Wild Boar Cave

As the art of war said, water and fire showed no mercy. There were no rivers nearby, so they could not flood the Wild Boar Cave, but they could use fire. They could light fires outside the entrance and let the smoke pour into the cave. Then the wild boars would have no choice but to come out.

Nord explained the method to Old Mor and the others. Old Mor suddenly understood, as if the door to a new world had opened before him. He had never imagined hunting could involve so many tricks.

With everyone pooling their ideas, they gradually refined the details. They would also set several tripwires at the entrance—stretching ropes across it to trip the wild boars when they charged out.

The rest would wait with lassos and wooden clubs in hand, ready to capture every escaping wild boar.

Once the assignments had been made, everyone began preparing. Some gathered firewood, while others set the tripwires. After a flurry of activity, layer upon layer of preparations had been laid out before the Wild Boar Cave.

Two fires were placed on either side inside the cave, leaving a path down the middle for the wild boars to escape through. Five tripwires were set in a row at the entrance, with both ends of each rope tied to wooden stakes driven deep into the ground. Outside the entrance, Ryman and Marco held thick wooden clubs and formed a simple encirclement with the remaining hunters.

Nord signaled to the men on both sides of the entrance. At the command, the two of them threw fresh branches onto the fires, then ran to either side of the entrance holding enormous leaves resembling palm fans, using them to fan the smoke into the cave.

Not long after the fresh branches covered the fires, grayish-white smoke began to spread. The men at either side of the entrance slowly waved the leaves in their hands, sending the smoke produced by the incompletely burning green branches into the cave.

As the smoke spread, everyone grew tense and uneasy. Yet their efforts were not in vain. Before long, miserable wild boar squeals came from inside the cave.

The smoke-shrouded cave had seemed somewhat mysterious, but the pitiful squeals shattered that mystery. Several dark figures burst out through the white smoke.

The lead sow rushed toward the entrance with anxious steps, tears in her eyes. Her foot caught on a rope, and she crashed headfirst to the ground, tumbling several meters away. The other two sows followed suit and fell one after another.

Seeing the opportunity, Ryman charged forward in great strides and smashed his wooden club down on the wild boars' heads. The others quickly used their ropes to bind all four hooves of the wild boars.

Before the three wild boars could even figure out what was happening, they had already been captured by the hunters who had been waiting for them.

The remaining piglets followed the sows out of the cave. Compared with the adult sows, these piglets were harder to deal with. They could not be knocked unconscious with clubs and could only be caught with ropes. There were also many of them, and everyone was briefly thrown into a frenzy.

Fortunately, the sows had already been caught. In their panic, the piglets all ran toward the sows. Seizing the chance, the group finally captured every last piglet as well.

Afterward, everyone collapsed onto the ground. There really were twenty pigs, and catching them had taken ages. It felt even more exhausting than yesterday's battle.

Looking at the sows with their limbs tied up and the piglets beside them squealing wildly, Nord smiled. His livestock farm in another world was officially open, and getting rich was just around the corner.

Nord had someone put out the fires at the entrance and quietly waited for the smoke in the cave to clear. He intended to take a look inside.

Everyone knew the formula: protagonist plus cave. If Nord did not go in and take a look, he would be letting down his identity as a transmigrator. What if there was some lucky encounter inside, or some precious natural treasure? Wouldn't he be losing out terribly if he did not enter?

As Nord's mind wandered, the smoke in the cave gradually dispersed after its source was extinguished, revealing its original appearance. Looking at the pitch-black entrance, Nord felt a little excited.

After having some simple torches prepared, Nord led Ryman and the others into the cave. The rest stayed behind to watch the wild boars and prevent them from escaping.

Nord did not feel well after entering the cave. Although the smoke had dispersed, the choking smell still lingered. Combined with the poor lighting inside, even with torches they could only see about three meters around them.

But for the sake of the lucky encounter inside the cave, Nord forcibly suppressed his discomfort and quickly headed deeper into the cavern.

Not far after entering, the view suddenly opened up. The interior was enormous, about half the size of a football field, with a ceiling seven or eight meters high. Sheer rock walls surrounded it on all sides, looking extremely sturdy. The cave was also fairly dry. Nord guessed it was because of the entrance, which kept damp air from getting in. He had no idea how the cave had formed and could only attribute it to nature's wondrous craftsmanship.

Once inside, Nord was utterly disappointed. He had entered full of anticipation, hoping to find a lucky encounter or precious natural treasures, but instead found a cave full of pig dung. The stench of pig dung mixed with the smell of burnt smoke made him nauseous. He absolutely did not dare take a deep breath there—he might actually die inside!

Holding his breath, Nord hurried out of the cave and took a deep breath of the fresh forest air. It took him a long while to recover.

Sure enough, fairy tales were all lies. Where could there possibly be so many lucky encounters and precious natural treasures? What was I even thinking? Nord reminded himself to abandon unrealistic fantasies and work with his feet on the ground. After drinking that bowl of motivational soup, he felt much better.

Ryman then came to Nord's side and indicated that it was getting late and they could return.

"Lord Nord, if we head back now, it will be before dark. If we delay any longer, we may have to travel at night."

Nord certainly did not want to travel through the forest after dark, so he told Ryman to make preparations and set off at once.

Everyone excitedly carried the wild boars and took the yams as they hurried back toward the village. Not long after leaving the cave, Nord received a system notification.

You have won the battle.

Our casualties: Amon Hunters (none)

Enemy casualties: Wild Boar Leader (1 dead) Adult Wild Boars (3 captured) Piglets (22 captured)

You have gained 5 reputation points.

You have gained dried meat ×10.

You have gained a special item: Map.

3,600 experience points have been shared among the party.

Nord was somewhat shocked. Did this count as a battle too? Then he had found a place to farm experience in the future. He looked back at the towering mountain range behind him, his eyes filled with visions of leveling up, making money, marrying a beautiful rich woman, and reaching the pinnacle of life.

The thought made Nord a little excited. It seemed some of his plans would have to change. The food problem had already been solved, and the manor was under construction. Originally, Nord had not had much to do during this period besides training every day and overseeing the manor's progress.

Now things were different. Hunting in the forest could earn experience, so entering the mountains would become an important part of his schedule. The cave he had just found could also be useful as a base in the forest, for daily rest or even as a place to spend the night in an emergency.

Once the cave was cleaned up and renovated—especially cleaned up, since Nord could not stand the smell of pig dung everywhere—he would name it the Wild Boar Cave, in honor of today's major haul.

Nord walked with light steps as everyone returned to Tami Village once again beneath the setting sun, their hearts filled with joy.

Thank you all for your recommendation votes. Every time I post a chapter, I want to say something. Recently, I have truly felt how difficult writing can be, especially having to update steadily every day. But I will keep going, especially since so many friends vote for me every day. It really moves me. Please leave a comment after reading; I will read them carefully.