novel
| ← Ch.025 | Ch.027 → |
TL: Uncle Choi
Editor: Bait
Year 2020, when players arrived from around the world, people hoped that living conditions would finally improve. They once dreamed that the players would save the world.
As time went by, however, the living conditions of the people became even more miserable rather than get better.
Especially when monsters that couldn't be killed with firearms emerged in 2025. The last hope ordinary people had of protecting themselves by using powerful modern weapons was shattered.
Some people who had lost hope began to riot and the frequency of looting and arson increased.
Amidst this calamity, countries started to compete fiercely in order to secure stronger items and more talented players.
Laws were meaningless in such a process.
The players could do and did do just about everything inside the dungeons, where literally anything could take place.
At some point, it became common for an ally to betray them and fight over items.
It was the start of an age where people cared more about the distribution of loot rather than completing the actual hunt.
Kim Woo-jin, who had survived through a such fierce and cruel period before, was well aware of the importance of taking care of the dangers that laid hidden behind him.
'As expected. '
When fighting with the Orc Champion, Kim Woo-jin already knew there was an observer around him.
"As I speculated, there was a person taking care of the scouts from each party."
It was also expected that surveillance was not their only objective.
It was based on the fact that there were no rumors spreading regarding Kim Woo-jin taking the Orc Lord's Fang from the Orc Champion.
It was impossible that there were no witnesses.
Even if it was the first day, there would have been more than one party that sent observers to check on the situation of the Orc Champion.
Meaning, it was highly likely that there was someone silencing the witnesses.
Of course, it wasn't Kim Woo-jin.
'If you want to hunt half of the players in the dungeon, removing their eyes first is the right answer. '
It was just a scheme planned by a group of people in order to hunt the players here.
Anyway, it was nothing unusual for Kim Woo-jin.
In fact, it was routine for him.
He had experienced many similar situations, to the point that he was sick of it. He knew the perfect way to respond against it.
The reason why Kim Woo-jin purposely relaxed after hunting for the Orc Champion was also to give the observers time to act.
"You. You bastard. How..."
It was frankly impossible for his prey to realize what actually happened.
"Wa, wait a minute! There must be some kind of misunderstanding..."
The prey was so flustered that he didn't even realize that he was acting out of order.
"Th, this, what happened here was..."
Even though he knew he was already caught in Kim Woo-jin's trap, and that there was a dead player who he had killed him right next to him, he was trying his hardest to think of an excuse.
He was clearly in a state of panic.
Kim Woo-jin did not bother talking to him. He didn't even meet his eyes.
He certainly wasn't going to explain how he had set up his trap and what his intentions were.
There were already enough bad guys who explained everything to their enemies before executing their plans in the movies.
He also had no intention of obtaining information through useless torture.
Seug!
The Orc Champion's Scimitar in Kim Woo-jin's hand cut his opponent's throat in one fell swoop."Khuk!"
His prey let out a dying gasp.
"Hukk, huk..."
At that time, life in his opponent's eyes began to fade.
As soon as the light disappeared from his prey's eyes, Kim Woo-jin finally met his eyes.
[Eyes of Anubis is Activated]
The notification sounded in his ear.
The second day of the battle ended abruptly.
"Back off!"
"Get out! Just get out of here!"
All of the players resigned from the field at the same time.
"We need to understand what happened first!"
"We don't know what's going to happen, so let's retreat for now!"
Of course, the death of the Orc Champion was what forced the players to leave.
Who defeated the Orc Champion?
They weren't retreating because they were curious.
'Everyone's concentration is broken. '
'If we fight like this, the rate of casualties would be high. '
The first reason was that a player's concentration could collapse due to the unexpected death of the Orc Champion.
'We don't know how the orcs will react to losing their leader either. '
'It would be fine if they just retreated, but there is also the chance that the orcs would lose their mind and charge at us in anger due to the loss of their leader. '
The second reason was that they didn't know how the orcs would react over the loss of their leader.
'We have to make a new plan as well. '
'I'm sure they feel the same way. We have to meet and talk to each other in order to avoid suspicion. '
The third reason was that they had to throw away their plans of catching the Orc Champion.
However, not everyone stepped down from the battlefield for that reason.
"Where are the rest?"
The reason why the groups wearing skull masks resigned from the battlefield was different.
"I believe they are cleaning up."
Skull Guild.
Although it's been a bit over a year since it was established, it became relatively well-known due to their solid financial powers and connections, which allowed them to use popular celebrities to boost their public image.
The guild was well-known for making all of their players wear a skull mask as well.
In the end, they also were able to participate in the A+ rank dungeon, which was at the center of interest of the whole world.
"Anyway, he really took on the Orc Champion by himself?"
"Yes, I'm glad the Phoenix Guild isn't on the list."
But the Skull Guild's goal did not involve hunting the orcs.
"Yeah, we don't have kill that monster."
Their prey were none other than the players.
The reason was simple.
"Still, he may have gotten a legendary item... why don't we try to go after him at least once?"
"If that really is the case, we're going to hit it big when we catch him!"
It was much better for business to catch players rather than monsters.
In actuality, the comparison was pointless.
While the orcs usually only dropped normal and perhaps rare items if they got lucky, most of the players here were plastered with unique items.
In other words, it meant that killing players would net them billions of won at a time.
"Don't be too greedy. Didn't we decide to go for the players because we weren't confident in getting the legendary item?"
"Yeah, you're right."
"Items like that are for the Messiah Guild or the Phoenix Guild to take."
It was far more reasonable than trying to overcome the Messiah Guild or the Phoenix Guild in order to secure the legendary item.
"All we have to do is to let everyone know who he is. Then someone else will take care of it. All we have to do is to stay low, make enough profit, and then shut our mouths. If we shut our mouths, no one will know what happened here."
"Right. In a dungeon, even if you die to an user, it's just an accident."
"As for the items, all we have to do is to sell them overseas."
When considering the special aspects of a dungeon's environment, there was no better business than this.
"Uh, someone's coming."
At that moment, their colleague appeared.
"Huh?"
"What? Why is he running?"
A fellow guild member in his skull mask was running toward them in a hurry.
Everyone wearing a skull mask was immediately alert.
Soon after the arrival of their guildmate, the man who was leading the conversation till now said.
"What is it?"
"He is here?"
"He?"
"The guy who killed the Orc Champion. He's coming here with his skeletons after figuring out our identity."
"Over there! That skeleton right there!"
At the end of the report, three orc skeletons appeared before them.
The sight of skeleton soldiers equipped with swords, shields and helmets was frightening already.
"Damn it!"
Facing such a perilous situation, the Skull Guild's members also drew their weapons. They didn't relax when they took out their weapons.
They couldn't relax.
'That monster came?'
'Shit, why is this happening?'
While most of the players in the dungeon didn't know that the person attacking them was a monster who killed the Orc Champion alone, they knew.
It would be strange if they did not panic.
The pressure and anxiety felt by Lim Sun-joon, the leader of the party, was even greater."Were our identities discovered?"
"Yes."
In particular, Lim Sun-joon was shocked to learn that their identities and intentions may have been revealed.
'How?'
Secrecy was critically important.
Wasn't it obvious that once the truth leaked outside, their lives and as well as the Skull Guild itself would be over?
'How much does he know? Don't tell me that the Phoenix Guild knows who we are? Did the information leak?'
A surreal reality complicated Lim Sun Joon's mind.
'We need to get a grasp on the actual situation. Is he the only one who knows who we are, or does the Phoenix Guild know too...?'
They could flee if the opponent only wanted to attack them.
They didn't really want to fight.
But if the other person knew who they were, it was not something that could be solved by running away.
Therefore, Lim Sun-joon could not choose to flee.
'If the Phoenix guild knows, we will be tracked by all the players as soon as we run away. '
No, they actually had nowhere to run.
'It's better to die than getting caught then tortured for information. We can't afford to damage the corporation. '
Above all, there was something more important for Lim Sun-joon.
By the time he arrived at a decision, Lim Sun-joon was already prepared to fight.
"Get ready to hunt!"
He grabbed the bow on his shoulder and gave out orders.
The order hardened the faces of the Skull Guild's members.
'Fight that monster?'
'Instead of running?'
The order they were waiting for was not an order to battle, but an order to split up.
'Damn it. Should I just run?'
They were thinking of running away if they had to.
"If our identity is revealed, we will be finished as soon as we leave. If you want to live, we have to kill him here!"
However, Lim Sun-joon's words forced them to abandon their thoughts of running away.
'Fuck!'
They realized that there was nowhere to run even if they fled. Upon realizing this, everyone clenched their teeth.
Tteolgeuleog! Tteolgeuleog!
Meanwhile, skeletons charged towards them.
In order to fight against the skeleton soldiers, everyone focused all their senses and attention on the skeleton soldiers.
Lim Sun-joon was about to shout.
"Initiate the battle!"
He was going to give out such order.
Seug!
"Kekk!"
But at that moment, what came out of his mouth was the sound of a sharp object penetrating his throat.
'Wh, who?'
Lim Sun-joon tried to scream for help, but he couldn't even do that.
'Eup!'
Even Lim Sun-joon's mouth was blocked so that he wouldn't even be able to scream. Only then did Lim Sun-joon realize.
'No, no way?'
Who approached him.
And what he wanted.
Lim Sun-joon, who had learned the truth, swallowed his last words.
'ちくしょう(Shit)...'
/ /
| ← Ch. 025 | Ch. 027 → |