019 — The Escape
The one who shot the arrow tried to draw a sword, so he had cut off its arm without thinking. Then, a thought struck him.
The official told me to run without question if I ever met an Elf.
But he had fought anyway. In the first place, he’d had no choice. How could he run without fighting from someone who was trying to kill him?
The Dark Elf, its face twisted in pain and terror, stumbled backward. Jinwoo lunged, determined not to let it get away.
“Stop!”
The Elf’s companion stepped forward to block Jinwoo.
The sword in its hand aimed for Jinwoo’s neck. But Jinwoo’s gaze wasn’t on the sword.
It was fixed on one place: the Elves' flames, which burned like tangled roots.
Swish!
Jinwoo’s sword pierced the breastplate of the Elf blocking his path and cut through its flame. With that, it was already dead.
Feeling that even the natural fall of the corpse was too slow, he shoved it aside and moved toward the first Elf with the severed arm.
“H-Hiiik!?”
Seeing Jinwoo charge like a demon, it tried to resist with its remaining arm, but it was useless. Its other arm was cut off as well, and finally, a sword plunged into the flame in its chest.
“Hoo.”
He kicked the corpse away, pulling his sword free.
The flames absorbed from the two Dark Elves settled within Jinwoo. It was a far greater amount than what he’d gotten from hunting rats these past few days.
But he didn't feel good. Even if they were another species, killing beings so similar to humans left a bad taste in his mouth.
It’s not murder… but to say that is a bit…
Of course, he hadn't killed a human from Earth. But Elves were also intelligent beings, and despite the language barrier, they were capable of communication. It was just that they were too belligerent.
He couldn't say he felt good after killing such beings with his own hands.
But what could he do? They had tried to kill him first; they should have been prepared for the consequences.
“Bulkar, safe?”
“You amazing. No, incredible.”
Bulkar was staring at him with a dumbfounded expression. It seemed he couldn't believe what he had just witnessed.
Dark Elves were known to be even fiercer than the already aggressive Elves.
To think he had dispatched two of them in an instant!
But in the next moment, Bulkar’s expression hardened. Just as he had known to put down a gold coin when he met Jinwoo, he also knew the proper response for encountering Elves.
“Jinwoo, follow. Run now.”
“Run?”
“Ugh! Here, bandage, please.”
Bulkar gripped the arrow embedded in his shoulder and pulled it out with sheer force.
As expected of an arrow from the highly aggressive Dark Elves, it was barbed like a harpoon, designed not to come out easily. Forcibly twisting it out tore his flesh, and blood gushed out.
Bulkar took a thick, paste-like ointment from his subspace pouch and slathered it on the wound. He then took out a bandage and handed it to Jinwoo, who wrapped it tightly for him.
“Let’s go! Hurry!”
His wound treated, Bulkar urgently hurried Jinwoo. Having no idea what was going on, Jinwoo had no choice but to follow.
Sprinting back to their shelter, Bulkar began shoving all his belongings into his subspace pouch.
What’s going on?
As if seeing the question on Jinwoo’s face, Bulkar explained.
“Elves coming. Very many.”
“Coming?”
“Many, many.”
The countermeasure Bulkar had been taught for encountering Elves was to run. But what if you couldn’t run and had to fight? What if you won the fight and managed to kill them?
Even then, he was told to run, no matter what. Elves never ignore the deaths of their kin. They were said to always return to the place where a kinsman had died.
“Shit.”
Jinwoo unconsciously spat out Korean instead of Elvish.
They were already fast and hard to escape from, and now they were dangerous even after you killed them?
“#$@#$!%&#@!”
A torrent of words Jinwoo didn't know poured from Bulkar’s mouth. He didn't know the meaning, but somehow, he felt like he understood. It was strange how curses were often understandable even in a foreign language.
“Sorry. For killing.”
When Jinwoo apologized, Bulkar waved his hands dismissively.
“No, you did well. They are the crazy ones.”
Having stuffed all the tools he had used for so long into his subspace pouch, Bulkar called to Jinwoo, urging him to flee quickly.

Jinwoo and Bulkar navigated the complex cave, heading for the surface.
On the way, Jinwoo asked why they were leaving the relative safety of the underground for the surface. Bulkar explained there were several reasons.
The biggest problem was that there was no blue portal here. To find one, they would have to dig new tunnels and search the entire underground, and trying to find a blue portal that may or may not exist while digging was madness.
Dwarves were good at digging, but not with enemies on their tail.
Furthermore, their means of procuring food and water were limited, making it a poor place for a siege. Hiding in place would only lead to them starving to death.
Besides that, there were countless ways to harass an enemy hiding in a cave, such as starting a fire outside to fill the tunnels with smoke.
“Go out and find. Blue portal.”
Their only option was to find a portal and escape as quickly as possible. Jinwoo nodded in understanding at Bulkar’s words.
At the same time, he couldn't help but think how ironic it was.
In my first Gate, I was also chased by an Elf while desperately searching for a blue portal.
In the end, that black-haired Elf hadn't intended to kill him, but he hadn't known that at the time. Unsure how long her whim would last, he had just searched frantically for a portal.
The situation was different, but a similar thing was happening again. The black-haired Elf chasing him had just been replaced by Dark Elves.

Thankfully, the path to the surface wasn't complicated. Bulkar had set up his shelter with accessibility to the surface in mind.
“Here.”
It wasn't long before they emerged onto the surface.
The two of them immediately scanned their surroundings. No one was there. Bulkar let out a sigh of relief and relaxed.
But Jinwoo did not.
They’re here.
They were here. Out of sight.
To be precise, they weren't close enough to be seen. Far away, at the very edge of his perception, he could feel two or three flames.
The problem was, there was no guarantee that was all of them.
There could be more, farther away…
Jinwoo’s ability to sense the Blue Flame wasn't narrow, but it wasn't incredibly wide, either.
“Careful.”
At Jinwoo’s low warning, Bulkar’s expression hardened, and he nodded.
Jinwoo asked.
“Where blue portal?”
“……”

Bulkar just shook his head at the question. Jinwoo’s face darkened. If they knew the portal’s location, they could somehow break through to it.
But if they didn't, they would be hunted by Dark Elves for an unknown period of time.
Can't be helped.
But what choice did they have? If they didn't know, they had to find it.
Jinwoo and Bulkar looked at each other and nodded. Their intentions were aligned without needing to be spoken.
Keeping his senses active, the pair wandered through the forest in search of a blue portal. But after walking for some time…
Thwip-thwip-thwip!
Several arrows flew past and embedded themselves in the ground at their feet. Naturally, they stopped.
“……This way.”
Having no choice, they changed direction and took a different path. Before, they had been heading across a stream; now, they were heading up it.
But after walking for a while longer…
Thwip-thwip-thwip!
Arrows flew and struck the ground again.
With the same thing happening twice, he understood their intent.
They’re herding us.
They were guiding Jinwoo and Bulkar into their own territory.
The number of blue flames Jinwoo could sense fluctuated between two and three, and sometimes more than five. He could tell there were quite a few of them.
“%&#@.”
After being guided by arrows a few more times, Bulkar couldn’t hold back a curse. Jinwoo was intensely curious what level of profanity it would be in his own language.
The herding became more and more blatant, and they felt like they were being drawn into an antlion pit.

And so, night fell.
The two of them, of course, stayed awake all night. They had no idea when the enemy might attack.
“Jinwoo, safe?” asked Bulkar, who had been watching the east, as the sun began to rise.
Jinwoo, who had been watching the west, nodded that he was fine.
He could manage without sleep for a day. Thinking they should try to escape through an opening today, the two of them got up.
Today, too, the enemies were relentless, luring Jinwoo and Bulkar somewhere.
But again, there was no attack.
What is this?
After another night passed like that, Jinwoo figured out their objective.
They weren't just herding them somewhere. That was just a bonus; their real goal was something else.
Are they trying to exhaust us?
They were herding them, yes, but not attacking immediately meant they intended to wear down their stamina.
If that was the case, being dragged around any longer would not end well. It was also a fool's errand to search for a blue portal in an area already controlled by the enemy.
“Bulkar. Let’s run for it.”
“What!?”
Bulkar was taken aback by Jinwoo’s decision. They were currently surrounded by Elves. Multiple Elves with bows.
Jinwoo’s words meant they should try to break through.
But Jinwoo’s reasoning was simple. It was a disadvantageous fight, yes, but facing them now, even at a disadvantage, gave them the best chance of winning.
With those words, Jinwoo took the lead and charged forward.

Two days earlier.
The presence of their kinsmen, who had gone to deal with the Dwarf holed up underground, had vanished. It meant they had died in an accident. Or perhaps they had been killed by the Dwarf.
Benville, leader of the Dark Elf bandit group “Black Thorns,” which operated mainly in the Primeval Forest, gave an order to his subordinate.
“Two of our kinsmen are dead. Go and retrieve their souls. We will watch the nearby entrance.”
From what Bulkar had heard, Elves always came for revenge when a kinsman died in a Gate.
It was a part of their survival strategy and a symbol of the strong bond that prioritized the safety of their kin.
That was the common understanding among other species, including Bulkar, but the truth was a little different.
The reason they always confirmed the deaths of their kin had nothing to do with camaraderie. It was to retrieve the souls of the dead.
“I don’t need to tell you, but you must retrieve them. The Mother World Tree and our entire race are already withering. Even the souls of two are precious.”
“Understood.”
The birth of an Elf was somewhat more mysterious compared to other races. No, not just birth, but their entire cycle, including death, could be called a mystery.
When they died, their souls returned to the Mother World Tree, where they were purified. Then, they were reborn as new souls in the form of flowers and fruits.
A soul-cycle system centered around the World Tree. This was why they revered the World Tree as their one and only god.
However, at some point, the souls began to wither. The number of newly born souls was clearly less than the number of dead Elves.
Consequently, the Mother World Tree was also gradually withering, and the entire Elven race was facing a crisis that threatened the continuation of their species.
For this reason, the white-skinned Elves and black-skinned Elves, who were originally hostile to each other, had joined hands. The Queen of the White Elves and the King of the Black Elves had put aside their long-standing animosity and made a dramatic reconciliation, with both sides striving to save the World Tree.
Given the situation, they could not afford to leave the souls of their kin behind in a different world inside a Gate.
Furthermore.
“You all prepare as well. The moles will be coming up soon. For the Mother World Tree, we must bring back as many new souls as we can.”
Just as humans from Earth entered Gates for food and magic stones, and Dwarves entered for rare minerals, they entered Gates to obtain souls.
And not just any souls—not the low-grade souls of grass or non-sentient animals.
They needed souls of beings with clear intelligence. High-purity souls that could be fed to the World Tree to make new flower buds bloom.
“They’re out. Lure them to the base.”
After waiting for a while, the moles emerged from the cave entrance. One Dwarf and one human.
A human?
The tracks they had investigated only showed signs of a single Dwarf coming and going. A human was unexpected.
Though puzzled, he didn't pay it much mind. As someone who also entered Gates, he was well aware of the nature of this other world.
The human had probably been randomly dropped into the underground cave upon entering.
“They’re trying to stray. Fire.”
“Yes, sir.”
At Benville’s gesture, his subordinates fired a few arrows to block the path of the human and the Dwarf. It was a warning that if they went any further in that direction, they would be shot and killed.
It’s best to capture them alive if possible.
What they needed were new souls. Not the same souls that just circulated among themselves, but completely different souls transfused from the outside.
However, turning a non-Elven soul into nourishment for the World Tree to be reborn as a new Elf required a bit of a process.
It wouldn't matter if they brought them back dead, but capturing them alive would be for the best.
“Maintain distance. And while you’re at it, harass them endlessly so they can’t rest easy.”
They carefully maintained their distance while luring their targets. But then…
“Boss.”
“Are you back? You’ve collected the souls, I trust?”
The subordinate who had gone to collect the souls of their dead kinsmen had returned. He asked if the job had been done properly, but the subordinate’s expression was strange.
“The souls… are gone.”
“What? Gone?”
“Yes.”
Faced with this unbelievable report, Benville asked again, but his subordinate’s answer remained the same.

His subordinate also wore a grimace, as if to say this should never have happened. At a time when every single soul was precious for the sake of their withering Mother World Tree, they had lost two.

At this rate, even if they captured the human and the Dwarf they were chasing, it would be a net loss. To lose two Elven souls and gain two souls of another species that required refinement—was that not a loss?

Just then, the image of that human flashed through Benville’s mind.

A human who had suddenly appeared where there had been none when they were investigating the Dwarf's tracks.

‘Those dwarves who do nothing but play with rocks are incapable of such a high-level feat as manipulating souls.’

If that was the case, the culprit had to be the human.

Benville’s eyes blazed with the thought that he must, must capture him, if only to reclaim the souls of his brethren.

Moreover, a white-skinned Elf was currently at their base. A detestable woman with impressive, long black hair who claimed to be a knight serving the queen.

The white-skinned Elves, though currently allies, were a people they had been at odds with for a long time. That was irritating enough, but this one was a noble and a knight—the very types Benville despised most.

He couldn't afford to look pathetic while someone like that was here. This was about more than performance; his pride as a Dark Elf would not allow it.

‘I will never let them escape!’

With eyes filled with fierce determination, he stared at the back of the human fleeing in the distance.

Even watching from so far away, he felt his mind grow dizzy. He was certain. The man was undoubtedly a vile enemy, a black magician of some sort who toyed with souls and bewitched the mind.