Survival Story of a Sword King in a Fantasy World

[The translator decided to go with ‘Suitor’ instead of ‘Suitable Person’.]

Should I Kill Myself? (2)

Ryu Han-bin held the sword in his hand and gazed aimlessly at the sky shining above his head. A cool breeze was flowing in the vast desolate world.

“Sigh…” he let out a deep breath.

A guideline window popped up in one corner of his vision. It was an updated status report of himself.

-Ryu Han-bin: Prosecutor Lvl.1

-Equipped Skill: None

-Strength 21,

-Stamina 17,

-Recovery 13,

-Defense 12,

-Vision 5,

-Reflexes 7,

-Speed 8.」

The updated status report termed him as a Prosecutor. He wondered what it meant and a little more….

“Can I really survive in this world?” he thought to himself.

-With your talent, the chance of surviving in Selha Latna is less than 5%. Immediate suicide is recommended as a realistic countermeasure.

The newest and certainly dumbfounding message flickered on the screen as Ryu contemplated the depth of this new message.

-Would you like to commit suicide?

He was utterly dumbfounded. Ryu Han-bin gave a strong jerking response, which was befitting the message.

“Fuck it!”

* * *

Ryu Han-bin looked at the body of a Demon Dog that had been killed inadvertently. To survive here, he needed food.

“Can I eat it?” he wondered.

The guidelines were activated.

“Edible.”

-Meat of Demon Dog: Contains essential amino acids and fats. Recommended to be cooked first.

-Devil’s Blood: Contains moisture, carbohydrates, fiber, and essential minerals. Drinking is recommended

“It means if I eat meat and drink blood, I can get all the nutrients I need even if I don’t eat vegetables or other foods?”

Looking at the explanation, it was like a complete food, but…

“Would there be such a convenient food in the world?”

Apart from everything else, why did blood contain carbohydrates and fiber? Did it photosynthesize with its own blood? Even if he thought deeply about it, it definitely didn’t make much sense.

“No matter how much I look at this, it looks like I got an error again.”

The problem was that he had no choice.

It was all he had to eat, so if he didn’t want to die of starvation, he had to eat it.

“It said this meat was recommended to be cooked first.”

Even if it didn’t recommend it, he had no intention of eating raw dog meat. With shallow knowledge of how to make a fire, he managed to grill the meat. It was easy to say, but it took roughly six hours. It was 6 hours of suffering, stained with all kinds of trial and error.

“It’s been hard for me…”

But thanks to it, he was able to fill his stomach.

“It doesn’t taste dirty.”

Half of the grilled meat was eaten, and the rest was left behind on the corpse. He couldn’t even think of drinking the Demon Dog’s blood, so he just threw it away. After he managed to fill his stomach, he was overwhelmed with intense fatigue and drowsiness. It could have been because he fell into a totally unknown world and fought in extreme tension.

“I need to take some rest for now.”

It was a very uneven and rocky mountain with a completely distorted terrain, ridden with rocks, pebbles, and dirt, yet there was surprisingly a lot of space in empty spots and shallow crevices, which was enough to fit one person.

He put his body in a suitable crevice and blocked the entrance with branches he scrounged from the ground nearby.

Soon he fell into a deep sleep as if he fainted.

An unknown world, Selha Latna.

It was the first day Ryu Han-bin survived in this hell called Selha Latna.

* * *

A Demon Dog roared and attacked from the distance.

KHAAARGH!

Ryu also roared and fought back.

“Ahhhhhh!”

A bloody dog fight ensued.

Demon dogs with no teeth or claws, and Ryu, who did not know anything about martial arts, wielded his long sword like an amateur.

“Die! Die! Die!”

After being beaten hard, chopped, and stabbed, the Demon Dog died.

A Guideline floated in the air.

[Lvl. 1 Fighting Demon Dog, Obtained 13 EXP.]

[Current EXP: 127/135]

“I-I won…” he mumbled while he struggled to catch his breath.

With a swollen and torn body, Ryu exhaled a rough breath.

“Oh my, knees…”

It has been five days since he arrived in Selha Latna.

Ryu Han-bin had found a way to live.

* * *

Ryu Han-bin returned to the cave, carrying the body of the fallen dog. Then he began to dismember the Demon Dog with his long sword, in an attempt to prepare it for cooking.

“Oh, I’m used to doing this now.”

It would still be a mess to a professional butcher, but his skills as a butcher now, were surprisingly neat compared to five days ago. He cut the meat into the appropriate sizes and put it on a bonfire to cook slowly.

Ryu Han-bin muttered while chewing the roasted Demon Dog meat, “No matter what, this Demon Dog is not a natural creature.”

Its teeth and claws were dull, it was not a very threatening predator, but it suddenly appeared and attacked people.

Of course, it was threatening enough for Ryu Han-bin, who bursts to death every time he fights…

“If it were a real wild dog, I would have been bitten to death.”

He was convinced.

“As expected, this is also an artificial world.”

Did monsters appear based on the experience level of the player?

The Monster’s teeth and claws were also crushed so that it wouldn’t instantly kill people.

Even if people killed it and couldn’t find food for survival, the demon dog was the perfect food for such situations.

Ryu thought, “First of all, it could never happen in a normal ecosystem.”

On the other hand, the concept itself was also familiar.

“It’s completely a tutorial area in the game, right?”

When he thought about it, it made sense.

“The guideline said to survive and grow here.”

It made sense if it was a kind of consideration to develop minimal adaptability before being pushed to the real game.

There was another part he could guess.

When he was first transported here, there was a conversation he had secretly heard while engulfed in the light.

-Is the number of Suitors only this many?

-There are hundreds of people…

-Suitor number 398.

In other words, Ryu Han-bin was not the only one who was kidnapped and teleported into this world. Obviously, there were other people—at least hundreds of them.

“For some purpose, they kidnapped people on a large scale and dropped them into this world. In that case, they wanted to avoid people dying unnecessarily in the beginning.”

At that time, Ryu Han-bin suddenly came up with another question.

So far, he had never seen anyone else.

He only met strangely easy monsters, Demon Dogs.

“Wait, then where are the other people?”

Suddenly, a message appeared in the corner of his view.

-From outside the Rock Mountain area, you can pursue survival and growth in Selha Latna with other Suitors. Reach Lv.5 to leave the area and join other Suitors.

“Rock Mountain Area?”

Additional explanations also emerged.

-Start Zone: Rock Mountain Area

-A safety zone in which only monsters correspond to the Suitor’s abilities. The purpose is to help the Suitor adapt to Selha Latna by growing to Lv. 5 and increase the mortality rate along with strength.

In short, it sounded like a place where he could steadily improve his basic skills without suddenly encountering a high-ranking monster and getting killed.

“No, why are you telling me this now?”

He had asked it so many times where he was and what this rocky mountain was!

-The one who is going to…

He didn’t even feel angry anymore.

Ryu Han-bin laughed dejectedly.

“Thank you so much for telling me now, fuck.”

* * *

The next day, Ryu Han-bin was having another dog fight with a Demon Dog.

“Ahhhhhh!”

He wielded the long sword in his hand. In the meantime, he had beaten the dog to death, once again.

Fuck! Fuck! Fuuuuuck!

It couldn’t be helped – His only weapon was a long sword, so he had to engage in close combat.

“Damn it! Damn it!”

Ryu Han-bin was not a fool either. He’d been thinking about it in his own way.

He tried to make a rough spear by cutting a nearby tree and attaching pointed stones to widen its range. It was useless. The material could not be procured. All the trees on the rocky mountain dried up and broke easily by Ryu Han-bin’s own power. Rather than stabbing the Demon Dog, the spear was smashed first, upon initial impact.

Of course, he couldn’t even make a bow or a crossbow.

All he could use was this long sword in his hand.

“Ahhhhhh!”

He barely killed it.

Another message popped up.

-Lvl. 1 Fighting Demon Dog. Obtained 11 EXP

-Current EXP: 139/135

There was also an additional message this time.

-The required experience has been reached. Level Up.

-Strength +2,

-Stamina +2,

-Recovery +1,

-Defense +2

-The Skill ‘Stab’ has been activated.

“Le-level up!”

In front of Ryu Han-bin’s eager eyes, his status window, which had definitely changed, was flashing.

-Ryu Han-bin: Prosecutor Lv. 2

-Equipped Skill: Stab

-Strength 23,

-Stamina 19,

-Recovery 14,

-Defense 14,

-Vision 5,

-Reflexes 7,

-Speed 8.

It wasn’t just Strength and Stamina that changed with his level up.

There was a skill called ‘Stab.’

“How do I use this?” he wondered

He seriously stabbed his sword in the air in an attempt to figure out his new skill.

At the moment, Ryu Han-bin was startled and hardened into place.

“Wow!”

It was not the long sword swung in a mess, like he had been using it until now. It pierced the air with surprising sharpness. Weight movement, steps, and limb movements all made sense in martial arts. It was as if he had gained enlightenment. Excited, he stabbed and stabbed his long sword several times in the air till he had comfortably learned how to use his new skill.

“Ha ha ha ha ha!”

For the first time after falling into this hell, a laugh of pure joy erupted from within his being.

“Now I can easily get rid of the Demon Dog!”

* * *

Ten days have passed since Ryu Han-bin fell into this world.

He was still fighting the Demon Dog.

“Ahhhhhh!”

And it was still a dog fight.

“Damn iiiit.”

When he learned the Stab skill, Ryu Han-bin thought that fighting against the Demon dog would be easier. Even when he didn’t know anything, he managed to catch it, so it would be much easier now due to his new skill.

It was an illusion.

‘Grrrrr…’

-Race: Demon Dog Lv. 2

-Selha Latna’s lowest-class Monster. Having equal combat power equal to an armed adult male.

“The level has risen to 2, and the word “unarmed” has changed!”

That was right

Obviously, this phrase was attached to the description of the guideline.

-A safety zone in which only monsters corresponding to the abilities of the Suitor are placed.

If Ryu Han-bin was weak, the Monsters also appeared in a weak state. In other words, if Ryu Han-bin became stronger, the Demon Dog would also become stronger. It was a natural progression aimed at the early growth of the Suitor.

“Ah Fuck!”, he exclaimed in disdain as he realized what was happening.

* * *

It was the 14th day since he fell into this hell. Ryu Han-bin eagerly killed any Demon Dogs which appeared near him.

And at the end of each battle, it filled his experience adequately.

-Lv. 2 Fighting Demon Dog. Obtaining 22 EXP

-Current EXP: 284/280

-The required experience has been reached. Level up

-Vision +1

-Reflexes +1,

– Speed +1

-The Skill ‘Side Cut’ has been activated.

There was a new skill called Side Cut. Like when he acquired the Stab skill, Ryu Han-bin practiced Side Cut in the air for a long time. After confirming that he could use it even during battle, he went out and started looking for a dog.

And confirmed what he had been speculating so far.

“Yes, it is.”

The size of the Demon Dog he encountered was not the same as before. It was so big that anyone could see it from afar. It seemed to have grown about 10% in size and strength.

A message was floating above the head of a growling Demon Dog.

-Race: Demon Dog Lv. 3

-Selha Latna’s lowest-class Monster. Having equal combat power to an armed novice warrior.

It was no longer an adult male, but a ‘novice warrior.’

“Whew…”

Ryu Han-bin took a deep sigh. It seemed like he was destined to forever have dog fights.

* * *

The 17th day of hell life.

He was spending days of faithful slaughter day by day. Suddenly Ryu Han-bin was curious. As his level rose, Demon Dog’s level would also rise.

“Is it the same if I go out of this area after reaching level 5? Only monsters that are the same as my level will appear?”

-The equivalent monsters are a privilege only in the safe zone. In Selha Latna or the main area, you will encounter monsters of different levels depending on the area. Work with other Suitors to overcome the crisis.

If he left this area, he might encounter high-level monsters and had to escape. If so, it was dangerous to exit this rocky mountain just yet.

“You said I could leave here when I reach level 5? So what do I do after that? Am I just leveling up and doing it again?”

Even if it was a game, there were no such games in reality – An infinite leveling game with no story or purpose?

Fortunately, it wasn’t a game to begin with.

-When you reach level 20, the mission in Selha Latna Dimension ends, and the Suitor moves to the Latna Continent.

“Latna Continent? What is it?”

The guideline snapped off. Ryu Han-bin changed the question and asked a few more times, but there was no further response.

“Are you not supposed to tell me, or did you get an error again?”, Complaining, Ryu Han-bin began to clear up his thoughts.

“Anyway, it’s imperative to reach level 5 and move to another area.”