Lesson 4: Shooting is not too good for my enemies

Hoseok stared at the adventuring party. The adventuring party stared back. All was silent for about three minutes before one of the adventurers - a man standing tall and proud, sword at his side and wearing plate armour - stepped forward.

"It is said that there's an evil being of great power that lives in these woods," he warned. "What is one such as you doing in a place such as this?"

Hoseok squinted at them in confusion.

"What?"

The adventurer looked slightly taken aback, but coughed once and began speaking again, albeit slower than before.

"I said, what is-"

"I heard what you said the first time," Hoseok answered, "but what the hell are you talking about? And besides, why are you talking like that? It's weird."

"Oh, I… well… um," the adventurer sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "I thought it would make me sound cooler."

Hoseok nodded in understanding. He too once tried the same thing once upon a time (really it was only two weeks ago) but Namjoon had swiftly put a stop to it by throwing a book at him.

"And this is just a forest," Hoseok shrugged. "Nothing here is stopping me from walking along the path."

"But there's-" the adventurer tried to exclaim.

"A town up ahead," Hoseok stated blankly. "This is the only road in."

"I told you to check the map first," one of the others hissed, "but no, you said you already did all the research you needed."

"Shut up, I'm trying okay?" The adventurer retorted. "Anyway, this area isn't safe."

"Isn't safe?" Hoseok asked. The man had said something about an 'evil being of great power', but Namjoon had never warned any of them about something like that and that very much seemed like the sort of thing that you should generally warn people about.

"Not safe at all," a second adventurer confirmed. "They say that this being rules over the region with an iron fist - even routinely demanding sacrifices and murdering people in cold blood - and can even level a mountain with its cursed magic."

Hoseok wasn't sure how much he should trust this guy. He kind of had that sketchy hasn't-slept-or-showered-in-ten-years kind of vibe and that usually didn't scream that a person was trustworthy.

"Some say it is a man, but others say it is a monster." The man glanced back and forth between his nodding comrades. "It is our duty to find this creature and slay it."

"Oh, well, I wish you luck," Hoseok said with a smile before turning to walk back down the path toward Namjoon's stronghold.

"Oh right, before I leave," Hoseok paused and said, voice loud and clear. "What is the name of this creature, by any chance?"

"The creature? It's known only as RM," one of them said. "Why do you ask?"

Hoseok turned to them again with a large smile on his face as he carefully grasped the knife hanging off his belt.

"Maybe there are things in this forest that shouldn't be messed with, even before you try to face RM."

"What-"

"Me, for example," Hoseok grinned as he sliced into his finger and let several drops of blood fly through the air like bullets, piercing through even the toughest of armour.

He walked up to the surprised and horrified adventurers before crouching down next to them.

"Also, he's a scientist, not some kind of sorcerer. If you're going to try to assassinate my mentor, at least do your research first."

With that, Hoseok turned and walked away, leaving the drops of blood to finish distributing his toxin into their bloodstream.

Namjoon would be proud of him, of that he was sure.