New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 1013: Domain Of The Great Hunt



Inside Jin-Sil's mind, over an hour had already passed, and her chase had yet to be fruitful. But many things had changed since the start.

The first of these many changes was that she was back on the plains from the beginning. Jin- Sil had managed to calm down enough to be brought back to the start of her hunt, where a peaceful air still reigned supreme.

The following change was that she was no longer running at the deer. Try as she might, even in this flat environment with no obstacles, she couldn't hit the deer or even catch up to it.

It never ran out of breath and remained as elusive as ever.

Instead, she was now sitting on top of a small hill, enjoying the view of the clouds and taking large lungfuls of the sweet-scented air around her.

And lastly, the deer, whom she couldn't be bothered to chase after anymore, was all but done mocking her.

It would bleat loudly every few seconds, taunting her with little steps and hops, trying to get her to run after it. But Jin-Sil had long since started ignoring its onerous attitude.

Raising a middle finger in the deer's direction, not bothering to look at it, she kept staring at the sky with a smile.

"At least this decor is quite relaxing," she sighed, resting on her arms.

The voice hadn't spoken to her in a while, and Jin-Sil was most grateful for that part. But her glee was about to be interrupted.

'Have you no intention of finishing your hunt, child? Have you given up?"

Jin-Sil snort-laughed before opening her mouth to reply.

"Given up? Not a chance. But what's the point of me chasing that deer if you made it nearly impossible to hit? I think I'm just going to relax here for a while. It's not like your target is dangerous. I can take my time," she mocked.

She could hear a gnashing of teeth in her mind and snickered.

"Tut tut tut. Patience is the key to great hunters, remember? Don't go losing your cool on me, missy," Jin-Sil said in the most condescending tone she could muster.

The deer's bleating suddenly stopped, replaced by the cracking of bones and painful groans, making Jin-Sil finally turn its head toward it, her grin unabating.

'You think you get to mock me in my own domain, child? Do you think you've seen danger before? You talk to me like you are better than me, yet you can't land a single arrow on an animal as simple as a deer,' the voice suddenly thundered, no longer in her head but all around Jin-Sil.

"Oh? You're finally getting serious? About time," Jin-Sil chuckled, remaining seated in the grass.

The deer was morphing into a nightmarish creature with a much larger body and a set of dozens of tentacles on its head that quivered angrily, as venom flew off them and burnt the grass it landed on.

Its earlier mocking look was gone, replaced by unadulterated hatred and a single target in sight. The Korean young woman.

"You wanted danger? I'll give you danger, mortal child. The hunt is back on, but you are no longer the hunter. Welcome to being the prey!"

With heavy steps, the blackened fur monster started galloping in her direction, spittle flying out its mouth with every step and growls of hatred escaping its lips.

But Jin-Sil stood up calmly, looking at it like it was still that harmless deer, and smiled.

"Did I hit a nerve, goddess Artemis? Did I make your little test seem irrelevant?" Jin-Sil asked, fully aware of who she was dealing with.

After half an hour of hearing her rambling about how an expert hunter should be, Jin-Sil eventually realized where she was and whom she was dealing with. But instead of outing her outright, she chose a different approach.

She knew of the temper of the supposed goddess of the hunt and was ready to use that to her advantage.

As the last words escaped her mouth, the monstrosity charging at her staggered for a single second just as it was reaching the young woman with its tentacled head.

And in that single second, it was over already.

Making an arrow appear in her hand, Jin-Sil left her bow fall to the ground as she dashed the single step between her and the monster and lodged the arrow into its left eye, sinking it a full three inches past the arrow's tip, breaking the shaft off in a swift motion.

"I'm never the prey, Artemis. I am the hunter. Now and forever."

The monster's body convulsed once as the nervous system received its last command before it crashed to the ground, inert.

Horns of victory resounded in the sky, making Jin-Sil jump in surprise as the adrenaline of that single moment hit her like a Mack truck, her body slightly shaking from the intensity.

As the body of the monstrosity started disintegrating at her feet, Jin-Sil suddenly felt a shiver down her spine and threw herself to the side as something unseen flew past her head blazingly fast.

The wind from the projectile itself was enough to form a minor cut on Jin-Sil's cheek as she rolled to her feet, her bow firmly in hand, an arrow nocked, and her eyes locked on the person who had just shot at her.

"You think you can challenge me to a duel with a bow, child?" the woman opposite her seethed, her eyes filled with rage.

"We won't know until we try, right?" Jin-Sil mocked, her voice quivering nervously.

Artemis spat on the ground, releasing the arrow she had at the ready.

Jin-Sil didn't even have time to react this time; the arrow's flight suddenly much quicker than the previous one.

She gasped in fear when suddenly the arrow stopped an inch from her left eye, its tip almost vibrating in anger as it resonated with its master's will.

"Now, now, Artemis. Is that the way to treat a victor of the great hunt?" a deep masculine voice said, with a cheery tone.

That's when Jin-Sil noticed the hand holding the arrow's shaft in place. And that hand was holding the entire shaft, so it was massive.

Trailing the hand up an arm, Jin-Sil's eyes finally rested on a gigantic figure standing behind her, with dark blue skin and the musculature of an Olympian.

"The child must pay for speaking to a god with arrogance!" Artemis spat.

Jin-Sil had no idea what she had just stepped into, but she could tell by the inherent reaction

of her body that it was something far beyond her means. These people could snuff her out like

a candle whenever they wished.

"Calm down, Artemis. Let's discuss this."

"Stay out of it, Orion. This isn't your domain to control or rule in. Go back to the stars, you

gigantic moron."

"No."