Possessing Nothing Novel (쥐뿔도 없는 회귀)

Chapter 96 - The Search for Envirus

'It was a year ago. I don't know if he's still in that forest.'

The Lee Sungmin of the past would never have entered the sleeping forest. As the coachman said, that forest was a dangerous place.

Lee Sungmin moved without hesitation toward the forest. He grabbed the spear on his back, and stretched out his foot into the entrance of the forest.

He had taken a few more steps when suddenly, a noise appeared in his ear.

'Wailing?'

(T/N: 鬼鸣 gui ming, aka ghost's cry. Lit. ghost sounds)

He wasn't so stupid as to enter the forest without knowing anything about it.

When he decided to go there, Lee Sungmin bought information about the forest from Erebrisa.

Hallucinations were the first threat one encounters in the Sleeping Forest. The ghostly cry heard at the beginning of the forest would cause light dizziness in adults and frighten children.

The deeper one goes into the forest, the stronger the effect. By the time one reaches the end, an adult person would completely lose their mind and collapse.

And that collapsed body would become the food of those who live in the forest.

That was why the sleeping forest was dangerous. One would not go into the sleeping forest unless they were quite the crazy person.

Even in the memories of Lee Sungmin's previous life, the Sleeping Forest was an abandoned area people spoke of in hushed tones.

However, Lee Sungmin moved forward without any hesitation. The cry of ghosts ringing in his ear was very annoying, but it could not shake his determined spirit.

He didn't know where he was headed, but he felt more interest and curiosity than fear.

The deeper the forest, the stronger the cry.

Lee Sungmin did not hurry.

If he used a movement technique, he might be able to cross the forest at once, but Lee Sungmin's purpose was to investigate Envirus, not to merely pass through the forest.

'Even if I wanted to chase the traces...'

Lee Sungmin approached a nearby tree. The trees in the sleeping forest were so gnarled and monstrous-looking that one could not tell what kind of species they were.

He reached out to see if there were any traces left on the tree.

The bark on the wooden surface was cracked and opened wide. What could be seen in it were many rows of sharp teeth, densely-lined like those of a snail.

(T/N: fun fact! The average snail has more than 1,000 teeth used for scraping or cutting food. Some species may have more than 20,000 teeth held in rows called radula. And also I can no longer sleep knowing this *thumbs up*)

Lee Sungmin was not surprised at all. He clenched his fist.

Kwajik!

The fist that Lee Sungmin wielded struck the tree. No matter whether it was a tree or a monster, the unknown creature didn't even have time to scream and bend down.

"It's such a strange place."

It was his first time seeing such a monster. Lee Sungmin did not show any reaction even though his hands were all torn up.

Even after seeing such an unexpected sight, his mind was still too far away. Lee Sungmin passed the tree after tearing it apart.

The same thing repeated several times after that. Suddenly, a tree would appear, and an unknown branch would soar up and poke him; and each time Lee Sungmin would absentmindedly knock them down with his fists.