Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Please Stop the Teasing - 1
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📰 General Post Title: “Welcome. Climbers.” Author: Wallblood Invincible “Ugh…! Hold on, tower bro! Th-there are natives here…!” “You tempted me first, you fucking Lucius bastard.” “You stuffed my belly full with free quests and food.” “You skimped hard on EXP and welfare.” — Anon (12.36) Amazing! Tower Bro-kun has the talent to piss people off in just four lines! — OilBellyCraver Ah fuck, what is this Kurung literature? — Anon (38.2) LOL; — Anon (63.11) EVANDE — popapo01 What the hell? Since last night it's all quote literature with pics, who's posting photos? Named NPCs?? — Blade of Ruin Ah lololol Climb to floor 51 and you'll get it lololol Not the gal lord for nothing lololol Even the guys obsessed with elf granny tits all came back lololol ↳ OilBellyCraver ↳ Reply NG? ↳ Blade of Ruin ↳ Reply Light light light light hope of the tower Hundred Swords Society idol ↳ OilBellyCraver ↳ Reply ??? 📰 Best Post Title: Honestly if I could fuck the gal lord, upvote Author: Blade of Ruin The moment I saw her my dick was throbbing, upvote gggg Can't post gal lord pics cuz eye bleach lolololol — Anon (63.11) Upvote lololol — PlumpPorkyNyan I'm a dude but upvote smooches — Anon (12.36) “That day” ㄷㄷ — OilBellyCraver Fuck the upvote speed what lololol So funny lololol — Bullshit Low Kick Did Hundred Swords Society guys eat drugs as a group? Why are they freaking out? lololol ↳ Wallblood Invincible ↳ Reply Ah lol come see and you'll know lol Bring tons of mana stones lololol Gotta offer them to gal lord lololol ↳ Anon (63.11) ↳ Reply Ah spoiler evande lololol ↳ Anon (12.36) ↳ Reply Mana stones? I toss them cuz heavy, guess it's affinity item…. 📰 General Post Title: This is hilarious for real Author: Bunny Duo (175.123) Hmm, feels like everyone's crossing lines treating her like an NPC? Feels like everyone's swept up writing this lol Am I the only one? ㅎ… If it's someone you really like and watch over, shouldn't there be at least one “secret fact only I know”? — Bullshit Low Kick Yeah! Fuck off asshole! ↳ Wallblood Invincible ↳ Reply Full of shit lolololol ↳ Blade of Ruin ↳ Reply Kya lololol — PlumpPorkyNyan Floater has no conscience right? lololol — Anon (63.11) Quote literature is shit, that's fact ↳ Blade of Ruin ↳ Reply Floater troll busted lol — OilBellyCraver All the ghosts gathered here lololol 📢 Notice 📰 Notice Post Title: Wiping out all the meme posts~ Author: Maple Syrup🔸 I get you're excited about the affinity NPC, but it's getting too heated with this bait…. Planning to nuke all lord-teasing posts after 6 PM ㅇㅇ Complaints? Get the armband yourself — Anon (12.36) (Generic lord praise post) — OilBellyCraver Ahh it was fun — Anon (63.11) Lordy! Lordy! Lordy! Lordy! Lordy! — popapo01 Lifetime armband go go — Blade of Ruin Can't you let it slide a bit…? — PlumpPorkyNyan Hmm, then should we tease Lordy instead? ↳ Maple Syrup🔸 ↳ Reply Try it ↳ PlumpPorkyNyan Haaaang♡ Wanna roll my tongue all over Lordy's nipples then bite down haaaang!!! ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Climber ‘PlumpPorkyNyan’ has been banned for ‘one week’. — Gold§Rush🔹 Trolling here gets armband removed? ↳ Maple Syrup🔸 ↳ Reply Try it lol ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Harvest Festival, day two.
‘When I fell asleep last night, the gallery popped up, and it was all just food talk.’
There wasn't much about me.
Just the occasional…
‘Offer mana stones’ mention.
‘Gaining the info that climbers aren't hung up on mana stones is a win. From now on, instead of rewarding with mana stones, just collect them as infrastructure usage fees.’
Beginner experience perks,
Free city facility passes are over.
Time to lord it up and levy mana stone taxes.
And.
Well….
The food talk makes sense.
These folks haven't seen decent food in over half a year, right? Emergency rations were their life's joy. Can't blame them for getting hooked on festival grub all of a sudden.
“…”
‘Still, I wanted to check if I left a good impression.’
Right then.
Bow Ghost next to me started rapid-firing the repeating crossbow.
His target was a scarecrow 100 meters out, set up in a clearing on the outskirts by the Dogkin village.
Click!
Clang—!
Click!
Clang—!
Click!
Clang—!
A glint from the crossbow bolts.
The three shots didn't fly straight like normal, but traced bizarre curves before embedding in the scarecrow. Much like the ghostly arrow paths he always used.
‘Though the trajectory is way shallower.’
Soon.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
“…”
“…”
All three hit the scarecrow's head. But Bow Ghost's face wasn't lit up. He fiddled with the Dogkin special crossbow this way and that, then shook his head.
Bow Ghost said.
“…This won't do.”
“They all hit, though?”
“This isn't that hard for me.”
He demonstrated his abilities.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ Ark (27 years old) Hundred Swords Society Advance Scout ‘Bow Ghost’ / Climber [Heroic] Tracking Bow: Grants homing to arrows. [Special] Rapid Fire: Quickly launches projectiles. [Special] Superhuman Strength: Increases strength. “My lord, can you see the description of my main ability, ‘Tracking Bow’ here?”
“Tracking Bow— Grants homing performance to arrows.”
“The key part is ‘bow’.”
“Bow?”
Bow Ghost held up the crossbow in his hand as he replied.
“Using a ‘crossbow’ weapon right now, so the ‘homing’ didn't trigger properly. ‘Tracking Bow’ only reacts to items I truly, sincerely consider a ‘bow’ in my heart. So, like you said, my lord, the experiment with ‘trying a more advanced weapon’ is a failure.”
“…”
I nodded.
“I see. Sorry for the pointless effort.”
“Haha! No, I didn't explain my ability in detail, so it's on me too. And… honestly, I started this on a whim myself.”
“A whim?”
“Separate from a warrior's pride, wouldn't it be cool if an auto-firing weapon had tracking too?”
“Sure would.”
Fucking cool.
“But…”
He continued sheepishly.
“I kept telling myself ‘this is a bow’ in my head. But shallow self-brainwashing like that doesn't work. Plus, with the mechanical parts involved, my ‘Rapid Fire’ ability didn't trigger either.”
“That doesn't work either?”
“Yeah, seems like you can't stack ‘Rapid Fire’ on something that already has firing speed.”
“Hmm…”
I let out a groan.
‘So that's why climbers stick to conventional weapons. Scrap the plan to arm them with Dogkin latest tech for a vertical attack power boost.’
I erased the mental image of
Bow Ghost dual-wielding homing repeating crossbows massacring goblins.
‘Dogkin weapons only for lord's army swarm tactics.’
That instant.
A voice shattered my thoughts.
A perky, puppy-like woman's voice.
“My loooord! Ark brooo—!”
“!”
“!”
We turned.
The Hundred Swords Trio's maknae, Blade Ghost, was charging over with her fluffy hair flying. She clutched a large staff in hand.
“?”
‘Staff? It's pointy and crude-looking, not like human-made ones.’
Blade Ghost arrived beaming, thrust the staff forward, and said.
Ta-da! Guess what this is?”
“Hmm…”
“Hmm…”
Before we could answer, she blurted.
“It's from the named monster ‘Goblin Shaman’ I beat in the forest! A genuine ‘artifact’!”
“Artifact!”
Bow Ghost chuckled and asked.
“What does it do?”
“Connect a mana stone and fire shoots from the tip! Power is basic… weaker than magic, just flames.”
“And?”
“That's it!”
“No clue what it's good for. Better toss it.”
“Hehe, thought maybe useful for something.”
Bow Ghost sighed at his proud little sis showing off junk loot, while Blade Ghost beamed at her find. Watching them, I suggested.
“How about taking it to the exchange stall?”
“Exchange stall?”
“Yeah, with the Harvest Festival, the central crossroads plaza has shows and a bustling exchange. Folks trade year-old stock, materials, foodstuffs.”
“Ooh!”
Blade Ghost's eyes sparkled under her bangs.
“Let's go!”
“Looking for something specific?”
“Timber and stone!”
“Ahh…”
I glanced aside at her answer.
Far off, Hundred Swords disciples were building their guild hall. They'd refused my offer, insisting on constructing it themselves.
‘Sword Empress turned out more old-school than expected.’
—My magic could stack it up quick.
—No can do, can't trouble you that far, my lord. Permission for the foundation is plenty.
—Won't it take long?
—One month suffices.
She'd said that, then called disciples with construction abilities and started building to their specs.
‘From all the detailed instructions, seems they're putting effort into the training grounds. Making it suit their needs…’
That's why.
The 51 Hundred Swords disciples, minus commander Sword Empress and Sword Ghost, hustled on subjugation and daily quests for materials. Blade Ghost's trip was part of that.
‘…Thanks to that, freed-up lord's army fixed safe return paths for climbers. Sent them home early to enjoy the festival.’
Climbers and natives.
All gather evenings for festival fun.
Peace incarnate—
“My lord! Let's go! Or are you busy?”
“!”
I shook my head at Blade Ghost and Bow Ghost looking expectant.
“No. Gotta pass there anyway to reach the manor.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Has the festival hit its stride?
Baran's streets buzzed wildly.
Natives decked out fancier than usual roamed, streets thick with roasting meat and fish scents. The peak was central crossroads plaza.
As I passed,
Plaza folk greeted me.
—My lord! Good day!
—My lord! Looking sharp today—!
—Care for some of this?
“Nah, I'm good. Keep enjoying the festival, everyone.”
Natives smiled and returned to their fun.
—Catch the puppet show!
—Grilled fish here—!
—Miss, try our honey preserves?
We were sightseeing.
Bow Ghost pointed at the crowded exchange.
“Rel lil sis, our guild folks are lining up over there?”
“Ah, Hundred Swords guys back from hunts selling artifacts, I bet. Place for building materials…”
“Then over there—. Oh shoot, my lord! We'll head off then!”
“Sure, take care.”
After parting with Bow Ghost and Blade Ghost.
I strolled alone, scanning around.
“…”
‘Short time, but Dogkin seem fully settled.’
One street performance spot.
Dogkin men, now right at home in Baran, hollered loudly. Before them sat a gray-haired Dogkin elder in slippers, chill as can be.
“Come on, passersby! This here's our Dogkin workshop's big bro!”
“He touches it, dead mana batteries revive! Grabbed, it's already fixed!”
“Entrust your mana tech to us, we'll prove repairs worth it—!”
As the Dogkin boasted.
Crowds' items turned near-new in under an hour. Extra impressive with their tools—just hammers, rusty saws.
‘Their own PR pitch.’
Baran's smiths and apprentices gawked blankly.
—Wow…. They use that like so.
—Tch, our forge crew needs to see this.
‘Tech exchange in action.’
I smirked, heading to the manor. But another voice stopped me.
“My lord!”
“Dinara.”
“Yes—!”
Perk perk
Wag wag
Dinara bounded over, floppy ears and tail wagging fiercely.
“Passing by?”
“Yeah, heading to the manor. Got work.”
“Hehe, gotcha. Work hard!”
“Will do. You need something?”
“Huh? No?”
She grinned.
“Just happy to see you, my lord.”
“Haha…”
I thought of lively dogs from my past life job site, gave encouraging words to Dinara heading to help puppets.
And in the manor hall….
“…Hmph. Quite the fan favorite.”
“Lady Niva, why the stare?”
“Huh? Not really?”
“?”
“…”
Niva hemmed and hawed awhile.
Then sighed softly and mumbled.
“…Bought apple pie. Eat together?”
“Oh, good to see you out and about. Was worried.”
“Why… worry…?”
“Thought you were a total hermit shunning society. Relieved you can buy and sell on your own.”
“Jeez. Get too close, no filter huh.”
“Same to you.”
We wolfed the apple pie quick, watched Niva warp away, then back to lord duties.
‘Goblin surge to Hundred Swords quests, safe paths by lord's army, tech dev by Dogkin…’
Everything,
progressing steadily.
That moment—
Text appeared before my eyes.
📜 NEW QUEST 📜 Climber settlement confirmed.
Main quest for floor 51 ‘Walled City Baran’ begins.
“!”