## Chapter 575 – 575. Ancient Mysteries
575. Ancient Mysteries
I got up from my seat and smacked Bruno on the head, who was snoring away.
“Ugh! W-What was that for?!”
“I woke you up because there were some flies buzzing around.”
“Flies?”
I pointed to the window with my thumb. Three red light aircraft were flying menacingly towards us.
Bruno rushed to the window. His face hardened with seriousness.
“Alchery… I expected them to interfere, but I didn’t think they’d start so soon.”
Alchery.
The name of the organization that could be called the villains of this world. A group that threw away morality and tried to use ancient mysteries solely for the benefit of their organization.
“Mr. Bruno, did the information leak? Could there be a traitor…”
Amy glanced at me. She seemed to suspect that I had leaked information to Alchery. It was understandable in a way. She hadn’t accepted me as a comrade yet.
“He’s not the one. If he had betrayed us and leaked information to Alchery, he wouldn’t have come to us in the first place. Amy, it’s more likely that there’s a traitor among your staff. Eugene’s job is to protect us. Don’t insult him.”
“…I’m sorry, Eugene.”
Amy apologized sincerely.
“You can speak casually, you know. Oh, I’ll accept the apology. But aren’t we being too relaxed?”
Alchery’s light aircraft were already right next to us. They were even equipped with weapons. If they attacked or crashed into us like crazy, we would be helpless.
“We won’t die. If they were going to blow up this plane, they would have done it already. They’re after Amy’s map. They won’t blow up the plane, but if we get captured, the end is obvious. Mac!”
“Yeah. What can I do for you?”
Mac said leisurely. He wasn’t flustered even in this urgent situation. I could feel the experience of a veteran.
“It looks like we’ll have to escape by parachute. Find a suitable place, even for a short time, and shake them off. If we move into the jungle, even they won’t be able to follow.”
Mac spoke as he moved busily. He threw parachute bags to me and Amy. As I put on the parachute bag, I looked at Amy. Her face was full of tension.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please excuse the rough driving from now on!”
It wasn’t just rough. The plane was spinning 360 degrees and even tilting sideways. No amusement park ride could compare to this.
“Ugh…”
Amy lost her balance and was about to fall. I reached out and grabbed her waist. I could feel her well-defined, firm abs even through her clothes.
“Are you okay?”
“…Thank you. Let go.”
I let go obediently. She quickly regained her balance in the shaking plane. Her athletic ability was impressive. Especially for a regular person.
“Now’s the time! Jump out now!”
Bruno was the first to go out, followed by Amy. Then me, and finally Mac jumped out. Since we were being chased, we couldn’t deploy our parachutes until we were close to the ground. I would just follow Bruno’s timing for deploying the parachute.
KABOOM!
A loud roar echoed.
It was the sound of the private jet crashing into a cliff and exploding spectacularly. I could see Alchery’s light aircraft panicking. Well, they would surely start chasing us soon.
We landed in the jungle with our parachutes and quickly joined up.
“If we stay here, Alchery’s guys will chase us and kill us. We don’t have time to send a rescue request and wait for rescue. We need to move as quickly as possible.”
“I kind of knew this would happen. Bruno, things always get spectacular when I’m with you.”
“Mac, this is a serious situation. We didn’t even manage to bring half of the supplies we prepared because of the emergency escape. Are you going to keep talking nonsense?”
“Sorry. The atmosphere was so down. I was just trying to lighten it up.”
“The atmosphere isn’t important right now. Amy, can you show me the map?”
“Here you go, Mr. Bruno.”
Bruno took the old map from Amy and examined it with serious eyes. It was more like confirming the map than interpreting it. He must have already finished the interpretation a long time ago.
“We can’t assume there’s only one map. The contents of the map might have been leaked, and Alchery’s guys might know about it. It’s better to take a detour. Let’s move.”
I let out a small sigh. According to the original movie, the door to hardship would open for about three months from now.
‘There’s an auto-progress feature, but I have to work on it myself to get with Amy.’
Imagining that firm woman with a stoic expression moaning wetly under me, I started walking through the jungle.
•••
We wandered through the jungle for three days.
I couldn’t use my inventory, but thanks to Bruno’s thorough preparation, we were able to get by reasonably well. But even so, it was still tough. If I hadn’t worked out hard before coming here to build up my body, I would have suffered even more.
‘Watching the movie where the story is compressed into two hours is nothing compared to actually experiencing it.’
The jungle was too vast. I didn’t feel like I was moving forward even though I walked all day. We were managing to eat with emergency rations. The problem was the bugs and beasts.
‘Ugh. These damn bugs.’
The swarms of mosquitoes that attacked us all the time made me want to set the entire jungle on fire.
“Grrrrr.”
It was a jaguar.
We encountered a jaguar. The jaguar kept a certain distance and was wary of us. Judging by the fact that it wasn’t running away, it seemed to have judged us as prey.
“Oh, no…”
“Mr. Bruno, please take care of it.”
“Eugene, why are you singling me out?”
“You said you’ve fought wild beasts with your bare hands before. Aren’t you an expert, Mr. Bruno?”
“It’s your job to step forward and protect us in times like this.”
“I’m a former mercenary, so I’m not good at dealing with wild beasts.”
Bang!
A gunshot rang out, and the jaguar collapsed.
My and Bruno’s gazes turned to Amy. Amy coolly put her pistol back into her thigh holster.
“Don’t make a fuss over one beast and just move quickly.”
Amy spoke confidently, and we moved.
Bruno took the lead, and I took the rear.
I often looked at Amy. It wasn’t because Bruno told me to protect Amy first. She was the only woman. It was better to look at her than at the other guys.
‘She’d look better with long hair.’
Day 4 in the jungle.
A problem arose.
Mac had come down with a fever. It wasn’t unusual. Mac was the least fit among us. The forced march of the past four days must have been very difficult for him.
“Should I carry him?”
I asked Bruno. I didn’t want to carry a guy, but it was an unavoidable emergency. Bruno shook his head.
“I have medicine, and we could all collapse from exhaustion. It’s my fault that Mac collapsed. I should have taken a break… I was too impatient because of Alchery’s pursuit.”
A rest was decided.
I approached Amy, who was washing her face in a nearby river.
“Amy.”
“Eugene? Is there something you want to say?”
Her demeanor was softer than before. We had become somewhat closer after suffering together in the jungle for the past four days.
“I’m curious why you’re taking action yourself. As the successor of the Wilkins Group, you didn’t have to move yourself. You could have left everything to Bruno and just waited in a hotel suite. Why did you take action yourself?”
“…Am I getting in the way?”
“No. You’re doing well. In the current situation, Mac is the one getting in the way. I’m just curious why you, who have so much money and status, are going through this hardship.”
Amy was silent for a moment, then washed her face with the cold river water and stood up. Her short blonde hair was wet, and her face was clean. I almost rushed out and pounced on her without thinking.
“You know I have the map, right?”
“You mean the treasure map that Alchery is after?”
“It’s my father’s keepsake. My father gave up his position as chairman and searched for the treasure indicated by this map. Then he got a rare disease and died. Even in his last moments, he thought more about the treasure than me. I became curious. Just how much of a treasure is it that he valued it more than his only daughter?”
“Is that why you’re taking action yourself?”
“My father might have just liked the adventure itself. I wanted to experience how great the adventure was.”
“Is adventure fun?”
“…Now I’m regretting it a little. But why are you asking these questions? What’s your purpose?”
“My purpose is to get closer to you. I like you, Amy.”
“You must like my wealth, not me.”
“I’m not interested in your wealth. I can even write a contract if you want.”
“Do you think you’re the first guy I’ve met like you? All the men who approach me say those things.”
“I’m different from those guys. I’m interested in you, not your wealth.”
“Eugene, we’re just in a business relationship. Colleagues. There’s no chance of us becoming anything more than that.”
Well, I wonder about that.
I grinned and followed her.
The next day. Mac had recovered from his fever, thanks to the medicine. We started moving again.
In the evening, it started to pour rain. The rain was so heavy that our clothes, including our underwear, were completely soaked in less than three minutes.
‘The plane incident and everything else is still the same as the original story. Then… it must be today.’
Knowing what would happen through the original story, I tensed my body more than usual. Thanks to that, I was able to spot the group following us first.
“Bruno, enemies.”
“…Enemies?”
“They’re coming this way. About 10 of them, and we’ll probably encounter them in about 20 minutes. They’re professionally trained. Soldiers. Maybe even mercenaries.”
“I see. We need to speed up. It would be nice if we could shake them off easily… but that’s going to be difficult. Eugene, you haven’t forgotten what I said, have you?”
“You mean to protect Amy first? I haven’t forgotten. Even if you die, I’ll make sure to protect Amy, so don’t worry.”
“My, you sure know how to talk pretty.”
We moved quickly. Bruno tried to shake off the pursuers by moving through the jungle, but it was impossible. The pursuers were also professionals. Moreover, we were currently exhausted. No matter how you looked at it, the pursuers had the advantage.
“Bruno. Long time no see.”
We encountered the pursuers. We weren’t facing them directly, but there were many trees between us and them. The pursuers were armed like a military special forces unit.
“My tail was itching, and it turned out to be you, Wolfang. You still have that hideous face. Children would burst into tears the moment they saw you.”
“Half of the scars on my face are your fault. I’d like to give you that dividend, but I’ll postpone it if you hand over the map willingly.”
“How can I believe you when you’re looking at me with such murderous eyes?”
Wolfang grinned. He ordered his subordinates around him.
“Don’t kill them as much as possible. They might have hidden the map somewhere in the jungle. Even if we have to capture them and torture them, we must find the map. Move…”
Bang!
I pulled the trigger first. The bullet pierced the center of Wolfang’s forehead. Immediately after, Wolfang’s subordinates aimed their rifles at me and fired in unison. I hid behind a large tree and quickly climbed up the tree, jumping to other trees like a monkey while attacking the enemies.
There were many obstacles, so I had to get close to kill them for sure.
‘This is a bit dangerous.’
If it seemed difficult, I immediately used the Moment.
Every time I pulled the trigger, one enemy died. Even though I was moving fiercely, I never missed. It was worth practicing my shooting.
3 minutes.
That was the time it took for me to kill them all. There wasn’t a big difference between my and their physical abilities. But the software was completely different. There was no way those guys could keep up with the experience I had, and I also had the superpower of acceleration.
‘In the original scene, Bruno uses his wit to escape, and Wolfang doesn’t even die… Well, I have no intention of following the original story so frustratingly.’
I turned around.
Bruno, Amy, and Mac. All of them were staring at me with shocked eyes.
