Chapter 203
Chapter 203
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 203
Chapter Title: Chapter 38 Scattered Puzzle (2)
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Even just handling a 5-star Meseo single-handedly was impossible for a gold badge Player.
The weird part was that it wasn't physical weight.
You could force it onto a glass cup, and the glass wouldn't shatter.
'Probably the weight of mana.'
The more massive the mana leaking from the Hole became.
The greater the presence of the Meseo it anchored to, and its weight increased exponentially.
'Less like it's just getting heavier, more like it's pressing down on the earth.'
Tinkering with the destroyed Meseo, lost in thought for a good while.
I let out a long sigh and stood up.
Nearby Players asked about what had just happened, but I had no obligation to explain.
I grabbed Yang Tae-ho and left the scene.
Only then did Kim Yul, who had casually joined us, speak up.
"Search?"
"Have to."
My head was a mess for various reasons, but that didn't excuse slacking on other duties.
'High-grade contamination zones are mostly places where fierce battles raged in the past.'
Castles as military strongholds, canyons as strategic chokepoints.
Plains with vast granaries.
Ports along rivers useful for transporting supplies.
Mountain ranges rich in iron or spirit stones, and so on.
Zones with 5 stars or higher overflowed with traces of brutal combat—corpses and carcasses everywhere.
Walking along, your foot might sink into a depression, and upon checking, you'd find hundreds of skeletons buried there.
'Which means the odds of finding relics are higher too.'
Thanks to the other Players' hard work, the mission window showed only two Meseos left.
The monster markers on the map had dwindled sharply too, so it was time to mop up stragglers while hunting relics.
'Nothing to do but hope for something useful.'
That day, I set out on the search, clinging to a hope I knew was futile.
But no miracle relic dropped from the sky to solve all our problems at once.
* * *
We found a decent haul of spoils that day.
Just Yang Tae-ho's share was worth around 200 million won on the market.
On top of that, we uncovered two relics with useful functions.
One was a permanent relic embedded with a barrier spell—K claimed it.
He'd forfeited his share of the other spoils, even handing over his prior allocations, just to have it.
Neither Yang Tae-ho nor Kim Yul desperately needed defense-focused gear, so they yielded without issue.
Truth be told, they wouldn't have dared claim it even if they did.
'Folks gotta have some conscience.'
The two hadn't forgotten what K had done for them.
Kim Yul had received a high-grade relic as a gift, and Yang Tae-ho owed him his life—and his wife's.
In that situation, they had no desire to fight K over a relic he wanted.
They would've conceded ownership even if he hadn't balanced the spoils so precisely.
K had calculated it all down to the knife's edge, matching the relic's value perfectly.
'That boy's got no sense of give sometimes.'
Yang Tae-ho shook his head, thinking of K's occasional stubborn streak.
With the fighting, searching, and dividing done, the day ended, and K called for rest.
Yang Tae-ho, on first watch, swung his arm—producing a heavy whoosh.
The sound of his hefty hammer slicing the air.
The only other noises were the chirping of crickets and the steady rhythm of breathing.
It was so quiet and peaceful, you could hardly believe they were in the heart of a monster-infested contamination zone.
"Mmm..."
Then, a presence stirred in the silent camp.
Velta, sleeping beside K, rubbed her eyes and sat up.
"Hey, you up? Was I too loud?"
He wiped his sweat and greeted her; Velta wagged her tail slowly, eyeing him.
Only after that brief scrutiny.
"Hi."
Did she wave her hand and greet him back.
Compared to how she bristled and glared at Kim Yul, it was downright mild.
That terrifying four-year-old who could smash an evolved monster's skull with one punch had the clearest likes and dislikes imaginable.
'No one but K or Ahel can even touch her.'
Even Ahel's hand kept slipping away.
If Kim Yul so much as reached out, she'd claw or bite, leaving a mark every time.
'And that seems like her holding back, somehow.'
If Velta had bitten in earnest, Kim Yul's hand wouldn't be intact.
Gold badge Players only counted as strong within human limits.
Compared to beastkin, giants, or other predator sub-races, they were squarely weak.
'Their numbers are low, that's why we mix like this.'
If populations were equal, humans might be subjugated by the sub-races.
Yang Tae-ho shuddered, recalling the brutal massacre at the non-beta castle he'd witnessed.
The ringleader of that slaughter was this little one's father.
'World sure is small.'
As his thoughts reached that point, Velta wrinkled her nose, pinching it shut with both hands.
Wondering what was up, he started to speak.
When a hand suddenly emerged from the darkness behind her.
It wrapped around Velta's waist and lifted her gently.
"Not sleeping? Why."
K's voice was lower than usual, and Velta replied, still pinching her nose.
"Blood smell... nose hurts, head hurts."
Before her stuffy voice finished, a deep sigh followed.
"Then you should've stayed at the mansion. Why follow? Think you'll see something nice here?"
Despite the irritated tone, he placed her carefully on his lap.
"Go back now."
Velta wailed at K's seemingly cold words.
"Nooo! Hate it! No!"
"Hey, hey, quiet down. Why the racket? This stubborn little..."
K sighed deeply, as if the earth might cave in, and waved a hand through the air.
A translucent glass bottle appeared—the basic skincare he always used.
'Why that?'
Before the question formed, K uncapped it.
"Endure with this."
He spritzed some lotion onto his shoulder.
"Hehehe."
Velta giggled, burying her face there.
A steady patting rhythm sounded on her back.
Even breaths soon followed.
Velta had drifted off again.
Watching the human and beastkin pair, idle thoughts surfaced.
'He's grown pretty attached.'
To Yang Tae-ho, K seemed to have more close Biharans than other Players.
Given his attitude so far, it wasn't hard to understand.
He'd never treated them inhumanely, not once.
'Some Players treat 'em like NPCs outright, but not him.'
K always regarded Biharans as equals with full personhood.
No hesitation in bonding with those he liked.
Some were shockingly close, even to Yang Tae-ho's eyes.
'That young apostle from Palao, Rashaar?'
To him, they looked like friends who shared opinions freely.
Minor conflicts resolved quickly from both sides.
But after setting up a separate party base and leaving the mansion, things shifted.
'Not as close anymore...'
Had feelings been hurt? Opinions clashed?
K and Rashaar's relationship wasn't what it used to be.
Especially K drawing the line first.
Why the sudden change?
'No, not sudden?'
A guy who overthought everything endlessly—it had probably been brewing.
Yang Tae-ho eyed K patting Velta's back and mumbled.
"Uh, y'know..."
K glanced over at the soft call.
But the question stuck in his throat.
Asking outright why he wasn't hanging with the Palao apostle anymore felt off.
After a brief hesitation, Yang Tae-ho pivoted.
"You like Ahel?"
"Not particularly."
Eyes wandering who-knows-where, making him edgy just having kids nearby.
K explained the precise reason for his dislike.
But from an observer's view...
"You watch her awful close for that."
"Liking and watching are different."
"...You got a kid? Got hitched early or somethin'?"
"I could make one solo, maybe, but sadly single."
The low chuckle embarrassed him needlessly.
Yang Tae-ho cleared his throat awkwardly; K, who'd answered patiently, stared steadily.
Like he was asking why the questions.
He'd noticed the dancing around.
"Nah, nothin' big, just, y'know..."
Yang Tae-ho fumbled for words repeatedly.
Efforts in vain—he found none fitting.
So he swallowed a sigh and spilled his thoughts raw.
"You used to get along great with the Bihar folks. Knights too, real open."
"..."
"But lately, seems like somethin's changed, so I figured I'd ask."
"...Can't say it hasn't."
K murmured softly, running a hand over his empty face.
"Feels like it's time to keep some distance."
"Huh?"
"Whether you like it or not, they're from a different world than us."
Yang Tae-ho gaped like a man at a loss for words.
But only briefly—he swallowed hard before silence stretched.
"Why think that all'a sudden?"
K glanced to confirm, then muttered low.
"Not sudden... Just, mulling why she's here brought it back home."
"Huh? Why she's here?"
K closed his eyes before continuing.
"Probably not sent directly by Ramon. No reason they had to send her to me specifically."
Less conversation, more organizing his thoughts aloud.
Realizing that, Yang Tae-ho listened quietly.
"What they wanted was just getting the kid out of the warzone."
So K continued uninterrupted.
"Then her seeking me out was her own doing."
No clue the route, but anyway.
As for why Ramon separated from Velta.
"Something's up with the plains."
"Plains?"
"Galbaric Plains, or some other spot we don't know about."
K cracked his eyes, checking Ahel's direction.
She lay curled on her side, shoulders rising faintly with breaths.
Deep asleep or pretending—only she knew.
K wasn't clueless.
Yet he kept talking: clearly meant for her ears.
Following K's gaze to Ahel, Yang Tae-ho asked carefully.
"A problem over there..."
"Dangerous folks on the move, I suspect."
To Yang Tae-ho, the logic jumping to that conclusion baffled.
Natural enough—their info gap.
"Biharan movements lately are off."
One key discrepancy: absences from those who should be present.
"Not just one or two."
Velta's guardian Ramon, beastkin ruler Horpe—obviously.
Shamel, handling basic training for Palao cult's new Players.
Greg Tempun, southern cult army head and Temoria's third apostle.
Plenty of other notable powerhouses gone too.
"How often do Bihar's big names mobilize en masse?"
If needed for a secret battlefield, it fit.
If true, it explained Rashaar not abandoning Velta.
"Couldn't leave her at the mansion when he might deploy anytime."
More precisely, it would've been pointless.
The instant Rashaar left, controlling Velta became impossible.
No firm confirmations, but circumstantial evidence pointed one way.
"If it's just my theory, whatever, but the Association agrees mostly."
Yang Tae-ho stared at Velta's sleeping face.
If trouble hit Galbaric Plains—or another hidden key zone.
And Biharans hushed it up from Players.
"Nothing new there."