How to Survive as a Genius Spy in the Game Chapter 274 - Fog Valley (4)

“You’re doing something strange again.”

Terka frowned. Indeed. The sudden decision was close to the influence of Eccentric Actions that had appeared after a while.

The dragon-powered vehicle had just taken off, so the knight turned his head towards me. He looked a bit embarrassed.

“Should we go back down?”

“It’s fine, keep flying!”

I shook my head and prepared to jump. The contact looked bewildered.

“You’re going to save them? Even with the devil there?”

“I’m confident I’ll make it out alive.”

The contact looked at me with an impressed face at my answer.

“So this is the legendary Carl…”

Leaving the contact muttering to himself, I urged Terka. Although it was safe to assume there was no possibility of the contact being a traitor, it was still necessary to manage him well.

“Guide him well to Her Majesty.”

“Don’t worry. Come back alive.”

“Of course.”

By the time we finished our brief exchange, the dragon-powered vehicle had already gained altitude. I immediately jumped off. I pushed away the cold air enveloping my body with winds.

For now, I planned to move by flying. Even without a wingsuit, there wasn’t much problem with flight.

Of course, having a wingsuit would be much more efficient, but it wasn’t as important as before.

In the past, it was before Worst Condition and winds had developed to their current state. Not anymore.

I had become accustomed to flying itself, so even without a wingsuit, I could fly proficiently. Of course, it consumed a bit more energy.

I headed south at a rapid pace. To be honest, I thought the chances of the agents being alive were slim.

‘Even if they fooled the devil.’

The encirclement surrounding Fog Valley was beyond imagination. It was nearly three times larger than what was deployed against Toun Zaha in the north, and there was also a devil’s fragment.

Even if they thought of the non-existent season as a mystic hiding place and remained there to search, it wouldn’t have been easy to escape.

Moreover, since the devil came directly, there was a high possibility that he vented his frustration from the wasted trip on the surrounding search. No matter how elite they were, could they have escaped?

If the devil wasn’t there, the chances would increase. One out of three might have survived. Especially that middle-aged agent seemed extraordinary.

‘Anyway, they must have scattered first.’

The best way to break through the encirclement is for the three to move separately in different directions. It’s a method where they become decoys for each other.

If someone gets caught, attention will be focused there, inevitably creating gaps in the encirclement. The remaining people use those gaps.

Since we headed north, if they had brains, they would have gone south, east, and west. I wasn’t sure which direction to check first.

In fact, it was a search without promise. For now, it seemed better to return to Fog Valley and observe the movements of the devil worshippers.

***

Even after several days had passed, devil worshippers were still lurking in Fog Valley when I arrived again. However, the encirclement had narrowed compared to before.

When I first approached, there were devil worshippers even outside the valley, but not now.

It seemed they weren’t bothering to check the exterior anymore at a point where it was certain I had entered. Instead, the density inside had increased.

I approached cautiously, but couldn’t sense any trace of the devil. It seemed he had left his post again.

‘He left fragments behind.’

There were quite a few devil worshippers at the place where I had disappeared, that is, where I had entered the non-existent season. There were three devil’s fragments.

As I had hoped, they seemed to think the amulet was the contact’s mystic hiding place. Otherwise, there would be no reason for them to be there like that.

The fact that they placed three devil’s fragments was probably to prevent an incident like last time when I came out. I carefully surveyed the surroundings.

The thick fog was a good condition for me. If the devil wasn’t there, this place was practically my playground.

In the hazy visibility, I could move while concealing my presence, having fully grasped the positions of the opponents. Of course, I still needed to remain cautious.

After about 30 minutes, I was able to find their makeshift base a little distance from where I had disappeared.

‘Oh no…’

And at one side of the base, I could see the agents who had become corpses. There were two bodies. Although their clothes were completely stripped off as if they had been searched, there were no signs of torture.

It seemed they had committed suicide just before being captured. Was I too late? Still, one other person remained. The middle-aged agent. No matter how much I scanned the surroundings, no other corpse was visible.

There’s a chance he’s alive. Where should I start searching? It was just as bewildering now that I was here. I didn’t know from which direction those two had been caught.

The only thing I could do right away was to head to where I first discovered the hiding place.

‘I’ll have to look for traces from there.’

Fog Valley, even the soil was damp due to the thick fog. Although skilled agents would have tried to erase their traces, there was a high probability that some remained.

They might not have erased the traces at all. They wouldn’t have had the leisure, and each had to be a decoy for the others.

It was just as I was about to move after examining the makeshift base. The devil worshippers’ movements became busy. After someone ran in from outside, everyone looked tense.

I thought the devil had come. Whether it was for inspection or to use some power, I wasn’t sure.

Due to the distance and the high mana density of the fog, it wasn’t a position where the devil could confirm my presence. I moved a little away from the base and racked my brain.

Now that the devil had arrived, I should avoid getting caught as much as possible. If it senses my presence, it won’t stay there any longer.

‘I wonder how long it’ll stay.’

It was a bit of a worrying point. I couldn’t know whether the devil would stay there or search the surroundings. However, it was certain that it would sense me faster than I could sense it.

Since I hadn’t expanded winds like last time.

Although approaching itself was risky, if I got caught now, all the effort of coming this far would be in vain.

There were three options. The first was to wait and hope that the devil wouldn’t come this way. The second was to move a little further away towards the outskirts.

The third was to enter the non-existent season. To be honest, it was the option I least wanted to choose.

‘Because I’ll keep feeling that unpleasantness I never want to experience again.’

It’s no exaggeration to say that the mind gets polluted. The contact had been dry heaving all day, and even Terka had become gaunt.

I was no different. The mental fatigue I received in the non-existent season over the past few days was considerable.

But the first two options had ambiguous parts. If the devil moves, the probability of getting caught increases exponentially.

You might think I could just move away a bit, but it’s hard to gauge how far I should go.

There’s also no guarantee that the devil won’t search the place I’ve moved away to. Of course, there’s a chance of getting caught when I come out after being in the non-existent season, but…

Going through the amulet was the relatively safer option compared to the first two.

‘Damn it.’

Well, when have I ever lived considering my feelings and psychology? It was a moment that required quick judgment. I quickly infused mana into the amulet.

The now-familiar, hazy world welcomes me. It’s a place that doesn’t grow on you no matter how often you visit. The accompanying disgusting unpleasantness never became familiar.

In fact, when I came here thinking about the amulet, I didn’t expect to use it this much. I gritted my teeth and endured the unpleasantness.

While doing so, I checked my mental state. I was worried that I might not be noticing that my mind was already somewhat polluted.

That was the most problematic part. However, judging coolly, it seemed okay so far. Still, it wasn’t as hard as it was for Terka or the contact.

Feeling like centipedes were crawling inside my eardrums and nose, I thought about ways to alleviate the unpleasantness.

‘I don’t know how long I’ll have to stay here.’

The devil who had left fragments on standby had come. If I want to ensure safety, I should probably stay for at least 4 hours before going out. I wonder if happy thoughts would help.

It was a sudden thought, but no particular memories came to mind. At best, they were too old. Things that happened on Earth.

Although it had been a long time since I came to this world, there was hardly anything I could call happy. Of course, there were joyful things.

Making Erendil emperor or killing the devil, things that went according to my plan were certainly good. But that wasn’t enough to call it happiness.

‘Hmm.’

Perhaps the only thing I could call happiness was playing with Orhen and Denif when I was young. Those pure kids were cute. As a smile formed on my lips, I suddenly remembered what happened at the villa.

The place I went with Erendil, the waterfall falling into empty space was quite spectacular even thinking about it again. It was a peaceful, relaxing time.

The unpleasantness faded for a moment, but it didn’t last long. It was difficult to overcome the persistent unpleasantness with brief memories.

It was also luxurious to try to find happy thoughts at this moment. When had I ever sought happiness? All that was a matter for after survival.

Instead, I thought about the sword. Even after becoming a Sword Master, there is no end to the path of the sword. Rather, as my knowledge broadened, it became even more distant.

In the hazy world, clear moonlight Sword Energy blooms. I swung Moonlight against an imaginary devil. Still, time flowed slowly.

“Hah…”

After a few hours, just as I was about to retch, I left the non-existent season. Despite the thick fog, a sense of liberation and refreshment came.

I feel like I might get addicted to this sensation of returning to reality after being in the non-existent season.

The pleasure from the disappearing unpleasantness is considerable. Of course, I still didn’t want to go back into the amulet.

‘Did it withdraw?’

Whether it was the effect of being in the amulet, there was leisure back at the devil worshippers’ base. It seemed the devil had moved away.

I carefully surveyed the surroundings and headed to where I first discovered the agents.

Perhaps because they had already checked, there were no devil worshippers there. I carefully examined the ground and trees from where the hiding place had been.

Soon, I could find traces of attempts to erase tracks. I could feel the mana pressing down on the ground.

I picked one of them. There was no need to hesitate. It was a matter of probability anyway. After following it for about 30 minutes,

I found efforts to erase traces more meticulously than before. It was such a minute undulation that I wouldn’t have noticed without winds sweeping the ground.

‘What’s this?’

Strangely, those traces were going back the way they came. It was hard to guess the reason. Surely it wasn’t a mole.

Did he try to draw the enemy’s attention for the sake of the others who escaped? I couldn’t tell.

I followed those traces. After about 15 minutes, I sensed a very faint flow of air with winds. It was under the ground.

And I could detect the person inside that hole.

‘Don’t tell me he was hiding here?’

I carefully headed that way. Although it was obvious who would be hiding here, he wouldn’t know me.

I sat down a little distance from the hole.

“The sun rises in Chenarus.”

The response was a beat late. I could confirm with winds that he was startled. Because I had concealed my presence.

“…Damn, the sun drives away the darkness.”

“The surroundings are safe.”

A dirt-covered hand comes out through the small hole. Then it was the face of the middle-aged agent. He peeked out, surveyed me, and then burst into a bitter laugh.

“Are you crazy, sir? Coming back here.”

“We must save those we can save.”

The middle-aged agent coming out of the small dugout was not in good shape, to put it nicely. He had been in the dugout for days. All sorts of filth was stuck to his body.

Although there was almost no smell, probably because he had sprinkled lots of deodorizing powder, it was a moment when I could imagine the days inside.

“Impressive, it must have been difficult to do that.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Of course it’s a compliment.”

The agent looked at me while dusting off the dirt on his body. It was a strange gaze.

“It’s not the right thing to say in this situation, but it’s been a while.”

Been a while? Have I met him before? I thought perhaps he was an agent who had been monitoring me.

“Have we met before?”

“Of course, you probably don’t remember me. But I can’t forget the young and bold spy from Haisen.”

He knows I’m a spy from Haisen? It was a moment when the strange gaze finally made sense. However, the question of how remained.

I narrowed my eyes and tightened my grip on Moonlight.