Against the Clock: The Team Leader’s Pursuit of Glory

"Huff---Huff--"

A woman, running through a dense, wild jungle, clutched her pounding heart. It had been a long time since she had run to the point of gasping for breath, since becoming a Hunter.

'That's why I said we shouldn't enter the demonic realm!'

She blamed the party member who urged them to go in. She shouldn't have believed when that person assured them that it would be fine if they didn't go too deep. She shouldn't have been tempted by rumors of a party on the Yalu River defense line scoring a big catch.

She regretted all her choices now.

'After surviving the winter defense war, I should've gone straight home. Phew, what's the point of blaming someone else? I was the fool for believing in it. There isn't even anyone left to blame anymore...'

All six members of her party who entered with her fell prey to mysterious assailants. She was the only survivor. If monsters hadn't luckily burst in just before her imminent death, she might have ended up buried in the damp swamps of the cursed forest herself.

But the crisis wasn't over yet.

She couldn't see them, but her sixth sense warned her that the pursuers were very close.

She was about to be caught any moment.

Then, an idea flashed through her mind.

'Right! There was a swamp, wasn't there?"

Following the path, there was a long swampy river.

She slid down the river bank slope, untied the lasso for monsters from her waist, chose a solid spot at the edge of the swamp, and drove her dagger deep into the ground, tying the rope to the handle.

"We've almost caught up to her! If we lose her, we'll die!"

As a desperate shout rang out from not too far away, she threw herself into the swamp.

She tried to hide in the swamp, but, unfortunately, she sank too slowly. It seemed she wouldn't be able to hide before the pursuers arrived.

She mobilized all her mana and dived deeper like swimming. It was risky to go too deep as she might not be able to get out, but she didn't have any time to hesitate because being caught meant immediate death.

Fortunately, the pursuers only appeared after she had fully hidden herself.

"Ha, that North Korean woman is lucky. It just had to be when we encountered the 'Three Horned Rhino'."

"Looks like a scout dealer. She's fast. Had we known, we would have brought someone with long-distance running skills."

"Anyway, if we lose her, we'll be in trouble. We gotta catch her. It'll be a problem if this gets out."

After catching their breath, the pursuers tightened their pursuit and quickly moved out of the area.

Shortly after, large bubbles surfaced in the nearby swamp.

Coughing, the woman emerged from the swamp covered in sticky mud like a clay doll.

She wiped her eyes with much difficulty, pulled the rope, and crawled out of the swamp. As soon as she reached dry land, she collapsed with relief, having escaped the pursuers.

"I thought I was going to suffocate."

After catching her breath briefly, she quickly stood up and turned in the opposite direction in which the pursuers had gone.

Her pursuers would be on the original path she was headed for towards the Tumen River.

She shuddered, remembering the party members who had been killed by the pursuers.

'I should go far around the Yalu River side to avoid them. Better to encounter monsters than those madmen. If I'm lucky, I might make it out alive.'

The woman took just the dagger she previously planted in the ground and left the area.