile turned sharp.'And then he'll apologize. He has to. No one treats Shin Eunha like that and gets away with it.'
...
Ashen Hollow — Deep Forest
[You landed a CRITICAL HIT!!]
[Acquired TLE: 4]
[Acquired NTLE: 4]
[Acquired EXP: 10]
[You have reached Level 2]
[Congratulations! You have unlocked the Ashen Hollow Town Leaderboard]
[Announcements will be made in the Ashen Hollow Town]
[You have received: Free Attribute Point (1), Reputation Point (1)]
"Phew… finally reached level 2," said Seojin as he took off his hood.
It had already been an hour since everything began, and he was the first one to reach level 2. But that wasn't surprising at all, as most players were probably hunting in groups, sharing the experience they got from monsters.
Seojin, however, had been hunting solo. If someone other than him tried to do so, without his 10 years of knowledge and experience, they would have probably died multiple times by now.
After parting ways with those two, he had slain six Reapers (Crude) and four Spiderlings (Crude)—enough to reach the next level. Along the way, he'd also been lucky enough to obtain a skill book and some basic armor.
[Weakspot (Passive) (Crude): Able to detect enemy weak points. Attacking them on the discovered weak point deals 10% increased damage.]
[Leather Gloves (Crude): +3 Physical Defense.]
[Leather Boots (Crude): +4 Physical Defense.]
"I think it's about time I start looking for field bosses… I also want to find out more about these Evolution points too," he muttered, pulling his hood back on as he disappeared into the woods.
After some exploration, he indeed found a field boss—but the boss wasn't alone.
"Oi! Block properly! Why are you guys scared—you're the front line! Mage, stop missing your spells and start dealing damage! And what the hell is the priest doing? Cast your heal properly!"
A man's voice barked from a distance. He held a bow, shouting commands with authority. Standing tall at nearly 1.8 meters, broad-shouldered and muscular, the archer looked more like a warrior than the two supposed front-liners.
Seojin crouched atop a tree branch, quietly observing the fight below.
The monster they were fighting was called [Broodmother, level 3 (Common)], a giant spider with stone-hard legs and the ability to shoot sticky webs from its abdomen.
The group of five included two warriors, a mage, an archer, and a priestess—a well-balanced party composition. Judging from their equipment, they were at least all Uncommon Classes, with the archer likely Rare or higher—his gear was far too good for being anything lower than rare.
As Seojin watched, a stray thought crossed his mind.
"It's terrifying how quickly they all adapted… Humans really are scary creatures."
When he entered GFS in his previous life, there was no panic or chaos like he saw in town this time. Everything was well organized, and they even obtained a guide-like person too.
"Hahaha! What did I tell you? This is just like a game. Stick with me, and you'll all be fine!" the archer—Pete—shouted proudly as the boss's HP dropped to half.
"You're right, Pete-nim! Thanks to you, we've gotten all this gear and even a few skills!"
"I'll follow you for life, Pete-nim!" one of the warriors shouted.
"Pete-nim, give me your number. When we get out of here, I'll definitely call you," said the mage girl with a coy smile.
"Alright, alright! Let's finish this up. I think we'll all hit level 2 once this thing dies," Pete said, nocking another arrow.
"Just like a game, huh," Seojin scoffed under his breath.
The monsters in GFS were not like RPG-game monsters. Normally, when a monster saw a group of humans this big, it would definitely not fight them solo and run away.
If a monster stayed and fought despite being outnumbered… that meant only one thing.
"It's a trap."
Suddenly, while everyone's attention was fixed on the Boss ahead, a scream tore through the air from behind them.
When they turned, they saw Pete's body impaled through the chest by a massive spider leg.
"Eh… Pete…-nim…" the priest stammered, voice trembling. Her staff slipped from her hand and hit the ground with a dull thud.
Pete's eyes were wide open, disbelief frozen on his face as blood spilled down the glossy black leg that skewered him. The giant limb lifted him effortlessly into the air before flicking his body aside like a broken doll. Pete's body disappeared, and all that was left was a ball of light containing half of his life essence.
From the shadows of the forest, something began to crawl out. It was another BroodMother, but this wasn't the same BroodMother they were fighting.
Eight crimson eyes glowed through the mist — two large, six small — all trained on the panicked group. Its body was far larger, covered in sleek black chitin streaked with pulsating green veins. Every movement radiated menace.
[Poisonous BroodMother, level 6 (Rare)]
This one was an evolved version of the [BroodMother]. When monsters consumed enough Life Essence from players, they could advance their tiers and become stronger.
'It seems this isn't the first group that's fallen into this trap, huh,' Seojin thought.
"W–What do we do?!" shouted one of the warriors, barely holding his sword steady.
The [Poisonous BroodMother] let out a chilling screech that echoed through the forest, the kind that made your spine tingle and your instincts scream run.
Seojin didn't move from his perch. Instead, he watched with cold, calculating eyes as the battle devolved into chaos below.
The giant spider moved—Surprisingly fast for its size.
One leg slammed into the mage, crushing her before she could even scream. Another leg struck the priestess, sending her flying into a tree with a sickening crack.
Seojin exhaled softly. "They're done for."
The two surviving warriors had no chance. The most they could do was hit the already injured BroodMother a few times before also dying.
When everyone was dead, and both the BroodMothers started to feast on the life essence, Seojin finally moved.
"Let's get to work."