Cat Bites Your Tongue?

Harry separated them when the situation got out of hand. He didn't want anyone to die before they crossed the village border.

"Okay, that's enough, both of you." Harry turned his gaze toward Medeia. "As a leader, I allow you to go outside with us. But, Medeia, you must listen to everything I say and not leave this group even for a second."

"I'll guarantee your safety, but if you break this rule, I can't promise to bring you home in one piece." Harry asked, "Do you understand?"

Medeia hated it when someone forced her to follow their words, but she put that shit behind her head and agreed.

She could explore the world by herself indeed, but it would be easier to enslave these humans so she could observe the world without worrying about anything else.

After getting a mutual agreement, the group left the village. They walked in order, Harry became the eyes of the group, while Simon guarded the back. They put Medeia in the middle of the group so they could protect them from every direction.

[Achievement Unlock: Explore outside the village in a Group]

[Reward: +20 XP]

It felt nice.

She was at the top of the food chain in Hell, so she didn't need protection from others. However, being protected by others didn't feel bad at all.

"Miss Medeia, why do you insist on leaving the village?" Naomi broke the silence by asking a question that had been on everyone's mind.

Medeia knew that a simple answer, like she just wanted to see the outside world, would not satisfy them, so she decided to use a reason that could soften people's hearts. "I want to do some research about the fertile soil outside the village."

Naomi tilted her head. "Research the soil?"

"It will be much easier for us to farm in the village, so no one has to risk their life to find food." Medeia let out a forlorn sigh, "Unfortunately, the land in our village is barren, so it's impossible to plant anything."

"But I realize the mutant plants can grow in the forest, so I want to take a sample of the forest's soil."

Tian scoffed at her, "Ren had brought the soil from the forest back then, but the soil immediately became infertile as soon as it left the forest. You're just risking your life for nothing."

Medeia returned the insult back at him, "Luckily, I'm not as stupid as you and your brother, so maybe I can solve something that you find impossible."

Tian seemed annoyed by her words, but Ren didn't mind it at all. Unlike his cold brother, Ren's heart immediately became soft and he looked at Medeia like a little puppy.

"Medeia, you have sacrificed so much for our village." Ren continued, "Because of you, our village will never lack water and now you are risking your life to revive our land!"

"If you need anything, just name it! I'll even go inside the poisonous snakes' nest if you want!"

Tian hit the back of his head before he could spurt more nonsense out of his mouth. "Shut up before I sew your mouth."

Ren rubbed his head and scowled in annoyance. Despite that, he truly shut his mouth because he didn't want his brother to hit him again.

Naomi finally spoke, "Even though it sounds like a hard thing to do, I really hope you'll succeed, Miss Medeia." she smiled. "Truly, I do."

○○○

Half a day later, they had arrived at the nearest forest. 

After the apocalypse, people regard the remaining forests as paradises because they contain everything that humans need. 

Unfortunately, there were many monsters in the forests so people had to risk their lives to take resources.

People had divided the forests into three zones based on the level of danger; Black Zone, Red Zone, Yellow Zone.

The Black Zone was the most dangerous forest, but that didn't mean the other zones were safe either. Therefore, people would rather die of hunger than be torn to pieces by monsters.

"So, monsters in Yellow Zone mostly are Grade-E to D?" Medeia said, "Well, it's not that bad."

Simon warned her, "Miss Medeia, you can't underestimate them! Even Grade-E monsters can kill you in a second."

"Oh … scary." Medeia pretended to be afraid, but her voice didn't sound genuine at all. "But I had killed a Grade-D, remember?"

"Ssshh … keep your voice down," Harry commanded, his voice low but filled with authority.

Everyone pulled out their weapon and sharpened their senses. All of them, without exception, seemed nervous, while Medeia walked in ease because she knew they would try their best to protect her.

The forest was indeed bizarre. The soil was so fertile that the trees and green plants in the forest could grow bigger without problem.

However, before Medeia could observe the forest further, she heard the system's danger announcement.

[A herd of hostile Hellhound detected (Grade-D): Mutated Wolf]

[Their claws are poisonous so be careful or you'll die within 2 minutes]

Poison? Interesting.

It seemed that a Hellhound was more dangerous than the white spider. Perhaps because the Hellhound was originally a wild animal that had mutated, so it was more vicious than the Lost.

"Leader, I think something is heading toward us." Medeia pretended to not know what it was. 

Harry wanted to laugh because he thought Medeia was being paranoid, but his smile immediately vanished as he heard loud growls from afar. 

"Hellhound … they're hellhounds!" Harry widened his eyes when he realized there was a herd of hellhounds heading toward them. "Get in your position! Medeia, you go with Tian and stay close to him!"

Medeia and Tian clicked their tongues at the same time because they didn't like the arrangement. However, they had no time to argue because a herd of hellhounds had arrived.

"Come on, run!" shouted Tian to Medeia.

Medeia sprinted through the twisted undergrowth, her heart pounding in sync with her footsteps. 

They ran for almost half a mile, then Tian asked her to climb a giant tree that didn't seem dangerous.

"Hurry up, climb."

Medeia glared at him "Shut up." She was certain she could climb as good as a monkey, but her body was built differently than her demon body.

She almost ran out of breath when she reached the highest branch that she could reach. 'Stupid body.'

She clicked open her status panel to see her current condition.

[STATUS]

Name: Medeia Vega

Title: None

Lover: None

Age: 24

Level: 3 (420/500)

Health Point: 125/250 (-50%)

Mana Point: 3,500/5,500 (-36%)

Character Point: 750 

Mutant Ability: Water Mutant Lvl. 2 (Grade-B)

Mental: SSS+

Demon Ability (LOCKED): Grade-SSS+ (potential)

Attributes: Strength 80, Agility 90, Intelligence 150, Defense 30

Active Skills: Summoning Water (consumed 10 mana points per 5 liters of water)

Passive Skills: Water Float // Mana Flow

[CLOSE PANEL]

She barely moved, but her health points were already reduced by 50%. If she joined the fight, she probably wouldn't have any energy left to walk anymore.

Maybe, she really was just lucky when she killed the white spider.

She sighed, cursing quietly to the system for choosing a weak body for her.

[Be grateful. A weak body is better than dead]

'It would be better if I go into a quiet world so I can spend my time lying down and reading romance novels'

[Host, you're too chaotic to be reborn in the quiet world]

"Why're you so quiet? Cat bites your tongue or you realize this place is so scary that you want to cry?" asked Tian.

"If I want to cry, I will cry loudly until the hellhounds and other monsters come to us."

Tian shook his head and he didn't understand why she didn't look scared at all.

However, he didn't think about that any further because his focus immediately locked into the hellhounds. He sat on the other tree branch and held his bow, aiming the arrow to a bunch of hellhounds.

Medeia lowered her vision, looking at the rest of the group that was fighting the hellhounds with all of their might.

Harry, with his inhuman strength, swung a massive tree trunk like a stick of golf. Beside him, Simon stood with arms transformed into metal spears. He stabbed the hellhounds' body without mercy, making their blood scattered around him.

Ren moved like a shadow, flickering in and out of visibility. One moment he was there, but a second later he reappeared behind a hellhound.

On the other side, Naomi fought brutally. She did not try to dodge the attack and let her body get hurt. However, her skin began to knit itself back together.

Medeia finally knew her mutant ability. She could regenerate her body within a second, so she could fight without fear of getting hurt.

"They're terrific," murmured Medeia.

Tian, who shot the hellhounds with his precision skills, responded to her, "They wouldn't have lived this long if they didn't have great skills."

"No wonder your leader let me join your group," said Medeia.

Tian, "He didn't. You're the one who insists and now becomes my burden."

Medeia rolled her eyes and accidentally spotted a black snake slithering next to her. Its size was akin to her thigh and she knew it could strangle her to death in a minute.

"See? This is why a weakling shouldn't come here." Tian noticed the snake, but he did nothing, as if he wanted to scare Medeia. "You can be killed, even without you knowing."

"Stay still, it wo—"

Crash!

She threw the Venom Dagger toward the snake without hesitation. The blade penetrated into its head, and stuck in the tree trunk.

The snake's body convulsed for a moment, its tail writhing wildly, but its movement quickly stopped.

[You have slain a Black Serpent (Grade-F): +20 XP]

"It's dead and I'm alive." 

Tian, "..."

Medeia smiled widely as he saw Tian was too stunned to speak. "Why don't you say something? A cat bites your tongue?"

Tian scowled. "That's just a little snake."

As Medeia wanted to open her mouth, the system suddenly spoke.

[Warning: A Dangerous Mutant Approaching!!]

[Warning: A Dangerous Mutant Approaching!!]

Medeia creased her forehead as the system gave her a warning twice.

"Hey, Tian. Are you sure there are only Grade-E and Grade-D mutants in this forest?"

Tian, "We've been in and out of this forest for years and never encountered a higher grade."

But the system wouldn't give such a warning if they were facing an enemy they could easily defeat.

[Warning: Ironbeak Falcon detected. Grade-S mutant]

Above her, a strong wind suddenly struck the forest, creating a massive tornado that ripped many trees from their roots.

Medeia's eyes widened as her body was blown away at high speed.

At that moment, she couldn't control her mouth anymore. "Fuck!!!"

[Foul language detected!]

[Reduce the C-Points by 20 points]

Oh, Medeia really wanted to punch the system if it had a face right then and there.