Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Chapter.4 Eyelid (16)
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***
The Professor slipped into the city's shadows, recalling the features of World 3's Tobrun that he'd memorized from the community forums.
'The basic layout is an outpost base designed to defend the capital. That's why the lord's castle is practically right up against the south gate facing the capital, and there's an additional wall between the north and south gates. That wall divides the slums from the regular residential districts...
Since I came from Turan, directly north of Tobrun, my current position should be in Tobrun's northern sector—the most rundown area.
The first thing that caught my eye after leaving the prison was the towering wall dividing the districts and the well-maintained road. I noticed on the way in that Tobrun's gates had two entry points. One over that wall. The other down the road I'm on now.
'This area's probably the section for official north gate use. Alright then... shall we go see Tobrun's true face?'
The Professor effortlessly vaulted over the towering wall.
Whoosh!
“Urk!”
The first sensations upon entering the dark alley were a horrific stench and cloying humidity. At the city's center stood the Mage Tower. Eight rivers branched out from it, crisscrossing the city to transport people and goods. But by the time they reached the outskirts, they'd become streams of wastewater and filth dumped from upstream.
- Soy Sauce Gaybar: Eugh, I thought Tobrun was a magical city with a water mage tower, so I imagined something like Venice.
- Speed Wagon: The inner city's upstream areas are way more beautiful than that. The Reed Flow school is famous for mass-producing cheap magical goods. Mana lamps line the whole city, and the boats floating on the rivers are all magical artifacts.
'The wealth gap is brutally severe. The people at the very bottom... live off scraps scavenged from that sewage.'
A place where the stench clung like a tangible slime no matter where you went. No place for humans to live. Among the floating debris in the sewage, human-shaped objects bobbed along with disturbing frequency.
[Ugh, shell, let's get out of here quick. I can't stand it.]
'Huh?'
What the hell. It'd been quiet for a while, so why'd this thing pop up again.
[Because I feel everything you're feeling! Mutants are basically designed to trigger human hunger instincts. It helps with gene collection. This place smells like rotten food mixed with trash and diluted in water...]
Fucking monster brat. Disgusting bastard.
[Don't be like that. It's physiological.]
Damn it. I need to figure out how to get rid of this thing fast.
The Professor ignored the whiner nagging in his head to leave and steadfastly pressed deeper into the slums. His goal was the thieves' guild in the most remote corner of the slums.
***
Creeeak—clunk, clunk.
Pushing through the half-broken swinging doors revealed a dingy tavern where people who'd abandoned all hope in life drowned themselves in booze.
- professor: Yo, this the right place? Doesn't look like it no matter how I squint. Look at those guys' eyes. If I torched this joint right now, they'd just go, 'Ah, nice and warm,' and burn to death without a fuss.
- Jokasss: Trust me. I watched every single stream when Levit Princess was clearing World 3. She was always thief-class, so she hit up Tobrun's thieves' guild a ton.
- Nutria Pass: Whoa, been a while since I dropped in, and you've made solid progress? Isn't this the Tobrun Thieves' Guild?
- Soy Sauce Gaybar: Whoa, aren't you one of the early viewers from the Professor's first streams? Thought you were dead since you vanished.
- Nutria Pass: Don't even get me started. Last night our shield glitched, so we were holding with just the stealth field. A week ago, a prowling variant got stuck in the vent and it was chaos. No shield meant sand pouring in endlessly, and half-chopped variant thrashing in the vent... Ugh. Everyone else rushed out to block the noise-attracted variants, while I yanked the mangled pieces out from between the fans... It was war.
- Mukaba: Still, you survived somehow.
- Nutria Pass: Yeah. Our shelter's military-grade, so the defenses are solid. Came here to rest once things stabilized. But why the sudden Tobrun thieves' guild visit?
'Hmm. I thought that guy was dead too.'
Anyway, from the chatter, this seemed to be the thieves' guild alright. Let's see... so the passphrase...
The Professor squeezed through the narrow door into the tavern and sat at the counter. He could feel the sidelong glances from the others without even turning.
Tap tap.
Drumming the bar finally got the bartender to turn his head.
“Order.”
“Moon Shine. Two bottles.”
“...Sorry, we don't sell that crap anymore. What era do you think it is, asking for moonshine?”
“Then six bottles. Double the price.”
The exact order from the community forums. This was why the Professor had chosen World 3, already cleared, over the frontier of World 4. Sure, World 4 might've drawn more viewers. But it was total uncharted territory—no info at all. Rank 3 Thousand Stream Emperor had bulldozed World 3 with raw control skill, so plenty of players were still running it, and info was plentiful. Plenty of external help available.
'Though the seed I'm playing has already gone half-off the rails...'
Still, plenty of useful intel left. Like the access code for a secretive group like this.
The bartender scowled at him, then grudgingly pulled out six bottles of assorted shapes.
“Boss. What day is it today?”
“...Jokeman's Moon, the 17th.”
Ding-!
[Info Updated. Jokeman's Moon, 17th. Around 11 PM.]
'Let's see... Jokeman's Moon is the Saint of October, so October 17th...'
- Speed Wagon: New moon. GG's calendar is fixed regardless of playstyle, so yeah, new moon.
Hearing "new moon," the Professor picked up the fourth bottle among the six—the skinny one on the left.
'Lordric's largest thieves' guild, [Moon Shadow]. To make contact: Go to the designated tavern, order Moon Shine, get refused, order six bottles, then pick the booze shaped like the moon that day and chug it. Ridiculously complicated.'
He hated to think how much grinding the first guy to uncover this must've endured. Probably slogged through boring faction quests for months.
The Professor shook the bottle lightly. Slightly opaque silver. Plenty of floaters.
- professor: Yo, do I really gotta drink this? Looks undrinkable. Wait, moonshine's their homemade stuff, right? If they used the local water, it's straight poison.
- Soy Sauce Gaybar: Looks just like the hooch at a freshman welcome party. Please drink it.
- Speed Wagon: Skip it and you're out. Probably not just booze. They spike it to gain the upper hand on visitors. Poison or drugs or whatever. Moon Shadow treats everyone as an enemy first.
Shit. Shouldn't have asked. Now I really don't wanna.
But no choice. Allies were essential for this plan, and in his situation, only underworld guilds could help.
The Professor squeezed his eyes shut and dumped the bottle of "Moon Shine" down his throat.
Gulp—gulp—
The silver liquid burned down his throat. Heavy bitterness, alcohol blasting up through his nose. Then a faint watermelon aftertaste...
'Hey, this is pretty good?'
As the Professor smacked his lips at the surprisingly decent taste, a sharp pain stabbed his gut.
“Urk!”
He staggered, and the bartender darted out to support him.
“Dear me, chugging that rotgut like that. Can't have you leaving like this. Rest up inside for a bit.”
The bartender tried to hoist him but nearly toppled under the unexpected weight. Two nearby patrons jumped up to help carry him deeper into the tavern.
Creeeak—thud!
As the rickety wooden door shut, he heard the last two grumbling.
“Ugh, damn. Heavier than he looks.”
“No kidding. Never seen him around here. Out-of-towner?”
“Professor. Unknown identity. Confirmed grabbed by guards around noon and dragged to jail. Our plant in the guards says he got roughed up by the mages. He's here, so he must've escaped somehow.”
The bartender's voice. Thieves' guild alright—info moved fast. They already knew about him fresh off his escape.
They dragged him along, twisting through turns: right, left, left again, right...
His consciousness blurred. Vision melting as their voices stretched... streeeetched—
Ding-!
[Trait Acquired - Drug Resistance (Minor): Your body has been exposed to significant amounts of drugs over a short period. Constantly battered by chemical reactions, it now resists them easily. / Poison Resistance (Minor) increased, Potion Efficiency decreased.]
With the system chime, a stinging prickle hit the base of his skull, and awareness slowly returned.
'Ugh... talk about perfect timing. All that drug-soaking as a test subject must've triggered with this poison.'
Seemed like it needed exposure to multiple drug types or something.
Judging by the trait rank, C~C-? Mostly anesthetics and magical drugs, not straight poison, so that explained the effect. Technically a debuff, but right now, super useful. He wouldn't go down at their pace.
'Physical tanking's conditionally perfect. Drug resistance online. Just need magic resistance for a full tank warrior build.'
That's why you had to suffer in this game. Survive, and it all turned to strength. Water magic, for one—hell at first, now his life's joy?
“Grgh! So damn heavy!”
“Huff, huff! Almost there!”
The door opened, and they bound him to what felt like a chair. He played dead quiet. Moments later, a presence settled opposite.
“Big~ spender, huh~? Wake him up, Canis?”
“Yes, Master.”
Splash!
“Pfft! Blugh! Hack!”
'Goddamn it! That's the river water!'
Ice-cold with that intense stench. Perfect for reviving the unconscious, like smelling salts back home. But spraying it in their own building? Had these guys lost their sense of smell living here?
Pretending to come to, he opened his eyes. First thing: a blood-crusted knife embedded in the desk. Then the woman sitting ahead, hands clasped. Trying to gauge the room, his hyper-alert 'Overcome Mental Fragility' instantly highlighted her features. Ebony-long hair. A prim long-sleeved blue dress of silky fabric, wildly out of place here. Softly drooping lashes over a beauty mark—refined yet seductive, oozing mysterious allure.
“Oh my, guest. Feeling better?”
“Ugh, ugh... where... am I...”
Oh man. Trolling these guys is too fun. Pretending to be subdued by these flimsy ropes, milking info, then bam—snapping free. How freaked would she be? Heart's already racing.
- Soy Sauce Gaybar: Deception, humiliation, teabagging... joys of life.
- Take a Look: Perfectly normal gamer behavior. Tradition for the strong to play weak.
- Deer Drug Please: 'Overcome Mental Fragility' is GG's best damn trait! Auto-angles and zooms like that? Epic! Too cool!
Pleased by his reaction, her eyes curved into gentle crescents.
“Hmm, where could it be~? Wanna guess? You came to Moon Shadow's tavern, used a code only accepted members know, then passed out. So, where are you now?”
She rose, fingertips trailing the desk's edge as she circled back. Her steps swayed gracefully, thin fabric clinging to reveal her curves with each motion. Scratch "prim." Highly intentional outfit. Very effective.
Gliding up like a dancer, she hugged him softly from behind. Through the thin cloth, plush pressure pressed unrelentingly against his back.
'Whoaaaaa, God!'
- Deer Drug Please: Possible! Possible! Totally possible!
- Soy Sauce Gaybar: Humanity's final, greatest game. Deny it and get castrated.
- Take a Look: My heart! My heart moves! A heart vast as the sea!
- Speed Wagon: E.
- Highway Nacho Man: Whoa, those are huge. Professor's biceps tho.
- Holy: Everyone. Could you calm down a bit? It's... kinda overwhelming.
- Gunpowder and Blood: Sorry, miss. These folks can't help it.
[Th-this human female's mammary glands are the besssst!!!]
The community, his virgin heart lacking female resistance, and the deep-seated voice in his head all lost it.
Yup.
Professor Park. Age at death: 24.
Zero dating experience since 17, thanks to world end.
Honey trap. Never learned to counter this.
“M-Moon Shadow!”
“Oh my~ Smart guest. Guessed right, so time for a ‘reward’~?”
Fwooo.
“Eeeeek!”
Her breath in his ear made his whole body shudder involuntarily. Scary! Can't keep up the weak act much longer! Gonna go full strong-mode!
Heh heh heh heh.
Amused by his every twitch, her eyes crescented again.
“Proper introduction time. This is Moon Shadow Tobrun branch's reception room, and I'm the branch master, Rakshasha?”
The woman in outrageously feminine attire, Rakshasha, stepped around from behind, hand on chest, slightly lifting her hem. The picture of a noble lady.
“So, shall we get to know each other slowly? All the way to the most intimate secrets? Fugitive ‘Professor’?”