"This is..."

As soon as we arrived at the western building, we discovered the remains of corpses, partially devoured by monsters, faintly visible inside. From the outside, the building seemed unoccupied, but the stench of rotting flesh filled the air inside.

"...It's horrific."

The stench was so overpowering that everyone except Seo Yu-ju gagged. I was no exception.

"Shit... Ugh..."

"...There might be food left, so let's go inside."

Following Seo Yu-ju into the building, Ahn Tae-woo began speaking.

"Yu-ju, do you think most of the people who started here... died?"

"I can't say for sure, but I think that's likely. While we managed to hold out fairly well, I heard that even Yun-seong's starting area wasn't as bad as this."

"...That's right, I woke up in the southern starting area... Many people died, but not this many. From what I recall, at least some people managed to escape the buildings."

It seemed that the people who started here had chosen to fight but missed their chance to flee. As a result, they had been gradually pushed into the building's corners and massacred.

There were no signs of bodies outside, only inside, where the monsters had feasted and left the remains.

Normally, if some had managed to escape late, there would have been a few bodies outside, killed by the monsters during their pursuit. But here, none were found outside.

Thanks to that, many bags were scattered across the floor, among the wreckage. Inside the bags, there were food supplies and water that people had packed.

...Monsters target humans, not food or water.

'Is this something to be happy about...'

Even though we had found plenty of food, no one could feel any joy in such a gruesome scene. We silently took what we needed.

"...Noona, it's heavy..."

"...Just endure it. With this, we won't have to worry about food for a while."

Everyone carried as much as they could, looking like war refugees. The sight of the siblings was particularly amusing—Yu-rim was fine, but little Yu-hyun, still small for his age, was wrapped in bags from head to toe.

It was hilarious.

If this had been anywhere else, I would have teased him mercilessly.

Once we had gathered enough supplies, Seo Yu-ju spoke up.

"...I don't know if we should be happy about this, but we've managed to obtain an extraordinary amount of food. It's far more than I expected, so let's return to camp."

Everyone agreed. With this much baggage, there was nothing else we could do.

As we neared the camp, we spotted three figures at the entrance.

From their blind spot, Seo Yu-ju signaled for us to stop. Then, she quietly muttered.

"Wait a moment. There are some people at the camp entrance I've never seen before. Everyone, hide."

We all concealed ourselves in the bushes. Among the three figures, I recognized a familiar face.

"...Cha Hyun-jin?"

Hearing my whisper, the Regressor asked me a question.

"Yun-seong, do you know them?"

"...Yes, before I received help from you, I traveled with him for a while. We got separated due to circumstances, though..."

I responded to Seo Yu-ju and checked the status screens of the three individuals. I was particularly curious about the two strangers accompanying Cha Hyun-jin.

Unlike the idiots who had given up on the tutorial, they were equipped with proper gear and looked like they had fought some monsters.

[TL: Shortened them to limit text walls.]

[ Name: Cha Hyun-jin ]

[ Class: Swordsman (Common Rank) ]

[ Unique Trait ]

Unyielding Will (Rank Under Evaluation) - You possess an unwavering will. You do not give up easily when attempting something.

[ Trait ]

Basic Swordsmanship (Common Rank) - Your understanding of swordsmanship slightly increases.

[ Name: Kim Ho-won ]

[ Class: Shieldbearer (Common Rank) ]

[ Unique Trait ]

Iron Body (Rank Under Evaluation) - Your body is as tough as steel. Permanently increases Resistance by 8.

[ Trait ]

Basic Shield Technique (Common Rank) - Your understanding of shield techniques slightly increases.

[ Stats ]

Strength - 16 Agility - 14

Stamina - 15 Luck - 18

Mana - 00 Resistance - 22

[ Name: Kang Iseo ]

[ Class: Archer (Common Rank) ]

[ Unique Trait ]

Sharpshooter (Rank Under Evaluation) - You receive an aiming correction bonus when using a bow. Your arrows will pierce your targets.

[ Trait ]

Basic Archery (Common Grade) - Slightly increases understanding of archery.

Basic Trap Disarming (Common Grade) - Slightly increases understanding of disarming traps.

Tracking (Common Grade) - Allows tracking of traces left by people or monsters.

[Stats]

Strength - 13 Agility - 18

Stamina - 14 Luck - 17

Mana - 00 Resistance - 08

After examining their status windows, I felt that their party was incredibly well-balanced.

A tank, a swordsman, an archer... just hearing about it makes it seem well-balanced. Although they lacked a priest, Hyun-jin's stats were decent, and the middle-aged man named Kim Ho-won and the red-haired woman named Kang Iseo also had excellent stats.

Yu-hyun and Song Ha-eun had extraordinary talents, but even these two were quite exceptional.

Especially, Kim Ho-won's resistance stat of 22 was astonishing. So far, excluding regressors, this was the first time I had seen any stat other than luck exceed 20.

Kang Iseo's unique trait, Sharpshooter, caught my eye.

'I definitely want to bring these people to our side...'

For now, I observed as they conversed with the camp members. The camp's entrance was still blocked by rocks and logs.

Kim Ho-won stepped forward and spoke.

"Hey, could you open up for us? Please, we mean no harm!"

"... How can we trust that? Please leave, we have no intention of opening the entrance."

"We just need a place to rest. Please, just this once!"

"...Please leave."

Kim Ho-won looked frustrated. They had probably been searching for a place to stay and ended up here, only to be denied entry.

The red-haired woman, Kang Iseo, spoke next.

"...Forget it, old man. These people aren't going to open up even if they die. Damn, they look like they've given up on fighting monsters and are just hiding here. Leave them be, let's go."

"...Hm."

"... Ah, Iseo noona, but we managed to find this place... Maybe if we keep asking, they'll let us in?"

"Hyun-jin, wake up. These cowards aren't going to open up no matter what, they’re too scared to do anything but hide. Damn, a bunch of men carrying around decorations between their legs."

"Noona, please... watch your language..."

The woman had quite a temper. The way she cursed and her overall demeanor made her seem like the type who chewed gum rebelliously in school.

After observing them, Seo Yu-ju turned to us and spoke.

"...They don’t seem like bad people. Since one of them was someone Yun-seong used to travel with, let’s approach them. But stay cautious, just in case. Don't worry too much—we outnumber them significantly."

We stepped out and approached them slowly. The first one to notice us was the woman who had been swearing.

"Damn! Who are you guys?!"

She immediately aimed her bow at us. Realizing the situation, Kim Ho-won raised his shield to protect their archer, and Hyun-jin drew his sword, preparing for battle.

'...They’re definitely not amateurs, their reactions are fast.'

The fact that they positioned themselves so quickly in such a short time indicated their party’s high level of coordination, possibly even better than ours.

'Of course, our party has the cheat code known as Seo Yu-ju.'

Seo Yu-ju raised both hands to signal that we meant no harm and spoke.

"Please calm down, we don’t mean you any harm. That camp over there is where we stay."

Even though Seo Yu-ju made it clear we didn’t want to fight, the other party remained wary.

If I were in their shoes, I wouldn’t easily let my guard down either, seeing a group twice their size suddenly emerge.

In the midst of the tense standoff, Hyun-jin suddenly recognized me, Yun-seong, and the siblings. His eyes widened.

"Oh? Yun-seong hyung!"

"Hyun-jin, you survived. I'm glad."

Kim Ho-won and Kang Iseo seemed slightly startled upon realizing that Hyun-jin and I were acquaintances.

"Hyung! What happened? Who are these people?"

"These are the people I met after we got separated. They’re good people, not bad ones."

While I was talking with Hyun-jin, their archer, Kang Iseo, asked him a question.

"Hey, Cha Hyun-jin. Who are they? People you know?"

"Ah... Noona, these are the people I told you about, the ones I was with before we got separated. Yun-seong hyung and those kids."

To show that we had no hostile intentions, I smiled and said, "I’d appreciate it if you could lower your guard. We mean no harm. We just want to understand the situation. The camp in front of you is where we’re staying."

Kim Ho-won seemed to be the de facto leader of their group. He lowered his guard slightly and introduced himself.

"Ah... Nice to meet you, I’m Kim Ho-won. I guess you already know Hyun-jin, so I’ll skip that. And this troublemaker here, ah... ahem! This young lady is Kang Iseo."

I almost laughed at the way he called her a troublemaker. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who thought so.

Kang Iseo shot him a glare but didn’t say anything since he was in the middle of introducing them.

"Basically, we were looking for a place to stay and happened to find this place. It looked safe, with the entrance blocked by rocks and logs, so we asked if we could stay. But the people inside refused."

"I understand, could you wait a moment? We’ll discuss it with our group and get back to you."

"Yun-seong hyung! Can’t you do something? Please! Ho-won hyung and Iseo noona are both good people."

"...I want to, but I can’t promise anything. Still, I think the response will be positive. Don't worry too much."

I immediately turned to Seo Yu-ju to ask for her thoughts. My personal prediction was that she would accept them.

After all, from her perspective, having more people capable of fighting was beneficial, and they fit the kind of recruits she would want.

Sure enough, when I asked, she nodded without hesitation.

"Let’s accept them, they don’t seem like bad people, and they’re experienced fighters. I think they’ll be helpful. If anyone feels uncomfortable with this decision, please speak up."

"I agree with Yu-ju. Her judgment is my judgment, so don’t worry about me."

Ahn Tae-woo, completely trusting Seo Yu-ju, supported her decision.

"I’ll take it that no one objects, I’ll go talk to them."

Seo Yu-ju stepped forward and began talking to them. The conversation seemed to go well, as the atmosphere quickly became more relaxed.

Finally, she approached the camp entrance and called out to those inside.

"It’s me, open the entrance."

"Huh? Yu-ju? Ah, got it! Give us a second!"

Flustered voices responded from inside. Soon, the sounds of people moving rocks and logs filled the air.

After some time, the entrance was finally opened.

"Alright, everyone, come inside. Yun-seong, could you show the new people around? The rest of you, help carry in the supplies. I’ll check if anything unusual happened while I was away."