ALL NOVEL Chapter 2
Chapter 2 – An Unexpected Visit (2)
“Everyone, just a bit more effort. The sun has set, but we can’t just sleep in the dew, right?”
“I’m worried, though. We’ve shrugged off their pursuit, but we still don’t know where we are.”
“…It’s just an ordinary grassland.”
He bit his lip and tightened his grip on the rope he held.
The fears of the tribe members were entirely understandable. They had just left their hometown and arrived in an unfamiliar place, and now they were about to face the night without even having built proper shelter.
Mountain beasts, monsters, and the pursuing rival tribe aiming to capture them or sell them into slavery—everything was a threat to them, reduced to the status of the weak.
On top of that, the instinctual fear of darkness weighed heavily. The grassland, which had seemed peaceful and serene in the daytime, now appeared eerie and sinister under the bright light of the full moon.
“Please get some rest, Father. You’ve pushed yourself too hard today.”
“You’ve been the one pushing too hard.”
Just then, someone approached him with a worried expression. His proud daughter, Riena, who could instantly soften his hardened face.
Barun shook his head at her words.
“Ever since our warrior chief Kai died, you’ve been our tribe’s only warrior. For the time being… your shoulders must feel heavy.”
That brief smile from seeing his daughter quickly faded to a grim reflection on the burden placed upon her.
The title of warrior was not merely a label for skill with weapons. It associated with wielding mana—a blessing and a special power—to fight against foes stronger than an ordinary human.
Those who could do so were called warriors.
And now, the only warrior left in his tribe was his one and only daughter, Riena. It was only natural for his heart, as both a chief and a father, to feel tormented.
“I’m fine.”
She detected her father’s worries and shook her head. She too was struggling, but if she showed it, the tribe, barely holding on, would crumble.
“Don’t worry too much, Chief. Fortunately, there seem to be no monsters around here.”
“We can handle weak monsters without a problem.”
The tribe members around them comforted Barun. They knew how devoted he was to the tribe and understood the immense pain he felt from having to abandon his hometown.
“You’re right. I can only hope this place is safe.”
He forced a composed demeanor in the face of their comfort.
Looking around, he took in the sight of this unfamiliar land they had journeyed for days to reach.
How could such a livable place remain unclaimed land—a tranquil yet bountiful area?
“Huh?”
“Oh, Father!”
But in that moment—
He felt himself suddenly being lifted into the air without warning. Startled Barun saw Riena’s eyes widen in shock as she reached out to him.
“Ah, aah!!!”
Barun screamed as he failed to grasp Riena’s hand.
A tremendously powerful force seized him by the nape and dragged him upward, his body unable to resist as it soared through the sky.
‘What in the world!?’
With his vision spinning, it was hard to keep his eyes open, and all he could do was relinquish his body and cling to consciousness.
“Ugh.”
Finally, with a sharp thud, he landed on a soft patch of grass. After being lifted so forcefully, his descent was gentle, and he quickly pushed himself up from the ground, sighing in relief.
“This can’t be.”
Hastily surveying his surroundings, he trembled in surprise. In the distance, he saw torches rapidly approaching. Behind them, flickering lights were certainly the fires they had started.
In just a few seconds, he had flown all the way here.
“Father.”
“I’m fine. Let’s hurry back to our shelter.”
As he began to walk hurriedly, he soon met Riena, who dashed toward him with a torch in hand. He reassured his startled daughter of his safety, but honestly, he was just as flustered.
The bizarre phenomenon that had occurred was as fleeting as the wind.
*
‘Hmm, so I can manipulate things.’
I felt a twinge of guilt. Seeing Riena’s astonished expression when her father was whisked away to the sky made it clear how significantly my little click mishap had impacted them.
It was a huge relief that Barun, who had been left hanging in midair, hadn’t gotten hurt or killed. It seemed there was some sort of safety measure in place for such mistakes.
“Why on earth would they have such a function? What purpose does it serve?”
Sighing out loud, I began to tinker with other aspects of my computer. Unfamiliar people had migrated to my desktop, and the bizarre Master Program had appeared, messing with my computer, but I could still use its functions.
The internet, messenger, and my work programs were all operational.
And it seemed that these occurrences didn’t disturb those living in the background of my desktop. Barun, Riena, and the residents continued with their tasks unless I directly moved my mouse.
‘It can’t be.’
While searching online for the Master Program, the arrival of people on my desktop, and so forth, I quickly closed the window.
In reality, if this bizarre phenomenon had affected others like me, the world would already be in chaos.
And that meant I had to explore the purpose and nature of this phenomenon on my own.
Though keeping an eye on them was more fun than I had anticipated, surely this strange turn of events wasn’t just so I could play pranks on the residents of my desktop with my mouse.
[Glitch Level 1 has occurred]
“What?”
However, as I pondered over such questions, the Master Program activated, notifying me that something unusual was happening on my desktop.
‘What’s that?’
It wasn’t hard to find out. In the world depicted on my desktop, with its dark background fitting the time of day, “that” appeared with a red outline, inching towards the residents.
Its form resembled a crawling caterpillar. However, it was a creature entirely—the dark body covered with a hard, shiny carapace, sharp ends, and multiple wriggling tentacles attached to its back.
[Glitch Level 1]
[Possibility of evolving into Bug: 15%]
Accidentally dragging my mouse revealed information about the creature. If it was the glitch I knew, I understood why it had occurred. That crazy Master Program was undoubtedly the culprit.
[Glitch: An eroded entity before evolution into a Bug. If left unattended or fed during its manifestation, it will evolve into a Bug]
I right-clicked, and instead of zooming in, I received more detailed information about it. Honestly, even after the explanation, I didn’t fully comprehend it; still, its proximity to the unsuspecting residents made me uneasy, so I tried to capture it with a left-click.
‘Ah, it didn’t work?’
But my left-click had no effect on it. Frustrated, I tried everything I could do with the mouse, but the glitch slithered forward, its tentacles poised like spears, crossing the grassland towards the now sleeping residents.
“This is dangerous.”
Tension filled me as I bit my lip and frantically searched for the tribe members.
Why was I so anxious? I couldn’t exactly pinpoint why I cared so much about these people I had only met for less than two hours. Considering they were just random strangers now residing on my computer desktop.
Was it simply because they resembled people like me? Or was it due to curiosity about this mysterious phenomenon? It certainly wasn’t that.
Reflecting on how I had inadvertently become invested in them from the first moment of recognizing their existence, I felt strongly attached.
“–?!”
I realized I could zoom in and out using the mouse wheel and quickly focused on the tribe members’ camp, discovering some of them awake, standing guard.
Riena was one of those barely staying awake. To warn them of the impending danger, I decided to left-click on Riena, lifting her into the air.
“—!!!!!”
Of course, she gasped and opened her eyes wide, startled. Caught by my mouse pointer, she flailed in the air, limbs thrashing around.
It was a comically cute sight, but I had no time to appreciate it. I hastily moved her back down onto the path where the glitch was crawling.
The moment she landed, she quickly drew what looked like a bow and aimed it skyward, but upon seeing the approaching glitch, her expression turned to one of shock.
Did I make a mistake bringing her along? I had chosen her because, despite her delicate appearance, she was the only one in the tribe with the trait of martial arts.
[Riena, daughter of the Chief, has recognized the glitch as an enemy.]
[She is filled with rage.]
But my concerns didn’t last long. With the notification that she had recognized that bizarre creature as an enemy, she redirected her bow aimed at the sky towards the glitch.
There was no need for the text to tell me she was angered. With fierce eyes and gritted teeth, she shot an arrow that plunged deep into the glitch’s body.
[The glitch has taken damage.]
With the message indicating it had been hit, the glitch stretched its tentacles and convulsed. It seemed dissatisfied with just one arrow, increasing its speed as it charged toward her.
In response, Riena, seeing the glitch swat the arrow away with its tentacles, drew the sword at her waist.
In an instant, she lunged forward, leaping towards the swinging tentacles of the glitch.
‘Wow.’
Like a hero in an action story, her movements appeared extraordinary.
She jumped with such force that the ground beneath her dented, covering ten steps in an instant, dodging or slicing through the multiple tentacles rushing toward her, and then she struck down at what was likely the glitch’s head, cleaving it in half with one blow.
Though she ended up getting hit in the abdomen by a wildly thrashing severed tentacle and was sent flying to the ground, the glitch’s head was effectively annihilated.
[Riena has sustained a light injury.]
Seeing her on the ground, thrashing and retching, I naturally felt uneasy. I wondered if there was anything I could do, but for now, my best bet was to look around for options.