Chapter 176
Chapter 176
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 176
Chapter Title: Chapter 33: Small World (1)
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Whether I should call this fortunate, I'm not sure, but I regained consciousness after just three or four hours.
Gretman, who had carried my unconscious body to his townhouse, had apparently jetted off somewhere else again.
- Treat you as an honored guest anytime, that's what he said before leaving.
An old man entered the room as if he'd been waiting for me to wake up and relayed Gretman's message.
But I had no intention of sticking around in a house without its owner.
Especially since it belonged to a guy scheming something behind my back, just like an apostle of Kallos.
I changed clothes almost the moment I came to and slipped out of Gretman's townhouse.
It was exactly 11 p.m. at that point.
The path to the temple through the empty streets wasn't all that dull.
The timer for the Bounty Hunter mission—which resets at 10 p.m.—had already run out.
- Sniper: How'd it go? Does our position show up too?
- Ethan Lembron: I'm curious as well.
- Sniper: K? Why no reply?
- Aisa: He's probably busy.
- Sniper: The timer's up, and he's been quiet for over 30 minutes? That's not like him.
- Aisa: Did something happen?
- Sniper: Maybe he got tangled up with the church folks? Looks like he's inside a building right now... Anyone know what he's doing? Get any separate contact?
It wasn't intentional, but my hour of silence after the timer ended had stirred up the Bounty Hunter chat a bit.
Even Ethan had sent a private message, despite the battle raging in Somnal Castle.
I let them know I was fine and checked the Bounty mission.
The existing mission had simply timed out—no major changes.
From the target's perspective, though, there was a noticeable difference.
[Warning]
Bounty Hunters are tracking you. (Position confirmed)
A translucent system window tinged with red took over my field of view.
I couldn't drag it away or push it aside.
Clicking the position confirmation button brought up a massive map with four dots marked on it.
Checking with the other hunters, they matched their current locations exactly.
And it didn't stop there—the map could zoom in and out.
The target got the exact same quality of info as the Bounty Hunters.
It felt like a double standard.
‘Does the system want to stop player kills or not?’
The Bounty Hunter mission is meant to exclude—and ultimately eliminate—specific players threatening innocent ones.
So why tip off those excluded players about the hunters' positions?
‘It’s basically a warning.’
Hurry up and run, or you might die.
Of course, the odds of getting jumped and killed by a hunter before getting that info were higher.
But shift your perspective a little?
‘Survive ten days, and the system hands the target a lifeline.’
Why add this feature to the Bounty Hunter mission?
‘Balancing for causality?’
It wasn't impossible, but just a guess.
I furrowed my brow at the system's duplicity for a moment.
Then I shared the info I'd confirmed in the Bounty Hunter chat.
- Sniper: Looks like the system doesn't always side with the hunters' convenience.
- Aisa: But isn't this good for us? If we know each other's positions, we can back each other up if needed.
- Sniper: It's only K who can see it.
- Aisa: We can just ask K.
Sure, if there was no pointless rivalry or friction among the hunters, it could be useful.
‘Other hunters can see my position too, so it doesn't feel like one-sided surveillance.’
Unfortunately, there was no chance to really make use of it.
We were discussing tactics when a system message popped up.
「Trait Capitalism activates.」
「System switches to support type. Support target: Player Kang Hyun-woo.」
「HIDDEN MISSION - Bounty Hunt (Non-Beta-12) expires.」
「Title: Slayer generated.」
At the same time, the Non-Beta 12 mission window I'd left open vanished.
Ethan messaged me, so it wasn't just me.
- Ethan Lembron: K, the Non-Beta 12 mission just disappeared... Nothing wrong, right?
- K: I'm fine.
I replied right away while scanning the hidden mission list.
But the vanished mission didn't reappear.
I opened my status window to check the new title.
[Slayer]
• Description: A title given to those who commit unauthorized kills.
• Effect: Kills by the title holder are not counted. Heightens sensitivity to the smell of blood.
It seemed like the system's compromise.
No other Bounty Hunter targeted me by the timer end, so no reason to keep the mission up.
But for some reason, it felt like the system's way of venting.
‘Sensitivity to blood heightened?’
Almost like a warning aimed at me, who'd grown numb to it.
I narrowed my eyes, staring at the trait's description and effect.
Pointless, though.
‘Not like something's gonna pop out of the status window if I glare.’
At least it acknowledged it couldn't stop me directly.
So it intervened in the game itself to expire the Bounty mission.
I didn't feel like dwelling on it further and closed the trait window.
The status window I'd opened earlier stayed pinned to the top of the game interface.
Specifically, the titles section with the new addition.
Titles: Bounty Hunter, Mark of Alliance, Grave Robber, Slayer
Excluding Mark of Alliance, the three from the system were quite the lineup.
Hunter, robber, and now slayer.
Even a quick glance showed the connotations weren't positive.
‘Gives me stuff like this, even when it does.’
Muttering a short curse, I shook my head and closed the status window.
Then I left a warning-advice in the Bounty Hunter chat.
- K: The mission targeting me expiring is a special case—don't assume it'll apply elsewhere. Assume the target's notified of your positions at time limit, and take them out before then.
- K: Same goes for becoming a target after killing an ‘innocent player.’ Act thinking you'll follow my path, and you'll regret it.
They'd surely realized I was hiding something.
‘They became hunters through me, after all.’
This explanation should suffice.
I had the Capitalism trait to trigger system intervention, but others probably didn't.
‘Unless they took 1st in another tutorial round.’
Otherwise, no direct system support.
Thinking everything would resolve like it did for me would get them in trouble.
‘They're not brainless, anyway.’
I'd even given advice—no way they'd get backstabbed from slacking.
Timing perfectly, I arrived at the central temple as I wrapped up the chat.
I'd accomplished my goal in Gamal, plus gathered decent intel.
‘With weirdos scheming behind my back, gotta stay cautious.’
On top of that, bigger gains than expected from the Imperial City.
‘Who'd have thought the princess would chip in for the orphanage.’
Wondering how much she'd send had me anticipating.
A princess, no less. The one the emperor favored beyond affection.
‘Half a year... no, even one quarter's operating costs would be a godsend.’
I'd be too anxious to sleep until the money arrived.
‘Told her to send it via Horpe so word spreads I'm in his debt—no one would pick fights then.’
Knowing I'd be this jittery, should I have just asked for direct church delivery?
I clicked my tongue briefly and strode forward.
I soon reached the Palao Temple.
‘Time to head back.’
Kim Yul had returned after his group dinner.
Until the investigative agency formed, focus was on personal growth.
I stepped onto the Palao crest etched into the temple floor to use the portal.
[Palao Church - Central Temple Portal (Move)]
The familiar system window appeared, so I hit move right away.
A map of Temoria's barrier region popped up.
Blue dots marked temples where the Palao Church had installed portals so far.
‘Grown since last time.’
Meant church points were steadily accumulating.
I clicked a familiar location amid the slightly increased portals.
* * *
Not long after wrapping up in Gamal, Kim Yul became a gold badge holder.
Unlike his silver badge from the second awakening, this came after mortal peril and much hesitation.
No extra fame rewards like before, either.
‘The system hands out rewards up to 5th place for new events.’
The community had mentioned 5th place rewards plenty.
At least four more gold badges between me and Kim Yul.
‘Probably mostly those Chinese bastards.’
One of the few groups that could properly exploit mana funneling via auctions.
With individual free will completely suppressed.
Surely pooling mana from players turned slave after handing family safety to the government, mass-producing gold badges.
‘Not bad for me.’
I'd decided to hunt them all anyway.
Their abnormal gold badge production would just mean more mana for me when I did.
‘Think of it as them doing the legwork for me.’
Just wait calmly until the agency forms.
I'd keep tweaking the software in the meantime.
“This concludes the trade, right?”
“Yeah.”
I'd just finished trading shop usage rights.
One went to Cello, the other to the new club librarian.
Net gain: 45 attribute stones.
23 from one, 22 from the other.
Just looking at them made my stomach feel full.
‘Way more than expected.’
Internal club trades had already wrapped up.
These two had swept up what the members collected.
Some they kept for personal absorption, so attribute stones would be scarce for a while.
After trading, I rejoined the party and kept absorbing stones.
‘Annoying that it's only one at a time.’
Never thought I'd complain about the hassle of absorbing dozens when I first got them.
A chuckle escaped me briefly.
Soon, my party and I reached Outpost 4, linked to Bilea Castle.
Ahel hadn't joined yet due to personal matters.
‘Said 9:30, right?’
I checked the pocket watch from Bihar and stepped aside in the outpost.
To wait for Ahel.
“Huh?”
That's when an unexpected face greeted us.
“K, Yul!”
“Yeah?”
Kim Yul turned at the voice calling him and recognized the guy immediately.
“Yo, monster bro?”
It was Ahn Ki-jun, after nearly half a year.
Unexpected encounter, but not awkward enough to blush.
Same game, same base, same nationality.
Running into each other was normal.
“It's been ages!”
But not close enough for him to beam like reuniting with a long-lost friend.
Wondering why the enthusiasm, I noticed strangers behind him exchanging surprised glances.
‘The new party he joined.’
Ahn Ki-jun had left Yang Hye-won's party months ago for this one.
‘Probably because Yang Hye-won got tight with the NIS.’
The player division setup Yang Jo-cheol mentioned coincided with Ahn's departure.
Yang Hye-won was already tapped as team lead, so he'd have heard.
Judged sticking with her risky, found a new group.
They all had hats, masks, or coverings hiding faces.
Players like me and Ahn, identities still hidden from the state.
He'd chosen folks on the same path, no prying into backgrounds.
“Doing well?”
Ahn approached close, offering a handshake.
I stared briefly, then smiled back and gripped his hand after a short pause.
Damn System