Rena disliked thieves.
Who could possibly like someone who steals their belongings? It’s an obvious statement, but true nonetheless.
She wasn’t someone with a strong desire to possess her own things.
She had an older and a younger sibling, and Rena was more inclined to let them use her belongings freely.
Living in the Great Forest changed her disposition.
After all, in the wild, one had to fight and protect what was theirs with their own hands.
The concepts of a warm family, kind neighbors, or trustworthy friends felt like stories from a distant land.
It was easier on the mind to treat everyone as an enemy.
It was a matter of survival.
If today’s food was stolen, one would starve.
If one starved, they wouldn’t have the strength to hunt the next day, leading to more difficulties.
It was a vicious cycle.
To break this endless loop, the best approach was to prevent such situations from happening in the first place—by being tenaciously aggressive.
Therefore, thievery was a grave offense.
Rena was the judge, and the verdict was death.
Rena raced through the dense forest.
Her opponent was an exceptionally stealthy thief, almost undetectable until the moment of awakening one’s survival instincts.
Even after achieving her goal, the thief didn’t relax. The traces in the forest were so faint that careful observation was required to discern them.
Rather than being cunning, it seemed this creature was inherently specialized in stealthy movement.
Of course, no matter how smart an animal might be, it’s still just an animal.
Rena would have let her guard down and maybe even danced around by now.
Does it make sense that the animal is still so cautious?
As the self-proclaimed highest intellect of the Great Forest, Rena could not tolerate the existence of an animal smarter than herself.
Though her argument was baseless, the conclusion she reached was surprisingly accurate.
The animals of this Great Forest were uniquely peculiar. Judging them by common standards would only cause headaches.
Extreme stealth was, after all, an ability that one could be naturally gifted with.
“Ahhh, it’s gone far.”
Rena surveyed the thief’s trail from the top of a tall tree.
She wanted to estimate how far the thief had fled.
Even if the estimate indicated she still had a long chase ahead, she had no intention of giving up.
She had come too far to turn back now.
She had to see this through to the end.
At least it didn’t seem like she needed to push herself further.
The trail had abruptly ended at a particular location.
“Is this its den?”
A smile crept across Rena’s face.
Good, it had the audacity to mess with my home?
Imagine how angry you’d be if someone with muddy feet invaded your home.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth—justified vengeance falls upon the thief.
“Hmm?”
However, it seemed too soon to assume the situation was resolved.
Rena stood dumbfounded at the sight in front of her where the trail ended.
It was a well-concealed spot on the mountainside, hidden by cleverly arranged vines.
She had assumed the creature had simply made a cave its home, but it was far from that.
A sheer cliff blocked her path.
There was no hole or passage through which the animal could pass.
The sight of trees growing out of the cliff and the landscape sculpted by wind and time was breathtakingly beautiful.
“Not the time to gawk,” she thought.
Where had the thief vanished to?
The trail clearly ended here.
And here, it abruptly cut off.
There should be someone here.
Unless it flew into the sky or sank into the ground, nothing made sense.
But if it knew how to do either of those, it would have done so long ago.
It wasn’t logical for the thief to change escape tactics at this point.
Then how…?
Rena was deep in thought when suddenly:
“The fate of the wild connects with hidden mysteries!”
“Your instincts dissect the hidden structure of these mysteries with clarity!”
A part of her mind tingled.
An instinctive hunch, or perhaps a divine revelation, urged her on.
This place, this part—why does it feel like my finger fits here perfectly?
It was like the childish urge to stick chopsticks into a power outlet, even when warned not to.
Rena didn’t hesitate.
As she inserted her finger into a section of the cliff, it felt like sliding a perfect key into a lock.
Then, she slashed her nails across the rock.
And then:
“Wow.”
The cliff swayed with the wind, crumbled, and revealed an empty space within.
“So, is this an illusion? A hologram?”
The cliff had felt so solid, with a tangible surface, yet it was all fake?
It was a technology far beyond the means of her homeland.
But in this era, where humanity hadn’t even conquered this grand forest, it was unlikely they possessed such advanced technology.
Magic? It must be magic.
A clear and satisfying answer that could explain all mysteries.
Isn’t fantasy about magic? Isn’t it romantic to bring imagination into reality in a world stuck at a primitive medieval level?
In a novel, once one reaches the 9th Circle, they can summon meteors to cause dinosaur-level extinctions.
Compared to that, a hologram with tactile feedback—how difficult could that be?
Rena decided not to question the mystery she had just experienced.
“Huff…”
She calmed her racing heart with deep breaths.
It was unfortunate.
But how can I contain this excitement?
Wow! Magic!
Just as she had completed her current career and was looking for new adventures, a serendipitous and exciting new experience had come her way.
Her heart raced, her eyes sparkled, and vitality surged through her body.
[The Mysteries of the Great Forest]
There exists a forgotten legend within the Great Forest.
A tale so fantastical it was lost to time.
Do not step into the Great Forest.
For the Dragon, the master of the Great Forest, watches over it.
You have discovered the traces of a Dragon.
Will you flee in fear or gather the courage to claim its legacy? The choice is yours…
“Let’s go!”
The system’s message, as usual, was considered redundant and ignored by Rena.
“The hidden mysteries of the Great Forest, entering the Dragon’s lair!”
While Rena was excited by her first experience with magic, she didn’t lose sight of her original goal.
The purpose of this journey was solely to identify and punish the thief.
The magical experience was merely an unexpected side stimulation during the process.
Inside the cave.
Despite there being magic at the entrance, there were few traces of artificial work.
It was a natural cave.
As expected of a natural cave, the entrance was bright, but further in, it was pitch black.
Rena stepped forward confidently.
Since her initiation into the fate of the wild, darkness was no longer an obstacle for Rena.
And after awakening further, it was as if it was daylight even in the deepest darkness.
But shouldn’t even perfect vision be ineffective without a single source of light?
Rena, despite her liberal arts background, had acquired broad knowledge from YouTube. She vaguely remembered some facts.
Nonetheless, it wasn’t something that caused her any dissatisfaction.
In a fantasy world where magic exists, science can be overlooked, right?
Maybe this world operates under a different set of physical laws?
Rena didn’t dismiss any wild speculation or possibility.
She was more of a cautious novice rather than someone knowledgeable.
Living alone like a primitive person, she had never met anyone else, so how could she know what was right?
“By the way, how big is this place?”
Her suppressed complaint broke out despite her need to stay quiet in the thief’s home.
She had walked for a considerable time, yet there was no end in sight.
By the size of the footprints, the thief wasn’t very large, so why was it occupying such a huge cave?
Were there rich animals and poor animals? If you have money, could you afford a larger house?
Just as Rena’s mind started to wander, she eventually noticed a change in the scenery before her.
The place at the end of the cave was a gigantic cavern with a dome-shaped ceiling.
A place that seemed like an immense something had once nested there.
Indeed, the ceiling had patterns resembling the scrape of tough scales.
Beneath it:
“…”
There was the thief she had been chasing.
Its small size was oddly disproportionate to the grand space, and it twitched slightly.
Fortunately, it didn’t seem to detect her yet.
It didn’t seem to have the same keen perception as its stealth.
Rena crept closer.
She could observe and estimate what kind of animal it was, but such was the strategy of amateurs and the less skilled.
Why waste time when all you need is one good swing?
Of course, she intended to control her strength.
To kill with one blow would be too lenient.
You’ve made me suffer so much—this is about pride. You’ll have to pay the price for that while you’re still alive.
You’ve picked the wrong person to mess with.
The moment Rena decided it was close enough and revealed her presence by lifting her hand,
Kiiiing! Nng!
The thief cried.
“…”
Its big round eyes were brimming with tears.
*
Humans instinctively adore cute animals.
Especially puppies—so powerful that even the toughest men with iron hearts would be disarmed instantly.
Rena, who had been prepared to unleash her wrath and settle scores,
Still couldn’t help but be moved when she discovered the true identity of the thief.
The thief was a small wolf.
Because dogs and wolves are related, it looked a lot like a puppy at first glance.
Even worse, it cried with a heart-wrenching whine—this was more like a violent emotional bomb.
Living isolated from civilization for so long, despite losing some of her screws mentally, Rena still retained this sensitivity.
In fact, since her gender change, she had become even more susceptible to cuteness and charm.
“Are you the thief?”
Ding!
“If you are, then die.”
?
The verdict hadn’t changed.
You are cute. I’ll admit it.
But just because you look cute, should I let you go? What about the two orcs that died before you? Would that be fair?
Rena’s arm moved again.
Ka-geng! Keng!
The wolf pup’s cry this time was filled with true desperation.
