By Zephyria ‘Intelligence is a scary thing. Look at the beasts. As long as you don’t bother them, they just hunt what they need to eat and live.’
‘There he goes again, repeating what he says when he’s drunk.’
‘I don’t catch Aberrants. They really creep me out. Did you see them playing with people and tilting their heads? Did you? Shit, it made me want to puke… Ugh.’
‘Ah! You crazy bastard, are you really gonna puke!’
PTSD is not an uncommon symptom among mercenaries. Although the degree varies, they usually have at least one major or minor trauma.
Some are in serious condition. These are usually the ones who are physically fit and skilled but only take on cheap requests.
Usually, they survive a disaster and develop neurosis. Accidents involving high-ranking Aberrants are not just about the high number of casualties, but they are also horrific.
With just a fingernail’s worth of intelligence more than a Beast, they would play around when killing humans.
They would tear off the head of the first person they killed, hold it in their mouth, and chase after their comrades, or they would drive humans into a dead end and enjoy watching them struggle.
Of course, most of the Aberrants they encounter are low-ranking and stupid, so they often fall for traps and lures.
Only occasionally are there clever ones. Monsters whose actions are so unlucky that they stimulate an instinctive revulsion.
When those things mess with people, they play around like this. They would deliberately drop bodies, whether dead or dying, from a high place, or they would throw rocks at them and play around…
“Get on the bike.”
Jin Mu-hae called Joo-oh in a stiff voice. If all the dead mercenaries weren’t morons, then the entity that played with them was strong and clever.
He didn’t want to deal with such an Aberrant when he came to catch Guiho. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be nearby now, so getting out of the area quickly was the top priority.
As soon as Joo-oh held his waist tightly, Mu-hae turned the bike around and drove back the way they came.
“The leather?”
At Joo-oh’s question, he hesitated for a moment. It was a waste to give up the way after renting an expensive Small aircraft.
Besides, money aside, wasn’t the original purpose a new jacket? It would be better to look around a bit more in an area where the Aberrant wasn’t roaming.
“Let’s go. To find the leather.”
As if he had been waiting for those words, Joo-oh snickered and laughed, pressing his cheek against his shoulder.
How cute, he’s giggling. What’s so good about this situation?
“Now the leather will come looking for us.”
After whispering something that was either a metaphor or just nonsense in his ear, he hmm, took a deep breath.
He was obviously sniffing someone else’s scent again.
“I wish it would just come on its own.”
Jin Mu-hae replied lightly and turned the handlebars towards the opposite side of the lake.
Aberrants vary widely in physical abilities and characteristics depending on their type.
It’s perhaps a natural result of lumping things that are no different from other species into one category, ‘Aberrant,’ based solely on the commonality that they appeared with Crystal Blue.
Joo-oh, the one and only Aberrant who had never encountered another form like his since falling into the game, leaned against Jin Mu-hae’s shoulder, singing la la la.
His shoulder was hard, but it was wide, making it pleasant to rest his head on. The unique scent from his neck tickled his stomach and made him feel good.
‘It’s almost time for the hidden jacket.’
Jin Mu-hae was going to hit his head and not give it to him, but he praised him for doing well and touched his head, ears, and cheeks, so he decided to make a big effort.
If he had obtained the hidden item without any touching, he would have kept watching him, but as expected. He only recognized the traces of the accident and the Aberrant’s involvement and tried to turn back.
Joo-oh secretly picked up the item and put it in his Inventory. In a little while, the event was scheduled to take place.
“This doesn’t seem like a Guiho either.”
Jin Mu-hae muttered, looking at the radar. That’s right. That’s not Guiho. Guiho only appears when both the left and right sides of the lake are marked.
And why catch a tiger when you can get hidden leather?
Joo-oh had been sparing his words in response to Mu-hae’s questions since earlier. He didn’t lie by saying there wasn’t one when there wasn’t, but he didn’t actively help with his search either.
Hmm. He took another deep breath of Jin Mu-hae’s scent and rubbed his cheek hard against his broad shoulder.
Sometimes when he exhaled, the back of Jin Mu-hae’s neck twitched. Was it ticklish? He didn’t know why, but it was fun, so Joo-oh now breathed on him every time he rode the bike.
And… a tingling sensation. At some point, he began to feel a sharp sensation as if a blade had touched the top of his head.
The event he had been waiting for was starting. Joo-oh rubbed his head against Mu-hae’s shoulder one more time as if he was sorry, and took out the handkerchief from his Inventory.
The faint scent of someone’s perfume, faintly remaining among the dried bloodstains, tickled the tip of his nose.
“Jin Mu-hae.”
Clever Aberrants don’t easily forget a scent once they’ve smelled it. Especially the scent of those they had played with well a few days ago.
“Get ready.”
“What?”
No sooner had he finished speaking than a scream like that of a pubescent teenager echoed from the right – Hiaaaaaak-!
Hunting Guiho is a fairly nerve-wracking side quest for users playing La Vida Blue for the first time.
In addition to witnessing a chilling accident scene that has nothing to do with Guiho, the Aberrant’s cry is heard periodically the moment you pick up a useful item from the belongings of the dead.
Even if you endure the unpleasant sight and rummage through the scene, if you pick up a specific item, a proper Aberrant chase begins from then on.
‘Handkerchief of Jangma’. This seemingly worthless item, which fell into the bushes when the mercenary’s arm flew off and could not be found without a thorough search, is the trigger for the hidden leather.
It was a Gift from the dead man’s younger sibling. The mercenary, who now only had an arm left, never properly used this handkerchief because he didn’t want it to get dirty, and only held it tightly in his hand when he went out hunting.
Well, there is such a sub-story, but it is not very important for the quest progression.
Possess the handkerchief, and check the description of the handkerchief just before leaving the eastern point of the lake. These two are the conditions for hidden progression.
‘Goodbye, handkerchief.’
Flutter. As the fluffy yellow piece of cloth fluttered away in the wind, the full-fledged quest began.
Hiaaaaaak-!
Beep- Beep- Beep-!
Once again, a strange cry echoed and the radar emitted a loud warning.
“Damn it, where did it suddenly…!”
Jin Mu-hae, who was driving the bike, immediately turned the handlebars and braked sharply at the cry coming from the front this time.
Joo-oh’s body jerked, and he hugged his waist tightly. The stowed equipment stabbed his chest hard, but he didn’t care.
“Go left, Jin Mu-hae.”
“Does that way look better?”
“Um… better than the other places?”
Either way, they would encounter an Aberrant. Not even a measly 3rd or 2nd grade one, but a whole 〈1st grade〉 Stonemason.
‘Weird name.’
A feeling that he might have had a similar thought even in a past moment that he couldn’t remember tickled one side of Joo-oh’s brain.
The Stonemason was named because the Aberrant had a bone like an awl on its forefoot.
They used it to stab the heads of their prey like a chisel, and they also destroyed terrain as needed.
The fact that this Aberrant throws rocks and crushes humans is probably just a new hobby for the individual entity, regardless of the name, but it’s a little funny because it has a corner that somehow matches the name.
Hiaak, hahak, hak-!
The sound that seemed to have gotten a little further away while driving to the left suddenly got much closer again.
Even the cry changed strangely, sounding like it was holding back laughter.
The instinctively repulsive sound reminds us that this game has a ‘horror’ tag.
“…Get off.”
Jin Mu-hae, who was looking at the radar, stopped the bike with a coldly frozen face.
The fact that the Aberrant they thought they had avoided reappeared so quickly meant that there was a chase route they didn’t know about.
Even though the sound is heard so close, it doesn’t attack?
There was a high possibility that the Aberrant was observing their movements from a high place with the optimal route.
Under the assumption that they can catch them no matter when or in which direction they jump, they are playing with them as they often do.
“Take out your weapon.”
“Okay.”
Then, running away frantically would only result in being attacked in a vulnerable situation.
Jin Mu-hae, who quickly recognized this fact, rummaged through his bag and scattered mine-type items around.
He used the bike as a barricade and pulled Joo-oh to stand next to him.
The hastily improvised battle stance was quite a sight. Joo-oh met Jin Mu-hae’s eyes and tried to hide his teeth, which were showing white.
‘I can’t get excited. It looks weird.’
Jin Mu-hae and Director Gil, Teacher Jung’s group. That is, Joo-oh, who had roughly set foot in ‘Return flight’ and was slowly reducing his foolish actions.
Now that Jin Mu-hae was listening to him little by little, he was worried that he might lose his trust if he jumped around here.
“Take out something to shoot with.”
“I don’t want to. I like this.”
“How are you going to beat an Aberrant with a club? Take out a bullet or something.”
He still didn’t seem to trust Joo-oh’s combat power, but it didn’t matter.
When he thought about it, Jin Mu-hae was kinder when Joo-oh was drooping than when he was energetic.
“I see it.”
Joo-oh, who was rummaging around to take out a shock bullet, nudged Jin Mu-hae and whispered.
In fact, he couldn’t see it at all because it was on top of a hill that blocked his view, but he wanted to give him some information to identify the Aberrant.
“Its arms are really long. Its head looks like it’s bruised. It’s disgusting…”
Mu-hae frowned at the description.
He immediately realized that the pursuer was a 〈1st grade〉 Stonemason.