Subscriber of the Gods

Schudlen guarded Ethan through the night as he slept soundly.

This was the territory of the goblin riders.

Because of this, once they fled, they would not return, even if a fire was set.

“If it weren’t for the young master, I’d be dead.”

Seeing with his own eyes the enormity of Ethan’s power, Shcudlen shuddered as he looked at the sleeping Ethan.

In truth, he didn’t think they would live, but they did.

Ethan had slain the Goblin Rider King with a single blow.

Not even the knights of the Count he knew would dare to do that.

“It’s not my place to gauge him. He’s already got his sights set on something bigger.”

Broader, not just to this County of Whiskers and its neighboring provinces, but to the center, to the entire continent, to judge Ethan’s strength.

Schudlen chuckled at the thought.

He couldn’t believe to be in the presence of such a great man.

“By the way, who in the world is he here to meet, anyway?”

“Curios?”

“Ah, you are awake, Young Master! How are you feeling?”

Schudlen hurried over to Ethan.

Ethan hadn’t always looked well, so it was hard to tell how he was feeling.

“What about the corpse?”

“What?”

“The body of the Goblin Rider King.”

At Ethan’s words, Schudlen jumped to his feet.

“I’ll take care of it right away!”

* * *

-You have earned an achievement!

-You have hunted the Goblin Rider King, the ruler of the Dark Forest’s territory!

-You have earned ‘3’ likes for the achievement!

It was the first thing that greeted Ethan when he woke up after passing out.

The Goblin Rider King was a type of Named Monster.

Naturally, there was an achievement for hunting Named Monsters.

The reward was a whopping 3 likes.

It was a lot, but Ethan, who had nearly died, could only grumble.

‘Can they give me a little more? It was so strong.’

There was one more thing that he got after that.

<Possessed Skills: Heo’s Acupuncture (A) [6.5%], Hero’s Breathing (A) [20.3%], Whiskers’ Swordsmanship (B) [100%], Heo’s Decoction (A) [4.9%]>

‘My skill proficiency has increased significantly. A whopping 10%.’

The Hero’s Breathing proficiency, the most important skill that allowed him to kill the Goblin Rider King, had increased significantly.

‘I feel like I understand a little more now.’

Hero’s Breathing wasn’t just a skill that strengthened his body.

Strengthening the body was just a bonus. What it really did was strengthen muscle strength.

Strength. A surge of power!

‘The body is strengthened to support that power.’

Hercules had passed on something fundamental.

Hercules’ power could be harnessed by anyone by converting their natural strength into breath.

When someone was confident in their power, they could wield it to great effects, like when Ethan killed the Goblin Rider King.

‘This is why he has so many subscribers.’

He had many subscribers and likes even though he had some bad reviews.

It occurred to him that maybe Hercules could be in the top rankings of this [New World].

‘If the other gods are like this. I should start with the basics and build them up one by one.’

He thought that it wouldn’t be a good idea to subscribe to some random gods.

Like Hercules, the gods basically use powers that were difficult to understand.

If he couldn’t understand the power, he wouldn’t be able to utilize it properly even if he learned the skill.

‘Same thing with Hero’s Breathing, it was just a normal skill until then.’

It wasn’t until he was close to death that he was able to use Hero’s Breathing properly, so he had to be careful.

‘My Hero’s Breathing isn’t perfect yet.’

Ethan tried to move his body around.

His whole body screamed, and rightly so, after all the effort he’d put into it.

He took a deep, calming breath and then immediately began to use Heo’s Acupuncture. At the same time, he dug into his subspace pouch and took out some herbs.

“I’m getting better at making decoctions, but it’s not enough.”

Ethan had an idea to take the decoction-making process to the next level.

Since decoctions weren’t an element in MePan but they had a similar mechanic to potions.

This meant that if he learned the skill to make potions, he could take Heo’s Decoctions to the next level.

‘One by one. Let’s increase my lifeline.’

“Young Master!”

Schudlen, who had been dismantling the corpse of the Goblin Rider King in the meantime, waved with a cheerful expression.

“See, I did exactly as you taught me, and this one. He’s got a very large magic stone!”

Ethan smiled as he walked over to check it out.

Schudlen was quite a competent knight after all.

Perhaps the standard of his escorts he thought was just too high, but he was certainly worthy of having on his side.

“We’ll do the math when we get back. You should get what you deserve. Don’t you think so, Schudlen?”

“As long as you give me a reward, I will gladly take it!”

* * *

After two days of rest in the Goblin Riders’ territory, they moved on to the next area.

‘She’s probably in the center of this forest.’

The granddaughter of Hecate he was looking for was currently hiding out in this Dark Forest, and her reasoning was simple.

‘Because she believed that the Grimoire, the source of all Hecate’s magic, had been passed down to her.’

Because of this, she had to fight many enemies.

Those who wanted to steal the grimoire by offering to help her with sweet words, and those who wanted to steal the grimoire by killing her with their mighty powers.

She ran and ran and ran, not even knowing who was an enemy and who was an ally.

That was how she ended up in this dark forest.

‘I’m sure there’s a grimoire, but the substance of the grimoire is already gone.’

Hecate’s true grimoire had already been burned. But that didn’t mean it had disappeared completely.

The grimoire definitely still existed.

‘In her granddaughter’s head.’

The extraordinary talent was passed down to his daughter, and then to his daughter’s daughter.

Her mind, which understood everything just by looking at it, contained all the magic that had earned Hecate the title of Archmage.

‘Though, she can’t use it now.’

There was a restraint on her. A curse, a restriction placed on her by superpowers.

Ethan was going to break it and get her

He grinned at the thought of an archmage escort with a thousand spells in her head.

‘If it weren’t for the disease, I wouldn’t die.’

Besides, her talents were the ones he needed most right now.

He would certainly find a way to center his life around her.

‘But Yerica is hard to get.’

Yerica was a character that could be obtained early on, but that didn’t mean it was easy.

She had been deceived and used by so many people in her life, would she open up so easily?

‘So what about getting her later in the game?’

By the time she was strong enough to resolve her doubts, she had already become a being who didn’t need anyone’s help.

She’d never be able to open her closed mind. She could never be an ally character.

When that happened, her closed heart could never be opened. She could never be an ally character.

‘But I can.’

Making her his escort now.

And Ethan didn’t intend to use her just as an escort.

“Young Master, may I ask the reason why you are looking for her?”

“I intend to use her as my escort, for now.”

“An escort? Why would you need to come into such a dangerous place to find one? Your family has many knights.”

“She’s a pretty versatile escort. She can do a lot of things that knights can’t.”

There were so many things she could do beyond just escorting.

If he had her, he could make many of the things he envisioned in his head come to life.

‘Recruiting her will allow me to do things I can’t do now. More than just escorting, I can enchant and do business. It’s harder than recruiting multiple people, but it’s more profitable to recruit Yerica.’

“Schudlen.”

“Yes.”

“Let’s take a break. The one I’m looking for is in this next area, but it’s going to be very dangerous, maybe even more dangerous than the Goblin Rider King from earlier.”

While Ethan rested, he prepared a decoction.

He mixed the ingredients he’d bought from his subspace pouch with the silver lily.

Basically, it was a combination of herbs that made up the cure.

‘It was a little easier.’

All he had to do was mix it up and the cure was made.

But now it was different. In order to create the cure, he needed to do more than just mix it up.

‘If only I didn’t have a disease, I could develop a cure to completely cure her body.’

It was regrettable, but he knew how to do it.

All that mattered now was a cure that would remove Yerica’s curse.

“Did you learn those things from books too?”

“You shouldn’t stay away from books, Schudlen. There is so much knowledge in books. You can’t experience everything, but there are many things written that you can know.”

“I’ll start reading when we get back.”

Making the decoction took quite a while.

“Huu.”

Fortunately, he was able to successfully make the cure.

This decoction should be enough to loosen her curse.

‘The combination is difficult and the proportions of the silver lilies are hard to get right. The difficulty of making it itself is not difficult.’

That was why Ethan was able to make it in his current state.

After Ethan made the decoction, they immediately moved on to the next area.

Now he had to find Yerica.

“It’s really big, Young Master. Do you think we can find the person you’re looking for in such a large forest? Or before that, is it even possible for a person to live in a place like this?”

Schudlen was dumbfounded.

Certainly, this dark forest was the kind of place where the sun rose for only a few moments and darkness fell the rest of the time.

It was a perfect place to flee, but not a place to live, and it was hard to believe because it was so uninhabitable.

“It’s infested with monsters, and it’s even more dangerous at night, isn’t it?”

“But no one comes here. If anyone needs to hide, this is the place to do it.”

“Certainly, if they can handle the monsters.”

Still, it seemed very dangerous to live in a forest like this.

Just how far did they go?

If anything, the monsters they couldn’t avoid in the previous area could be avoided here.

“Because there are fewer monsters. Each one is stronger, but easier to avoid.”

It was thanks to Ethan’s knowledge.

As they continued a little further, they began to hear loud noises.

“Maybe the monsters are fighting each other.”

“No, it’s different. The monsters here don’t fight each other. They have a distinctive smell, and there’s no reason for them to fight if they think they’re enemies.”

Bang! Bang!

With a sound that shook the earth, bulls charged from beyond. Minors, the monsters of this area.

The three-horned bulls charged toward Ethan and Schudlen.

“Young Master!”

“No, they’re not coming for us. Watch them. They’re frightened. They’re running away.”

“Running away from what?”

“That I don’t know. Follow me.”

Ethan was then asked to be lifted by Schudlen in his back with an expression of naturalness.

“Didn’t you tell me to follow you?”

“Your feet are much faster.”

It was ridiculous, but he wasn’t wrong.

Once Ethan was on his back, Schudlen sprinted forward.

* * *

“I’ve finally found you. I couldn’t find you since you’re in a place like this!”

Deep in a dark forest.

A man stood there. In front of him stood a girl, her shoulders as bloodied as her crimson hair.

But far from being in pain, she was furious.

“I know that you don’t have the original book. I’ve heard that your mother burned it all. Probably everyone who’s after you knows that, too, thanks to people who couldn’t be silent about it.”

He laughed lightly.

Each time he laughed, mana spread out around him, and the monsters of the Dark Forest began to flee one by one from his aura.

The girl gritted her teeth.

‘I might actually die.’

If that happened, she might have to resort to a last resort.

It would take much longer to break the restrictions on her body, but she had no choice.

She had to stay alive.

‘I can’t die in a place like this.’

Her goal was revenge.

Revenge for her mother. And revenge on the bastards who had ruined everything for her grandfather!

“Then you know it’s useless, so get the hell out of here!”

“That’s what you think. There are ways to get the grimoire out of your head. Magic-crazed wizards defy expectations every time.”

He pulled something out of his arms.

“I’ll pull your memories myself. With this Imagine Realizer.”

With that, he stomped the ground and dashed forward.

Yerica crossed her arms and cast her magic.

Then, in an instant, an earthen wall rose from the ground. It was intertwined with tree trunks, adding to its strength.

“It’s useless.”

But his fist crushed it with a single blow.

“I know you can’t unleash the magic in your head. It’s a shame you can only use such crude defensive magic. It is an insult to your ancestors to let the magic of the Archmage Hecate rot like this. So spit it out, and I’ll put it to good use!”

“Stop talking nonsense. It’s because of scum like you that my grandfather died with all the stigma attached to him!”

“He just got senile in his later years.”

He smirked and drove his fist straight into Yerica’s abdomen.

“Keheok!”

“I’m not going to kill you. Don’t worry.”

Then he took out the artifact and held it up to put it in her mouth.

“Eat it quietly.”

Then he heard a sound.

Thud, thud, thud.

It was the sound of footsteps on the slightly rutted ground.

He glanced in that direction.

“Found you.”

It was a strange combination.

There was another man on the back of the robust man, who looked strangely sickly.

Nevertheless, his eyes were gleaming.

“I finally found you.”