Deimos’ Profession?
The player’s pet ‘Deimos’ has reconstructed all the parts of his body! Usually the undead is formed because of a strong grudge or a curse. These are the sources of their power, making them jealous of the liing. The undead cannot lie anywhere because of that hostility. Unfortunately, Deimos’ eolution wasn’t completed because of the roughly assembled body made of cheap bones. ut now it can be e"changed for #$% bones and the ‘&erfect 'kull.’ (ow that all the parts are fused together and is optimi)ed to fit the body, Deimos will get a chance for a new eolution. ‘*oughly assembled+ heap bones+’ -rk’s face distorted oddly.There was the old saying that said people should not bite at sore fingers. -rk also felt that way about his pets. e had loingly cared for his pets. e gae them good food and built them a body. /ducated them and treated them like his children00. ut een though he treated them well, his children didn’t act the same way. -s the parent, he put a lot of affection into raising his children. -lthough Dedric was a little careless, he was a cunning fellow with a strong surial instinct from his childhood as a bat. *adun was always wound around his waist and neer caused trouble. 1n the other hand, Deimos was just a skull when they met for the first time. e had no skills e"cept for rolling around. Didn’t he used to be thrown at monsters in order to deal some damage+ -rk was the one who made him a complete skeleton body. 1f course it was no easy task. e had to memori)e a book 2ustice3an lent him on the human body for seeral nights. ut was that all+ e looked through hundreds and thousands of skeleton bones for pieces that would fit together like a jigsaw pu))le in order to create Deimos. Deimos was truly -rk’s creation.
‘as any other summoner suffered so much in order to raise their summon+ ut it is not all bad. 4’m filled with a sense of pride when 4 look at what 4 created.’ e secretly felt proud wheneer he looked at Deimos. ut now he had to suffer through the disgrace of his hard work being called a loosely assembled body+ e felt furious at an information window for the first time. (o, it wasn’t just the information window. /en though -rk made it with difficulty, Deimos didn’t like it and decided to just get rid of it using one ollecting+ To the e"tent that he completely changed #$% bones+ e had accepted it since changing the bones meant raising his stats, but now -rk completely felt betrayed. 5Deimos, it’s good that you might eole00but were you so miserable that you had to change all the bones+6 51h, hae you finally realised 3aster+6 Dedric sensed the mood and teased as he approached -rk. 54 told you so from the beginning. 7rom the ery first, this guy did not like the body that 3aster endured so much suffering to make. 4n order to obtain a stronger body, he was pretending to like it while patroni)ing you. e is that type of guy, a cunning child! -lthough he appears outwardly loyal to 3aster, you really can’t trust the undead. Don’t you know they only think about bones+6 Dedric smiled as he continued bad8mouthing Deimos. 54 didn’t want to mention this, but do you know how many times 4’e heard him swearing at 3aster+6 lack clack+ lack clack clack clack! Deimos was astounded and rushed towards Dedric. oweer, Dedric e"pected it and 9uickly hid behind -rk.
5:ook at this, he’s reealing his true colours! e’s trying to coer up the truth! e said that 3aster was a tyrant who treated us like trash00cough, 383aster+6 5This child, did you think it was settled+6 -rk grabbed Dedric by the neck who immediately screamed. 58choking! ;hy are you doing this+ 4’m just repeating what that skeleton said!6 5Do you think 4’m a fool+ 4f you want then 4’ll really throw you in a body bag and use you as dog trash!6 5/h+ 4s that so+6 Dedric became frightened and aoided -rk’s eyes. 5ey, why are you scared+ 4 just gae you an e"ample.6 51h, really+6 5
-rk was also *adun’s dad =+>. *adun became upset at Dedric’s words and stepped all oer his feet. 4n addition, Deimos also smacked him with his shield before he eoled. Thanks to -rk and the two summons, Dedric was crushed in a matter of seconds. 5;aaaah, okay, 4’m the bad guy.6 1nce Dedric was in a critical condition with tears dripping down his face, he huddled in a corner and shouted. 5ah, Deimos, you hit me as well+ -re you already acting so arrogantly before you een eoled+ Don’t be ridiculous.
methods+ ;ill it also depend on the pet’s stats, skills or alignment+’ e was unsure about what would happen. 4t was one of the bad things about hidden professions. - hidden profession was different from normal classes. -ll information related to that profession was unknown and had to be discoered first hand. -rk had no choice but to play it and learn. This was particularly true in regards to his summons. 1f course, (ew ;orld had other professions with the ability to summon.The main professions were necromancers or shamans. 4nitially, -rk looked at their information as well. oweer, both professions were completely different from -rk and his summons. 7or a necromancers, summons were just like disposable items for them. They could summon a large amount but once the duration was oer then they disappeared. The concept of growing their summons didn’t e"ist. y growth, he meant raising their skills and stats. 7or a shaman, they were similar to -rk in that they summoned a spirit and raised it. oweer, the spirit grew when the user’s related skill grew. 4n other words, if the shaman’s summoning skill reached intermediate then their spirit would also become intermediate. 'o the information on necromancers and shamans weren’t useful for -rk at all. -nyway, -rk’s profession was not focused on summoning. 'o the Dark ;alker’s comple" pet system felt like a significant penalty. ut he soon saw that there was some merit to it. ‘4 thought it was natural to gie my pets battle training00.’ That wasn’t the actual case. The necromancer’s and shaman’s summons had no will of their own. 4f their master didn’t gie a command then they wouldn’t moe. ;hen their stats rose, they could learn a few simple patterns. ut they couldn’t participate in a battle on their own like Dedric and Deimos. 4n addition, using food to raise stats did not work. ‘Their ability to grow and think is also an adantage.’ -rk laughed as he looked at Dedric still complaining. 4t was also a busy atmosphere. -t first he found it 9uite annoying, but now he couldn’t imagine
playing (ew ;orld without his summons there. 'pending a few days and nights soloing was also possible because of his pets. ‘-h, now is not the time to be thinking of these things.’ e had become distracted because of Dedric. -rk shook his head and looked at the information window again. The 9uestion about whether to eole was flickering in front of him. 5'ince 4 don’t know what will happen anyway, /olution!6 Deimos was finally going to proceed with his second eolution00that was his thought. ut (ew ;orld wasn’t that simple. ;hen the information window disappeared, a huge disk appeared in front of -rk. 4t was a giant roulette wheel made of bone that was diided into colours, with one single finger bone attached at the top as a pointer. 5;hat is this+6 -rk was perple"ed as another information window appeared. Deimos’ ‘'pecial /olution’ will now begin. -t present, Deimos’ bones is composed of ?#@ warrior, #A@ thiees, %@ magicians, BC@ undead and B%@ other things. The number of professions he can eole to is BA types. oweer, the player won’t be able to choose the occupation of the summon. The great power who watched oer the (etherworld will choose the most suitable profession for Deimos depending on his stats and alignment. 5;hat, what the+ e can eole into BA different types of professions+6 -rk muttered with a silly e"pression. ;hen they eoled using the 3agic 'word, they receied the profession of the former owner. ut now there was no owner of the magic sword to gie a profession. 4nstead, the profession was gathered from the bones. Thanks to that, Deimos had the opportunity to change into many different types of professions. 4ndeed, there were the names of professions written on different sections of the roulette disk.
5This means that he can change professions into one of these+6 Ta da da da da! Then before -rk could read the names written on the roulette, there was a strange sound and it spun around. The roulette gradually slowed until it landed on one point. The roulette board was diided into small and large spaces, and it had landed on the most spacious part. The problem was that there was no name written on that portion. 5;hy did nothing happen+6 -rk became an"ious. &epepepeng! Deimos suddenly wobbled and kneeled down after the noise. -t the same time, a message window appeared in front of -rk. The great power that oersees the (etherworld did not recogni)e Deimos’ eolution. Unfortunately, a ‘7ail’ has appeared. -s a penalty, Deimos will permanently lose #$$ health. -ll stats are destroyed by B$. There is ? eolution opportunities gien eery #$ minutes. 4f all ? attempts fail, the eolution will end and he will receie an additional penalty. oweer, there is no penalty if you cancel the eolutionE 5uk, what it this+6 -rk stared in astonishment at the information window before looking at Deimos. 2ust like the message said, he had his health and stats decreased. ‘Dammit, what is the great power who watches oer the (etherworld+ 4sn’t this just luck+ 4s :uck the true identity of the (etherworld’s great power+’ efore he could een understand the situation, he had lost some stats painstakingly gained through meals and bone collection. 7ury rose in his throat but he pushed it down and endured it for the moment. -lthough he
couldn’t tolerate it, what could he do+ 57ortunately there are ? chances to eole. 4f it fails then the opportunity to eole will completely disappear and a penalty will be receied0.!6 5There’s still # chances. (o, is this the second time+6 -rk repressed his anger and looked at the roulette. 4f was necessary for him to understand the situation. e could choose a profession. -nd obiously it had to suit -rk’s profession. /en if he couldn’t select the job, he could still e"amine the options and decide which one suits Deimos the most. The roulette wheel had many types of professions scratched on its bones. 'keleton aptain, 4mmortal 'keleton, 'keleton soldier00.occupations associated with warriors, magicians and thiees were all present. 54t is 9uite ague006 -rk scratched his head as he looked at it. 4t was difficult to choose a profession. -rk’s leel and stats were considerably higher compared to Dedric and Deimos. Dedric had the ability to fly so he could aoid a monster’s attack if he kept to a reasonable distance. ut Deimos’ position was different. e didn’t hae the ability to fly like Dedric, nor was he cleer.
Deimos switched to a thief then he would be in danger all the time. magician profession was also impossible. Deimos’ intelligence was so low that he might not be able to learn magic and he didn’t hae enough mana to use it. (aturally magic ate up a lot of mana. - magician with A,$$$ mana would run out in one battle. -s a new magician, Deimos wouldn’t be able to use those skills or be of any benefit to -rk. ‘4n addition, a thief and magician has no defense. ;ith the leel difference, he wouldn’t een last one or two hits before being forcefully recalled. ;hen that happens, 4 will receie half of his health as damage. is eolution might make a battle een more difficult.’ ;hile thinking about it, -rk came to the conclusion that a warrior or knight was the best option. ‘4f he becomes a warrior then his stats will become much higher and 4’ll be able to utili)e him more.’ ut the problem was the number of choices. 4t was at that time. -rk sighed before a surprising profession caught his eye. The job accounted for #@ of the total roulette. 5uk, that’s00.Death Fnight!6 -rk’s mouth dropped open. e had neer directly seen a Death Fnight in (ew ;orld yet. oweer, of course he knew the name Death Fnight. 4t was the strongest among the undead in all online games, a knight wearing dark armour. The Death Fnight! ‘-s e"pected from something that relies on luck00it is right ne"t to the ‘7ail.’ This is it. The target to win. - smaller assigned space meant a rarer profession. ;ith the bonus stats from eolution, this clearly is the best possible choice for Deimos! ;ith the proper armour then he could fully utili)e my pets! -rk clenched his fists.
8The time limit of #$ minutes has been completed. ;e will spin the roulette wheel. Ta da da da da! The roulette began to turn. This time -rk was not confused. e had no choice but to pray that it would land on the Death Fnight. 5&lease0..&lease00:and on it, Death Fnight!6 -rk looked like a man holding a lottery ticket as he stared at the roulette wheel. -fter some time passed, the roulette gradually slowed down. ump, bump, the roulette wheel reached the Death Fnight area and adanced past0..it did not stop at the last moment. ‘God dammit00..!’ 8ongratulations. The great power that oersees the (etherworld has acknowledged Deimos’ eolution. The chosen profession is ‘'keleton 3erchant.’ This is a ery uni9ue profession as the ‘'keleton 3erchant’ can trade goods with illages and monsters. e will also become more discerning about the arious bones and leather used to make new items. oweer, the pet cannot carry the items directly. 'ince the 'keleton 3erchant cannot deal directly with merchants, it can assist the user with making the arious calculations on profit and loss. -nd the undead cannot trade with hostile (&s. 4f you choose to cancel the eolution, a penalty will be applied and you can try againE - 'keleton 3erchant0..4t was definitely a ridiculous profession. 4n addition, the merchant could not hold its own goods. -rk would hae to store it and listen to him while trying to calculate a price while trading in stores. ow was he supposed to do that+ 4f Deimos became a merchant,
wasn’t it just like carrying around a portable calculator+ 54 would rather hae him not eole!6 -rk would rather hae him not eole then become a merchant! -rk cancelled the eolution without een considering. There was another boom and Deimos stumbled again. 5Dammit, one by one00is it going to end up like this+6 Tears gathered as once again Deimos’ stats and health were cut. (o wonder so many rewards were gien at the same time. This could mean the difference between a crisis and an opportunity. -fter # failures, Deimos had permanently lost H$$ health and #$ points on all stats. - fortnight+ - month+ -ll the stats he raised with great difficulty was gone in oer B$ minutes. ‘There is one chance left. ;hat if the merchant profession appears again+’ is stats would once again be cut. The worst result! e would’e discarded a bunch of stats for nothing. ‘4f 4 gie up the eolution here then 4’ll be able to keep the remaining stats.’ ut he couldn’t regain the stats already lost. 4n addition, he had just obtained the long8awaited opportunity to eole. 'ince it was so aluable, he might suffer a bigger loss if he gae up. ‘-nd to gie up the chance to eole into a Death Fnight00’ 4t was a huge dilemma. ;as this how people who gambled felt like+ - cold sweat started forming on -rk’s forehead. -rk wasted time while hesitating. Dedric had been watching from afar and he finally walked closer and mumbled. 54 told you. -s an undead, that fellow has no luck. Do you think that an undead has any luck+ :ucky would only look good on a noble ampire like me.6 암.6
5
Character Name
-rk
Race
Alignment
Good J?C$ K,B#C =J C$$>
Fame
uman
Profession
Level
#C?
Dark ;alker at Fnight, aretaker of the -bandoned, 2ackson’s ero, Great -denturer
Title Health
?,KB$ =J BC$>
Mana
H,$C$
Spiritual Power
#$$
Strength
C$? =J#%>
Agility
II? =JCC>
Stamina
A?? =J#$>
is!om
%A =JB$>
"ntelligence
A%B
Luc#
B$? =J?$>
Fle$i%ility
K%
Art of Communication
HI
Affection
BHB =JB$>
Resilience
#%C
Special stat& 'nowle!ge of Ancient Relics
B?%
L /9uipment item effects Guardian -rmour of the 3erpeopleM ;ater -ttribute *esistance JB$$@, &enalty based on water is nullified. at &aws =Gloes>M -ttack 'peed JB$@, -gility JBC, ritical it JB$@ *accoons &ith =elmet>M -gility J B$, ;isdom J B$
LFingE 'et effectM 'trength J B$, -gility J B$, 'tamina JB$, Defense J#$ ;arrior’s Transcripts ='houlder lades>M 'trength J ? ;ind 'pirit’s oots ='hoes>M -gility J ?$, 3oement 'peed J?$@, -ttack 'peed JB$@, ‘'lide’ aailable Galgashi’s 7ur =3antle>M old resistance JB$$@, -gility J#$, ;hen health is less than C$@, ‘3agic &rotection’ automatically actiates. -delaine’s (ecklace =(ecklace>M Defense J H$, -ffection JB$, ‘lessing of the 'ea’ aailable *esurrecting 'pirit =*ing>M 'trength J C, 3ana recoery J C@ 3ind’s /ye =*ing>M ‘3ind’s /ye’ enabled -mulet of Nitality =racelet>M ealth J C$, ealth recoers by C eery #$ seconds Gladiator’s onour =racelet>M 'trength, -gility, 'tamina JB$, 7ame JC$$, 'word8based 'kill Growth JC@ L -ll abilities will increase by H$@ in the dark L
L *esistance to 7ear, Darkness, lind, and 'eduction spells is increased by C$@. L
-rk’s luck was currently B$?0. ;ith the effects of 'acred ranch, it was B??. oweer, all his stats increased by H$@ thanks to the dark attribute bonus. 4n other words, the final alue was B%I. 4t’s 9uite high compared to other games where the luck stat was generally low. ‘4t is too weird. 3y luck is B%I, yet first 4 receied the ‘7ail’ option and the ne"t time it landed on a useless profession for me+ 4f so, my luck isn’t applied to this roulette wheel.’ Then the answer was that Deimos’ luck stat was applied to the roulette wheel! e opened the information window and saw that Deimos only had #I luck. 4n fact, when he first eoled Deimos had C$ stat. ut when he used bone collecting, stats like strength and agility went up while luck fell. -rk hadn’t really cared about the luck stat. (o, he had welcomed it when Deimos’ strength and agility went up. Therefore he was caught off guard by this situation. ‘Dedric’s complaints are sometimes useful.’ 4f Dedric had not mentioned it, he neer would’e thought of the undead’s luck. ‘The waiting time for the roulette is #$ minutes. 4 had wondered why it re9uired waiting time0..but it turns out to be needed. 4t is for a skill that can change the rules of the game! 4f there was #$ minutes aailable, wasn’t there time to change the rules+ -nyway, once 4 know the problem then soling it isn’t difficult!’ -rk’s face, which had begun to look despairing, brightened. 5There is no time. 'urial cooking recipe list!6 - list containing hundreds of different recipes appeared in front of -rk. The remaining time was BH minutes. -rk used filters to get rid of the unnecessary dishes. There were appro"imately H$ dishes that gae a ‘lucky’ effect. ut he
could only make C at the moment. ‘reating C dishes can boost the luck by I$. ;ith Deimos’ current luck, he would hae %I at most. ut there is only a #@ probability of landing on Death Fnight. Damn, if 4 knew that luck was this important then 4 would’e packed e"tra ingredients to raise it00’ 4t was too late to feel regretful. ‘There might be a way to raise the luck aboe %I.’ -rk took out all his ingredients and made a dish. e paid attention to the pot’s thermostat and added e"pensie spices. Then a brilliant light e"ploded from the pot and a stunning dish was created. The best ‘7our8leaf loer &ancake’ has been completed using 'urial cooking! The pancakes decorated with four8leaf cloers hae been cooked well and symboli)es good fortune. ecause of the decoration, eating the pancakes will make you feel more lucky. -lthough it is a relatiely simple dish, your sincerity has create an a la carte dish. *ecoers H$$ health oer ? minutes. :uck JBC for B hourE - la carte bonusM #$$ health recoered. :uck JB$E ‘That’s it!6 That’s what -rk was aiming for. - la carte dishes proided e"tra bonuses through sincerity! 4t wasn’t easy to receie the ‘- la carte’ or ‘3iracle (ursing’ effects. ut now it wasn’t an e"aggeration to say that life or death rested on the luck stat. The brain scanning unit detected this and he was able to create an ‘- la carte’ dish. 5;hat is this+ -h ha, hae you finally reali)ed that you treated me poorly+ uhuhu, it isn’t necessary for you to cook for me0..well, 4 did receie some unfair treatment. 'ince it’s already made, 4’ll eat it well.6
Dedric approached after smelling the fragrant dish. 5Don’t be annoying and go away!6 -rk kicked Dedric aside and fed the pancakes to Deimos. 5/h+ 538master! -re you really going to act like that+6 Dedric obtained a bruise on his eye and once again started complaining. ut he had no time to pay attention to his pet’s feelings. ‘There isn’t a lot of time left. 4 hae to create all the dishes and feed it to him before then!’ -rk 9uickly made the rest of the dishes. oweer, he rushed too much and failed to make an ‘- la carte’ dish. 5Damn it! (o, it can’t be. :et’s calm down. 4 can’t rush too much. ome, Dedric eat these dishes.6 54 don’t want to, you petty and dirty0.ugh!6 -rk crammed the failed dishes into Dedric’s mouth and took a deep breath. -fter seeral more failures, he was able to make an ‘- la carte’ dish. 5Ugh0.am 4 a rubbish bin for food+ Gag, 4’m about to burst.6 Dedric’s stomach swelled so much that it looked like it was going to burst. -nyway, after making the ‘- la carte’ dishes he was able to raise Deimos’ luck to BH$. 5That’s it, this is the best that 4 can do. BH$ is not a small number in regards to luck. 4 hope it lands on Death Fnight0..if not, at the ery least a skeleton warrior, Deimos!6 lack clack clack clack! Deimos also nodded nerously. -t that time the message window showed up. 8The time limit of #$ minutes has been completed. ;e will spin the roulette wheel.
Ta da da da da! -rk, Deimos and *adun looked at the wheel an"iously. Dedric was distracted by rubbing his bloated stomach and picking his nostrils. ;ell, he couldn’t break the tense atmosphere as the roulette wheel spun and the bone rattled loudly. 1nce the wheel start to slow, a sense of anticipation was seen in -rk’s eyes. 51kay, okay, it looks good. 2ust a little more0.a little more0..!6 Ta da da0.da da da0.da da0da0.. The roulette was close to the Death Fnight area. 4f he measured the distance and speed, there was a high probability that it would land on Death Fnight. The atmosphere became e"pectant like a jackpot was going to appear! -rk, Deimos and *adun tensed up while Dedric rubbed his nose and his body shook iolently. The roulette wheel attracted all their eyes as it stopped. -rk’s eyes lit up. 5T8that’s it0.Death Fnight!6 5u, r8really+ -, a, a0..achoo!6 Dedric freaked out with his fingers stuck in his nostrils and snee)ed. Then, was this fate’s joke+ The roulette which had landed perfectly on Death Fnight, made a noise and moed onto the ne"t section. 4nstantaneously, -rk and his summons all fro)e. 5;hat, what the+ Dedric you0..!6 54t’s not me! 3y snee)ing couldn’t hae possibly moed the wheel!6 Dedric screamed spectacularly. 1f course, -rk was also aware of that. 4f he could’e controlled the random roulette that -rk would’e already done so. ut the roulette had a semi8transparent form and couldn’t be touched with his hands. 4t was just bad luck. ut it was still an emotional problem. 'ince he had been picking his nostrils for no reason, as soon as he snee)ed then anger
welled up. Dedric sensed the mood and kept 9uiet. 53y wish! -rk cried out. ‘Dammit, this was a perfect opportunity to eole into Death Fnight0.. ;hat other profession is after Death Fnight+ 'keleton warrior+ That is still good.’ 'ince it was a useable profession, he would still accept the eolution. ut when he thought about the Death Fnight, -rk couldn’t shake off the feeling of tremendous loss. -t that time the message window appeared. The great power that oersees the (etherworld has acknowledged Deimos’ eolution. The chosen profession is ‘Death 3aster.’ The Death 3aster is a profession Deimos can eole into using the knowledge obtained from the necromancer Tamura’s skull. There is no public information aailable on Death 3aster. -fter the pet’s eolution, a significant bonus will be applied when the player learns skills related to death, and they can een e"ert power oer death sometimes. 4t is an occupation highly recommended for an undead summon This is the player’s last chance. 4f you cancel the eolution then the eolution attempt will end in failure and a penalty appliedE 5
gap that wasn’t easy to see unless looking with a magnifying glass. -nd the occupation Death 3aster was written in a straight line. 5Death master+ ‘;hat’s this+ e had neer heard of this profession. ‘The space assigned to Death 3aster is only $.C@. 'ince the probability is so low, it is an een rarer profession than Death Fnight0..that means0..the good luck was applied after all+’ -rk looked at the roulette wheel with a strange e"pression. -lthough he picked a lot of targets, it was ama)ing that he ended up with this absurd situation. -nd the problem was that -rk wasn’t aware of what type of profession Death 3aster was. e couldn’t tell by looking at the name or the information present. ‘4t is a profession with a low probability but0..’ e was somewhat hesitant to choose it. ‘ut 4 don’t hae a choice. 4f this eolution fails, Deimos will lose I$$ health and ?$ points in each stat. -nd the chance to eole will disappear.’ -lthough the profession was ambiguous, he couldn’t accept the penalty. There was also Deimos’ reaction. -lthough he looked grouchy when 'keleton 3erchant appeared, his eyes were liely once he saw Death 3aster. 4t was similar to when he trained Deimos in one ollecting and Dedric in Nampirism. ased on preious e"perience, his pets would listen better when it was something they liked. 51kay. :et’s just do it. /olution!6 4n the end, -rk choose to eole and closed his eyes. 1duduk, 1dududuk0! -t that moment, there was the eerie sound of Deimos’ bones changing dramatically. Until now, Deimos had been made up of different parts. The
ribs of an ogre, the shoulder bones of a gnoll0..there were arious bones of monsters mi"ed together as well as -ndel’s bone. 'ince it was from different species, the appearances of the bones didn’t match. e was also wearing a ragged cloak and just looked like a pile of trash. ut once the eolution started, his bones became shiny and black. - skeleton made of black bones0..and his eyes flowed with a red gleam. lack0.clack clack0..clack clack clack0.. The sound of his bones also changed and became gloomier than before. The eolution was successful. -ll the components hae been optimi)ed to a form suitable for a Death 3aster’s growth. The great power who oersees the (etherworld has granted the name ‘*a)ak’ to the Death 3aster. *a)ak can now ac9uire the knowledge necessary for a Death 3aster. *a)ak - resident of the (etherworld who has eoled after collecting bones. -fter absorbing the fragment of knowledge from the necromancer Tamura’s skull, his understanding of death has deepened. -lthough arrogance is in his nature, his loyalty to his 3aster means there will be an additional bonus applied after learning death related skills. 4n addition, the performance of his blade has gone up. 'peciesM Undead -lignmentM Dark *ankingM :ower class ealthM B,A#H =J #C$> :oyaltyM I#$ =J ?$>
'trengthM #C? =J #$> -gilityM KC =J #$> 'taminaM #AK =J#$> ;isdomM C% =J C$> 4ntelligenceM AI =J C$> :uck #I =JB$> L Damage as a blade increased by A, Durability JC$, the range of the whip has increased by C metres. L M -fter understanding Death’s /9uations, you will be able to return the soul of the monster to their body after dying.oweer, this techni9ue re9uires the e"change of *a)ak’s bones in order to be successful. The number of bones sacrificed will depend on the status and ranking of the target. 4n addition, if you offer more than the set alue then the stats obtained will rise. The life force of the resurrected target will be restored by C$@, but *a)ak will not be able to moe while controlling the target or the contract will be released. - rank resurrectionM ? bones consumed. rank resurrectionM # bones consumed. rank resurrectionM B bone consumedE &ledge of Death =eginner, -ctie>M The &ledge of Death is a way for the pet to show loyalty to its 3aster. 4f the player dies, the &ledge of Death will be actiate and the pet will e"change his health with his 3aster’s. oweer, the pet will die instead and will receie his 3aster’s death penalty of 8B to all stats.
‘This is0..should 4 be glad+’ -rk read the information window with a dumb e"pression. -fter eoling, his stats rose considerably. BA$ points were added to health and loyalty. The effect had raised Deimos BA leels. ut as e"pected, Death 3aster had a magician characteristic. 4t focused on wisdom and intelligence rather than strength and agility. oweer, it was unreasonable compared to a magician. 'ince he eoled holding the sword and shield, strength, agility and stamina all increased a little bit. (aturally, his defense and attack also rose a little bit. -lthough Deimos would grow along the path of a magician, fortunately -rk had raised him as a warrior. ‘The increase in blade damage isn’t really meaningful. -n A point increase in damage meant an attack of ?$OH#. 4t is a lot weaker than Gwisal’s sword. ;hile a one8handed sword is 9uite strong, 4’m familiar with Gwisal’s sword so it isn’t necessary to change it.’ ut since he sometimes used the whip, the increase in damage was great. The problem was the skills ‘Death’s /9uations’ and ‘&ledge of Death.’ e could resurrect dead monsters and use them freely. 4t sounded ama)ing but when thinking about it, the techni9ue re9uired sacrificing *a)ak’s bones eery time it was used. 4t meant that it would cut the stats obtained through bone collecting. 1f course, he could always regain the stats back through bone collecting but he didn’t want to sacrifice stats just to raise monsters with C$@ of their abilities. ‘;ell, it might hae a huge effect if 4 resurrect a boss0..’ ut resurrecting such a monster would re9uire ? bones. 7urthermore, it wasn’t possible to go someplace else because *a)ak couldn’t moe. There was also ‘&ledge of Death.’ 4nstead of -rk dying, he would share *a)ak’s remaining health. oweer, it was only good if *a)ak had a lot of health remaining. 4f *a)ak’s health also decreased then -rk and *a)ak would just lose some stats.
‘4 can’t grasp whether the profession and skills are good or bad.’ -rk thought with a strange e"pression. &rior to the eolution, bone collecting was used to raise the stats. ut now the skills created after eolution only decreased the stats. ‘4 can’t just e"cessiely use the remaining bones.’ -lthough Deimos finally obtained new skills, -rk didn’t want to test them out. ‘1erall it is not that bad. Death 3aster seems like a mi" between magician and warrior. 'ince the attack and defense wasn’t lowered, 4’ll be able to use him sometimes to tank. -nd the peculiar skills could be surprisingly effectie in some situations. ;ell, now 4 need to create some dishes to regain the stats.’ -rk was satisfied with the results. The fact that he didn’t eole into a Death Fnight was still inconenient but at least the Death 3aster profession was somewhat useable. ;asn’t it a hundred times better than a 'keleton 3erchant+ -rk smiled and looked at *a)ak. 51kay, now you’e eoled. Deimos0..no, now it is *a)ak+6 lack clack0..clack clack clack0. *a)ak leisurely nodded. 4n fact, this was what he found disagreeable about the eolution. ;hen Deimos was made out of a patchwork of bones, he had a liely feeling. That was his charm00but now -rk couldn’t find that feeling after the eolution into Death Fnight. -lthough it was 9uite intense, the atmosphere felt more gloomy and drab. Dedric also shot a dissatisfied look towards *a)ak. 5'heesh, this conceited child has now completely changed his atmosphere+6 lack clack+ lack clack clack00 5;hat the+6 a, just because you’e succeeded recently+ Don’t be ridiculous. -ll you did was pick up some bones in order to eole! 4 hae
inherited the noble blood of the ampires! 4 can’t be judge with the same standards as a brainless child!6 lack clack clack, ttaak0..clack clack clack clack! *a)ak laughed =+> and shrugged his shoulders. ‘;hat, what the+’ This bastard, do you think it is settled+ (ot too long ago you were rolling around on the ground and now you’re ignoring me+ Do you want to e"perience that again+6 Dedric huffed and burst out angrily. 5Dedric, stop. ;hy haen’t you calmed down and kept on talking so noisily+6 5;hat the+ (ow een 3aster is ignoring me+6 Dedric’s face contorted at -rk’s words. 5-re you going to keep on acting like this+ 5
That was the ranking in Dedric’s mind. 4n addition, -rk eoled him first so he really became smug. -nd that relationship continued een after 'kull eoled into Deimos. ut this was the first time that the ranking se9uence was broken. Dedric naturally thought that he should’e eoled first. ut now *adun and *a)ak had eoled first, so his sense of security had started to collapse. -s a ampire, Dedric was e"ceptionally proud so this cut like a knife. 5:aughing+ -m 4 funny+ Dammit, don’t laugh! 4 am Dedric!6 ‘1kay, it is a ery good reaction. ;hy didn’t 4 think of that+’ -rk finally noticed why Dedric was grumbling like a little kid. e tried it out. /en if *a)ak had a high degree of loyalty, he still made them eat food. There were no problems. Dedric was the one who always complained but that didn’t happen this time. ‘That’s right, trying to balance the two of them might’e been a mistake. (ow Dedric’s pride won’t allow him to complain about food just in case the gap with *a)ak widens. Fukukuk, this is an effectie new method.’ Thanks to his show of weakness, -rk had caught the rebellious Dedric in his claws. ‘This guy is cleer but he still acts like a little kid.’ 'sak ssak ssak! -t that time, *adun who had been wandering around returned. There were #$$ dead (akujuk in the underground s9uare. *adun had swept through eery corner and obtained ?$$ japtem. -lthough there were no special items, the oerflowing number of items was still worth a large amount of old so -rk was happy. -fter finishing eerything, -rk went up to the #nd floor where eeryone was waiting. 5(ow, let’s go.6
5ah, pah, sheesh!6 Dedric grumbled and followed behind them.
Deception Guran, ona, :ariette and uksil were gathered on the #nd floor. Guran and ona were talking about what happened in the preious days while uksil was looking at the footage on the magic projector. -nd :ariette was still organi)ing her skills, with the releant information window open. 5-rk8nim, hae you finished your business+6 Guran stood up when -rk approached. 5
e had no interest in that. ut treating (&s well was -rk’s slogan. -rk nodded his head as if he was proud of ona’s words. 5. ut -rk knew. Unlike the other users, :ariette didn’t hae a big difference between reality and the game0..so other people might not understand, but -rk felt
like her beauty was een more special. ‘-re we really going to continue together in the future+’ /en though -rk had promised to let her accompany him, he hadn’t realised he would feel this way. e had been caught up in completing the 9uest and beating the boss. oweer, -rk was still a healthy Forean man. 4t was impossible not to like going forward with a beautiful woman. (o, it was what he had been dreaming of since he first saw her in 2ackson. ut when it became real like this, it was actually a burden. is heart felt on edge like it was being stabbed. ‘That’s strange, why do 4 feel like this around you+’ -lthough he 9uestioned it, there was an obious reason. oweer, KK@ of his brain was occupied with making money so he couldn’t work it out. (eertheless, the world seemed e"tremely fair. 4f someone became too cunning then he would end up being e"cessiely stupid. ‘ut 4 don’t know how to treat :ariette8nim.’ -rk was worried about it since he was ine"perienced with girls. ‘;ell 4’ll work it out somehow.’ -rk eentually gae up on finding an answer and turned towards her. 5That0.what is your new profession like+6 54’m not sure yet. :uckily it doesn’t seem that different from -lan’s oly Fnight. - lot of the skills 4 looked at seemed similar to a oly Fnight. -h0..6 :ariette coered her mouth and studied -rk’s face. -rk was confused by her attitude at first before shaking his head. 5
payback that it didn’t really matter to him anymore. -lthough -lan might still hold a grudge against -rk0..(o, there was a B$$@ chance but -rk had no emotions left about -lan.
reason. 1biously you’e receied orders from -lan!6 lack clack+ lack clack clack! 'sak ssak ssak ssak! *a)ak and *adun both looked at her with wary eyes after those words. :ariette had no idea what to do after -rk’s pets suddenly became cautious towards her. Then Dedric approached -rk and started cursing. 53aster, you didn’t know+ :ook, it’s the girl who was with that sissy! That beep8beep from the siege who used her 8beep8 magic!6 -rk was appalled and blocked Dedric’s mouth. ut his bad words had already been spoken and heard. :ariette became pale as this was the first time she heard such words. Guran, ona and uksil couldn’t understand the situation and just obsered with bemused e"pressions. Then Dedric who hadn’t grasped the situation just pushed the hand back and continued talking. 5&ah, 3aster! ;hy won’t you let me talk+ Don’t you understand+ 4 said0..6 5&lease shut up and stay 9uiet, yes+6 -rk muttered with a murderous ga)e. 2ust like usual, Dedric flinched and shut his mouth. 54’m really sorry. 7or my pet to say such words0..6 5-h, it’s nothing.6 :ariette struggled to smile with a stiff face. -rk was silent for a moment before sighing. 5rmm, well let’s return to the illage in the alley for the moment.6 5
5
uksil grinned and nodded. 5;hat are you saying+6 5uhuhu, -rk8nim is surprisingly slow.6 5;hat the+6 5&lease watch this.6 uksil pulled out the magic projector and played a recorded scene. 4t was the fight scene between -rk and Tamura. 'ince he forgot about the filming while fighting, the footage looked fairly plausible. oweer, that wasn’t the reason uksil showed him the scene. uksil stopped the scene on an image of :ariette and muttered 9uietly. 5Take a good look. (ow do you see what 4’m trying to say+6 5-m 4 meant to see something+6 5-h, it’s really frustrating. 4f you’re this slow then it’s rather pitiful.6 5;hat+ ;hat did you say+ uh+6 -rk was still in his Dark ;olf form. ;hen the black furred wolf showed his fangs, uksil freaked out and e"plained. 5-h, no. This is what 4’e been trying to say. :ook here. -rk8nim, please look at the way :ariette8nim’s e"pression changes. :ook at the feelings being e"pressed. 4 don’t know how -rk8nim feels, but there is a B$$@ chance that :ariette has a good impression of you0..6 -rk blocked uksil’s mouth with an astonished face. e had no idea of what would happen if :ariette heard those words in this atmosphere. 7ortunately Guran, ona and :ariette were B$ metres behind the two of them and couldn’t hear their conersation. -rk sighed and glared at uksil. 5'top talking nonsense you idiot. There is no such possibility.6
-t the same time, -rk sneaked a glance at :ariette’s image still showing on the magic projector. :ariette’s silky hair flowing down her back00feelings of worry as well as delight and surprise was e"pressed on her face, and it was all directed towards -rk. The obsidian like eyes neer looked away from him. is face became hot as he noticed what uksil was saying. -t the same time, his heart was thumping in his chest. ‘&erhaps uksil’s words are correct0..+’ -rk muttered before shaking his head. 5(o. :ariette8nim0..it’s definitely not like that. -fter being kidnapped to a place like this, it is natural to look at your rescuer like that. -nd you would feel an"ious if the person who came to help you is in danger. 'uch reactions are normal0..6 5;ell of course it wouldn’t be isible to you.6 ‘;hat+ This bastard!’ -rk frowned at uksil’s words. ;hy was his attitude so irresponsible+ ut uksil was uninterested and just scratched his head before muttering. 54n fact 4 don’t really care. The most important thing is the ‘atmosphere.’ -lthough -rk’s current form is good, it leaes a somewhat dreary impression. ut the atmosphere changed after :ariette8nim decided to accompany you. /en if the two of you aren’t in a relationship, it’s fine as long as there’s a good impression between you. :ike 4 said, 4 need a ‘plausible’ atmosphere.6 ‘This cheeky bastard0.!’ -rk became upset but he didn’t show it. 'ince somewhat unrelated spoke about the relationship between -rk and :ariette, wasn’t it natural to become upset+ 7urthermore, the ideo was ery important to -rk. 4n fact, there was a
reason -rk was actiely cooperating with the filming. 5The battle against the (akujuk to rescue the boy and the fight against the Draken in the rain! 4 got better shots than 4 thought 4 would. 4f 4 put this on the official site then it might enter the top B$.6 uksil said in an e"cited oice just before they entered the -byss of Despair. 51fficial site+6 5
thing. ut -rk8nim doesn’t hae to worry about that. 4’ll make it so that both men and women hae a good impression of you. 4’ll take care of it through careful editing. 1h, and please don’t mention this to :ariette8nim. ecause 4’ll start filming secretly from now on.6 5;hat+ ;hy+6 5Does -rk8nim want :ariette8nim to become a celebrity as well+ 4f :ariette8 nim becomes uncomfortable towards -rk8nim while filming then it’ll feel awkward. 7urthermore, scripted films are common nowadays. These days the realistic ideos are the ones that become popular. The magic projector is still not widely known. 4’ll take the ideos carefully so -rk8nim shouldn’t pay any attention to me.6 uksil was surprisingly an e"pert in this area. -ccording to uksil’s words, the moie8like ideos were e"tremely popular. ut people soon tired of the same contents and now realistic ideos were the trend. ;ell, een ariety shows were the trend on TN. ‘4n the end, :ariette8nim will hae no idea so 4’ll be acting the fool by myself+’ -rk looked uncomfortable as uksil confirmed this. 5-ll this work is for -rk8nim. 3aking a cool ideo that will reach the top B$ isn’t an easy thing.6 50..4 understand, 4’ll be careful.6 -rk sighed and nodded. -lthough he agreed without thinking, it had suddenly become much bigger. -nd now he had to conceal it from :ariette while they were filmed secretly. oweer, uksil’s words made sense. 4f he e"plained then the relationship between the two of them would feel een more awkward. ‘
both of us catches Global /"os attention with the ideos. ut can 4 do well+’ -rk turned and looked at :ariette. 4t was unnecessary to mention it again, but -rk had more than a crush on her. /ery time he met her during the game. is heart trembled. ut those sentiments weren’t feelings of loe. 4t was similar to the feeling that the general public felt when watching celebrities0..-rk had been thinking that all along. :ariette was ery beautiful. 4f uksil saw her in real life then he probably wouldn’t be able to act so calmly. -nd her education was enough for her to hae a job at Global /"os. 3eanwhile -rk was struggling with medical bills and liing e"penses eery month. 4t was the reason why he hesitated in her presence. ‘:ariette8nim suits a guy like -lan.’ - biter sigh emerged from -rk’s mouth. 4n (ew ;orld, -rk had remoed -lan’s position as the :ord. ut in reality, -lan was still nobility while -rk was just a common person. -nd :ariette was a woman more suited for nobility than a general person. 4n fact, at this point -rk still belieed that :ariette and -lan were dating. 'he was probably wandering around alone because -lan was in jail. ‘
(etherworld. ut that would be a problem for later. e had a more realistic problem to think about after e"iting the -byss of Despair. 4n order to complete the job, he had to return to the illage in the alley. ut all of -rk’s skyrays had been wiped out by the Draken. 7ortunately they could still walk back to the illage. 4t was a straight path when flying through the sky, but naigating the complicated terrain would take a considerable amount of time. 5Guran, how long will it take to return to the illage from here+6 54 don’t completely know but it should take appro"imately H days.6 e naturally sighed at Guran’s words. H days was appro"imately B day in reality. ut -rk just looked gloomy. e forgot for a while but this wasn’t a situation where he could afford to waste time. -rk had wiped out 2ewel’s party who came to the (etherworld. 4t meant that 2ewel would resurrect after #H hours. ‘4f 2ewel followed my path then they probably updated the resurrection place at the illage. Then they would hae resurrected before 4 reach the illage.’ 4t was a serious issue. e was lucky before but -rk couldn’t deal with 2ewel, Duke and their group by himself. e wouldn’t stand a chance if he encountered them in the field. (o, he was unlikely to succeed and they probably wouldn’t let him run away either. ‘ut there isn’t another way to return to the illage0.’ e couldn’t cram his H companions on *adun’s back. Faaaaaaa8! Then -rk suddenly heard familiar cries from aboe his head. e looked up and saw skyrays flying aboe him. ‘'kyrays+ ;ait, the 3yutal liing in the Nalley Nillage are the only monster trainers.’ -rk looked e"pectantly at Guran.
5Guran, can you tame those skyrays+6 53onster taming is a special talent only a few 3yutal hae. ona also has the talent. ut taming a monster re9uires a lot of time. /en an e"perienced trainer would take one month to tame a monster. /en if ona managed to train one, it would take some time to tame two.6 ona nodded at Guran’s description. ‘Damn it, 4’ll grow old before that monster will be tamed.’ 5ut it’s strange. This area is the habitat of the Draken so normally the skyrays wouldn’t approach0..eh+ ;ait, that is0..+6 Guran focused his attention and seemed to hae found something. 54ndeed, these skyrays hae already been trained.6 5They’e already been trained+6 5
5'eal+6 5
aboe him but it wasn’t a problem with Dedric. oweer00no answer was heard. Dedric was looking at the distant mountains and couldn’t seem to hear anything. 5ey you, what are you doing+ an’t you hear me+’ There was no reply00 Dedric yawned and scratched his neck. ‘This guy, is it because 4 beat him earlier+’ -rk’s eyes sharpened. 4t appeared that he had to train his pets first before the skyrays. oweer, one or two beatings wouldn’t work when Dedric was rebelling so openly. is ego was so strong that beating him wouldn’t fi" the habit. Dedric had to be in a critical condition three or four times before paying attention. ut now there were too many eyes watching. (ot only was :ariette watching, but doing iolence in front of ona might make him lose respect for -rk0..4n addition, there was no time to waste on beating him so much. ‘Damn, this guy must be aware of the urgency in this matter.’ -rk glared at Dedric. ‘;ait+ ;asn’t his bad mood because *a)ak succeeded in the eolution+ Then00’ ;hat should he do00-rk concentrated for a bit before he smiled and said. 5This time 4’e gathered so many ingredients that 4’ll probably be able to make at least B$ new dishes. Unfortunately it’s not possible anymore.6 5..0+6 Dedric tilted his head in confusion. (ormally he would beat them until they ate new food but now he said it wasn’t possible+ 5-ren’t most of the ingredients gathered good for the body+ ;ell, at least
A$@ of them will hae a good effect. ut 4 can’t force you if you don’t want to. 4’ll just feed all of it to *a)ak. 4 will probably continue like that in the future0..but then wouldn’t *a)ak become een stronger+6 Then Dedric pricked his ears and began to look around. 5;hat, what the+ 4t will also be like that in the future+6 5
neighbourhood kids are playing at school, yun8woo will be playing by himself. -h, our yun8woo is so pitiful.6 Then his mother burst into tears and -rk took the medicine. 4t was a bitter pill. -rk was also aware of this. That’s why he decided not to eat een if he died. ut there was a moie that said loneliness was the hardest thing for a child. 'ince then -rk was a good child who took his medicine. e hated it, but he wanted to become a man0.. -nyway, Dedric wasn’t that different from when -rk was H years old. e didn’t like eating new dishes. ut if he was ignored and eerything gien to *a)ak then he would become lonely. Then just like his mother, -rk approached Dedric and whispered in a gentle oice. 54’m only saying it now, but don’t you think its better that *a)ak eoled first+6 50..uh+6 5Think about it. ;ho do you think had really been useful so far+6 500;ho+6 5
is no use een though he eoled. 4 couldn’t gie up the opportunity for *a)ak to eole but 4 didn’t really feel like it.6 -rk shook his head in regret. 5'o 4 wanted to make you een stronger than *a)ak by feeding you new dishes00but 4 can’t help it if you don’t want to.
-rk was laughing when a message window appeared.
The skyray shrieked and twisted its body. 5(ow. &lease help!6 5
*emaining TimeM # hoursE 51kay, we can’t take a break!6 -rk grabbed the reins and got on the skyray. The now docile skyray flew obediently into the sky. 5Dedric, lead the skyray to me coolly just like before!6 5;as 4 cool+ ehehe, okay. 3aster!6 e danced like a fool from the praise. Dedric felt good and shot across the sky like an arrow. Then he led them towards -rk who immediately wrapped his blade around them and drew the skyray to the ground. 4t wasn’t easy for C people pulling, but it wasn’t a problem if -rk utili)ing the tame skyray. 'o -rk immediately caught all ten skyrays. 1nly ? people were stamped so the skyrays could only follow their commands. 5ehehe, how was it 3aster+6 Dedric strutted forward and said after capturing the skyrays ended. 5
5-rk8nim, 4’e finished updating all the seals.6 Guran approached after he finished stamping. 5Then let’s leae 9uickly.6 -rk and his companions walked towards the B$ skyrays. Guran and ona were familiar with them and got on their backs. uksil had suffered through the skyray dying during the storm and hesitated, but he eentually got on. ut :ariette just stopped a small distance away. 5;hat’s wrong+6 5(o0..are we flying in the air on these creatures+6 :ariette shuddered and shook her head. 54, 4’m00because 4’m not familiar with this0..no, flying in the sky0..6 54t isn’t ery risky.6 -rk murmured to try and calm :ariette down. 54t’s not that0..40..this might be bad004’m a bit afraid of heights0..6 'urprise showed in -rk’s e"pression. The skyrays were trained to obediently follow commands. uksil was a merchant who would often trael long distances and had the riding skill. -rk also had the riding skill and was used to traelling on *adunma. 4t was possible een without the riding skill, but asking someone afraid of heights to fly on a skyray was definitely impossible. Then Guran shrugged and made a suggestion. 54t is okay. :ariette will just hae to trael with someone since she’s afraid. There are B$ skyrays so we can’t afford to change when it gets tired. ut as you can see, ona is not yet familiar with the skyrays0..6 ona was seated in front of Guran. -rk looked at uksil who pretended to stare at the distant mountains. uksil didn’t want to trael with someone afraid of heights. -rk scratched his head before shrugging.
5Then please get on behind me.6 5006 :ariette hesitated for a moment. oweer, she had no choice. /entually she grabbed -rk’s hand and got on the skyray. -nd just like a girl riding on her boyfriend’s motorbike for the first time, :ariette grasped the edge of his shirt with a red face. 5(ow, let’s go! Guran, please guide us.6 5
Lee Myung-ryong’s Humiliation
5;hat on earth did you do+6 - grey haired middle aged person asked with a sharp glance. e was the section chief of the &olice -gency’s ';-T forces, ho
5
criminal but he was 9uite cynical00-n incident took place this morning. e had e"ited the gym after finishing his usual workout. -ll of a sudden he was summoned to the section chief’s office and told that he would be joining the 'pecial rimes ountermeasures unit. ‘That asshole0.!’ :ee 3yung8ryong had a 9uick mind. (o, he wasn’t smart in the conentional sense. e had entered the police force thanks to his history as a national taekwondo representatie. e had barely passed the test to enter. ut he had a keen sense of smell about shady dealings. 'pecial crimes countermeasures00 4t was the name of the department which dealt with iolent crime. oweer, it wasn’t the ‘inestigation’ but ‘measures’ unit. That meant gathering information at a desk about the criminals before the committed an incident. -nd then handed oer the clues to the inestigation department. 4t was a paid position which re9uired little work. The normal workers would’e graduated from college, but to hae a ';-T team member join it00yet the announcement was that :ee 3yung8ryong would join that department. oweer, :ee 3yung8ryong immediately understood the situation when the section chief e"plained it. (o, he had actually been e"pecting it for seeral days. :ee Fyung8o. (ot long ago, he went to yun8woo to isit -ndel’s father. e used to be a part of the prosecution office and was e"tremely close to the chief of the police force. -nd :ee 3yung8ryong happened to not get along with the police chief. e had confrontations with the police chief after Gwon wa8rang was forced to retire. Therefore :ee 3yung8ryong was an eyesore to the hief of the (ational &olice -gency. ut since :ee 3yung8 ryong had good results, he couldn’t openly punish him. 'o :ee Fyung8o used his police connections to help smooth the way. This situation was rigged by those two people. 4t was obiously the wishes of those two humans. They
wanted :ee 3yung8ryong to either become angry and disobey or resign. ‘Those ciil serants0..4 would loe to beat him up0..’ :ee 3yung8ryong definitely wanted to go to :ee Fyung8o and throw his letter of resignation in his face. 'ince he knew all the circumstances, :ee 3yung8ryong wasn’t just going to follow their plan. 4f :ee 3yung8ryong left then yun8woo would definitely notice. ‘That guy calms me down pretty 9uickly.’ e smiled while thinking about yun8woo. e felt a sense of pride. e was a teacher after all. e didn’t want to inole his disciple in this kind of dirty situation. 5Dammit, it’s impossible. That bastard0..is the police force his playground+
ountermeasures department. -t this point, :ee 3yung8ryong neer imagined the work that he would be undergoing. 5-h, you’re the one 'ection hief ho mentioned.6 4’m hoi Deok8pil and 4’m in charge here.6 'omeone approached him as he entered the 'pecial rimes ountermeasures department. e had the appearance of a typical white8collar employee. 5
:ee 3yung8ryong’s eyes widened. 5Don’t tell me you haen’t heard of it+6 5(o, 4’e heard of (ew ;orld.6 54’m glad.
re9uested support from Global /"os and receied a few test models. This is one of those.6 (ow he knew why there was a unit in the police agency. ut there was still a part which didn’t make sense. 5-s far as 4 know, 4 heard that you need to create a user 4D to access the game. -nd the 4D must list the social security number and personal information0.. 4f so, couldn’t you simply re9uest the information from the company+6 5-h my friend, we can but it is not that simple.6 hoi Deok8pil shook his head like he had a headache. 5
the incident00 The game also has the ability to ideotape such information. 1nce you record such information than the rest of the team will take care of it.6 5
lied in the game for two months and didn’t spot een B suspect. 'o we thought of you who is a member of the ';-T team.6 hoi Deok8pil took a deep breath and tapped :ee 3yung8ryong’s shoulder. 5oweer, we want you to play the game casually since inestigations inside the game are a supplementary method. 7or now just casually get used to the game.6 5rmmm0..6 :ee 3yung8ryong rubbed his chin and looked at the unit. hoi Deok8pil wore a subtle smile and asked. 5ow is it+ ;ill you try+6 5;ell, it is better than fetching coffee.6 hoi Deok8pil nodded and tapped his shoulder. 54 thought so. The first time isn’t that difficult. ecause your predecessor raised the character to leel BC$. The money earned is also 9uite high.
common username and password. The username and password is written on this piece of paper.6 hoi Deok8pil handed him seeral more pieces of paper and left the office. :ee 3yung8ryong and the unit were the only things left in the office. :ee 3yung8ryong crossed his arms and stared at the unit. 5
to them+ Therefore :ee 3yung8ryong shoed the documents into a corner before accessing (ew ;orld. :ee83yung8ryong’s reaction when logging into the game was similar to a normal person. 3ost noice users would marel at the ama)ing technology of (ew ;orld. /en with a do)en years of training his keen sense to the limit, he was still unable to distinguish the difference between reality and the game. ‘uh00yun8woo really wasn’t joking when he was talking about the game. ow did they manage something like this+ 4’m freely moing my limbs so am 4 really sitting in the unit+’ :ee 3yung8ryong fro)e for a moment. e had entered the game but he didn’t know what to do. Then, a semi8transparent object flickered in the corner of his eyes. haracter information window, bags, etc0..it was the icon to iew the related information. 4n fact, most users set these icons as ‘hidden’ in order to ma"imi)e the realism and used commands to open them. oweer, :ee 3yung8ryong’s predecessor set the icons for him. :uckily :ee 3yung8ryong knew these icons een if he was an idiot with games. ‘4 hae to know what type of guy 4 am. This is+’ :ee 3yung8ryong touched the icon of a person with his fingers. The character information window showing arious numerical alues opened. Usually the information of a user who first started the game was simple. oweer, :ee 3yung8ryong’s character was leel BC$. The arious additions and changes in the meantime had made the information window complicated. The only things he learnt was his name ‘4syuram’ and that he was leel BC$. 54syuram0..the name is not bad. 4t somehow seems strong.6 -lthough strength, agility and stamina were all common stats in *&Gs, they were simply numbers to :ee 3yung8ryong. e didn’t know what was high or low.
‘'heesh, 4 don’t know what any of this means. 4’ll slowly e"amine it later0..’ :ee 3yung8ryong clicked on the icon shaped like a bag. This time the bags opened and a huge number of items were shown. e also saw that he had %$$ gold. -lthough the bags were filled with all kinds of items, he didn’t know what they were used for or why he had them. ‘%$$ gold+ 4s this a lot+ ut what are all these things+ unch of *apana leaes+ Unicorn horns+ &earl sand+ ;hy the hell am 4 carrying around things like these+’ 1ther users would’e drooled if they saw the bag full of e"pensie items. ut :ee 3yung8ryong didn’t know the alue of goods in (ew ;orld and just saw it as trash. ‘1h, 4 don’t know. :et’s do something. -ccording to yun8woo, you can catch monsters in (ew ;orld. ;ill it be similar to a real battle+ 1kay, first let’s look for a monster. ut where can 4 go to find a monster+ 4 just ask someone.’ :ee 3yung8ryong0..no, 4syuram closed the window. -nd then he roamed around the illage for someone with information. Then he saw an old man at the entrance of the illage grabbing seeral people. 5
5ut we’e been hastily summoned by the guild.6 5;e’ll help you ne"t time we drop by.6 5ey, we hae to hurry.6 ;e’ll be late for the summons.6 51kay, let’s leae.6 The warriors hastily left the illage. 5-h, een though they were the first warriors 4 met after seeral weeks0.6 The old man muttered in a desperate oice. -t that time, 4syuram who had been watching the situation approached the old man. 5Did you mention a monster+6 5uh+
5-re you making fun of me+6 The old man stared at 4syuram strangely. 5'houldn’t you be e"perienced with monsters+6 5-nyway, there really is a monster+6 5Uh huh, but will you be enough+
- group of monsters has appeared and is threatening the safety of the illage. 4f you kill C$ gnolls and collect their tokens then the old man will compensate you. ut you shouldn’t e"pect a great reward since it is a small illage.
created by the computer+ /en if it was realistic, it couldn’t actually compare to real life. oweer, 4syuram underwent a B%$ degree change once he was actually in (ew ;orld. ‘The old man was just like a real person!’ -fter seeing the enironment and the (&', he was looking forward to the battles! 'ince it was a game, wouldn’t the leels of the fights also increase+ ‘mm, okay. There is nothing different about moing my body. (o, it feels een better than reality. 4n this condition 4 shouldn’t hae any problems killing the opponent. uhuhu, 4 don’t hae to stress about it. ;hat kind of standards are the monsters in (ew ;orld+’ 4syuram smirked and 9uickly climbed the hill. 5Fyaaaaak, a human!6 5Grrrrrr, he came up here alone to die.6 5Then 4’ll kill him!6 5Fikikik, let’s eat the fresh meat to our heart’s content.6 Ugly oices were soon heard from the hill. The ugly oices continued as they stepped through the forest. Their faces resembled a huge dog while their mouths were filled with sharp fangs. Their appearance would be frightening if this was a dream. (ormally people’s hearts would jump if it was the first time they saw such monsters. oweer, 4syuram just slightly raised his eyebrows. 51ho, this is a monster+ - dog0..these guys are actually 9uite shocking to see. They would look good sered with boiled soup and soju0. 4t is possible to eat real food in (ew ;orld, so can 4 possibly eat them+’ -n unimaginable response! There weren’t many users who would look at a gnoll and think of dog soup. 4nstead of 4syuram flinching, the gnolls ended up jumping instead.
5Grrrrrrr. ;hat the+ ;hat is this guy+6 5This guy0..is he actually a tremendous warrior+6 5Grrrrr, no look at him0.that is0..6 54sn’t it+ 4sn’t it+6 ;hile they were busy talking, 4syuram rushed up to them. 51kay, shall we begin+6 4syuram said as a gnoll raised its arm. 4t was definitely a ery threatening attack. ut who was he+ e was a former member of the national taekwondo team and the captain of the number B ';-T team, someone who fought against gangsters and criminals eery day. e was the owner of a steel heart who wouldn’t blink an eye at that attack in reality. 'o 4syuram was coninced of his ictory. ‘Those guys at the illage earlier said that it wasn’t ery hard. 'o these monsters are ery weak.’ The warriors who had rejected the old man’s re9uest seemed like children to him. ;ith 4syuram’s eyes, he was able to grasp if someone was strong or not. /en though it was in a game, their posture and gait wasn’t too different from reality. 'o he could sense their strength using such aspects. ‘4f these monsters are easy for them than the difficulty is clear. These are my first enemies but aren’t they too weak+ ;ell, when 4 return to the old man then 4’ll search out stronger opponents.’ 7iguring out the pattern of attack was so easy that 4syuram yawned. Fuaaaak! 4t approached closely and swung the a"e. ‘Fukuku, this dog head tried such a simple attack.’ 4syuram laughed and 9uickly used some footwork to dodge the attack. Then
he closed the gap to the enemy and0..wuduk! ‘/h+ ;uduk+’ 4syuram’s body suddenly stopped in the middle of his counterattack. Then his ankle collapsed and he tilted sideways. -n information window then appeared in front of him.
forward and swung a club. 4syuram rocked his body, aoided the attack and then transferred the power into a counterattack. akak8! There was a loud sound as flash and bone collided. The allocation of power, timing, posture00eerything was perfect for a counterattack. ‘-ll right, it is perfect this time! uhuhu, that is stunning!’ 4syuram had a look of satisfaction on his face. Grrrrrrr! 4syuram’s fist 9uickly took down a # metre tall figure! - blow to the temple turned the dog’s head K$ degrees.
muttered. 4syuram became ery embarrassed and tried to e"plain. 51ld man, this time was a mistake.6 5
the character of 4syuram from his predecessor. e changed the profession to a merchant because it was easier to gather information trading then hunting monsters. 'ince he was leel BC$, as a merchant he inested his stat points into wisdom, intelligence and luck. 4t was reasonably decent stats for a merchant. Then suddenly the owner of the body changed. -nd he tried to moe the poor merchant like he had a superhuman body. 4n other words, it was similar to a 78B racing engine being installed into a truck. 'o 4syuram’s body couldn’t keep up with :ee 3yung8ryong and broke. 4t was the difference between reality and games0.. 4f :ee 3yung8ryong started off at leel B in the noice illage then he would learn the knowledge naturally and be e"perienced in the moements. That was the reason why the noice illage e"isted. oweer, he just took oer a leel BC$ character with no e"perience. 54’m thankful that you wanted to help but please stop.6 The old man said before turning away. 4syuram couldn’t speak and stood there dumbly. e had imagined (ew ;orld like a playground. -s a ';-T team member, he was e"perienced with all sorts of martial arts. ;hen he went out on police business, he was the power of the ‘tyrannical authorities’ and would pull out the teeth of hooligans. 1f course, the police agency wasn’t a tyrannical force. (o, really. oweer, there definitely were ictims who receied damage. ;hile most people considered (ew ;orld a paradise where dreams come true, it was here that a martial artist was suffering frustration. e was not aware of what happened0..a disgraceful merchant+ 4t was the reason why he couldn’t e"perience the allure of a real battle in (ew ;orld+ The captain of the number B ';-T team, feared by other gangsters and he couldn’t fight because of this body+ yun8woo and the other team members00no, een a child was able to defeat a monster that he couldn’t damage+
54 can’t! (o, there is no way!6 4syuram clenched his fist and shouted. is pride had been damaged and he couldn’t possible accept it. ‘- poor body+ - merchant+ 4 am the captain of the number B ';-T team, :ee 3yung8ryong. -m 4 going to run away scared because of this merchant body+ Don’t be ridiculous. 4’ll just create a proper body.’ 2ust like he helped train -rk’s body, 4syuram belieed that hard work would strengthen a body. ‘There are some differences between a game and reality. 4f it’s too easy then it wouldn’t be a challenge. 4 will become the winner and beat this game! ;ho cares about inestigation. 4 won’t leae this place until 4 can defeat those dogs!’ 4syuram ran to a corner of the town. 57irst 4 hae to create a body. C,$$$ punches! C,$$$ kicks!6 -nd he began to e"ercise like cra)y. 5;hat, what the+6 5;ho is that merchant+6 The (&s flocked around and started gossiping. oweer, 4syuram ignored them and only concentrated on remodelling his body. (o matter how many times he broke his ankle or wrist, 4syuram just clenched his teeth and continued hitting the pillar. ut this was 4syuram’s mistake. -ctually, only the commercial ersion of the unit for (ew ;orld had the option to regulate the pain. (ormally the system determined the amount of impact the user receied after being attacked by a monster. ut the red gauge on this unit was set to ‘reality.’ ‘*eality’ meant the pain was similar to reality and was the highest option. 4n other words, he really felt like his arm was broken.
52ajaja, shoryuken!6 ;ududuk, snap! 1uch! 4t is a irtual reality game00 but it’s really painful like my arm actually broke. ut yun8woo and the other members also suffered this much. 4 won’t die from this much! iyah!6 is character was e"periencing flesh and bone remodelling.
Working Part-time at the Village in th e Valley
5&hew0..we’e finally arried.6 -round dawn, the skyrays finally set down at the illage entrance. /en then :ariette was still clinging tightly to -rk with her eyes closed. er arms wrapped around his waist still trembled een when they landed. 5:ariette8nim, it’s fine now. ;e’e arried.6 :ariette opened her eyes and looked around 9uickly. -fter seeing the ground, she let out a relieed sigh and said in a 9uiering oice. 5'8s8scary. 4t was really scary.6 50..
a B hour flight. 4n order to escape the many crises, the hae to fly using complicated manoeures which tortured :ariette. Thanks to that, :ariette had a new phobia of skyrays and heights. 5'cary0..do you know how scary it was+ *eally, really, really scary. 'ob, 4’m neer riding it again. (eer eer. Do you understand+ 'ob.6 :ariette muttered tearfully like a maniac. 'he was probably 9uite serious. ut00she looked like a little kid whining00and he thought it was kind of cute. -nyway, she was in a panicked state for a while. 4n fact, this was actually an opportunity. -nyone would know that their impression would become more faourable if they spoke comforting words during this situation. Unfortunately, -rk didn’t hae a knack for such things. Dedric was much better at it compared to -rk. 5'heesh, they can’t understand the romance of flying0..women0.6 Dedric pouted and muttered as he passed by. 5;ell, 4’m sorry for what happened a while ago. -lthough you’ll be accompanying 3aster from now on, 4’ll recogni)e you as a colleague. ut you better not mess with the number # person.6 e seemed like a H year old apologi)ing to the girl he teased. -rk burst out laughing. ut the childish words were une"pectedly accepted by :ariette. faint smile appeared on :ariette’s pale face. -t the same time, her impression of Dedric which was at the ery lowest B hour ago skyrocketed. ‘/h+ ;hat scene is this+ That apology actually worked+’ -rk couldn’t comprehend it. 4f -rk was in :ariette’s position, he would immediately punch Dedric the moment he said something sassy. 3en and women really were shaped differently. ‘;ell, at least Dedric and :ariette reconciled.’ 54’m going to take the skyrays to their kennel. Teacher is waiting so -rk and
ona should go there first.6 Guran said before herding the skyrays to their kennel. -rk and ona entered the illage. ;hen they entered, eseutyu who had been waiting an"iously in front of his house rushed towards them. is comple"ion was haggard from a night of worrying without any sleep. ona had been behaing calmly so far, but he burst into tears when he saw his grandfather and ran towards him. 5Grandfather!6 5'ob, oh0..ooh08ona!6 eseutyu and ona embraced each other while shedding tear. 4t had been two long days0.eh+ ome to think of it, it had been BI hours since -rk arried in the illage which was # days game time. Their reaction made it seem like it had been a whole week. ;ell, anyone would be thrilled that their grandson came back alie after being kidnapped. 54’m glad.6 :ariette muttered as her comple"ion seemed to return to normal. 'he felt a lot of affection for ona since they had been captured together. 1f course, -rk was also thrilled about the reunion. e had rescued the baby smurf from being eaten by Gargamel. (ow it was time to be rewarded by &apa 'murf. ;hy wouldn’t he be thrilled+ -fter a few moments, eseutyu collected his feelings and led them towards his house. 54’m sorry. They said that they wanted to help you. 4 didn’t realise they were illains targeting you0..my heart was so worried that 4 couldn’t see the moties.6 e was referring to when he leant 2ewel’s group some skyrays. -rk just smiled and shook his head. 5(o. 4 receied their help anyway.6 e wouldn’t hae been able to oercome Tamura without the help of 2ewel’s
party. eseutyu’s head tilted but he didn’t 9uestion it. e only cared about the fact that his grandson was rescued. 500onestly, 4 thought 4 was making a mistake when 4 heard that he was captured by the (akujuk. 4 thought 4 would neer see my grandson’s face again0..4 don’t know how 4 can repay the faour.6 54t was my pleasure. 4 couldn’t just stand by and watch as a little boy was sacrificed by a wicked group. ut 4 won’t reject eseutyu’s sincere heart.6 -rk replied modestly. e was mindful of his words since uksil was filming it on the magic projector. e didn’t want to make it obious that he was aiming for a reward. -rk was smart and danced around the subject. eseutyu nodded with an impressed face. 5
5-h, indeed. That’s right!6 -t that moment, eseutyu jumped up. Then he began to rummage through a pile of bo"es in the corner. 54t should be somewhere here0..no, it’s not. 'omewhere0..oh, here it is!6 eseutyu returned holding a small jewellery bo". 54 was wondering how 4 should repay you, but 4 remembered thanks to you asking about *arukan. This will be useful for you.6 4nside the jewellery bo" was a ring. 4t seemed 9uite old but a faint light was shining from the stylish ring. 5This ring was specially designed with gratitude and respect towards *arukan. -lthough our aran clan is now scattered, we once had a lot of influence in the (orth. -nd this ring was created using the best materials we could find and the best workmanship. ut *arukan did not receie this ring. -fter that we kept it with the family of the aran’s record8keepers00.as the incarnation of *arukan, 4 think you hae the 9ualifications to receie this ring.6 4t must be a re9uirement to hear the story before receiing the ring. -lthough it was the latest technology, the common sense from old *&G games was really useful! ;ith the words ‘ancient’ and ‘legend,’ it wasn’t an e"aggeration to say that the item should be one of the finest. ‘uk, a leel #$$ uni9ue ring!’ *arukan’s *ing =Uni9ue> 4tem typeM *ing User restrictionM :eel #$$ and more - ring specially designed by the inhabitants of the (etherworld for the
legendary warrior *arukan. This ring was designed a long time ago when the aran clan still prospered. The si)e is small but it was made with a special type of ore that contains the rare magic of the (etherworld. 4n addition, the ring possesses a jewel which has the power to protect the wearer from darkness. The inside of the ring is cared with ‘omage to *arukan.’ 1ptionM -gility JB$, -ttack 'peed JB$, ritical it J%@E 'pecial 1ptionM
difficult to find rare items with a good option. - uni9ue item was definitely uni9ue. Uni9ue items were similar to rare items but the performance was slightly better. 4n some cases, it might een hae a lower performance. The reason it was more e"pensie on auction sites was became of its scarcity. ;hile seeral of the same rare items could e"ist, there was only B of eery uni9ue item. 4n other words, *arukan’s ring was the only one that e"isted in (ew ;orld. ;ell, a legendary item had the best performance and options but it was so rare that none had been seen yet00anyway, a uni9ue item was also hard to obtain. 1f course, it was the best selling items on the auction site. ‘The (etherworld is the land of opportunity!’ Nery few people had come to the (etherworld. - lot of the 9uests were being completed for the first time by -rk. 4t meant that he could grab the best rewards from the 9uests. 4t was natural. (&s couldn’t get rid the items. 'o the first person to complete the (&’s 9uest would probably receie his best item. 'ince it wasn’t possible to receie the same reward, other people who complete it would just receie a similar one. That’s why the biggest rewards were gien to users who discoered a new area. 1f course, such opportunities weren’t just gien. 4f he hadn’t asked about *arukan then it would’e been replaced with another item. That’s why he had to pay attention to receie the best reward. Discoering the backstory was the whole point of a game. 51mo, it’s a pretty looking ring.6 -s a woman, :ariette was also interested in the ring. 5Uh8hum, thank you ery much. 4 will use it well.6 -rk coughed and hurridly packed the ring into his bag. 8The 9uest *escue onaE has been completed e increased ? leels after the message appeared. Thus he completed the first
9uest he receied in the (etherworld. 5y the way, the information 4 wanted you to check0..6 51h, about that person called 3agaro+6 uksil jumped when he heard the name 3agaro. oweer, -rk deliberately pretended not to notice and continued talking. 5
5- man with red hair wearing a white mask. e also crossed into the (etherworld from middle earth. There is a high possibility that he had entered the (etherworld before. &lease see if you can find any data on it.6 e was behind the eents that happened in the Underground ;orld. 'o he had been in middle earth until then. 4f he entered the (etherworld immediately then it would’e been a couple of months ago. -rk was coninced that the *ed 3an held the key to passing the entrance e"amination. -nd he might hae some ulterior motie if he ran away. e would continue to look for information while completing 3agaro’s 9uest. 54 see. Don’t worry and just rest comfortably.6 eseutyu raised his arms and headed to the stacks of scrolls. -fter summari)ing the situation, -rk headed outside. 5-rk8nim, will you wait here until you receie the information+ 4’m going to log out for a little bit. ecause of the earlier flight006 :ariette said with an unsteady face. 5
The police agency had spread rumours of :ee 3yung8ryong’s demotion to the 'pecial rimes ountermeasures s9uad. :ee 3yung8ryong wanted to preent -rk from hearing those rumours at the gym. Thanks to that, -rk didn’t hae a set time to sleep or e"ercise. ‘4 can’t just wait around town0..should 4 get some sleep or hunt in the area+ 1h, before that0..6 -rk took out *arukan’s ring from his bag. e couldn’t wear it while :ariette was still present. -rk contemplated for a moment before remoing ‘3ind’s /ye.’ ‘3ind’s /ye’ was a rare ring but it only had a skill and no other options. 1n the other hand, ‘*esurrecting 'pirit’ boosted his strength and mana recoery. 'o using the magic ring would be better. ‘4 don’t use 3ind’s /ye that fre9uently so 4 should only wear it when necessary.’ ;ith an e"cited e"pression, -rk moed *arukan’s ring towards his finger. -nd just as he was about to put it on0.! 5-rk8nim!6 -rk suddenly heard a oice from behind him and dropped the ring. 5uk, my ring! 3y ring! -h, here it is. 3y ring!6 -rk scrambled for the ring on the ground and grasped it tightly. e looked like a hungry beggar picking up a three day old piece of bread. e had acted instinctiely. ;hen he raised his head and blinked, he realised that it was ona who had sneaked up on him. 5um hum hum, the soil here is pretty good.6 5Do you like pretty rings+6 ona asked while -rk smiled awkwardly. -rk’s face turned red at the sight of ona’s friendly face.
5-h0..as the number # 4 am so ashamed.6 Dedric sighed. -rk awkwardly grinned and nodded. 5;ell, that, that is0..6 5-rk8nim, please follow me. 4’ll show you around the illage.6 5Nisit the illage+6 -rk said with an uncomfortable look. -rk was a human. ;hat person would be able to play the game for #$ hours without getting tired+ ut now he had to go around the illage instead of hunting+ ut ona just grabbed -rk’s arm and dragged him along. -rk didn’t dare reject ona so he was ineitably dragged along. oweer, it wasn’t a bad choice to follow. ‘/h+ There was something like this in the illage+’ -rk hadn’t een e"plored C$@ of the illage. 5This is a sap refinery. There are a lot of trees with special characteristics in the forests near here. ;e e"tract the sap, refine it and then barter with other illages related to us. 4n addition, we hae a ariety of plants in our fields.6 ona guided him to a workshop he hadn’t seen before. 'ince it was concerned with the illage’s production, outsiders were forbidden from entering there. oweer, he was able to access most areas if ona accompanied him. -fter touring, -rk’s opinion of the 3yutal changed a little bit. The 3yutal0..no, the aran tribe was not as unciili)ed as -rk thought. The Umma’s 'ap and (adingka’s 7ruit that -rk bought were items produced by the illage. 'ince most of the products were used to trade with other tribes, they only had a few of them. ‘4s money not used because of the limited trading+’ 4f someone was trading multiple items from many places then it was recommended to use money. oweer, if the e"change was limited to the
tribe and B8on8B then there was no reason to use money. ‘They hae no problem with production, but they are unable to sustain a large production system so the economy couldn’t deelop. 4f they were able to moe freely between middle earth then they could deelop a large profit0..’ -rk connected eerything to making money. -nd there were definitely a lot of ingredients scattered around that would make money. The aran tribe was not limited to just this illage in the alley. There were a large number of them spread out oer a wide area. 4f he was the intermediary for the illages which produced items, or create a currency e"change between the 3yutal then the fees he could collect for doing it would be ?OH times what he would earn from a castle. ut that was only if he could freely moe between middle earth and the (etherworld. 'ince he was stuck in the (etherworld at the moment, he decided to contemplate the idea later. ‘;ell, it’s not possible at the moment. 4’m just fortunate to be able to monopoli)e the dungeons and 9uests.’ 5ere’s the monster kennels.6 ona said as he guided -rk towards a sparse cae with walls. 4n fact, the biggest feature of the alley town was the tamed monsters. 5-h -rk8nim, you hae come+6 Guran waed his hand from inside the kennel. 5Guran helps look after the skyray for Grandpa.6 5-ctually, that’s my day job.6 Guran laughed and nodded. 5There are a lot of monsters.6 5
53anaging something like this must not be easy.6 5ut if there were no monsters then we wouldn’t’ be able to settle in a place like this.6 Guran looked at the monsters with proud eyes. 1f course, training monsters wasn’t cheap since they had to be fed and taught. 5
‘4 wouldn’t een be able to attempt it with that much money00’ -rk sighed as he stood inside the kennel. Then ona looked at him strangely. 5-rk8nim, what happened+6 5- child doesn’t need to know.6 -rk muttered in a pained oice. Then he heard a rough oice not far from the kennel. 3eeeeeeeeee, meeeeeeee. 5This guy, why can’t he hold still+6 e turned around and saw a 3yutal holding a knife and chasing after a sheep8like animal. ona saw -rk’s curiosity and 9uickly e"plained. 5That is the barn. 4t is where we raise edible liestock called &epe. -jusshi!6 ona waed towards the barn owner who turned his head. 5-h, isn’t that ona+ Guran told me what happened. ;asn’t it pretty serious+ There is a lot 4 would like to ask but 4’ll hae to leae it to later. 3y stupid assistant got the payment date wrong so 4 hae to catch two hundred of them by tomorrow. e couldn’t een come today so he became ill. 4t is really serious.6 The barn owner murmured in an irritated oice. 5Two hundred+6 5
‘;ait, meat and leather+ Then perhaps00+6 5an 4 help ona as well+6 5uh+
-nger welled up when -rk thought about it. -fter defeating Tamura, he had receied the ‘(ecromancer’s /ssence.’ -fter making *a)ak eole, he had taken out his pot and checked the necessary recipe. ‘(ecromancer’s 4mmortality &ill’ recipe. 'hining 2elly (ecromancer’s /ssence BSB eart of the Dead $S#$$$ 'kin of the Dead $S#$$$ -rk was unhappy after seeing the information window. ‘eart of the Dead’ or ‘'kin of the Dead’ were items that sometimes dropped from undead monsters. 'ince the drop rate was so low, he had collected them initially. oweer, they were just japtem. /en the stores wouldn’t buy them. 'o he just disposed of the item wheneer it dropped. ut now he needed H,$$$ of them+ ‘Dammit, 4’e already thrown away B,$$$ of them0..’ e had just thrown away BSH of the ingredients necessary. -lthough the results would still be the same een if he hadn’t thrown it away. The drop rate for these two ingredients was really low. -rk had killed a significant number of undead but had only found B,$$$ of them. 4f he used simple calculations then he would need to kill forty thousand to make the immortality pill. - few days0..no, it would surely take months to make. ‘1h, 4 don’t know. 4’ll complete it someday.’ 'o -rk had gien up halfway when he saw the recipe. ut that changed after hearing the barn owner’s words. ‘;ait, if 4 work here then wouldn’t 4 be able to learn butchery and leather e"traction+ 'o it might be easier to collect the ingredients.’
5Dammit, are you going to eat up my entire farm+6 54’m really sorry.6 5
adantage of this system. 5;hoops! -nother one ruined! Damn, 4’m really rubbish! 4 once again spoiled something that ajusshi raised like his child0..waaaah, someone like me should die!6 -rk blamed himself and cra)ily waed the knife when he failed again. The barn owner was so surprised that he couldn’t een be mad. 5;hat+ /en though 4 taught you again0.eh+ ey, please calm down. The &epe is like my children but is it worth dying oer them+ 1kay, 4 understand your heart. 4t is impossible to get used to it the first time. 'it down and 4’ll teach you again from the beginning.6 The owner made -rk sit down and began to e"plain the tips from the beginning. Thanks to that, -rk’s understand rose 9uickly and C hours passed00 M M
flashed as he successfully obtained the &epe’s meat and leather. 4n addition, the alue of the leather and meat didn’t fall at all. 51h, now you’e got the hang of it.6 5uhuhu, it was thanks to ajusshi’s teachings.6 -rk could een communicate as he stripped the leather. Thus the production speed increased and he finished the remaining &epe in ? hours. 5&hew, 4’ll be able to make the deliery date thanks to you and ona. 4 want to gie you a gift since you’e helped me with my work0..ah, right. 4’ll gie you this. 4t is the dismantling knife although it is also good as a long knife. -nd this is the &epe’s meat.6 The barn owner gae him the dismantling knife and meat as a reward. utcher’s Fnife - professional knife used to obtain leather and meat. 4ncreases the success probability of :eather /"traction and utchering by #$@E &epe’s 7illet =C> The meat of the cattle &epe who was raised in the (etherworld. The meat is so fresh that you can eat it as sashimi
The 9uest atch the &epe in the Nalley NillageE has been completed. -dditional compensationM :eather /"traction and utchering J#$E -t the same time, the 9uest had been completed. 'ince it was a production 9uest, the bonus was always skill e"perience or proficiency.
‘- food item and bonus skill proficiency! The part time 9uest was really useful!’ 5Thank you.6 5ahaha, 4 am een more thankful. &lease grill the &epe meat and eat it. The taste is really ama)ing. That reminds me, shouldn’t 4 get going+ 4 should eat before completing my deliery.6 3eeeeeeee, meeeeeeee! The barn owner turned wicked eyes towards the &epe who cried out and trembled. ey, hey, wasn’t that his children+ Didn’t he shed tears eerything he had to catch one+ 'o he would eat it een while shedding tears+ -rk wanted to get up but his cales were too tired. -fter receiing the 9uest to rescue ona, he hadn’t had a chance to shut his eyes. 5Then 4’ll take this and go.6 -rk said goodbye to ona and the barn owner before terminating the connection.
Locate the Laboratory
5Damn!6 - dim light appeared at the totem as a magician appeared. 4t was 2ewel who had self8destructed in the -byss of Despair. 2ewel checked her information window and clenched her teeth. 5That damn bastard -rk004’m going to pay him back seeral times!6 The self8destruct magic was critical against enemies but it was also lethal to 2ewel. -lthough she dealt a tremendous amount of damage in a wide range, she receied ? times the death penalty. 4n other words, she lost K$@ e"perience and all stats 8?. -lthough she already knew such details, tears gathered when she actually saw it. ‘Dammit, it will take so long to recoer that K$@ e"perience00in addition, how can 4 recoer the B% stats lost before leelling up+’ -ll this was because of -rk. 4f she hadn’t been tricked by -rk then she wouldn’t hae needed to use that skill. 4f 2ewel realised how much her self8 destruct ended up helping -rk then she probably would’e e"ploded again. (eertheless, ignorance was bliss. 'o 2ewel just furiously waited until the other members had resurrected. Duke rushed up to her and said. 52ewel, where is that -rk bastard now+6 5Damn it, how should 4 know+6 5;hat do you mean+ heck with 3ana &erfume.6 51f course 4’e already tried it. ut there was no reaction.6 5;hat+ e remoed the curse+6 5;hat other e"planation is there+ e must’e been carrying a urse release scroll.6
50..;hat now+6 Duke asked with a serious face but 2ewel didn’t know. The group dedicated to killing -rk sighed. Then eseutyu who had been lingering nearby ran up to them. 5-h, look, it is you guys0.!6 5/h+ The old man who gae -rk the 9uest+6 5&lease. 3y grandson, please rescue my grandson!6 5;hat is that+6 eseutyu grabbed 2ewel’s arm and begged. 5
your grandson because he stole our e9uipment and fled. ;e can’t forgie such a lousy bastard. -fter rescuing your grandson, we want to find him and make him pay for his sins.6 eseutyu gnashed his teeth at 2ewel’s e"planation. 5'uch a dirty thing004 knew he was strange. That’s why he refused to wait for you and just ran off. 4 know. 4 heard him say that he would go to the city beyond the northern mountains.6 5;as a mount used+6 5(o. There is no reason to lend a mount to the person who abandoned my grandson. e went on foot so he shouldn’t hae gone too far. -fter saing my grandson, 4’ll allow you to borrow the skyrays and chase him.6 There was a cold smile on 2ewel’s face. 5Duke, did you hear that+ e went to the city on the other side of the mountains.6 51kay, eerybody get ready. :et’s depart.6 5/h+
-fter a while, ona ran up from where he was hiding nearby. 5ah, they’re bad people just like -rk8hyung said.6 50..They hae no honour.6 eseutyu snorted as he turned to watch them disappear. 5That’s what they get for trying to annoy ona’s saiour. There is no city beyond the mountains, only the territory of the main (akujuk clan. They will end up suffering.6 5ut the way, did grandfather find what -rk8hyung was looking for+6 51f course. ;ell let’s return. -rk said he would be coming back now.6 eseutyu and ona smiled before returning to the illage. 5(ow it is safe. They hae left for the northern mountains.6 5Thanks for the good work.6 54 acted just like you told me to.6 There was a wily smile on -rk’s face after eseutyu’s answer. ‘(ow 4 don’t hae to worry about those guys. They’ll soon discoer that they made a mistake, but without the help of magic they won’t be able to find me easily.’ Thus one of his worries disappeared. (ow the only thing left was to find any clues related to 3agaro. -rk looked e"pectantly at eseutyu who smiled and nodded. 54’e found the information you need.6 5'omething related to 3agaro+6 5
was probably a countermeasure to ensure that users couldn’t abuse their knowledge of the (etherworld. 'ince -rk was entitled to the information, eseutyu translated it onto a scroll and passed it to him. ‘4 can finally discoer the whereabouts of 3agaro!’ -rk unrolled it with anticipation. 4t was recorded in first person format, just like a diary or letter. …….He introduced himself as Magaro. Magaro was an unusually polite and sincere person. It surprised me that he crossed from middle earth. I heard that people could pass freely between middle earth and the Netherworld a long time ago, but I thought it was just a legend or myth. But he proved that middle earth eisted and that it was a much more advanced civili!ation. He was very clever. "lthough he only saw the flora and fauna here for the first time, within a few days he was able to understand their attributes and how best to use them. He taught us how to refine the sap of plants in order to heal wounds and how to live a more abundant life by raising cattle. However, he was forced to leave the village after a month. He came to the Netherworld for a #special$ purpose and he needed more research materials for that purpose. I informed him about the #%orest of &ife$ in the eastern wilderness where he could find those materials. He could obtain everything he needed from there. 'nfortunately, I never saw him again…… ‘00.That e"plains it.’ -rk noticed some strange associations while reading the document. ;hen he saw the sap refinery, the first thing that came to mind was the 3agic 4nstitute’s alchemy lab. The standard of the e9uipment was ery different but the structure was somewhat similar. e discoered the reason after reading the record. 3agaro was a genius alchemist so he taught them how to use the sap.
‘-s e"pected from the alchemist 3agaro. ut 4 still don’t know 3agaro’s secret purpose which is the reason he came to the (etherworld00’ 4t definitely smelled like money. 54 was also surprised after reading this record. 4 didn’t realise that the person who taught us how to use sap and herbs came from middle earth.6 5;here is the 7orest of :ife+6 54’e neer gone there directly, but if you head to the eastern wilderness on the south8east side then you should find it.6 Then he opened up the map and indicated the area with a red dot. The location was close to the snowy mountains that -rk descended down. ‘4t will take me a few days if 4 moe in a straight line. ut at least 4 know the location.’ -rk stored the map and asked. 5y the way, did you find any information about the *ed 3an+6 5-h, you mean that+6 eseutyu shook his head. 54 couldn’t find any information about that person.6 5*eally+6 -rk was only a little bit disappointed. 4n fact, he hadn’t e"pected anything. e had receied a 9uest to find 3agaro’s laboratory. 4t was possible to receie information related to this because he receied the 9uest. That’s because the clues for the 9uest were intentionally placed from the beginning. oweer, the *ed 3an had nothing to do with this 9uest. -nd -rk didn’t know what he needed to inestigate. e only had a ague thought of finding the *ed 3an. 4f he didn’t know what he was looking for then there was no way he would receie a clue. -boe all. e really needed to
determine if the *ed 3an held the ‘key’ to passing the entrance e"amination. ‘4t can’t be helped. There’s nothing for me to find at the moment.’ -rk finished collecting the information and packed for a new trip. e re8 e"amined his e9uipment and stopped by the general store to barter for useable medicines. y that time :ariette and uksil had finished resting and connected to the game. 5-rk8nim, 4’m not late+6 5
confirmed that there were 9uite a few wild skyrays in the east when he traelled to this illage. 4f he flew on the skyrays then a battle was ineitable. ‘There are too many ariables in aerial combat compared to ground combat. ;hen returning from the -byss of Despair, it was difficult to defeat four or fie skyrays while protecting :ariette and uksil. 'o 4 would rather walk een if it takes longer. ;ell, it’s not like anything is urgent at the moment00’ 5Then we’ll be going.6 5&lease feel free to drop by.
other. ;asn’t it a dream that all men would aspire to+ -lthough they hadn’t reached the ending, -rk was lost in the sweet fantasy after e"iting the illage with :ariette. ut reality wasn’t that superficial. -rk’s reality was not that superficial. -rk sighed and looked at his colleagues eating a meal. 5-h, this is really good+6 54t really is. -rk8nim is also good at cooking.6 5*eally+ 4t’s delicious+6 Dedric was raenously licking the pot like a pig. -fter he refilled the pot, it was once again emptied as they continued chattering. 53aster, did you hear that+ -nother sering of this.6 4t was a ridiculous situation. e had made dishes from the ingredients collected. 4n addition, -rk had lost C$@ of his health but he wasn’t een able to eat one spoonful. The pot was emptied yet he wanted another sering+ -nd is such a demanding tone+ -rk had a bitter taste in his mouth at the sight. (o, he really wanted to punch him. oweer00 54’m sorry. ;e ate eerything without leaing anything for -rk8nim.6 ;hen :ariette spoke, -rk’s fist which had been heading towards Dedric suddenly changed into patting his head. 5-h, no.
5
'he had arried in the (etherworld before -rk. oweer, she appeared in the agel 7orest surrounded by the dead and didn’t hae time to e"plore before being captured by the (akujuk. 'o she was curious and e"cited about eerything. -rk also enjoyed watching her. -nd he e"plained eerything that she deeloped an interest in. 7or someone00it was 9uite enjoyable haing a girl interested in his words. 3onsters appeared occasionally but it didn’t matter. -rk had already faced these monsters seeral times while heading to the illage from the snowy mountains. The leel was higher but no more than two appeared at once. 4n addition, -rk’s leel was much higher than before. -fter killing hundreds of (akujuk in the -byss of Despair and completing the 9uest, he was leel #CI! 5uksil, take it well.6 -rk whispered to uksil before drawing his sword. Then he used flashy moements to dispose of the monsters. The ideo was shooting, but how could he fight normally in front of :ariette+ 5;ah! 4t’s fantastic!
to the 7orest of :ife. This is my first time here so 4 don’t know what the monsters will be like. Dedric, reconnaissance.6 5Understood. 3aster. Dedric flapped his wings for the first time after seeral days. oweer, he couldn’t make it a few metres before he started gasping. 5;hat the, what happened+6 54 don’t know. 'omehow 4 became ery winded+6 -rk glanced around but couldn’t spot anything unusual. ould it be00+ -rk looked uneasily at Dedric’s body. e finally noticed that Dedric was subtly different from normal. ‘;hat the+ ;hen did this child00+’ ;hile showing off his cooking skill to :ariette, -rk had used barrage of ingredients. ut :ariette was not a glutton. 3ore than half of the meal remained eery time so his pets and uksil would eat the rest. 1n the other hand, only one or two monsters appeared at the same time in the wilderness. 'o he didn’t need Dedric to scout or fight with him. -s a result00.it was like Dedric receied a holiday as he continuously partook in holiday foods. 4n other words, the e"cess nutrient intake and lack of e"ercise meant that he became bigger. 4t was also true for *a)ak and uksil. uksil0..well, he looked een more like a pig while Dedric’s bones also thickened. ‘1h my god, why didn’t 4 notice until now+’ :ariette had distracted him. -nyway, -rk finally noticed what was happening and became astounded. Fikikiki! Fikiki, kikikiki! The branches suddenly shook and they were surrounded by a mass of red pupils.
‘3onster! There’s around a do)en of them!’ 5uksil, :ariette8nim, step back! Dedric, *a)ak, defense formation!6 51h, it is hard00understood 3aster.6 lack clack0..clack clack clack0. is summons replied in rela"ed oices and took their stances. e wanted to say something but there was no time. - significant number of monsters had come running from different directions. The Furun was a monster that looked like a combination of a monkey and a wolf. -rk rela"ed a bit after confirming the Furun’s information. They were only leel #$$. -lthough he was surprised that there were a do)en of them, without the dark attribute bonus he would still be able to handle them by himself. 51kay :ariette8nim, please buff me!6 5
‘;hat the+ ;hy all of a sudden00whoops!’ -rk suddenly realised what was happening. 4t was a familiar situation for anyone who played online games. (umerical numbers for a monster’s ‘7ury’ e"isted. 4f two users beat up the same monster, the system would attack the one who dealt more damage. There was one e"ception. *ecoery magic. -lthough the magic didn’t deal direct damage to the monster, it’s aggro gauge would increase considerably. Therefore, warriors in the party would hae to time the use of ‘&roocation’ to coincide with the moment a priest used recoery magic. The most important part of fighting in a group was ‘aggro management.’ -rk had spent a year soloing so he neer got the hang of it. 1ccasionally he fought with *oco but the rehabilitation members were there to tank. 5Fyaaak, please help me!6 5uk, moe it! iik!6 -rk rushed towards :ariette and uksil who were in a crisis. uksil was a merchant and :ariette just changed jobs so both of their health decreased. 4n fact, the oly Fnight had less recoery magic then a priest and were inferior in combat compared to warriors. ut they had higher combat capabilities than a priest and could use magic to recoer. 'ince it was the best profession in the oly attribute series, the 4nnocence Fnight receied bonus stats based on their reputation. 'o although she was leel BI$, her actual stats were oer leel #$$. ut the problem was that she had srcinally been a magician. 'he was wearing a cloth robe0.. 'ince she had been in the Dawn lade guild, it was a pretty good magic item but it had low defense. 'he was also ine"perienced in melee combat. ;hen the Furun ran up to her, she was too busy escaping to counterattack. 5T8this is0..Dedric, use taunt to disperse their attention!6 5/h+ Understood.
Two Furun rushed towards Dedric after he used taunt. Dedric flapped his wings and tried to run away00but he could not. Dedric who had gained weight gasped as he flapped his wings and staggered after being hit in the back of the head. 00-h, he really was playing around. 5Dammit! *a)ak, take your defensie stance and protect both of them!6 lack clack clack, clack clack clack clack! *a)ak’s fat bones clattered as he ran forward. /en though *a)ak gained some weight, he was still better than Dedric. e was a bit slow but managed to get in front of them in time. Thanks to that, :ariette and uksil didn’t collapse. ut *a)ak couldn’t block all of the Furun’s attacks een in his defensie stance. 1nce again Dedric and *a)ak weren’t able to deal with monsters higher than them. *a)ak was around leel BC$ after eoling while Dedric was only leel B?$. is summons were able to fight with leel ?$$ monsters due to a combination play that they perfected through many trial and errors with -rk. They would just die if -rk wasn’t there. 4t was een worse once their flesh became plump. ‘Dammit0..of all times to be fat0..!’ -rk cursed as he gae up on the Furun with C$@ health and ran towards them. 53a83aster, please help!6 Dedric rolled on the ground like a ball of fur and called for help. -rk snatched Dedric and instantly used ‘Dark Dance.’ e moed like a ghost and used the chain skill of Dark lade and Dark 'trike on the Furun. Despite the intense and continuous attacks pushing the Furun back, the situation became een more bleak. is pets, :ariette and uksil were all in a critical condition. -rk also only had C$@ health left after attacking the enemy. 1n the other hand, the Furun
had their health decreased by 7lash but none of them had died yet. The ones with low health retreated and started throwing stones. ‘4 can narrow the distance and attack with 7lash and then retreat using Dark Dance but0..’ -rk started to realise how unstable his party was. uksil couldn’t help in battles in the wilderness but he was good at luring monsters in dungeons to the desired place. oweer, haing too many enemies in a wide open place like this turned out to be a weakness of their group. -rk wasn’t a warrior so he couldn’t wear heay armour with high defense. 낮다. 'o he had to reduce damage in fights by eading. ut he couldn’t use those methods if he had to protect people. 4f he aoided the attacks then it might hit uksil and :ariette. That was why he needed a warrior in the party! ‘Damn, 4 hae no choice but to hold on.’ -rk took out most of the flying stones with *iposte. During that time :ariette had recoered her health to I$@ using recoery magic. 5:ariette8nim, please concentrate your recoery magic on *a)ak from now on. *a)ak, use your defensie stance to protect :ariette and uksil. old out for a minute!6 lack clack clack, clack clack clack clack! *a)ak held out his shield. 5'print!6 -rk shot off like an arrow through the flying stones. Then he used 7lash on the Furun as soon as he entered in range. 1nce, twice, three times00his mana was running out by the Furun started collapsing one by one. 5(ow it is time to finish this. lessing of the sea!6 -rk used -delaine’s (ecklace to restore his mana and once again used 7lash. e e"terminated the remaining Furun after using 7lash a few more times.
5uk huk huk, 4 barely won.6 -rk gasped as he ran out of breath. -fter checking his health, he saw that he only had C@ left. 'ince :ariette used her recoery magic, *a)ak wouldn’t hae been able to hold out if the Furun concentrated their attacks on him. Therefore -rk took most of the attacks by the stones while using 7lash. ;hen it was oer, :ariette and uksil came running oer to him. 5&hew, the crisis is oer.6 54’m sorry. ;e were just a hindrance006 5(o, it’s okay. :et’s take a break first. ;e don’t know when a monster will appear again so we should restore our health and mana when there is a chance.6 -rk started to set up a camp. oth -rk and :ariette had run out of mana. ‘;e had such difficulty against a group of leel #$$ monsters00’ -rk sneaked a peek at Dedric and *a)ak who were lying on the ground. Dedric and *a)ak both realised that they had made mistakes. -rk became annoyed at the sight but just shook his head. ‘(o, there is a more fundamental problem.’
wilderness and now leel #$$ monsters suddenly appeared. This means that most of the monsters moe in groups. 4f there is a do)en at the beginning of the forest, that number will probably increase as we moe further in. 4f there is more than a do)en then 4 won’t be able to handle it.’ The same was true for *a)ak. 4f they attacked only -rk then he could handle it, but if they concentrated on :ariette and uksil then *a)ak would only be able to last for BO# minutes. ‘There must be a way00’ -rk blew out a sigh while looking serious. -fter worrying about it for a long time, he clenched his teeth and made up his mind. ‘
-rk closed his eyes tightly and took out an item. :ariette and uksil looked at -rk strangely while he was sweating. attered alf8&late -rmour typeM 4ron armour Defense powerM $ DurabilityM $S$ ;eightM B$ User restrictionM :eel B$$ and oer The half8plate armour can be seen eerywhere. This one is so old that mould has started to form on it. (o matter how great the craftsmen, they would not be ablereceie to repair armour.
Thanks to that one goal, he couldn’t een afford to lose B copper. 4t was a big decision for him to gie up some japtem. 5
least :ariette would focus on recoery when wearing a robe but now she was too busy trying to fight to support -rk. Therefore eery battle was difficult. -rk was worn out. ut it wasn’t possible to approach and tell her off. 54’m sorry. 4 haen’t improed hae 4+6 ;hat could he possible say to such a loely face+ -rk smiled painfully while sweating. 5-h, no.
‘ow dare this child act like this0..!’ 7urthermore, it wasn’t only Dedric. uksil also started acting cocky once -rk was compliant. 5-rk8nim, somehow you’re not appearing too good on the screen lately+ ;as the e"ertion too much for you+6 uksil placed his pig foot on -rk who was kneeling down to boil the soup and chattered on. ‘Do these bastards think they can treat me like this+’ urses rose in his throat. is heart really wanted to kill something right now. ut he couldn’t curse and strike at a young boy and a pig in front of :ariette00no, he just had to fi" the habit stealthily. ‘(o. 4t’s not something 4 can endure!’ 'o his happy trip had turned into hell in a few days.
My Fair Lay
‘-h, no0..it is impossible anymore.’ -rk’s patience was slowly reaching its limit. -s :ariette became worse in the battles, Dedric started openly annoying them. e was still collecting ingredients for their meals0.. 8Thanks to the player, your pets were able to eat comfortably and hae become satisfied. -ffection J#E ;asn’t it understandable that the message window rubbed salt in his wounds+ -rk’s stress continued to accumulate. ‘4s there another way+’ There must be a way to make :ariette more useful in battles and to fi" that child Dedric’s bad behaiour! 4f 4 can’t find a way then 4 really will die.’ -rk groaned and glanced at :ariette. 4n fact, she was ery difficult for -rk. 4t was difficult because she was a woman. e couldn’t openly tell her off, but he was suffering and almost died because of her. ‘'hould 4 close my eyes just once and try to say something+’ e thought about it many times but just ended up going in circles. 4t wasn’t just another woman, this was :ariette. e was so natural with *oco that he would hae no problem telling her. ‘ah00that reminds me of :ee 3yung8ryong Teacher0..’ -rk thought of :ee 3yung8ryong. There were a considerable number of policewomen present at the gym. ut :ee 3yung8ryong didn’t treat them any different from the other members of his team. ;ell, if he was bothered by acting iolent towards women then he couldn’t be a ';-T team leader.
54f a woman wants to be treated nicely then she should stay at home doing laundry!6 That was :ee 3yung8ryong’s thoughts. 1f course the policewomen didn’t e"press their dissatisfaction. 4f they didn’t train properly at the gym then they would get yelled at. ‘/h+ ;ait+’ -rk lifted his head at the thought. ‘That’s right, why didn’t 4 think of that+’ -rk had found a way to sole all his problems. e stood up and went to :ariette. 5:ariette8nim, 4 hae something to say.6 5&lease say it.6 5:ariette8nim is now a knight. 4sn’t 4nnocence Fnight similar to oly Fnight+ Then holy magic is used more as support. :earning how to fight with swords and shields is more important than holy magic. Didn’t :ariette become caught up in the fights because you enjoyed it+6 5
:ariette waered for a moment before nodding. 50..:et’s gie it a try.6 - smile formed on -rk’s mouth.
5(8no, 4 don’t want to!6 54 will not. ;hy should a merchant train0..6 5(oisy, just come with me!6 -rk dragged his pets and uksil into the forest. Then00he used the pretence of sparring to deal indiscriminate iolence for a long time. # hours later, the faces of his pets and uksil were completely swollen so -rk brought training =+> to an end and they returned to the camp. :ariette who had been brandishing her sword said with surprise. 51mo, your faces0..6 54t was training. -fter seeing :ariette8nim, those guys were so motiated that they wanted to train as well.6 uksil’s face contorted with -rk lied about training. ut when -rk smiled and elbowed him, uksil instantly nodded with sweat on his face. The effect of # hours of education appeared. ‘-h, how refreshing! -s e"pected, 4 hae to break them to teach them manners.’ -rk was so refreshed that he felt like he lost B$ years. 7or the ne"t few days, -rk stayed in that place and focused on training. 7ortunately, :ariette learned her ‘'word 3astery’ and ‘eay Defense’ skills while uksil and his pets lost all the weight they gained. -s a bonus, they once again listened to him after the discipline. ‘uhuhu, 4 should’e done this sooner0..once again the control is in my hands.’ -fter :ariette got the hang of basic postures, -rk immediately began the ne"t part of the training. 5(ow, 4’ll be showing you the first party formation so please watch carefully. Dedric, *a)ak!6
5
hae to worry while accompanying me, but one day you’ll be traelling alone so you’ll re9uire skills to take care of yourself. -mong them, the most essential thing to learn is cooking. :earning how to collect ingredients will also be helpful towards cooking later on. 4’ll teach you. uksil, 4’ll also teach you to collect ingredients.6 5uh+ ut 4 hae the mission to record -rk8nim006 uksil said in surprise but shut up when -rk shook his head. 'o -rk forcibly taught him how to forage ingredients. 'ince there were mainly high grade ingredients in the (etherworld, there was a lot of failures. ut after a couple of days of suffering, :ariette and uksil managed to learn the 4ngredient 7oraging skill. 5Fyaaa, 4’e learned it. 4ngredient 7oraging!6 5ongratulations. ut now’s the important part. ;e need to increase your proficiency in order to take adantage of the skill properly.
-rk was allowing :ariette to practice the battle formations. ;hen the -8B plan was implemented -rk, :ariette and his summons attacked from H directions. Then the special Furun that was twice as big as the others wasn’t able to last and collapsed. -nd it dropped an item. *esilient 'hield made of Garam ;ood =3agic> -rmour typeM 3edium 'hield DefenseM #C$ =JH$> DurabilityM ?#$SH$$ ;eightM #C User *estrictionM Fnights leel BC$ and more The shield coered in Garam wood is stronger than steel. Garam wood is taken from a sacred tree and is used in a lot sacred items. 4f used to create a wooden armour, a holy aura will protect the wearer. 1ptionM 'tamina JB$, ;isdom J#$, Defense JH$E 'pecial 1ptionM -mplification of holy magic by B$@E 5- magic item!6 -rk’s eyes gleamed. ut the performance of the item was a problem. 4t was a knight only shield and it also amplified holy magic. ;hen :ariette decided to accompany -rk, there was an agreement that all items would go to him. ut just by looking at this item, it was clearly an item that :ariette had to use. /en if they reached an agreement, the shield would definitely be coeted. ‘ut it isn’t just a magic item. 'hields that hae a special option is rare! 4t will earn at least B,$$$,$$$ won on the auction site so 4 can’t just concede it! ut it is a lot better than all the japtem 4’e collected0..’
-rk struggled and aoided :ariette’s ga)e until he finally lifted the shield. e couldn’t gie up B,$$$,$$$ won een if it pricked his conscious. Then -rk suddenly had a brilliant idea. ‘004 might be able to aoid any damage and still get credit.’ 5:ariette8nim, do you need this shield+6 5uh+ (o, 4006 -lthough :ariette used ambiguous language, she couldn’t take her eyes off the shield. -rk made a worried gesture before speaking in a serious oice. 54n fact, it’s been weighing on my mind. /en though you’e changed your occupation, you don’t hae any knight e"clusie items. 4 only gae you japtem.6 5004 already decided to concede all items to -rk8nim.6 5ut if such an item dropped then it should definitely go to you.6 5ut 4’d feel sorry0.6 /en though :ariette was glad, she still felt sorry. Then -rk muttered something. 5ut do you know about the aran’s trading methods+6 5uh+ aran’s trading methods+6 5;e should barter items of similar alue. 7or e"ample, :ariette doesn’t need the magician items anymore so you can barter with those items.
-rk decided not to be worried about :ariette any longer. 1f course, :ariette was still his ideal woman. -lthough he was more comfortable after making her train, his heart would still feel sick if she cried. ut -rk braced himself. ‘;hat hae 4 been doing so far+ (o, wake up!’ -rk didn’t know what was in :ariette’s heart. -lthough he felt a strange e"pectation at one time, -rk wouldn’t accept it een if :ariette confessed her loe. That was because -rk already loed one person more than anybody else. e deoted his whole life and loe to that person! 4t wasn’t some cheap feeling. e sincerely felt like that. 3y loe, my life, my past and future. 3y eternal fair lady! ‘3other00yes, the person 4 loe most in this world is my mother. ow can 4 feel shame if that money will pay for my mother’s medical bills or for slightly better food+ 4 would do een worse things if it is for my mother!’ e was not ashamed. /erything was for his mother! That was one reason why -rk could act so dignified while behaing like this. ut :ariette’s reaction was une"pected. 5-h, that’s fair enough.
5Then shall we continue+6 -rk smiled pleasantly after the transaction finished. -rk didn’t just ‘moe on.’ 5uksil and :ariette, please moe oer there and gather ingredients.6 ;hen the battle finished, he instantly forced uksil and :ariette to raise their e"perience. oth of them ended up with sore backs from bending oer to pick up ingredients. -rk’s bags were moderately full from their efforts so he said firmly. 5ontinue collecting ingredients until your proficiency has increased.6 ‘Do we hae to lie like this until it reaches intermediate+’ :ariette was scared by the thought. 1n the other hand, uksil was frightened for another reason. ‘4f the bag becomes full then 4’m going to end up like my younger brothers0.!’ ut -rk was 9uite satisfied with the situation. ‘ehehe, 4 really needed to do this. (ow my stress has disappeared!’ -rk e"ploited the two people while entering the 7orest of :ife. VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV Fwa kwa kwa kwang! 57ire wall!6 - barrier of flames erupted along the trajectory that 2ewel pointed towards. They weren’t simple flames like a candle. The fire e"ploded from the ground with tremendous pressure! The do)ens of (akujuk was engulfed in flames and ‘burned.’ 5&iercing arrow!6
Duke shot an arrow towards the (akujuk through the wall of flames. 4t was a piercing skill that could only be used on steel arrows! The steel penetrated through the bodies of the (akujuk and dealt tremendous damage. 2ewel and Duke were pioneers and took care of ?OH at once. 3agicians and archers had a lot of wide damage skills so they showed their full power when there were plenty of enemies. The only drawback was that they speciali)ed in long distance attacks and had low defense. 5'teel barrier!6 ut the warriors used a shield skill and stepped in front of them. Therefore 2ewel and Duke had plenty of leeway to ma"imi)e their skills. oweer00 there were too many of them. They had killed more than a hundred but the enemy numbers did not decrease at all. 4t felt like they’e only lifted a spoonful of sand in a desert. 5Damn, what the hell+6 5That -rk didn’t appear at all0..6 5Don’t tell me he tricked us and went the opposite direction+6 2ewel muttered. -fter receiing the information, they had chased after -rk for a few days. (ot long ago 2ewel’s group finally crossed the northern mountain. 1f course, een that wasn’t easy. The northern mountain was the one near the -byss of Despair. They used skyrays the first time they went there, but now they decided to cross on foot. The monsters on the northern mountain were no problem. 4t was the unbearable terrain of the northern mountain0..the ground, walls and ceilings were all coered in the sharp stalactites, making it difficult to grab and climb the rock cliff. They weren’t able to cross the terrain using conentional methods. ut 2ewel’s group didn’t gie up een despite being stabbed by the brambles. 5There is definitely a way to pass here somewhere.6 54f that bastard -rk managed to cross then we should as well!6
/erybody was resolute towards getting reenge on -rk! They were able to use their engefulness as an energy source and crossed the mountain. ut none of them could’e imagined the suffering that was waiting beyond the mountain. ;as -rk waiting for them+ (o. 4nstead the group of red (akujuk were gathered. 54ntruders!6 5'ei)e them, the aran hae clearly sent spies!6 5uk, what it this+6 *etreat!6 2ewel’s group panicked and ran away. oweer, the northern mountain was blocking the path behind them. ;hy was there a group of (akujuk instead of -rk+ -fter a while, they realised that -rk wasn’t there and he had led them towards the (akujuk just like before. 5(o, 4 can’t die like the preious time. :ure them into the alley!6 They didn’t know the circumstances inside the -byss of Despair but this time was different. They might seemed stupid sometimes but they were still pioneers. 2ewel immediately judged the situation and lured them into the alley. - traditional tactic of dealing with a lot of enemies was to use a narrow passage to bottleneck them. 'o een though there were hundreds of (akujuk, there only faced around twenty at one time. 2ewel stopped the (akujuk’s rush using warriors at the front with support from ranged attacks. 'o there were able to deal with a hundred monsters without receiing much damage. ut 2ewel knew that it was only a temporary solution. ‘4t will be the end once my mana runs out. ;e need to find a way to penetrate the siege and run away. 4t isn’t possible to come here and not kill -rk!’ 2ewel bit her lips until it became bloody and started thinking. Then Duke e"claimed with black pupils. 52ewel, their leader is near the alley entrance!6
4t was the ranger’s adanced skill ‘awk /yes’ which could see eerything in a range of #$$ metres! ;hile looking around to determine the number of enemies, Duke had spotted the large figure of the leader. 5The distance+6 5ehind those troops oer there. :eel ?C$.6 51kay, this is a chance to improe the situation!6 2ewel’s eyes lit up. 4n a battle between users and monsters, the e"istence of a leader was important. 4f the leader was killed then its troops would be in a state of panic for a while. Their morale would fall and their formation collapse. 4f that happened then it would be possible to penetrate the (akujuk’s encirclement. 54f we kill him than those guys will fall into a panic!6 5Understood, let’s penetrate the enemy with the triangle formation. The goal is C$ metres from the entrance!6 5:et’s go!6 Fwa kwa kwa kwang! The warriors transitioned from defense to attack and pushed through the (akujuk. 2ewel and Duke used penetrating attacks while the warriors used their shields to push the (akujuk away. 'uddenly the only enemy in front of 2ewel’s group was the elite leader. e was a giant with huge a"es in both hands. 5Don’t pay attention to the followers and focus your attacks on the leader!6 51hhhhh, eroic 'trike!6 The ten group members surrounded the leader and enthusiastically used their skills. -lthough the elite monster possessed incredible strength and stamina, under the concentrated attacks his health 9uickly fell. Then Duke’s precise shot hit his knee and he kneeled down.
5Ugh, u8unbelieable00.!6 5-t last!6 iiiiiik8! The warriors ran up for the final assault and swung their swords. 'uddenly there was a sharp cry from the sky as a black eagle descended towards the battlefield. -t the same time, a flash of light fell towards the leader. There was an intense shock wae that pushed the warriors back. 5Ugh, what, what the0..+6 5;ho is that+ - person fell.6 2ewel’s group lifted their weapons. The form of a person appeared amongst the cloud of dust. 4t was a man with red hair wearing a white mask! ‘;hat is this guy+ -n enemy+ ut somehow the atmosphere00+’ 2ewel couldn’t determine how to handle it. 5
2ewel rolled her eyes and asked with a dissatisfied e"pression. Then there was an amused look in the eyes reealed by the mask. 54’m a user. The same as you.6
!algin "lan’s Disaster
Fuaaaang! - loud roar rattled the forest. 4t looked like a Furun but with ? heads, a monster with C tails called the ‘himera8Furometin.’ :eel #C$. There was a group of H or C monsters. They had high defense and attack so they were the toughest opponent he’s faced so far, but he had become accustomed to their attack patterns after fighting them a few times. -lthough it was a little difficult in the daytime, once he had the dark attribute bonus then -rk could easily take care of it. ut -rk didn’t use his skills and just raised his oice. 5&lan -8?. :ariette8nim, lure two and take them out.6 5uh+
Dedric continually harassed :ariette. ‘That guy0..he’s acting like this again. ;ell, that’s why 4 entrusted it to him.’ -rk gae a wry smile after hearing the noisy Dedric. e had trained :ariette for a few days. 4n the meantime, :ariette had improed a lot as a knight. 'he could use recoery magic and attack the monsters from the rear. oweer, she still hadn’t met -rk’s standards. ‘;ell, using a sword and shield is not something that can be learned oernight00’ . -fter teaching her some tips, she was able to learn some warrior e"clusie skills. ‘'he has to adapt to fighting in a party in order to truly become useful.’ 1f course, :ariette had participated in party teamwork with the Dawn lade members. ut her role was different as she was a magician. 4n addition, the Dawn lade members always hunted with do)ens of people. /en if one or two people failed in their roles then it wouldn’t be a problem. 4n a small party with ?OH people, een one person could affect the battle. 7ortunately, :ariette had a clear head. ‘4 remember the basic plans00but as e"pected, there are numerous ariables in an actual battle. 4 hae to hae a broader iew in order to learn eery formation.’ 'o -rk determined what he should train :ariette in. -rk taught her how to
use a shield, *a)ak tips on dealing with a shield and sword, and the tactical combat was left to Dedric to teach :ariette. 04t was an e"cellent choice. 4n fact, Dedric had become slightly depressed after -rk succeeded in re8 education and forcing him on a diet. ut after receiing the number # position and being entrusted with the ‘tactics,’ his mood and loyalty rose once again. is chatter was also more bearable than before and didn’t annoy -rk as much. 51h, it’s really cra)y. -re you stupid+ ow many times do 4 hae to tell you+ Didn’t 4 tell you not to moe too far when luring+ There may be other monsters in the icinity. ;ill you shoulder the responsibility if other monsters attack and the party dies+ 4nite the monster and lead them around a small area!6 Dedric once again spoke roughly to a woman. 5
‘(ow, should 4 finish it for the moment since :ariette is tired+’ 5Dedric, *a)ak, gather all of them in one place.6 lack clack clack clack! 51kay! ;atch carefully trainee. 4’ll show you how to lure!6 Dedric displayed da))ling skills and lured the Furometin straight towards -rk. *a)ak also gathered around the monsters and used 'hield 'troke. 4t was like dressing up a table for -rk0..and he continuously used 7lash. Fwa kwa kwa kwang! The flash of light moed around the Furometin like a spider web and their health gradually decreased. ;hen the Furometin fell into a critical condition, -rk and :ariette finished it off. -fter the Furometin died, -rk commanded in a hurry. 5*adun, swallow the items 9uickly!6 'sak ssak ssak ssak! *adun shot off like an arrow and swallowed the items without checking it. 3eanwhile -rk didn’t rela" and kept on looking around. ‘&hew0..fortunately it hasn’t appeared yet0..’ -rk gae a sigh of relief. Then a cross pattern appeared on top of :ariette’s head who screamed. 5-nother leel up! Fyaaa, 4 also got the ‘'hield lock’ skill!6 ut the seere tactics training continued een now. 5;hat’s the point of an uproar when you made so many mistakes+ The techni9ues are not as easy as you thought!6 Dedric declared sharply causing :ariette to flinch and close her mouth. Then, -rk smiled and said in a friendly oice.
5(o. 4n my iew you’e gotten a lot better. -lthough you still hae the habit of relying on magic in a fight, if you fi" that then you’ll be a proper knight.6 54t’s all thanks to -rk8nim.6 :ariette blushed at -rk’s compliment. 5ah, you’re still a shameful knight.
Character Name
-rk
Race
uman
Alignment
Good JH$$ K,B#C =J C$$>
Fame
Level
#IK
Profession
Dark ;alker
Title
at Fnight, aretaker of the -bandoned, 2ackson’s ero, Great -denturer
Health
H,BBB =JBC$>
Mana
H,#C$
Spiritual Power
#$$
Strength
CH? =J#%>
Agility
A$? =JCC>
Stamina
AA? =J#$>
is!om
B$A =JB$>
"ntelligence
%##
Luc#
B$? =J?$>
Fle$i%ility
B$A
Art of Communication
HI
Affection
BC# =JB$>
Resilience
?$C
Special stat& 'nowle!ge of
B?%
Ancient Relics L /9uipment item effects Guardian -rmour of the 3erpeopleM ;ater -ttribute *esistance JB$$@, &enalty based on water is nullified. at &aws =Gloes>M -ttack 'peed JB$@, -gility JBC, ritical it JB$@ *accoons &ith =elmet>M -gility J B$, ;isdom J B$
LFingE 'et effectM 'trength J B$, -gility J B$, 'tamina JB$, Defense J#$ ;arrior’s Transcripts ='houlder lades>M 'trength J ? ;ind 'pirit’s oots ='hoes>M -gility J ?$, 3oement 'peed J?$@, -ttack 'peed JB$@, ‘'lide’ aailable Galgashi’s 7ur =3antle>M old resistance JB$$@, -gility J#$, ;hen health is less than C$@, ‘3agic &rotection’ automatically actiates. -delaine’s (ecklace =(ecklace>M Defense J H$, -ffection JB$, ‘lessing of the 'ea’ aailable *esurrecting 'pirit =*ing>M 'trength J C, 3ana recoery J C@ *arukan’s *ing =*ing>M -gility J B$, -ttack 'peed JB$@, ritical it J%@, ‘Dark &rotection’ aailable -mulet of Nitality =racelet>M ealth J C$, ealth recoers by C eery #$ seconds Gladiator’s onour =racelet>M 'trength, -gility, 'tamina JB$, 7ame JC$$, 'word8based 'kill Growth JC@ L -ll abilities will increase by H$@ in the dark L L *esistance to 7ear, Darkness, lind, and 'eduction spells is increased by C$@. L
L B$@ increased attack and defense e gained B? leels in a week. :ariette could only play I hours a day but still managed to gain % leels to reach BA$. 4n (ew ;orld, there was a penalty on e"perience gained if there was a large leel difference between party members, with the penalty depending on how much the difference is. ‘The number of monsters and e"perience is acceptable. The speed is similar to leelling up in a dungeon.’ -rk 9uite liked the 7orest of :ife. /"cept for one type of monster0.. 8
‘himeraQandit 7o".’ 4t was a thief fo"0.. Those guys hid themseles using ‘&rotectie olouration’ and appeared out of nowhere to steal his items before running away. They had een managed to intercept him when -rk was holding the items. 4n addition, their speed was so fast that he wasn’t able to catch them using ‘'print.’ 5There are also monsters like that0.6 is obsession with the burglar fo" was so much that een Dedric held his tongue. 'o -rk made sure that *adun swallowed the items as soon as the battle ended. *adun was responsible for collecting the items so it especially disliked the andit 7o". ‘Damn!’ -rk cursed wheneer he sensed them. -nyway, if he was careful then the andit 7o" would hae no chance of stealing his items. The problem was that there were ingredients scattered all oer the 7orest of :ife. 2ust like its name, the 7orest of :ife was a place where lush greenery grew. There were a wide ariety of plants that could be used as food ingredients0..and that was the real reason why he hated the andit 7o"es. /en though -rk searched the 7orest of :ife, he only managed to collect ?OH ingredients. /ery time a food ingredient popped up, it would be deoured by the fo"es. ‘4t is impossible to catch the andit 7o"es inside this forest0..’ e had tried to catch them. oweer, wheneer he got close they would use ‘&rotectie olouration’ which was similar to 'tealth. -nd the problem wouldn’t be soled by catching one or two. ;ho knew how many thousands of andit 7o"es there were+ ‘4t is impossible. 4 just hae to collect it first before he fo"es discoer it.’ 51kay, let’s go. 4t is time for 4ngredient 7oraging.6
-rk ordered while uksil and :ariette stood up with a sigh. 5(ow, :ariette8nim will search around here while uksil will search to the north.6 5ut what if the thiees hae already collected eerything and we find nothing. 4 would rather use that time to search for the laboratory. The 7orest of :ife is 9uite wide so wouldn’t it take a long time to walk around the whole thing+6 5
‘/h+ That guy is0..+’ The person hanging onto :ariette was an ac9uaintance =+>. 4t was an (& resembling a bug. 4t was *eid, the Galgin peddler he rescued from the &redator the other day. :ariette had mistaken him for an insect type monster. 5:ariette8nim, wait a minute!6 -rk stood in front of :ariette and blocked her. *eid moed his head away and saw -rk. 5<8you are+6 54t is -rk. ;e met once before.6 51h, running into someone 4 know in a place like this0..God is really helping me. elp me!6 is eyes were brimming with tears as he spoke. 5Don’t worry. 4’m not going to attack anymore.6 -rk looked at :ariette and smiled bitterly. The one who had turned pale with fear was :ariette. 1f course someone like her would be scared of an insect like creature. 4n fact, it was the first time he had seen :ariette truly haing an urge to kill. ut *eid just shook his antennae and said. 5(o, no. 4t’s not that. 3y entire family is clan is about to die.6 5uh+ lan+6 *eid e"plained the situation while crying. 5
5'uffering+6 5
‘This bastard insect, why is he holding my hands+ 4’ll hae to use some hand disinfectant.’ 4t was impossible for -rk to like being touched by an insect. -nyway, he just had to pretend for the moment. 58but006 54 beliee that :ariette8nim is not one of those people.6 -rk looked at :ariette with a trusting e"pression. -fter looking at *eid’s eyes, she couldn’t bear to refuse een if she felt disgusted. 5&hew, 4 understand.6 ‘uhuhuhu, another free 9uest!’ -rk inwardly grinned wickedly. -n 4nnocence Fnight had arious kinds of recoery magic so it should be settled without any difficulty. ;hen they accepted, a message window appeared in front of -rk and :ariette. Galgin lan’s Disaster -fter a month, *eid and the other peddlers in his clan met in the 7orest of :ife. ut when *eid arried, his clan was suffering from an unknown disease. elp identify the cause of the disease. DifficultyM E ‘They are still cockroaches.’ -fter a while, *eid guided -rk towards the meeting place. ;hen they arried there, he noticed that they were plenty of cockroaches gathered. 2ust like the name suggested, the 7orest of :ife was a forest full of itality. ;hen walking around, there was plenty of lush greenery and warm sun. ut the place where the Galgin were gathered had a sombre atmosphere. There were rotting trees eerywhere with the Galgin scattered around. 2ust like *eid said, the situation seemed 9uite serious.
51oooh, c8cold0.somebody0..6 53ama, 3ama0..stomach hurts0..sob006 5uk0..my guts are twisted0..6 There was the sound of moaning eerywhere. 'ome of the cockroaches had iscous li9uid seeping from their arms and legs while others were omiting. The terribly sick appearance of the Galgin clan made :ariette pale and she hid behind -rk in terror. ;hen he arried at the camp, the Galgin was in tears. 5Great8grandfather, great8grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle, cousins0.!6 -ll of the cockroaches were *eid’s family.
‘4n reality, 4’e killed plenty of cockroaches eery day and they keep on multiplying0. ;ell, that would sole the problem but0..’ -rk could een be kind to cockroaches for a 9uest. 5Don’t worry, you will soon regain your health.6 51hh, -rk, -rk! &lease.6 *eid clung to -rk and begged. 5
ut the result was the same. 'he tried all sorts of cure diseases, release curse and een buffs but the state did not change. 3eanwhile, the symptoms seemed to be worsening as they started gasping for breaths. -rk was distressed and used (ursing. 57ind your energy. ;ill the Galgin clan of the (etherworld be taken out this easily+
‘4 hae to gie up this 9uest.’ -rk sighed and shook his head. 54’m really sorry. ;e can’t do any more.6 5-h, ah, -rk! -h, don’t. 4t’s a re9uest. - bit more, a bit more! There must be some way. Do you understand+ 4 don’t hae the time to find somebody else. 4f you gie up then my family will die. -nything is good. 4’ll do whateer you want but please don’t gie up!6 *eid cried and hung onto him. e really had tried eerything. e also wanted to complete the 9uest for the reward. ;asn’t that why he had spent an hour using (ursing+ ut what was he supposed to do now+ -rk started to become annoyed at the insistent cries. 5'top it. an’t you see that there is no way to sole this+6 0..4t was at that time. e suddenly felt goose8bumps all oer his body and sat down. ‘;hat the+ This feeling is0..+’ -rk felt perple"ed at these incomprehensible feelings. ;hy had he suddenly felt so uneasy+ ;hile -rk was looking at *eid, he suddenly recalled a surprisingly memory. e suddenly realised why he felt so unpleasant as he thought back to the past! ()e did our best. (*here is nothing more we can do. (+ou should prepare your heart for the worst. The oices rang inside his head like thunder.
receied money, it was not their responsibility00they seemed like they had no interest in the subject as they spoke about death so easily. Did the doctors hae any idea of the despair they made -rk feel then+ The despair of that still was still like a cold knifes stuck in his heart. e would sometimes wake up from nightmares of that eent. ;hen his mother recoered, he had somewhat forgotten about that incident but now it was ignited again in his heart. ‘ut now00’ (ow he was talking with the same oice and e"pression as those doctors. is eyes showed no concern about the Galgin’s lies. The only emotion he felt was regret that the 9uest couldn’t be completed. e had talked so easily about his family’s death in front of *eid. -rk became disillusioned with himself. ;hether it was a game or reality wasn’t important. ‘The important thing0..4 know the pain too well0..yet 4 dared to say such words so casually. 4t was me, not other people00.’ Then :ariette spoke to *eid in a tearful oice. 5
know if 4 can cure it. ut 4 promise. 4 will neer gie up. :et’s work together.6
#rk’s $esponsibility
1ne idea could change the world. 4t was a commonplace phrase in 7s but it was certainly true. ;hen his heart changed, -rk was immediately determined to help the cockroaches. Their appearance didn’t matter once he changed his mind. That’s right. *acism, religious wars, and een bullying were all social issues that occurred differently. ut that all occurred from arrogance and different thoughts0.. -nyway, -rk wasn’t disgusted by touching the Galgin’s hands and feet anymore. e forgot all thoughts of a 9uest reward. -rk e"amined the patients like hoped a doctor would. Then he wondered about new 9uestions that he neer considered before. ‘There’s something strange.’ There were appro"imately C$ Galgin gathered in the camp. ut they all had different symptoms. ‘They should hae the same symptoms if they caught the disease from here. The Galgin are showing oer B$ different types of symptoms. 4t isn’t just some simple symptoms but a mi"ture of them. 'o it must not be a simple disease. There must be some other reason.’ -rk decided to interpret the eents in a different direction. 4n the world, there was no effect without a cause. The Galgin became sick after entering the forest so they must’e done something different. -nd that act might’e eoked the disease. -rk asked the patients what they did after entering the forest. 57orest0.after coming0.nothing unusual0..huk huk huk.6 5-nything is good. 4t is important so please describe in detail.6 52ust0..as always0..gathered to celebrate0.ate some food0.danced and played0..and not long after0..one by one we started feeling sick0..6
‘-te some food+’ -rk eagerly asked again. 5Did you use any different ingredients+6 (o0.. The ingredients here are scarce0.we used a few obtained here0.but we mainly ate what we normally do0..6 ‘4 got it wrong+’ -rk thought they might’e eaten to"ic ingredients. ut if he thought again, they were professional traellers so the Galgin should be 9uite e"perienced with ingredients. They wouldn’t blindly eat mysterious ingredients found in a forest. ‘ut there might be something that tricked them so 4 should check it out.’ 5;here is the place you obtained the ingredients+6 5;e couldn’t get any proper ingredients near this area0..so we went far away0..fortunately0..we found a few near the rier0..we mi"ed it with our ingredients0.. 2ust head in the direction of that large tree0..6 5:ariette8nim, wait here for a while.6 -rk left the patients with :ariette and uksil and went to find the rier. 5Dedric, head towards that large tree and look for the rier.6 54’e found it.6 -fter a while, Dedric came back from scouting and directed him towards the rier. 4t was a rainbow rier commonly found in the (etherworld. ut it wasn’t easy to find ingredients near the rier. The fo"es had a keen sense of smell and they would swallow the plants wheneer it grew. -rk was patient and finally found one. 5:et’s hae a look shall we+ 4ngredient 4dentification!6
-satarod -n edible grass which grows naturally on the rierbank. The roots and leaes can be eaten and it can be used as a spice. 5;as it a useless thought+6 -rk sighed and shook his head. Then there was a liely sound as an information window appeared again. The adanced effects of ‘4ngredient 4dentification’ had obtained further information. The -satarod you are currently holding has been deformed because it grew beside a polluted rier. 4f a person with no resistance consumes it, the fatal symptoms of headache and feer will be displayed.oweer, the -satarod can also be used as a medicine to treat the to"icity. Thus, depending on the processing method you can e"tract a medicine to treat the symptoms caused. ;hen 4ngredient 4dentification became an adanced skill, there were no additional effects. e neer paid it that much attention, but he neer thought that it would help in this manner. 5;hat the, polluted rier+6 -rk obtained some water from the rier and used 4ngredient 4dentification again. &olluted *ier ;ater ;ater from a rier running through the 7orest of :ife, which can be used to make food.L-danced -dditional 4nformationM 4t looks like ordinary water but a closer look shows that it has been polluted with an unknown mi"ture of chemicals. The effects of consuming too many kinds of chemicals are unimaginable, and the leel of contamination een affects the surrounding flora and fauna. 5-s e"pected, there was a problem with the food the Galgin ate.6
-rk was coninced of his reasoning after inestigating. -nd he was able to guess the reason for the Galgins’ multiple symptoms. The rier had numerous chemicals mi"ed into it. Those chemicals could either be good or bad for the body. -nd the plants growing around the rier would be deformed by those chemicals. 4f the Galgins had learned adanced 4ngredient 4dentification then they probably wouldn’t hae eaten such dangerous ingredients. ut the ingredients looked like normal ones so they just used it casually in their food. Therefore, the Galgin had a mi"ture of food poisoning and chemical poisoning. Therefore :ariette’s ure Disease and -rk’s (ursing didn’t hae an effect. ‘/en so, the Galgin hae food poisoning00’ The enironment pollution was a more serious problem for them. ‘;ell, there’s a solution now that 4’e found the cause.’ -rk recalled the information discoered using 4ngredient 4dentification. The rier didn’t just hae to"ic chemicals mi"ed in. There were also some good medications. 'o he had to treat the food poisoning and to"ic materials with the good medication. 3edicine could also become a poison. 'o he had to e"tract the good parts while neutrali)ing the to"ins using the same processing method. -rk looked at the rier with a serious e"pression. e had figured out a method. ut there were seeral problems implementing it. 7irst, he had to inestigate what ingredients the Galgin ate. 4t was in order to determine the cause of the symptoms and how to treat it. ‘opefully the Galgin will be conscious so 4 can 9uestion them and figure out how to make the medicine0..’ The information window showed the method of processing the food ingredient to obtain the medicine. 'oaked in water, dried, fried, steamed etc0..there were numerous methods to e"tract the medicine. e needed a large amount of time and effort to inestigate the right methods one by one. ut that was a problem for the future.
‘The urgent problem is that 4 hae to collect at least #$O?$ samples of each ingredient in order to research it.’ -rk looked gloomily around the rier. The rier in the forest was 9uite large. ut he couldn’t find any ingredients no matter how he looked. The andit 7o"es ate eerything. e barely gather one after B$ minutes so he couldn’t imagine how long collecting #$O?$ would take. ‘4 also hae to keep using (ursing on the Galgin so 4 can’t spend the whole time collecting ingredients. :ariette and uksil’s 4ngredient 7oraging skill is only at the beginner leel so it would likely fail een if they find an ingredient.’ -rk was worried for a while before he thought of a method. ‘That’s right. 4t’s a little e"pensie, but it is possible with that skill.’ VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV VVVVVVV8 5Dedric, *a)ak. Drie them out!6 5Understood, wooooo!6 lack clack clack clack! Dedric and *a)ak yelled wildly through the forest. 5:ariette8nim, drie them out with uksil!6 :ariette and uksil were swinging sticks at the bushes on the other side. -rk closed his eyes and concentrated eerything on his hearing. -fter a while, he heard the sound of something stepping on leaes nearby. -rk opened his eyes and raised his hand. 54t’s near, 3ind’s /ye!6 Then the eyeball ring on his finger rolled around and shot out sonic waes. -t the same time, there was a blurry picture where preiously he
couldn’t see anything. There were andit 7o"es disguised with &rotectie olouration. /en though it changed colour to camouflage with the surroundings, the fo"es became surprised and ran away as soon as -rk headed towards it. 4f someone approached it, the andit 7o" would use its enormous speed to run away. That was why -rk was so worried about the andit 7o"es. ‘uhuhu, it is still an animal despite its speed.’ -rk grinned and laughed. Faheong! e heard the screams of the fo"es after a few seconds. ;hen he turned his head, -rk saw that the andit 7o"es was struggling with the ine wrapped around its body. That’s right. 4t was (adingka’s fruit! -rk had spread (adingka’s fruit around in adance in a similar method to land mines. Then Dedric, *a)ak, :ariette and uksil pushed the fo" towards the minefield. Thanks to that, -rk managed to reduce its moement speed by C$@. -lthough it was still fast, he could now catch it. 5That’s it, 'print!6 -rk narrowed the distance. 5Demonic 1pening, /lemental 'word fire property, 7lash!6 e swung the sword coered with ghosts and fire at the fo"es. They were only leel B$$. -nd he increased his attack power using the skills. ut (adingka’s fruit only lasted B minute so it was highly likely that the fo"es would escape. This time -rk used 7lash to increase the damage as much as possible. 5;hew, it isn’t that difficult to catch them once 4’e made up my mind.6 7ortunately, the fo"es had low defense so he killed it with two shots. 'sak ssak, ssak ssak ssak ssak!
*adun jumped down and instantly ran to the fo"’s corpse. 2ust like -rk, *adun had also been stressed because of the fo"es. 5*adun, stop. 3oe your body. (ow we hae a few of them.6 -rk returned to the camp carrying the andit 7o"’s bodies. The camp already had the body of three fo"es. 5-ltogether we hae I. This should be enough. 4f there is too much then 4’d be in trouble.6 -rk gathered the bodies of the fo"es together and looked at *a)ak.
gathered food to me!6 Fung kung kung kung! The )ombie fo" unit saluted and ran to the rierside. 4t was why -rk hunted the andit 7o"es. /en with C$@ of their stats, it was e9uialent to -rk’s speed when he used 'print. They also had a keen sense of smell and the ability to forage ingredients. 4n other words, the fo"es could run around constantly at -rk’s fastest speed to gather ingredients. That was the key point. ;ell, he had to sacrifice I of *a)ak’s ribs but004t would only take a couple of days to restore again. -nyway, the si" fo"es ran around gathering ingredients. They scoured the rier for ingredients. 5That’s it, now 4 just hae to wait.6 lack clack0..clack clack clack0. *a)ak had been depried of his ribs and sat miserably in a corner of the camp. Fung kung kung kung! - fo" came back with one ingredient. 4t couldn’t grasp it so the fo" had to bring them back one by one. 'ometimes they would come back wounded. They were branded as traitors by other fo"es and occasionally attacked. ut the fo"es had absolute loyalty to *a)ak and diligently carried the food away. ‘mm, if they bite only one then bringing the ingredients isn’t that efficient. y the way, 4’m actually a little bit sorry after seeing them wounded.’ 'sak ssak+ 'sak ssak ssak ssak! ;hen *adun saw the fo"es, it stared at the coldly before running up and s9uee)ing them. 4t was punishment for stealing from -rk. 1n the other hand, uksil was terrified when he saw the scene.
‘'cary, he really is the god of e"ploitation. 4t isn’t enough to use our bodies to scrape ingredients00 (ow he’s using the andit 7o"es as well. 4f they don’t listen to him and collect the ingredients then he’ll probably just kill them. They can’t get away from that person een when dead.’ Thus, -rk planted a new form of horror inside the poor pig merchant. -fter ?OH hours had passed, there were many ingredients gathered. 5:ariette8nim, write down eery patient’s symptoms without leaing anything out. uksil, write down eerything 4 tell you on a notepad.6 5uh+
ingredients and tried a ariety of methods such as burning, soaking it in water etc. and then checked with 4ngredient 4dentification while uksil wrote the results down. There were hundreds of ingredients but he stayed patient while testing our eery method and recording it. ‘4f 4 gie up then the C$ Galgin will die!’ e felt a commitment to studying, just like someone learning medicine would feel. -fter % hours, -rk started to realise the best method of e"tracting the medicine from the ingredients. 4t wasn’t completely clear but he noticed a pattern. ‘;ell0..if 4 put most of the to"ic ingredients in pure water and soak for ?$ minutes before boiling then the poison would be neutrali)ed. 4f steamed or baked, the to"in became stronger while boiling would weaken the to"in. 4f 4 baked it after boiling then wouldn’t the medicine be e"tracted+’ 4t was the first time -rk had tried these cooking methods. (ormally he just put them in the pot and his cooking skill would automatically make the food. ut he couldn’t use that cooking method this time. e had to check the ingredients manually one by one during the process. 4t would be lucky if the processing of ingredients created a good dish. ;ith surial cooking, he would only know the results of the dish after eating it. 4t meant that -rk might also be stricken by poison. -nyway, -rk just concentrated on researching the ingredients instead of eating it. ut he couldn’t lose himself in the work completely. 5-rk8nim, it is time for your rounds.6 :ariette said after checking the status of the patients. ;hile he was researching, the Galgins’ health was still falling thanks to their illness. 'o -rk had to occasionally stop his research to go around and use (ursing. 53y studies hae progressed so please hae courage. 1nce 4’e treated you then you’ll become healthier and will be able to carry around a backpack
again.6 7ortunately they held up but the Galgin were getting thinner eery hour. ut the Galgin noticed -rk’s sincerity and thanked him eery time. 5
didn’t matter if it was in a game. ut now she was seeing a strange side to -rk. -t first, he treated her like eery other man. Then his attitude underwent a B%$ degree change after entering a mentor and disciple relationship. 4n addition, he e"ploited :ariette and uksil under the guise of teaching. 1f course, such an image wasn’t bad. 'he had only been the receier of oer8eager attention in her life. oweer, she knew that their intentions weren’t ‘pure.’ 'he was a woman, but she only receied attention because of her looks. /en after comparing his actions, she neer saw those intentions in -rk. Therefore :ariette felt that it was conenient to be with -rk. (o, she felt impressed after he taught her combat skills. ut she just had a ague good impression of him. Those feelings once again changed today. ‘ow can someone do all this for an (&+ 4 didn’t want to help because 4 was disgusted by their appearance00-rk8nim is different. -t first 4 thought it was due to a 9uest reward, but00.it’s not.’ -fter working for a long time at the reception desk, it was possible for her to grasp people’s sincerity. Despite what people told her, she could tell through their eyes and oices. -nd it was obious that -rk really wanted to help the Galgin. 1therwise, he would not inest *a)ak’s stats for a 9uest reward. e was different from the person who e"ploited her and uksil. ‘4 don’t understand. ;hat is -rk8nim’s true self+ ;hen did he show it to me+ ;as it when he taught me combat skills+ ;hen he e"ploited us+ 1r maybe0..when he stayed up all night helping the Galgin+’ 4n :ariette’s head, -rk was increasingly becoming a person who she couldn’t understand. ‘-nyway, -rk is a much more affectionate person than he seems.’ The answer she came up with after a long time worrying00was no answer. ut she just looked at -rk and laughed. ‘
a woman. 7urthermore, discoering the method after a small clue00he is also ery smart. Did he graduate from a medical college+ e treats the patients skillfully.’ 4t was really different00once again she had misunderstood. -nyway, she couldn’t endure like -rk so she disconnected and went to sleep. The ne"t morning she got up early and accessed the game. 4t had been ?# hours since he started. uksil was do)ing while holding the magic projector. -nd -rk was still engaged in research. 'he deliberately got up early but :ariette had nothing to do so she just sat on the side and watched. 4t was a somewhat comical scene as she could see Dark ;olf’s tail wagging around. 5;ell, it would be better with his srcinal face0..6 :ariette murmured and laughed. 4t was at that time. 5ahaha! That’s it, that’s it! 4’e finally found the information for all the ingredients. -rk suddenly jumped up and yelled e"citedly. uksil was shocked and picked up the magic projector. 5uk, what, what the+6 5-rk8nim, it’s oer+6 5
51kay, that was terrific!6 uksil filmed it with the magic projector and gae him a secret thumbs up without :ariette noticing. -nd soon the human medical drama began. -rk approached a patient with a calm e"pression and said. 5(ow, please tell me all your symptoms and don’t leae anything out.6 54 hae a splitting headache00and my whole body is itchy because of boils0.. 4 can’t swallow food and water without omiting0..6 5That’s right. The ‘dried powder made of *arona seed’ will treat the headache while the ‘steamed to"ic Urana roots’ will treat the boils.
*eid’s wife and children became better and got up. -fter suffering from the illness for so many days, all of the Galgins’ eyes were focused on -rk. 54t’s all thanks to -rk8nim!6 5-rk8nim is the most skilled doctor in the entire world!6 54 just combined the right food ingredients.6 -rk modestly e"claimed while the Galgin instantly shook their heads. 5Don’t say that. ;e are not blind. /eryone saw how hard -rk8nim worked. M -fter deeply studying the ingredients, you hae reached a new leel of cooking. (ow you can draw out the effects of ingredients by B$$@ and change the effect through arious secret ingredients. 4n addition, the more skilful handling of ingredients means that the e"piration date will lengthen while the associated penalties will also increase.
4n fact, his surial cooking skill had reached HKK a long time ago. ut no matter how much he created, it would not reach C$$. 4n order to reach the mastered stage, he needed a new type of enlightenment. oweer, that was not the end of the bonuses. - new information window appeared before the other one een disappeared. 'ince ‘'urial ooking’ has reached the ‘igh Grade’ stage, you are able to choose it as a sub8profession. 7ood ;orshipperE 3aster hef. 4n the past, a medicine deried from nature was created by a foreigner. The secret to it was ‘onscious 3obili)ation.’ 7ood and medicine to treat illness has the same foundation. 4n some cases, medicine can be created using weeds on the side of the road. 'urial cooking is a skill that has been deeloped using this knowledge. (ow that you hae become a master in 'urial ooking, you can actiely practice that ‘onscious 3obili)ation.’ ;hen you become a ‘7ood ;orshipper’, a bonus will be applied to a successful 'urial ooking dish. ;ould you like to accept the ‘7ood ;orshipper sub8profession+ -rk read the information window carefully. The sub8profession could be changed at any time. &rior to this, he receied an offer to become a gladiator at the /il 'ilrion but refused because it re9uired him to participate in the tournament once a month. 7urthermore, there was a bonus applied to surial cooking dishes+ 54 select the 7ood ;orshipper sub8profession.6
and 4ngredient 4dentification. L #$@ increase in the probability of making the best dishes. L The profession8specific skill ‘erbal Decoction’ has been learned. =erbal Decoction =eginner, &assie>M -s a ‘7ood ;orshipper,’ you will be able to determine the medicinal effects of ingredients when using 4ngredient 4dentification. ;hile you boil the ingredients using ‘erbal Decoction,’ a special effect will be added to the medicine. The herbal medicines can show a ariety of therapeutic and nourishing effects, and can be poured into an empty bottle and used like potions. erbal medicines can be used in battles and there is no e"piration date. ‘uk, what it this+’ e could use the ingredients to boil the ingredients and create a herbal medicine+ -nd he could use it like regular potions in battles+ 4n other words, it was a skill to create potions like alchemy. e was also using regular food ingredients instead of the e"pensie magic items. 1f course, his herbal decoction skill was only at a beginner’s leel so he couldn’t make medicines that would rial recoery potions. 4t might een be better to cook more food. ut there was a separate part that attracted -rk’s attention. ‘'ince it doesn’t e"pire, there is no need to discard it once it becomes spoiled!’ 4t meant he could sell the herbal medicines on the auction site. 5a0..ha ha ha! a ha ha!6 -rk released an inoluntary burst of laughter. 4t was indeed (ew ;orld! 4f he made an effort then the world would reward him! e had spent a few days submerged in this task. e suddenly felt di))y after all the tension melted away. :ariette who had been watching from the sidelines and the Galgin
flocked towards him. :ariette spoke in a concerned oice. 51kay, it’s finished now. 'top and rest.6 ut -rk shook his head with a firm e"pression. 5(ot yet0..there is still something to be done.6 5uh+ The patients are treated now.6 54sn’t it+ 'o0..6 -rk murmured in a low oice as he approached *eid. Then he e"tended his hand and said. 5G8gie me the compensation.6 -t that point eeryone fro)e. VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV VVVVVVVR ‘1h my God!’ yun8woo rushed through the hospital with an embarrassed e"pression. ow could he make such a mistake+ e was ama)ed just thinking about it. e reali)ed the mistake B hour before. -fter staying up a few days to rescue the cockroaches, yun8woo succumbed to sleep. Then he connected like usual to (ew ;orld. :ariette and uksil connected at the same time and greeted him with a smile. 5-rk8nim, appy (ew
had arried while -rk had been sleeping. 5ehehe, -rk8nim, 4’e got a lot of time unlike :ariette8nim.6 5Then please continue gathering ingredients!6 -rk yelled before disconnecting. Then he got dressed and ran to the hospital. ‘;here on earth did 4 sell my spirit+’ 1biously he sold it to (ew ;orld0.. -fter the end of year party, he had prepared for (ew
about the mood of a nurse+ yun8woo just sprinted towards the hospital room. 2ust as he was about to open the door, he flinched and stopped. is hands were empty. -fter he remembered and ran at full speed, he couldn’t prepare a fruits basket. -lthough he was late, he rummaged through his wallet but it was empty. e forgot to withdraw money in adance. ‘;hat should 4 do+ 'hould 4 find an -T3 to withdraw cash and buy a fruits basket+’ yun8woo stood in front of the room contemplating for a moment. 5ahaha, that’s right. e is certainly not that charming. ;e’e talked about it before.6 51ppa, this is a hospital room. Feep your oice down a little bit.6 5;ell said ye8sun. 'uch noisy guys0..do you think this is a market+ -nyway, the problem is that they are unable to learn. That’s why 4 told you not to come.6 5-h hyung8nim, you’re terrible. -ren’t you glad that we’re helping+6 5ehehe, don’t be angry. ;e knew that yung8nim must’e been e"cited about spending time with noona. ;e understand.6 51hu, so that’s what happened earlier.6 5;hat, what are you guys saying0.that, it’s not like that!6 51ho, look at you blushing like a child. 4t’s not ery conincing.6 ‘ye8sun+’ 4n addition, these oices are0..+6 yun8woo opened the door with a pu))led look. e neer imagined the things that were occurring in the room. Gwon wa8rang and B$ rehabilitation members0..the big men were gathered in a small hospital room. -nd there were a ariety of holiday food placed on the tables. 5-h, yun8woo.6
is mother who was surrounded by rehabilitation members spotted yun8 woo. 53other, this is0.6 5They all came to see you.6 5uh+6 yun8woo looked at the rehabilitation members with a foolish e"pression. -nd he felt ery emotional at the sight of his mother laughing happily amongst eerybody. 5yung8nims0..!6 -rk had only just reali)ed it was a holiday and hurridly ran to the hospital. Then he found that the rehabilitation members were one step ahead and already at the hospital. They een prepared hospital food0..4t was the first time yun8woo had seen such an act of kindness after the accident. (ow it felt strange to him since yun8woo wasn’t used to it. ;as he upset at someone taking care of him+ (o, they didn’t gie anything to yun8woo so he wasn’t upset. ut it inoled his mother so he was unable to e"press his gratitude. 51ppa, you’re late!6 2ung ye8sun said while sitting ne"t to his mother. 'he made it seem like they had arranged to meet. 5Uh0.
first to speak was ye8sun. 5ey 1ppa0..you’re in the place called the (etherworld+6 5;hy+ -re you bored without me+6 5ah, what are you saying+’ ye8sun pouted at yun8woo’s words. ut after a brief moment, she spoke in an an"ious oice. 54’e heard rumours around airo. There’s a bounty on yun8woo oppa.6 5ounty+ 7or me+6 yun8woo asked bewildered. 4n (ew ;orld, users could place bounties on other users. ut the target had to be chaotic in order to get a formal reward from the goernment. 4t wasn’t possible to hang a bounty on someone who wasn’t chaotic in (ew ;orld. yun8woo wasn’t chaotic so he couldn’t understand the bounty. 54t’s not a formal bounty through the goernment.6 5;hat+ Then0.+6 5The ermes guild has offered a ‘3erchant’s ontract’ to the chaotic users.6 ye8sun described the contents of the contract that she oerheard. 83erchant’s -greement. ontractorM *aidenQ UnspecifiedE The person with this contract who gets rid of -rk will be paid a reward of B$$ gold. *aiden created a mug shot of -rk and scattered the contract among the chaotic players. ye8sun often traelled between :ancel Nillage and airo where there were a lot of chaotic users so she heard the rumours. 54 heard they scattered 9uite a lot of contracts.6
5ah, that *aiden0..he’s using cheap tricks like always.6 ye8sun was worried but -rk dismissed it. 4f he was the same as before then it would definitely seem threatening. ut -rk wasn’t worried about chaotic users any more. haotic players receied arious penalties so they had a slower growth than general users. 3oreoer, B$$ gold was a large amount but it wasn’t to the e"tent that they would hang themseles. 4n other words, -rk’s high leel meant that not many chaotic users would consider B$$ gold worth the risk. e was able to handle pioneers like 2ewel and Duke so ?OH chaotic users wouldn’t be a threat. 4t didn’t matter if they formed a group and attacked. ‘*aiden also probably doesn’t e"pect the chaotic players to catch me. e already has eidence that 4’m in the (etherworld but he’s not showing that information to the public.’ ermes Guild0..the pioneers probably contacted each other off line as well. 4n other words, *aiden probably knew about the (etherworld through 2ewel or Duke. e knew that -rk was there. /en so, he neer mentioned the (etherworld to the chaotic users at all. ‘4t is difficult to find someone in (ew ;orld. The contract is in middle earth0..so my location will probably be identified 9uickly when 4 return to middle earth. 4f a chaotic user with a contract dies because of me then *aiden will be able to determine my location. This means that the chaotic users are hounds that *aiden released to find me in middle earth.’ 4n this situation, *aiden didn’t hae to waste B copper in order to obtain a large source of information. 4ndeed *aiden0..his ability to use cheap tricks was superior to eeryone else. ‘4f the chaotic players stick to me than it can become a little annoying0..’ ut if he killed someone with a chaotic alignment then there was a B$$@ chance that one e9uipped item would drop. 4f people wearing bank notes
approached him then of course yun8woo would be glad. ‘ut the ermes guild is occupying 'ilana. They must hae recoered if they’re doing something like this. uhuhu, well okay. 4f 'ilana stabili)es and deelops then it will be more rewarding later on. Until then they can run freely.’ yun8woo laughed and shook his head. 5
significant options to a warrior’s sword or a magician’s wand. ut thanks to the indiscriminate catching, it was e"tremely difficult to find a unicorn these days. Due to the shortage it was natural that the price would soar0..but that meant his production line was interrupted. ‘4f 4 want to make a profit with 'lime’s 4mmortality &ill then 4 hae to find unicorn horns for less than A$$ gold. 4t would be difficult to make profit if it costs B,$$$ gold. -nd 4 don’t hae the time to go around looking for the corrupted fairy wings. They might need to buy it from a store which will make the total earnings a deficit.’ 4f he couldn’t make a profit then it was just a waste of time. 6'heesh, 4 thought of such a good plan0..’ -rk sighed and replied. 54t isn’t possible. The production of 'lime’s 4mmortality &ill will stop for the moment.6 5Then we can leae the underground labyrinth+6 The rehabilitation members asked with great joy. 4n fact, the rehabilitation members’ main problem was not the cost of materials. -rk had gone to the (etherworld appro"imately one month ago0..thus the rehabilitation group had been stuck hunting in the labyrinth for a month. -t first their leels rose fast and it was interesting to obtain the ‘'lime’s /ssence,’ but that changed after a month. 54 don’t want to look at slimes and skeletons anymore.6 5'unlight0..4 want to see the sun006 54 feel like 4’e been stuck in a cell.6 'ince *oco could ride the unicorn to obtain food, they couldn’t een use that e"cuse to go outside. Thanks to *oco’s consideration, they spent one month smelling like a sewerage plant. (ow they felt sick if they een heard any
mention of airo’s underground labyrinth. 5
bored+6 54t’s okay. 4t’s pleasant watching people hae fun.6 is mother smiled at 2jak8tung while Gwon wa8rang glared. 5-h0..we’re stealing precious minutes from yung8nim.6 5;8;hat the!6 5Don’t become so angry. ;e’re supporting yung8nim.6 2jak8tung laughed and got up from his seat. 5(ow, we hae to say goodbye to the raccoons in the underground labyrinth so should we return to (ew ;orld+ yung8nim should stay a little and clean up. ey, let’s go.
5;hy+6 1f course, yun8woo also heard the oices. &erhaps if yun8woo didn’t know the rehabilitation members then he would also gossip. ut yun8woo proudly held his head high and walked side by side with them. Then he spoke in a loud oice. 5yung8nims, 4’ll pay for lunch today. There’s a great restaurant nearby.6 The rehabilitation members jumped and turned to yun8woo. yun8woo nodded and smiled at them. 500Thank you.6 5;e really, really appreciate it.6 The rehabilitation members laughed and put their arms around yun8woo’s shoulder. 5This child, thank you.6 5:et’s go!6 yun8woo is paying for our meals for once.6 54’m only going to eat rice. Then let’s watch a moie.6 2ung ye8sun grabbed his shirt and murmured. yun8woo left the hospital with a large grin. 0..1n the other hand, Gwon wa8rang was left alone with &ark 'o8 mi. There was an awkward silence before Gwon wa8rang got up and started cleaning the mess. 5Those stupid guys0..4’m sorry. (ormally they’re not that troublesome0..6 50..;hy don’t you sit down a little bit more+6 &ark 'o8mi spoke in a low oice and grasped his hand. 5Thank you.6 5uh+
5yun8woo laughing like that0..4’e finally seeing it after a long time.6 &ark 'o8mi looked at the door where yun8woo and the rehabilitation members had e"ited through. 54t’s all thanks to Detectie Gwon.6 538me00no.
Magaro’s Laboratory
‘uhuhu, it is a jackpot.’ -rk had connected after resting comfortably and started blowing and polishing the lamp again. 5-igoo, you’e become so beautiful.6 -rk rubbed his cheek against the lamp and happily smiled. /"cept for the skull cared on the handle, it looked like an ordinary old lamp but it was the reward for completing the Galgin lan’s DisasterE 9uest. 1f course, the reward item wasn’t just an anti9ue. 4t was a magic item with options! The problem was the special effect of the lamp was truly ague. ut the smart -rk could tell with one glance. The rare lamp was more aluable than some rare items. 1r it was for -rk who was a Dark ;alker. e had finished the 9uest right before going to sleep0..but he asked for the compensation from *eid first. 5T8the reward0..6 *eid scratched his head with an embarrassed look. -lthough he had made the re9uest with an urgent heart, he couldn’t think of a suitable reward. e trembled as -rk’s face slowly hardened. 51f course. *eward! 1f course 4’e prepared it.
5This is also acceptable. 4t is ?$$ of the *anke fruit.6 Their opinions were diided as they showed *eid different options. 'ince ? people completed the 9uest, three rewards needed to be gien. 4n fact, -rk had used Discerning /ye on *eid in the past and knew that the Galgin didn’t hae many good items. 'o he didn’t e"pect a big reward for this 9uest. ut een so, this was terrible. *eid confidently showed him the items The (etherworld’s ;estern *egion eating competition ictory token =The person who possesses this can eat food for free at any store in the ;estern *egionE, - cared sculpture of the Galgin lan =4f you possess this then your intimacy with the Galgin lan will increaseE and *eid’s proud collection of B$ species =- pile of trash that is no useE -rk became angry after checking the compensation list. ‘/ating for free+ 4s this a joke+ ;ho cares about eating for free in the (etherworld+ 4n addition, a statue of a cockroach+ 3y intimacy with the Galgin is already the best thanks to this 9uest so what is the use of the statue+ There aren’t any good options. ;hat the hell is this crap+’ ;hen researching the ingredients, -rk had obiously wanted to help the Galgin. e accepted that he would suffer a bit. ut that moment of emotion and delight had passed. -rk immediately returned to reality. e finally remembered about money. e had inested ?# hours into studying contaminated ingredients. e een destroyed I of *a)ak’s ribs. ut now they couldn’t een reward him with an item he could use+ e started to regret it while looking at the list of reward items. -rk stared at the list with a sour face and sighed. 5
‘'how me something else+ Then 4 can select the reward for this 9uest+’ -rk thought that he had to pick one of those items as the reward. (o, normally it was like that. ut sometimes the system of compensation was different depending on the species. ‘Then 4 don’t need to decide hastily. The Galgin clan are peddlers. There might be something of use in their goods. 1kay, 4 don’t need to decided straight away and can wait until a good item appears.’ Then, uksil approached and looked at the statue. 5/h+ This is a pretty well made statue+6 -rk kicked the pig’s feet and smiled calmly. 5:ike 4 said earlier, 4 didn’t do that much. 4t looks like these items are precious to you guys so 4 can’t accept it without feeling the burden. 4’m sorry but could you show me other stuff+6 -rk didn’t want to decrease the precious intimacy so he spoke gently but firmly. ut *eid had good sense for a cockroach and notice. 5
‘ut 4 might receie a surprisingly good compensation. 4 can’t just accept something useless because 4’m sleepy. 4 hae to receie something that can be somewhat useful!’ -rk desperately opened his eyes and persisted. The items *eid brought were completely random. 4n some cases, there were slightly useful items but they didn’t meet -rk’s e"pectations. ;hen # hours passed, his spirit surged. ‘Damn, okay. There will be nothing if this keeps on happening so let’s gie it a try!’ 5&ass, pass, pass, pass, pass!6 -rk didn’t look at the items properly and just called ‘pass.’ *eid who was tired from running back and forth with the items groaned pitifully. (ow *eid started to reali)e that -rk’s reason wasn’t because of the ‘burden.’ 5ey, it seems impossible.6 5Didn’t he go four days without any sleep+6 5-t this rate we might be doing this for the ne"t few days.6 54t’s impossible. Take out all your collections.6 54f we don’t find something fast then we’ll collapse of e"haustion.6 5ut the really good stuff0..6 The cockroaches hesitated and looked at each other. -t that time, a young cockroach rubbed its eyes and said sleepily. 5Daddy, 4’m so tired.6 5Darling! Take out the item you’re so proud of.6 *eid’s wife couldn’t stand it anymore and shouted angrily. Then *eid flinched and said in a frightened oice. 5a, but these are006
5-re those items more important than me and your children+6 54t’s not that, but006 54f you keep acting like that then 4’ll diorce you straight away!6 5U8understood, 4 understand. ut these can’t possible please -rk. ik, okay. 'o don’t glare at me like that. 4’ll show it to him.6 ;hen his wife glared, *eid grumbled but took out a bundle.
looked at his wife with a desperate e"pression. e sighed at his wife’s frown and put the items down. e added in a small oice. 54t’s nothing much00it’s just a lamp 4 picked up when crossing the Urubasa Nalley a few years ago. ut it’s broken and doesn’t work. The other items are the same. They’re just a toy and graffiti that 4 picked up0..6 Dark :amp ='pecial>4tem typeM :amp User restrictionM (one -n old magic lamp created by unknown people. omple" shapes are drawn on the bottom. This lamp is different from normal lamps, and will cause darkness instead of light when used. 4t is the greatest treasure of the Galgin who enjoyed napping but dislike bright places. -s the owner of this lamp, *eid had been enied by other Galgin. oweer, you hae to sacrifice magic ingredients in order to actiate the dark attribute. ;hen B$ magic ingredients are used as fuel, a radius of B$ metres will be plunged into darkness for ?$ minutes. The same enironmental effect as ‘(ight8time’ is applied to the range of the lamp. ‘;8what it this+’ is sleepiness 9uickly fled. e neer imagined that there would be such an item. 4n fact, this item wouldn’t be any use to an ordinary player. The cockroaches loed the darkness which is why they used the lamp. ;hat ordinary user would take a nap+ ut this was much more important to -rk than a rare sword. The lamp would actiate a ‘night8time’ effect in the area. Didn’t that mean he could receie his darkness attribute bonuses een in the daytime+ 4t was an item that could gie him a H$@ bonus at any time! ;hat else did he need to say+ Thanks to his tenacity, he had found a pearl at the end of all his passes. The other two items were also ague but useful! They were far better than the ones shown preiously.
;isdom *ing ='pecial> 4tem typeM 'pecial consumable User restrictionM (one This is a pu))le type item made of entangled wire and metal to create comple" shapes. -lthough the history is unknown, it seems to be made by a pretty smart person. The solution is so difficult that it can raise wisdom depending on the leel reached, with leels ranging from B8C. ut you hae to be ery smart to reach the Cth leel. /ery time a pu))le ring is undone, wisdom increases by ?. ut the bonus will not be gien if you are told the solution to the pu))le.E
1ne Thousand Nisitors 4tem typeM ollection User *estrictionM (one This is a collection that a ery famous calligrapher wrote down a long time ago. 4f you placed this in your store then it will increase your business. 4f you operate a store then you can receie a bonus ?@ profit on the selling price of all goodsE -rk’s eyes lit up. The ‘;isdom ring’ was meaningless to -rk. /ery time a pu))le was undone it gae J? wisdom. That was a total of BC wisdom. ut wisdom was a stat that didn’t really matter to -rk. ut :ariette used oly magic so wisdom was more important to her than strength or agility. The effect of oly magic would ary depending on her wisdom. ‘;ell :ariette also went through a lot of trouble during this 9uest.’ -rk decided to concede the ;isdom *ing to :ariette. ut uksil didn’t help
so -rk had no intention of conceding any items to him. ‘The 1ne Thousand Nisitors is a surprisingly good item. 4 can’t gie an item like this to the pig. 7ortunately, the item is not restricted.’ -rk grinned and receied the items. 4t was definitely the best reward he could get from *eid. 5Thank you. :ike *eid said, it is use a ‘broken lamp,’ a ‘toy’ and ‘graffiti’ so 4 won’t feel burdened if 4 accept these.6 5
her, uksil approached with e"pectant eyes. ut -rk just turned his head and said. 5Then 4’ll 9uit and rest for a bit. 4’ll see you in I hours.6 uksil grunted and e"claimed. 5-h -rk8nim, aren’t you forgetting something+6 5uh+ ;hat+6 5That00? people completed this 9uest. 'o00.6 5-h, that+
5:et’s stop this talk now.
laboratory while completing the Galgin’s 9uest. The culprit of the incident0..was the polluted rier water. ‘The Galgin might’e proided me with a clue to find the laboratory.’ ;hen -rk inestigated the rier using 4ngredient 4dentification, he found that the rier was polluted from arious chemicals upstream. That meant the cause of the pollution would be found upstream. ut the (etherworld hadn’t deeloped alchemy so there shouldn’t be that many chemicals. 0..(ow did they understand what -rk meant+ That’s right. The genius alchemist who had come to the 7orest of :ife a long time ago! The chemicals polluting the rier were probably coming from his laboratory. 4f so, the answer was simple. 2ust go along the rier to find the source of contamination. Using that reasoning, -rk headed towards the rier. ow far did they walk+ *ier flowing through the 7orest of :ife. The rier in the 7orest of :ife is full of energy. 4t has arious nutrients and abundant plant growth, which will hae an e"cellent effect when cooking. e was finally able to reach the point where the rier was not polluted. ‘The rier was polluted just before here. 'o the chemicals should be flowing into it somewhere around here.’ -rk mobili)ed his pets, :ariette and uksil to search around. 'oon after, they found a cae hidden in some nearby bushes. ae filled with the odour of chemicals
/"plorer’s FnowledgeM (ew dungeon discoered bonus ='kill pointsM B$>E The message window flashed once he entered the cae. Then there was a look of elation on :ariette and uksil’s faces. They were also in the top B$ users who entered the (etherworld and receied the title of Great -denturer. 'o they also receied the same skill bonus as -rk for finding the cae. oweer, it did not remoe -rk’s tension. There were une"pected risks in a new dungeon. 5Dedric, *a)ak, scout around the perimeter.6 51kay.6 lack clack clack clack! is two e"perienced pets also looked around nerously. -nd one step, one step0..they carefully entered the cae. 'sak ssak, ssak ssak ssak ssak! ow far did they go+ 'uddenly *adun blinked and sureyed the area with tearful eyes. ‘3onster+’ -rk and his summons focused their attention and took an attacking stance. Then a ha)y image appeared in the darkness. Do)ens of monsters appeared while he was creeping along the cae wall. ut there was something weird. They were floating in the air and seemed dead. ‘/h+ That monster0..+’ -rk cautiously approached the monster. -nd soon witnessed a strange scene. The monsters0..were trapped in a place that looked like a big water bag. To put it more precisely, they were being grown. 7rom young to adult monsters, they were floating in the water bag like the clones that floated in a capsule in science fiction moies. e saw common monsters from the 7orest of :ife like the ‘himeraQFurometin’ and ‘himeraQandit 7o".’ -rk finally
realised why their names were so peculiar after seeing the capsules. ‘himera0..that’s right, it’s a common term00in fantasy, chimera is a word used to describe an artificial monster. -nd this is 3agaro’s laboratory. 4f that’s the case00all these monsters were made by 3agaro+’ -fter reali)ing this, he understood the peculiar abilities of the monsters.The Furometin was probably used to protect the lab while the andit 7o"es were used to gather ingredients to study. ut after 3agaro grew old and died, the controlling power was destroyed and they returned to the wild. ‘1nce thing is clear.’ 2ust like the 3agic 4nstitute said, 3agaro was a genius alchemist if he could artificially create monsters. ‘;ell, it doesn’t matter since he died of old age.’ 5-h, -rk8nim00.6 :ariette came close to him and stuttered in an uneasy oice. 1f course she would be scared being surrounded by do)ens of deformed monsters in the darkness. 5There’s no need to panic. They’re all dead.6 2ust like -rk’s words, all the monsters in the capsules had been rotting for a long time. ut that just made it seem een creepier to :ariette who shuddered. 54’m aware of that. ut006 -rk just laughed at :ariette’s reaction. e was now B$$@ sure that this was 3agaro’s laboratory. e assumed that 3agaro’s laboratory would hae documents piled up like mountains. 4n order to receie the 9uest reward, he needed to gie the 3agic 4nstitute the documents found in the laboratory. -nd understandably, -rk had no thought about splitting it with :ariette and uksil. 4t was natural. -rk had suffered so much trying to find
this place. ‘:ariette8nim doesn’t know that uksil is after 3agaro’s legacy. 4 can’t be careless een when finding the legacy. This is a good e"cuse to keep uksil in this room.’ 5Then please wait here with uksil. :ooking at the atmosphere, there doesn’t seem to be any monsters. 4’ll go on my own to look at the situation.6 -t the end of -rk’s words, uksil jumped with surprise. 5;hat do you mean+ 4’e chased -rk8nim here to record your heroic adentures. ut you want me to wait during this historic moment+6 5(o, 4 can’t promise that there will be no danger ahead. -nd do you want to make :ariette8nim more an"ious+ ;ho will stay with her+ That’s why 4’m getting you to stay here.6 58but006 -rk scowled at uksil who immediately shut up. 54’m sorry.6 :ariette spoke in an apologetic face while uksil aoided her eyes. -nyway, -rk left the two of them there and ran towards the treasure. The cae became increasingly brighter as he entered. 4t was a magical place to study medicine. - faint light glimmered from the cae wall. ‘
he sureyed the area. The space -rk arried at had numerous machines and e"periments hooked up. 1n one side of the wall was a bookcase which contained numerous scrolls, books and colourful li9uid medicine bottles. e had finally managed to track down the genius alchemist’s lab using a few clues! ‘4t was a good idea to use uksil.’ The scrolls and medicines in the lab were now in -rk’s possession. e didn’t know what the effects would be, but since it was the work of a genius alchemist then it wouldn’t be a common item. (o, he could conert it into a large amount of money een if it was the low recoery potions. ut the problem was the 9uantity. /en if he emptied his bag, he wouldn’t be able to fit eerything in! ‘4 don’t know what uksil is e"pecting but 4’m not that easy. 4 will discipline him again and make him sign a contract, then pack it in his bags and send him to middle earth. ut what about the materials needed to complete the 9uest+ The 9uest log says that the research materials are necessary to complete it0..’ -rk entered the lab with a wily smile. -t the same time, a shadow watching from the corner of the entrance trembled. ‘astard0..4 knew what you were thinking as soon as you split the group.’ The person trembling in anger was someone who -rk considered as a walking bag. 4t was uksil. uksil wasn’t stupid and knew the reason why -rk had isited the laboratory alone. 'o he spoke to :ariette about recording -rk’s historical achieement and blah blah blah00then sneakily shadowed him. -nd he found -rk laughing in the laboratory. 2ust looking at that smile. is body trembled with anger like a &epe seeing a dismantling knife. e could imagine -rk’s deilish plan. ut a wild smile flashed on uksil’s face. 5ah, do you think this will go your way+ That -rk bastard, you dared to
make me work so much+ ut een after all your abuse and e"ploitation, the final winner will be me. 4’ll make you regret messing with me!’ uksil put his hand into his bag and grabbed his ‘secret weapon.’ ‘'apjil, Ulmeok, my younger brothers0..! &lease gie me strength from heaen =+>!’ uksil clenched his teeth and made a firm resolution. 'uddenly a oice was heard from behind the bookcase that -rk was reaching for. 5;ho is it+6 -rk was frightened and retreated. uksil was also shocked and hid behind the corner again. Then an old man walked out from behind the bookcase. e was an old man with white hair and beard wearing rags00e stared at -rk and looked him up and down. 5;ho are you+ ow did you get here+6 5an 4 ask how 4’m talking to+6 5uh, what an interesting friend.
life e"pectancy in (ew ;orld was A$ years old. The granny 2ohansson he used (ursing on in the noice illage died because her age e"ceeded A$ years. ut #$$ years old+ ;as he mistakenly looking for a dragon+ ‘1h damn0..what if he created the /li"ir of 4mmortality using alchemy+’ -rk had no interest in whether he lied for #$$ years or #$$$ years. The problem was the piles of items in the laboratory! 4f they had no owners then -rk could just take the items. ut if the owner was alie then how could he obtain 3agaro’s legacy+ ‘Dammit, dammit, dammit!’ -rk felt like grabbing the old man’s neck and s9uee)ing. ut een -rk wouldn’t kill an old man for his inheritance. ‘Then am 4 only able to receie the 9uest reward+’ 3agaro had been watching him with wary eyes and asked again. 5
me. Tsk tsk0..6 -rk retorted with an astounded e"pression. 5;hat did you say+ -s far as 4 know, one hundred and ten years had passed.6 51ne hundred and ten+6 3agaro widened his eyes and burst out laughing. 5ehehe, why are you joking+ 4t’s only been B$ years since 4’e come to the (etherworld.6 5uh+6 -rk replied with a stunned look. ;hat did it mean+ ad the 3agic 4nstitute lied to him+ ut why+ (o, it wasn’t only the 3agic 4nstitute. /en the recorded history in the alley illage00 Then 3agaro continued talking. 5They must’e also hired you to play a friendly prank. 1ne hundred and ten+ &fff, een 4’m still alie then wouldn’t 4 be a dragon+ ;ell, apart from that00yes, why did the 3agic 4nstitute send you+ Did they want to say something to me+6 5They re9uested me to bring 3agaro’s research to them.6 5*esearch material+6 5
had been created with graphics. ;hile -rk was shocked by the sudden change, 3agaro grabbed his hair and howled. - metallic oice seemed to emerge. 5*esearch materials, research materials, research materials! 4 stomached the pain and degraded my flesh! The research material that 4 dedicated decades of my life to!
