The Great Witch’s Forest.
People say, an ominous witch’s forest.
Anyone who enters this forest dies. Those who pass by get severely injured, and those who look upon it and curse fall under a misfortune curse.
Rumors spread that all of this is because of the great witch living inside the forest, and thus the kingdom sent witch-hunting parties several times, only for them to fail repeatedly.
Eventually, people decided to turn their eyes away from the great witch’s forest. They avoided it entirely and even considered mentioning its name taboo.
If you pretend not to see it, it becomes invisible, and if you don’t think something exists, you won’t even know it’s there.
And so, the great witch’s forest gradually disappeared from people’s sight. Now, it’s a cursed forest no one seeks out.
“Such a place must have treasure!”
And here, Kim Sera, an affinity hunter and player, said just that.
A place where people no longer tread. A place swirling with sinister rumors.
That’s precisely why treasures could be found there.
“So, is there treasure here?”
“Huh? There’ll be treasure, sure.”
“What? Didn’t you come here to find treasure?”
“What are you talking about? We came here to find affinity, right?”
At Sera’s words, Kail belatedly remembered they had come to find affinity, not treasure. Right, that was it.
We came here to find affinity, not treasure.
Kail, slicing through evil spirits flying towards them, looked around.
“Affinity in a place like this?”
“Yeah! Haven’t you been here before?”
“Why would I come to a place like this?”
“Really? That’s odd. I thought for sure you’d come here and fight the great witch or something.”
“Do you think I’m some psycho who lives for battle? I told you, I didn’t know!”
Laughing and chatting as they walked, Kail still sliced through another evil spirit and realized this was no ordinary place.
It had been ten minutes since stepping into the great witch’s forest. In that time, they’d been attacked by evil spirits and curses 131 times—once every five seconds. If Sera had entered alone, she’d already be a walking corpse.
‘I guess they were right to call me.’
If Kail, the Aura Master, hadn’t been here, Sera would’ve had to fend off those evil spirits with magic. Unlike his unwavering and durable Aura Blade, magic gets consumed bit by bit every time it collides with other objects.
Moreover, Sera, a mere two-star sorcerer, wouldn’t have lasted more than five minutes standing in this place.
—Woooooo…!
“Kyaaak!?”
The deeper they went, the stronger the evil spirits became, and eventually, spirits capable of affecting reality began to appear.
Swish—after slicing through an evil spirit, Kail burst into hollow laughter as Sera suddenly let out a shriek.
“What’s wrong? Why are you scared?”
“B, but I just heard a ghost sound…”
“What are you talking about? They’ve been appearing since earlier.”
“…What?”
“They’ve been appearing since earlier.”
Looking at her as if to say, “You didn’t realize?” Sera started trembling uncontrollably.
“What kind of sorcerer can’t see ghosts?”
“I-I’m really scared of that stuff… Even when I played games, I always turned off settings where such things appeared…”
“Is that so? —Whoa!”
“Kyaaaaa!”
Watching Sera tremble in fear, Kail burst into laughter and threatened to leave her behind if she didn’t hurry up. She, who had insisted on coming here despite not expecting such a terrifying place, quickly clung to Kail’s back and started shaking.
Seeing her like that, Kail tilted his head quizzically.
“But didn’t you seem fine at the Academy?”
“That’s different, you idiot!”
“…How is it different?”
“I knew what was going to happen back then! But now—”
Whooooosh—.
“Kyaaaaa—!”
Now startled by even the wind, Kail sighed exasperatedly as he looked in the direction the breeze came from.
The deeper they ventured, the stronger the evil spirits’ attacks became—until, at some point, they abruptly ceased. It was as if beyond this point, even evil spirits couldn’t interfere.
The fresh scent of the wind mingled with the aroma of magic power. Catching that scent, Kail realized they had entered the great witch’s domain.
People spoke of the grotesque being who created this cursed land.
A prepared sorcerer.
He now stood within the sorcerer’s domain.
‘Dangerous.’
Realizing this, goosebumps ran down his spine. His body, sensing imminent danger, rang alarm bells.
In an unpredictable situation, facing a prepared sorcerer, a warrior’s chances of victory plummet exponentially.
‘Especially against a great witch.’
Anticipating what she might have prepared, Kail stepped further inside. Sera followed, trembling behind him.
* * *
Bubbling.
In front of a large cauldron filled with boiling unidentified herbs, the great witch stood blankly, sensing someone had entered her domain.
Expecting yet another bothersome extermination squad, she realized only two people had entered—not an extermination party.
Too few for an extermination squad. Then they must have come here for another reason. Perhaps…
…
…
“Ah…”
What was I thinking about again?
Right, intruders. There were intruders.
Surely, they came to kill her.
No, their numbers are too few. Far too insufficient to kill her…
“…”
—Intruders.
They must die.
They must be obstructing her lifelong goal.
Otherwise, how could the evil spirits have let them pass?
“They must die.”
Eliminate the intruders.
Then, achieve her lifelong goal.
The great witch staggered out of her hut.
* * *
We were lost.
I soon realized it.
“Hey.”
“W-why, why…?”
“We’re lost. We’ve been circling the same spot for a while.”
“What!?”
Hearing that, Sera cautiously peeked around. After briefly releasing magic to observe landmarks, she sighed in relief and shouted at me.
“It’s not that we’re lost—it’s a maze spell!”
“Oh. Isn’t that worse?”
“…Now that you mention it, yeah.”
“Idiot.”
“You’re the bigger idiot.”
Sera, refusing to back down, closed her eyes and began muttering some incantation. As she said, if there was a spell causing us to lose our way, it was likely a barrier set by the forest’s owner—the great witch.
Considering her title, breaking a barrier cast by at least a Master-level sorcerer seemed impossible for Sera, a mere two-star sorcerer.
‘Where should I smash to break the barrier?’
As I pondered which direction to destroy, Sera, clinging to my back, exhaled and spoke.
“It’s broken.”
“…?”
“What are you doing? Let’s go forward.”
“Huh? You broke the barrier? How?”
“How else? Just did it, dummy.”
Sera, having achieved the unbelievable, casually patted her back and urged us forward. Though trusting her was one thing, believing what she accomplished was another. Hesitating briefly, I cautiously advanced—and confirmed the spell causing us to lose our way had indeed been lifted.
‘How did she do it?’
Perhaps, fitting for a player who knows everything in this world, she had some cheat-like key to dispel magic.
I couldn’t figure out the specifics, but it was clear she had her own tricks. After all, if she had nothing to rely on, she wouldn’t have joined me here or earned the title of Dragon Slayer during the terror incident.
Pushing forward through the now-clear path, I suddenly sensed something flying toward us from afar and stopped.
“It’s coming.”
“Huh?”
As Sera tilted her head in confusion, a black streak of magic whipped toward us like a lash.
Blocking both attacks simultaneously was impossible, so I sliced one with my sword and caught the other with my hand.
Only then realizing they were under attack, Sera shrieked and retreated.
“What, what is this!?”
“—Intruders.”
Thud, thud.
A small voice echoed from afar.
Glancing up, I saw a gaunt woman standing there.
That person is the great witch. Her overwhelming magic power made it obvious.
“Leave. Now.”
“Never seen you before, but your words are harsh.”
Feeling the menacing aura radiating from the great witch, I instinctively tightened my grip on my sword. Sera, clinging to my back, tugged nervously at my clothes.
“Ka, Kail. Something feels off…”
“What? What is it?”
“Why is that person talking?”
“What?”
Confused by her question, I turned around. Sera pointed at the great witch and explained.
“In games, the great witch is always portrayed as a mute!”
I glanced at the great witch. She didn’t seem entirely normal, but calling her a mute felt inaccurate.
“Die.”
With that, the great witch’s curse rained down upon us.
