Chapter 12
The sudden display of a 10th-grade skill not mentioned in the scenario left Carpe, and even Cheonma, greatly bewildered. Because of this, their composure crumbled, and Carpe almost fell victim to the monster's ambush.
"Well, at least it ended well in the end."
"Is it really ending well when we unexpectedly discovered two effects of a 10th-grade skill?"
The revealed abilities of "Unlock" include three things: identifying unidentified items, disarming traps, and removing status ailments.
"Disarming traps? Well, it's not exactly rare. But wait, why couldn't I disarm the monster egg trap during the tutorial? Was it because of my skill level?"
"Do you think I know everything?"
"Hmm. Well, disarming traps is one thing, but removing status ailments is too overpowered. Surely it doesn't remove all status ailments?"
"There must be limitations, right? Even though I strive for perfection, being immune to all status ailments crosses the line."
"Dos, restraints, stuns, burns, etc. The "Absolute Body" skill, which reduces the duration of physical status ailments by 90%, is an 8th-grade skill. And the "Clear Mirror, Still Water," which is immune to mental attack skills such as fascination, brainwashing, and sleep, is a 9th-grade skill."
"Even if it's a 10th-grade skill, combining those two effects is really crossing the line."
"If it's really like that, I'm going to go to the Lase headquarters and burn it down. This kind of game should fail!"
"Why would you burn it down? Stop with the nonsense and finish up."
Carpe took out his sword from the inventory and equipped it before approaching the monster. The stun time should have ended long ago, but for some reason, the monster stood still without moving a muscle.
Carpe raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Why so quiet? Not going to attack again?"
"Well, once the vital point is exposed and you're stunned, it's already my victory. I have no intention of dragging out a finished fight."
"Interesting. The first member of the One Fist Group I encountered was willing to give me everything if I spared him, but... this guy is completely different."
"I'm not a member of the One Fist Group. I'm just a wanderer temporarily hired by them."
"So, you want me to spare you?"
"No, that won't do. What matters is who I belong to. We fought. And I lost. What other choice does a defeated person have besides death?"
Hanjo raised his head and glanced at Carpe. From his muttered words earlier, it was clear he must be streaming the current situation.
As the battle was being broadcasted live, asking for mercy after losing? That's absolutely unacceptable in Hanjo's aesthetics!
At times like this, acknowledging defeat calmly and accepting death was the coolest way to go.
"Well, I doubt the day will come when I lose to the same person twice."
"...Twice? What are you talking about? I've never seen you before."
"Have you forgotten your past life? Ah, I see! You've already decided not to dwell on past lives, right? Indeed, the spirit of a great man."
"...."
I stand corrected.
Without a doubt, the members of the One Fist Group were all gathered from the strangest bunch.
"I have one request before you die. Will you hear me out?"
"I won't."
"Haha! As expected of a tough guy. You readily declined!"
"Hmm. You're the type who doesn't listen to anyone."
Just as Carpe, feeling rapidly exhausted, raised his sword to end the situation, a moment interrupted.
Ding.
["Tattooed Transcendence" has sent you a friend request. Will you accept?]
"....."
-.....
"Will you accept the friend request?"
"Will I?!"
[The friend request has been rejected.]
With a bitter smile, Hanjo looked up at the sky.
"What a perfect night to die."
Thud.
[The opponent has died.]
With the notification, Hanjo's body turned gray and slowly disappeared.
The sky was clearer and bluer than ever before.
---
Shortly after Hanjo fell at the hands of Carpe.
"Guild leader. It seems there's trouble brewing in the beginner's city area."
"Just wait a moment."
Thud!
The man who received the report slammed his giant battle axe on the ground. Before him lay a giant monster, the Basilisk, one of the most challenging monsters to hunt in the Krass Desert.
"Ah, stubborn beast. Finally, you're dead. So, what about the commotion?"
"Yes. It happened in the beginner's city, Leisene."
"Leisene, huh? Then it must be one of two. Which one? The guild or the One Fist Group?"
"It's the One Fist Group."
"Hmm. One Fist Group, huh?"
The man addressed as the guild leader was rummaging around, not really paying attention, while the Basilisk's corpse disappeared.
"Ah, damn it. It disappeared again. What's with the drop rate of Basilisk blood or whatever it is? Why is it so abysmal?"
"Shall I get people to search the auction house?"
"Nah, forget it. If people try to solve everything with money, what's the point? It's much more satisfying to obtain it directly. Right, Team Leader Kwak?"
".... You're absolutely right."
It was absurd to hear the wealthiest man he knew talk like this, but Kwak Musung simply nodded quietly. After all, the man in front of him was the one who paid his salary.
"Who's causing trouble for the One Fist Group now?"
"Yes. One guy came in and stirred things up. Probably a sub-character, so they deployed... no, they sent Hanjo."
"Well, that's it then. It's a common occurrence, isn't it? Making such a fuss over this...."
"He lost."
"What?"
"A high-ranking member of the One Fist Group lost."
"Hmm."
At that, Mamon, the guild leader, showed interest. Certainly, at this point, it could be described as a disturbance even by his stringent standards.
"He lost? The Sword Emperor?"
"Yes. He was thoroughly defeated. After being logged out by the intruder, he sent a mail. 'I lost, and now I'm leaving'...."
"He lost and he's leaving? What's that supposed to mean!"
Thud!
Mamon slammed his battle axe into the ground again. Unlike before, it was a gesture filled with emotion.
"We made a promise to win three times. Hey, Team Leader Kwak, am I mistaken?"
"No, sir. You're absolutely correct."
"But he's leaving?"
"Yes, yes. It's all Greek to me...."
"Pass me the mail."
After quickly receiving and reading the mail with a brief manipulation, Mamon's expression became increasingly strange.
"...I met my past friend and goal. I'm leaving to follow him. I'll repay my remaining debts later. What's this nonsense?"
"Uh, I'm not sure about that either."
"Ugh, this concept is insane."
It left a bad taste in his mouth.
With an unpredictable personality and a chaotic follower, the Sword Emperor was undeniably a skilled player in terms of combat sense, among those Mamon knew.
Given the conditions, he was a player who could easily place his nickname within the top 20 ranks.
"That's why I deliberately set traps and incurred debts."
Mamon frowned. With this turn of events, the return on investment might end up negative.
"Well, what's done is done. Contact the One Fist Group. Who was in charge there?"
"Team Leader Jung Woo Hyuk."
"Oh, right. Jung Woo Hyuk. Contact him and tell him to gather as many people as possible. At least 10."
"But what if we can't cover certain areas?"
"It's better than everyone dying, isn't it? Ugh, it's frustrating. Just when we should be collecting coins."
The guerrilla quest that only occurred in the beginner's city.
The information was known to very few, and it was not an exaggeration to say that the Mamonism Guild monopolized it.
It occurred again within a week to ten days from the last quest, and today was exactly the seventh day.
"Contact the guild and increase personnel deployment throughout the village. If anyone finds an NPC middle-aged man they've never seen before, report it immediately."
"Alright, understood."
"Tsk. How long do we have to allocate resources to beginner cities, huh?"
Despite feeling that it was excessive to do something like this in a beginner city, he couldn't just give up. Mamon carefully stroked his axe.
Ding!
[War Axe of the Steel Song Tribe Leader]
[Grade: Legendary]
[Usage Restriction: Level 120 or above, Strength 95 or above, Stamina 80 or above, Battle Axe Mastery Lv. 10 or above]
[Physical Attack: 550~980]
- Strength +15
- Stamina +15
- Agility -5
[The mighty chieftain of the orcs. It was the battle axe used by Krandish Shuhecka in his lifetime. It harbors the grudge of Shuhecka, who lived his whole life on the battlefield.]
- Additional Option 1: Does not receive first attack from orcs below own level.
- Additional Option 2: Critical hit chance +10%, Critical hit damage +20%
- Additional Option 3: Absorbs specific items to grow.
*Bound upon acquisition
Even among all the items discovered in Rase, it was a weapon that could be counted on one hand. Truly a luxury among luxuries that suited the word 'Another Class' perfectly.
Mamon recalled the moment he first obtained this item. He had trembled as if struck by lightning. It was a moment more exhilarating than any other experience.
He hurriedly searched the auction house and purchased the Axe Mastery skill card, then invested all the bonus stat points he had saved into strength and stamina.
"And yet, I still had to spend a fortune to buy elixirs because my stats were lacking."
The higher the stats rose, the more bonus points had to be invested to increase each stat point. Therefore, the value of elixirs that raised stats as 'fixed values' was truly immeasurable.
But the investment was worth it. After being able to use the War Axe, the hunting ground grade had jumped by two levels.
And this 'War Axe of the Steel Song Tribe Leader' was precisely the reason why he couldn't give up on the beginner city.
The guerrilla quest 'Junk Dealer'.
When you hand over coins to the random junk dealer that appears in the beginner city, the junk dealer gives you a gift from his collection of junk as a reward.
Most of it was just miscellaneous junk, but occasionally, very occasionally, the best lottery quest like this War Axe would come out.
"So how could I give up?"
He had to monopolize the quest as much as possible. It would eventually be revealed, but at least not now.
"Does that guy who invaded the One Fist Group this time have any distinctive features?"
"Other than being a man and handling various weapons well...."
"Useless information."
Remembering the appearance of opponents in Rase wasn't particularly meaningful. Since the only real money element in Rase, the 'custom items,' was so diverse, it was easy to disguise oneself with cheap cash.
So, when pursuing a target, they typically tracked characteristics that didn't easily change, such as gender or main weapon.
"Half of Rase users are male, and in beginner towns, people usually pick up various items to use. At this point, we should assume they came prepared, right?"
"That's my thought too."
"These guys have no sense of honor."
In Last Savior, there was only one entity that could disrupt the events of the top 10 guilds: another top 10 guild.
"They don't seem to know about the Junk Dealer... It seems like they're just poking around, wondering 'what's really there?' because we keep causing trouble in the beginner town."
"I'll immediately have someone check if there's a recent missing ranker."
"Yeah. To catch Gummje, they probably sent their top ranker as an alt too. Check it out."
I don't know which of the top 10 guilds did this... but this debt will be paid off properly.
"Well, even if they're doing this because they stumbled upon the Junk Dealer... it's not a big deal. It's just one guy at best."
The Junk Dealer NPC appears randomly in towns.
The starting city of Layscene was Mammonism's territory, and guild members were scattered throughout the town.
Competing with all those people to secure the Junk Dealer NPC first? That was something that might happen in a novel.
"Well, you never know."
Maybe someone who knows future information will come back and find the Junk Dealer.
Guild leader Mammon of Mammonism Guild indulged in such futile fantasies and resumed hunting Basilisks.
"Oh, right."
"Yes?"
"Tell Jung Woohyuk to submit an incident report. And cut some of his bonus too."
"Th-that was not a mistake but more like an accident, so cutting his bonus seems a bit harsh..."
"Huh? Team Leader Kwak says he'll write the incident report instead?"
"...Yes. Absolutely. A manager should take responsibility, shouldn't he?"
'Sorry, Woohyuk. It's my wedding anniversary next month.'
Kwak Moseong sent his condolences to his fellow new hire with a heavy heart.
---
And at that moment,
"Cough!"
Another member of the One Fist group fell in front of Carpe.
"Oh, Chief Chunma! This guy also dropped coins?"
-...I really don't understand. Even a guy who gets burned by the low-probability Flame Trap has such luck. Are you just unlucky? Or lucky?
"I don't know either! Drink up these coins!"
-Sigh, fine. Eat as much as you want.
Coincidentally, the two men who knew future information were fully prepared for everything.
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