I was transported from Lobotomy Corporation to another world.

The group entered the forest, used their weapons to cut the vines in front of them, and continued forward.

Along the way, some adventurers are scholars or doctors who will stop from time to time to gather herbs.

The group continued into the forest, where towering trees blocked out the sunlight.

The sounds of birdsong and insects mingled together; several people were bitten by spiders earlier and are still receiving treatment.

"The spiders here are really poisonous..." Rena crouched slightly behind Reed, curiously looking at the trees.

Using his longsword as a crutch, Tef managed to keep up with the group.

[Sound of rustling leaves]

"Hmm?" Tef felt something on the leaves above his head.

Sure enough, suddenly a giant beetle, larger than a person, jumped down.

Tef used his longsword to propel himself up on the ground and shifted his position, narrowly dodging the attack; otherwise, he would have been smashed into a pulp.

But those nearby were less fortunate; one person had his foot pierced by a beetle's limb.

Immediately, bright red blood gushed from his feet, followed by a frantic scream.

Hearing the unusually loud thud, the people nearby all turned to look.

A bluish-green rhinoceros beetle stood still for a few seconds, then began to move.

【The battle begins】

[Mandible Dismemberment] The beetle opened its mandibles and clamped one of the soldiers in half.

[Him Leg Kick] The beetle used its hind legs to kick an adventurer behind it into a tree, causing the adventurer to bleed profusely.

[Self-taught swordsmanship] Tef reacted quickly, gripping his longsword tightly with both hands. He slashed at the beetle twice horizontally, then slammed it down with a final blow.

The effect was negligible...

[Soldiers and Swords] A soldier drew his longsword and slashed at the beetle.

[Golden Light and Black Feather] Reid rushed over, picked up the greatsword on his shoulder, and slashed horizontally with one hand!

Reed's attack caused significant damage to the beetle, forcing it to retreat several steps.

[Frontline Commander] Minister Kesen loudly commanded the soldiers, who calmed down from their initial panic and began to attack the beetles one by one.

[Holy Sword Thrust] Anlisa gripped the holy sword and thrust it into the beetle's vulnerable spot.

The beetle, combined with Reed's earlier strike and the attacks from the soldiers and adventurers, was already on the verge of collapse.

[Will to Survive] The beetle was about to fall, but its survival instinct kept it going.

HP +25

[Pursue the victory] One of the assassin adventurers used his movement speed to reach the beetle's vulnerable spot and started hacking away.

With the added attack from others, the beetle finally collapsed...

【End of battle】

Everyone stared intently at the beetle, only breathing a sigh of relief when they realized it was truly still.

The beetle's exoskeleton is so hard that it poses virtually no threat.

With the exception of Reed, who cleaved a large hole in the beetle's shell with a single blow.

However, he had no outer shell underneath, so after everyone discovered this, they all attacked his lower body.

Kerson began to give instructions, first checking the injuries.

After taking care of it briefly, we continued our journey.

As for the wounded soldier, they had no choice but to send someone to carry him.

The soldier who was cut in half was beyond saving.

There are priests who can heal along the way. Although adventurers usually form teams of four, they are quite united.

As for the carcass of this giant beetle, let the other creatures of this forest have a taste.

They continued on their way, and as expected, Reed's earlier stab had drawn praise from a crowd.

Reed remained silent...

They encountered other monsters along the way, but they were weaker and not as powerful as the giant beetle they had encountered earlier.

The mage leading the way said, "We're about to leave the forest. Once we reach the plains, we'll truly be at war with that damned cult."

Everyone was already prepared, nodded in agreement, and continued onward.

"Ugh, this wretched forest, I really don't want to go through it again!"

"Absolutely! These mosquitoes are biting me so badly, it's driving me crazy!"

"Stop complaining and quickly check if you've forgotten any preparations, otherwise... Holy crap, what is this?!"

"Ugh, the smell of blood is so strong! This stench! Ugh!"

"Look at that big tree over there! My God!"

"Holy crap, what the hell is this? A dense mass of hanged corpses?"

As they drew closer to their target, they discovered a large tree ahead that appeared to have lived for a very long time.

But what's terrifying is that many creatures hanged from the roots of that tree.

It was hanging in the true sense; it clearly involved someone using a rope to hang a person from a tree trunk.

What's even stranger is that all the other trees around the big tree had been cut down.

The wound on the tree was so clean, it looked like it had been made with a chainsaw.

But chainsaws don't even exist in this world yet, not even among the technologically advanced dwarves.

Others may not know, but that doesn't mean Reed didn't know.

Ignore the felled trees around us for now, and focus on the towering tree in front, the one filled with images of hanged men.

Everyone became wary of the large tree; there were many creatures hanging from its trunk.

Animals, elves, humans, and even orcs were all hanging on it.

Some of the corpses, having dried out over the days, fell to the ground from the ropes.

This revealed the stench of the many hanged creatures on the tree, the desiccated corpses on the ground, and the buzzing of flies.

Some couldn't stand it and vomited, while others even used magic to avoid the stench.

Everyone immediately agreed and quickened their pace to go around the big tree.

Fortunately, the big tree wasn't a monster; it didn't attack or move.

After walking around the big tree, the group discovered a mark behind it.

"Isn't this the new flag that the Black Crown cult recently came up with? The eyes..."

"Holy crap! So all those hanging creatures in these trees were caused by these cults!"

"They wouldn't even spare the dead, would they?! One of my teammates died in the forest, and when I tried to collect his body, it was gone!"

"Stop talking like that, it's disgusting!"

Behind the tree, a large, realistic eye was painted on, and Red immediately recognized it as belonging to the metal box.

Others thought so too, after all, the newspapers and the quest logs mentioned a new monster called [Schadenfreude].

The group quickened their pace and ran out of the stench emanating from the large tree.

Some people smelled the stench emanating from their clothes and felt like they wanted to die.

Especially some girls, who are already a bit of a germaphobe, would walk with a frown the whole way if they smelled bad.

Sure enough, after walking for another minute or two...

Looking ahead, it was now a plain, and the journey had been smoother ever since we saw that hanging tree.

All the trees along the way had been cut down, leaving very smooth cuts.

Everyone was dumbfounded. Some had chopped down trees before, but none had been this smooth, and an axe simply couldn't cut such a smooth surface.

Rena was also a bit confused, so she asked Reed, who gave her a brief explanation of the circular saw.

But since this high technology didn't exist in the world yet, Rena only had a partial understanding of it.

Lena asked Reed curiously how he knew.

Reed thought for a moment and replied, "It's magic."

"Huh? If you don't want to answer, then don't use the word 'magic' instead!!"