"They're just young students. Byeong-ok, it's good that we have new people, but... aren't they too young?"

She seemed dissatisfied that the newcomers were kids.

I can say for certain—no matter how young those siblings are, they’re far more useful than this old lady.

The information displayed in the Status Window was like night and day. Compared to those two, this old woman’s stats are trash.

No, there's no need to even consider stats. Her mindset is already rotten. Eventually, when things get dangerous, I can be sure she’ll push the risk onto others while escaping.

If Jo Chan-ho were to choose a target to kill, I’d bet this old woman would be his first pick. She’s utterly useless.

"Hmm... Moon Kyung-sil, even if they are young, I believe they’ll be helpful. I mentioned before, didn't I? It's better to have more people than fewer."

"Hmm... It's not that I'm against it... I just worry, that's all."

"Please trust me on this. For now, let's eat, we need to move soon, don’t we? Since we have new members, let's discuss our next steps over a meal."

Everyone sat down and took out food from their bags to start eating.

The conversation I had with Lee Yu-rim before Jo Chan-ho arrived was still on my mind, so I spoke while chewing on my bread.

"Hmm… can I call you Yu-rim?"

"Yes, speak comfortably. Then, can I call you Yun-seong Oppa?"

"Sure, call me whatever's comfortable. But earlier, you mentioned that the monsters haven’t reached here yet, and that you’re not sure what will happen if more time passes. What did you mean by that?"

"...I escaped from the building pretty late. Those who escaped after me were chased by monsters that followed them outside."

‘This means our clearing isn’t safe either.’

The clearing is hidden in an isolated spot, but we can’t stay here forever.

‘The guide already told us we have to clear the Tutorial. That means, one way or another, we have to fight the monsters. Do we have to kill them to get stronger?’

My thoughts became a mess. If this really is like a game, then Jo Chan-ho most likely got his Job by killing monsters.

‘We need to hunt. Luckily, I’m not alone. Even though Jo Chan-ho is dangerous, there are enough people here to keep him in check. No matter how strong he is with his Job and stats, he can’t take all of us at once.’

"Ah… and we shouldn’t just be wary of monsters. We managed to bring food and water, but there were others who fled without grabbing anything."

"Hmm… I suppose, since we all have food and water, we could become targets for others. People will do anything when they're starving."

"Yes, Byeong-ok Oppa. Of course, we have enough people, so I don’t think it will be a big problem... but still."

"There’s no harm in being cautious. Now, let's discuss where we should go next. Yu-rim, do you have any more information?"

"That’s all I know. But since it’s called a Tutorial, and we have to clear it, wouldn’t there be something like a dungeon? If you think about it, our situation is a lot like a game."

"…A dungeon, huh? That sounds reasonable. In games, you usually have to defeat monsters to gain experience and clear dungeons."

"Byeong-ok Oppa, I also think Yu-rim might be right about dungeons. Even if there aren’t any, wouldn’t we get stronger just by hunting monsters?"

"Yu-rim and So-young make good points. In that case, let’s explore in another direction and try fighting a monster if we come across one. If there are too many, we’ll retreat."

"Hmm… that seems doable, Hyung. Thinking about it, those monsters seemed slower than a running person."

‘That’s right.’

Yesterday, we were too panicked to notice, but the reason we managed to escape wasn’t just because they were busy eating corpses—their movement speed was actually slower than ours.

"Do we really… have to fight monsters? Can’t we just avoid them? I don’t know much about dungeons or whatever, but if they exist, someone else will clear them, right? Wouldn't it be safer to just hide together?"

‘Haa… this old woman is useless. We need to get rid of her, the stupid hag.’

Sure, if we only think about immediate safety, hiding instead of hunting monsters or clearing the Tutorial might seem like the better choice.

But we need to remember—this is a Tutorial.

It may feel like hell right now, but after the Tutorial, it could become even worse. If that’s the case, then hiding is only a temporary safety measure. In the long run, it’s no different from suicide.

Even on Earth, people who don’t improve themselves get left behind. In a world where strength determines survival, those who don’t become stronger are just waiting for death—or something worse than death.

‘The guide literally told us to carefully decide whether to fight or flee. Which means… we have to fight. I don’t know what kind of entity that guide is, but since it outright told us to clear the Tutorial, there’s no guarantee that it will allow those who just hide to survive.’

"Hahaha… Ma’am, doing nothing won’t solve anything. If you’re too afraid to fight, you’re free to stay behind. We won’t force you. But we’ve decided to move."

"No… Byeong-ok, it’s not that I’m scared, I just don’t want you all to be in danger!"

"Then I’ll take that as confirmation that you’re coming."

"Aigoo~ fine, then!" (TL: Aigoo used as OMG but with more subcontexts/vague.)

She reluctantly agreed. Judging by her expression, she clearly didn’t want to go. But since she was too scared to be alone, she had no choice.

Jo Chan-ho dusted off his clothes and stood up.

"Alright, let's move. We'll head straight ahead for now."

How long had we been walking? About an hour, maybe. Thankfully, even though this was a forest, the incline wasn’t too steep, so we didn’t use up too much stamina.

"Shh, stop for a moment, I see monsters about 30 meters ahead."

Everyone tensed up and held their breath. This was the first time we had encountered monsters since escaping the building.

"...Three of them."

‘Three is manageable… There are seven of us. As long as no one makes a huge mistake, we should be able to take them down.’

The monsters were small, both in height and build, so as long as a fully grown adult kept calm, they could probably defeat one alone.

The problem was that this was our first time fighting them.

Jo Chan-ho had already killed monsters before, but I had no faith that he’d help us when we were in real danger.

"Let’s go for it, Byeong-ok. We have seven people, so we can split into teams of 2, 2, and 3 to take them down."

"Hmm… is everyone okay with that?"

"Yes, Hyung."

"I’m fine with it, Byeong-ok Oppa."

"Me too… but could my brother be in the group of three?"

"Noona… I’m fine. You should be in the group of three instead."

"I’ll respect Yu-rim’s opinion, it makes sense since Yu-hyun is younger. Then, I’ll team up with So-young, Yun-seong will be with Moon Kyung-sil and Yu-hyun, and Hyun-jin will team up with Yu-rim. Does that sound good?"

"Yes, let’s go with that, Byeong-ok."

"Alright, then let’s move to our designated targets—"

"KIEEEEEEEEK!"

Everyone froze at the sudden scream from behind.

‘Shit, there were more of them hiding in the bushes!’

Their small size made them hard to spot, and we must have wandered into their territory. Everyone was paralyzed by the unexpected ambush.

"KYAAAAAAH!"

'Damn it, we're screwed!'

Suddenly, one of the creatures lunged at Kim So-young and bit her arm. As the pain of having her arm bitten set in, she began to scream.

It was clear that more of them would soon swarm in. Looking at Jo Chan-ho’s face, I could tell that even he realized how fucked the situation was. It seemed like he hadn’t expected more creatures to be hiding behind the bushes either.

With a desperate expression, he shouted.

"Everyone, just run!"

"Aaaaaah! Please save me! Don’t leave me behind! Kyaaaah! Stop it! Stop it!"

"Kiyaaaak!"

Thud!

As a creature charged at me, I desperately swung my blunt weapon, sending it flying backward.

The problem was that the five creatures hiding behind the bushes weren’t the only ones. The ones further away had heard the commotion and were now rushing toward us.

If we could stay calm and fight together, we might have a chance. But in this situation—where one person was already bitten and the rest were panicking—if we fought, at least a few people would die. I immediately grabbed the siblings’ arms and ran.

"Shit, get a hold of yourselves! We have to go back the way we came! Run!"

"Y-Yes!"

Yu-rim barely managed to respond, while Yu-hyun’s face was completely frozen in fear. Well, he was only fifteen, so it was understandable that he couldn’t snap out of it easily. At least Yu-rim was able to respond and run, which was a relief.

As I kept running, I couldn’t see the others anywhere. It seemed like they had all panicked and scattered in different directions.

Kieeeeeek—!

Thud!

"Urgh!"

A creature suddenly leapt at me from another direction, knocking me over and pinning me to the ground.

'Damn it!'

The thing opened its mouth wide, about to bite me, and I barely managed to shove my blunt weapon into its mouth, holding it back with both hands.

Fear of death made my heart pound violently. The creature’s grip tightened around my arms, sending waves of pain through them.

"Grrrrrgh… Damn it!"

"Yun-seong oppa!"

Thud!

"Krrrgh! Kiyaaak!"

Whack!

Yu-rim stabbed the creature in the back with her dagger, making it loosen its grip. I took the opportunity to kick it off of me.

"Huff… Huff… Thanks."

"N-No problem! But oppa, your arm…"

'We need to finish this quickly and get out of here… More of them might come.'

Though my injured arm throbbed painfully, I gripped my blunt weapon and stepped toward the writhing creature before bringing it down on its head.

Crack!

[You have obtained a job. Please check your Status Window.]

Its skull shattered, sending brain matter splattering everywhere. The nauseating stench made me gag.

The sensation of taking a life with my own hands made my whole body tremble. But I couldn’t afford to sit still. My body shook with adrenaline, but I had to get out of here.

A notification about obtaining a job popped up, but that wasn’t important right now.

"Yu-rim, you saved my life… Let’s hurry up and go. More of them could be coming."

"No, oppa. If it weren’t for you, Yu-hyun and I would have been in danger too. I should be thanking you."

"Alright… Let’s move. Yu-hyun, you can still run, right?"

"Y-Yes, hyung."

Ignoring the pain in my arm, we retraced our steps and ran back the way we came.