The true jungle twisted, undulating, serpentine, and suffocatingly dense.

Without pioneers who’d hacked a barely passable trail through the foliage, any rookie would vanish within moments.

Our six-person, six-horse convoy followed Aibin along this path, hauling supplies.

His running commentary along the way seemed to have dissolved any lingering resentment from that night.

Occasionally, we passed small return caravans—just one or two riders herding twenty horses.

*Once we graduate from rookies, could we manage that too?*

**Aibin:** The next relay point takes half a day round-trip. Max two runs per day.

**Aibin:** Watch your footing. Don’t be stupid enough to injure yourselves—especially downhill.

**Half Moon Outflow:** Uh… what are those return teams hauling?

**Aibin:** Trash.

**Li Weishe:** Huh? Shouldn’t trash just be dumped or burned and buried?

**Aibin:** You’d desecrate land that might one day be sovereign territory? Risk poisoning its soil and living resources?

**Day High:** No danger’s shown up so far. Do "adventurers" even exist here?

**Seventh Ju:** …………

*Illegal adventurers—armed freelancers who plunder, rob, and steal in uncharted zones.*

Preman had mentioned them during testing. Now, the thought of becoming their target made my skin crawl.

**Aibin:** A military supply convoy was robbed and attacked yesterday. Soldiers patrol this route now.

**Day High:** Then we’re safe!

**Li Weishe:** Can we shoot them with our personal weapons?

Aibin, walking ahead, shot Li Weishe a glare over his shoulder.

**Aibin:** You’re carrying weapons? As a laborer?

**Li Weishe:** …Can’t I?

**Half Moon Outflow:** Weapons are everywhere.

Half Moon Outflow plucked a thin, sharp stone from the ground and tested it like a dagger.

**Aibin:** Unnecessary. Trust the military.

**Aibin:** Besides… we’ve got one reliable non-human with us, don’t we?

Mo Chuan, at the rear, lifted his head. His razor-sharp gaze pinned Aibin.

**Mo Chuan:** Take your hand off that flask.

**Aibin:** …Tch.

Aibin had tried to sneak a sip while diverting attention. Mo Chuan caught him—*again*. This was the third time today.

**Li Weishe:** Yikes… Aibin and Mo Chuan still at each other’s throats, huh?

**Li Weishe:** "Only one big brute needed per team"—that’s the vibe, right?

**Seventh Ju:** …If you value your life, shut up and stop tempting fate.

We trudged on, trading sparse words as the sun climbed toward noon.

**Aibin:** No soldiers patrol beyond this point. Ahead lies the **Great Chasm**.

**Seventh Ju:** What’s the "Great Chasm"?

**Aibin:** Near Bao City, there’s a natural rift. It vanished once, but further exploration revealed its extension.

**Aibin:** And… it’s far wider and deeper than the section near Bao City.

**Aibin:** Adventurers won’t come here. A hundred ways to die wait just *reaching* the Chasm.

**Seventh Ju:** Then… how do *we* cross?

**Aibin:** The bridge, of course.

The terrain shifted abruptly. Vegetation thinned. The cliff’s edge materialized before us.

Two hundred meters below, a colossal rift split the earth like a scar. A narrow bridge—resembling prefab slabs chained together—spanned the gap, swaying like a jump rope in the wind.

**Day High:** Holy crap…

**Half Moon Outflow:** This bridge… barely two meters wide?

**Li Weishe:** How deep is that drop…?

Closer now, we saw lush canopy blanketing the chasm floor—no soil visible. The depth matched the width.

Fall here without wings? No survival.

**Day High:** We’re… crossing *this*?

**Half Moon Outflow:** And no railings.

**Aibin:** The army built it. Wish Power specialists reinforced it. Holds twenty fully loaded horses. No quality concerns.

**Aibin:** No high-wind alerts today. Calm air. No oncoming caravans. Perfect crossing conditions.

**Li Weishe:** Even so…

**Aibin:** I’ve crossed it many times. Follow my lead.

**Half Moon Outflow:** …Alright.

No choice. This was work—duty demanded action, whether you liked it or not.

…………

—*Thud.*

**Seventh Ju:** …

**Seventh Ju:** …………

*A soft knock against the heart’s door.*

**Seventh Ju:** ………………

**Mo Chuan:** Ju?

**Aibin:** Seventh Ju! Why’d you stop?

**Seventh Ju:** I… I feel unwell. One minute. Just one minute…

*What… is this?*

*Did my "avoid mortal peril" Wish Power activate?*

*What danger could strike here?*

Adventurers? Aibin had dismissed that.

I scanned the motionless two-meter bridge over the abyss.

Sky attack? Clear blue—no birds, not even flies.

Beasts leaping from below? Nothing could scale this depth.

Earthquake? How could I stop that?

**Seventh Ju:** …………

**Aibin:** Enough. Move.

**Aibin:** If you can’t handle it, close your eyes and grip your horse’s shoulder. I’ll lead. Balance matters more than railings.

**Aibin:** Overcome this petty challenge.

My feet touched the bridge. No turning back.

The structure barely trembled. No vertigo. Yet my heart hammered wildly.

*Impossible… Did the gods make a mistake?*

*What sudden danger lurks here?*

**Mo Chuan:** …Ju. What’s wrong?

Mo Chuan’s voice came from behind. I had no answer.

If this scene were an exam question, it was unsolvable.

This helplessness—this smallness—I’d never felt it back in school.

**Aibin:** Urgh—!

**Aibin:** Th-this…

The convoy halted.

The lead horse folded its legs, kneeling. The others followed suit.

**Day High:** …What’s happening?

Trained horses never knelt without command.

**Half Moon Outflow:** Trouble.

As the horses lowered, the view ahead cleared—

Aibin’s knees slammed onto the bridge. His torso wobbled, fighting balance, then crashed face-first.

**Day High:** Aah—!

**Half Moon Outflow:** …!!

**Li Weishe:** What’s that?!

**Mo Chuan:** …………

**Seventh Ju:** …??

The three ahead stared at their feet. I followed their gaze.

Human hands clung to the bridge’s edge.

Each gripped a slender dagger, its blade gleaming with foul light.

**Aibin:** "Stun-Numb" toxin! Paralyzes limbs in seconds once it enters the bloodstream!

**???:** Thanks for the tip. Shut up now.

Four figures vaulted from beneath the bridge. Their rugged, savage gear screamed outlaw.

*Thud-thud-thud—* Li Weishe, Day High, and Half Moon Outflow crumpled, knees buckling.

Dagger slashes—coated in Stun-Numb—glistened on all their ankles.

The four moved with brutal efficiency, striking each person’s head. Only Aibin twitched weakly before collapsing. Total blackout.

*Adventurers!* Illegal armed gangs who stole and killed for profit!

**Adventurer A:** Damn timing. Too many people, too little cargo. Barely breaks even. Gotta hit another convoy after this.

**Seventh Ju:** …………

*So this… is the life-threatening danger?*

Ambushing from the bridge’s underside—true desperado tactics.

**Adventurer A:** You at the back! Stop dawdling! Knock out the last one!

**Seventh Ju:** —!?

Only now did I see the fifth adventurer behind Mo Chuan, weapon raised.

Mo Chuan’s left leg trembled violently—a Stun-Numb slash glistened on his ankle.

*I was the only one not ambushed first. Five against six… they dismissed me as no threat.*

**Adventurer E:** Boss… he’s a *Seasonal Wolf*!

**Adventurer A:** What?! Among laborers?!

**Adventurer A:** Cripple him! Doesn’t matter if he’s maimed!

**Adventurer E:** …Got it!

Adventurer E raised a short sword—longer than his toxin dagger—and swung at Mo Chuan.

**Mo Chuan:** Hmph—

Mo Chuan shifted his weight to his unharmed right leg. His lower body remained rooted. An impossible twist—hips coiling, left fist snapping forward—slammed into the man’s gut *before* the sword began its descent.

**Adventurer E:** Kgh—!!

He staggered wildly, then dropped to his knees.

*That strength… no human could move like that.*

Now I understood why everyone feared Mo Chuan.

**Adventurer E:** Cough… cough…

**Adventurer E:** I’ll—kill you!!

He struggled to rise, underestimating Mo Chuan’s blow.

His body refused his will. Balance gone.

**Adventurer E:** …Huh?

He didn’t even realize he was stumbling backward—toward the edge.

**Adventurer A:** Hey! What are you doing?!

**Adventurer E:** Urgh—!

**Adventurer E:** AAAAAH—…………

He vanished over the edge. Only his scream echoed through the chasm.

**Mo Chuan:** …………

**Seventh Ju:** …………

No one expected that punch to end like this.

*He’s gone. Shattered on the rocks below.*

Death… as a kid, I thought it distant, abstract. After the earthquakes and tsunamis, I knew better.

It could fall on you anytime… from anywhere.

**Adventurer A:** …………

**Adventurer A:** Weapons out! Chop that wolf pup to bits!!

**Adventurers B/C/D:** Rrragh—!!

They completely ignored me, stepping on the horsebacks and the supply crates flanking them, charging straight for Ink River at the convoy’s tail.

Every one of those sharp short swords glowed with an eerie light no cold steel should ever hold.

One more hit like that, and even Ink River of the Seasonal Wolf wouldn’t stand again.

Chopped to pieces… truly horrifying.

Yet, unexpectedly, I felt calm.

These people… weren’t even a threat.

Compared to the fear and helplessness I’d felt facing the Molehog, they were weak.

If fear couldn’t enslave my body, only one emotion could drive me now.

Anger.

Seventh Ju: …………

I watched the lead adventurer charging at me, my gaze fixed on his weapon.

He didn’t notice me at all—his hateful stare locked on Ink River.

The instant he brushed past me, I raised my right hand.

Crack—Snap—

Adventurer A: ……!???

Adventurer A: My… sword?

The blade he’d held intact moments ago now lay in fragments.

Some shards remained embedded in my palm.

I stared at my hand—a deep bloodstain marked it, black-tinged blood oozing from the wound, my palm darkening.

But my sense of touch whispered this was just an illusion.

I’d nearly grown used to this disguise ability fooling even myself.

I coldly met the adventurer’s eyes inches away—my face, full of disdain, reflected in his.

Adventurer A: You… brat!!

His full-force kick slammed into my chest like a bell’s clapper. For a heartbeat, my feet lost the bridge’s feel.

I was airborne.

No reflexes of a non-athletic high school grad could block that blow.

Behind me yawned a hundred-meter-deep ravine.

I slightly turned my head. Below, the dense jungle waited like a life-devouring maw ready for its next meal.

Ah… I finally understood.

So this was mortal danger…

Earth’s gravity pulled at me, the falling sensation eroding my will.

The sky held no clouds, no birds. Without the glaring sun hanging there, it might’ve been a blue ocean.

A towering, despairing wave.

A scene urging the lonely me: “Just give up…”

A scene with no hope of rescue.

In the end, fear or anger—it led to the same result…

The same… unchangeable end.

Ink River: —Ju!

The fall stopped.

A strong hand seized my wrist.

I looked up blankly—Ink River’s muscular arm, his face baring canine teeth.

One hand gripped me mid-fall; the other clung tight to the bridge’s edge.

Ink River: Don’t you dare give up!

Seventh Ju: …………

Ink River: I’m throwing you up—match my move!

Adventurer A: “Throw you up”? What nonsense—

Whoosh—

A clean cut split the back of Ink River’s hand gripping the bridge. Blood seeped out instantly.

Adventurer A: Join my friend in death.

Ink River: …………

Falling reclaimed my senses—and his, I guessed.

The bridge shrank to a thin line in an instant.

Wind roared in my ears, drowning all sound.

Ha… as expected.

In the end, it still came to this…

…………