Chapter 193
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 193
Chapter Title: Kingdom - Lv. 463 Blanche (3)
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Blanche was still alive.
It had been eight years since she entered the kingdom.
Those had been years of hardship.
At first, she couldn't understand why everyone knew who she was.
Escaping alive wasn't all that difficult.
Among the gear she'd preserved intact, the Optical Camouflage could render her body invisible in a way entirely different from transparency magic.
That was how she'd managed to flee with her life.
The kingdom was incredibly well-developed. She'd never even seen it once during her seventeen years as an exile.
But thanks to the kingdom's nature—growing harsher toward the edges—there were plenty of places to hide.
She wandered the wilderness, focusing on leveling up. Even excluding the gear that would eventually wear out, her experience remained fully intact.
Yet strangely, there were far too many people who recognized her.
She'd survived in the outskirts because the population there was so sparse. If a stronger exile had wandered into the developing zones, she would've died long ago.
The gap in levels was immense. Even Blanche, with her superior starting stats, couldn't overcome it.
It wasn't until two years later that she finally uncovered the truth behind this hellish situation.
"You're a fixed NPC! Get it? Not even human! You're just a chunk of data! A bastard child spawned by this idiot labyrinth pretending to be a game!"
Those were the dying screams of a man who seemed plenty strong for the outskirts.
Blanche heard them covered in blood.
It was a razor-thin victory. If they fought again, she couldn't guarantee the outcome.
No, she would definitely lose.
This battle had depleted the durability of every last piece of gear she had left.
She wanted to keep him alive for more details, but she hadn't been able to approach any springs lately, so that wasn't feasible.
Her inventory of potions had run dry long ago.
After that day, she even considered just letting herself die.
That man's final cry had clearly called her a data clump arbitrarily assembled by the labyrinth.
But her innate distrust of others' words and a single ray of hope kept her clinging to life.
Orgel.
That hateful yet longed-for name.
He was here too. So surely...
She wasn't fake.
It had to be true. It must be.
So she couldn't die yet. She had to confirm it.
His existence. The truth about that loathsome father and the sacrificial girl he'd newly brought along.
Pushing all doubts aside, Blanche rationalized her hypothesis.
It wasn't hard; her life outside had been a series of such defense mechanisms.
Seventeen years of enduring to return home made giving up feel unbearably unjust.
Of course, resolving to live didn't make life any easier.
Blanche was far too famous. Even clueless exiles on the road would faint at the sight of her bare face, flee in panic, or draw their weapons.
In that environment, a healing potion spring—the exile's greatest lifeline—was mostly located next to each nation's hub, the rifts.
Endless grueling days. No mission had ever been this brutal.
The whole world seemed to treat her as an enemy.
After five years, she judged she'd leveled up enough.
It was time to abandon her wilderness wandering.
Only then could she confront Orgel.
First, she rebuilt her face.
It was modeled after her father Orgel's genes anyway.
She'd maintained it for missions before. NPCs with no exile history didn't recognize her, so she'd kept it up.
But now, plunging into exile-infested areas, she no longer needed it.
By searing her face in flames and turning into an ugly hag, Blanche could finally enter the city.
The voluptuous figure she'd cultivated to seduce enemies had long withered away.
All that remained was a mysterious monster wrapped head to toe in bandages.
Her long wilderness life hadn't left her health intact either.
She had plenty of survival knowledge, but the kingdom's development hadn't stalled here for no reason.
The beasts in areas where no proper grass grew weren't normal animals—or even monsters.
Just twisted abominations.
Even their meat slowly poisoned the body.
By the time Blanche finally reached a hardrock spring after immense sacrifice and effort, she was as good as dead.
Forcing her way over the city walls, she barely made it to the spring and healed herself while the guard looked away.
Her bodily damage recovered, but the ruined shape of her face and body didn't.
In a way, that was a blessing.
For the next three years, she could focus on her true profession.
She was an assassin, inside the labyrinth or out.
With no way to acquire proper firearms anymore, she had to make do with crude blades.
Yet even in those harsh conditions, Blanche made a name for herself.
As "Bandage," for wandering around with her face wrapped in bandages.
But she still hadn't found a single clue about Orgel.
He couldn't be dead. Not him.
Heewoo's current base was essentially complete.
Changing races partially resets the mind map and even levels, so without the target race card, precise setups get stalled.
Given Heewoo's combat style, no warrior card emphasizing speed beats the Seraphim.
Among the labyrinth's races, the Seraphim was the fastest in pure speed.
Now, several skill options presented themselves.
First up were speedster unique skills like Silver Flash to further amplify that speed advantage.
Alternatively, power skills to boost heavy single hits, like Primal Strength—a great pick, but the God of War already had it, so pass.
Then something like Glorious Martial Might. It dealt fixed damage unrelated to attributes or defense.
"The names are all so abstract, huh?"
"Remember this: the more abstract, the better the unique skill. Tough conditions and low drop rates."
Straightforward names usually meant mediocre performance.
Even among the Goddess's unique skills, excluding Song of Annihilation and Expansive Ripple, nothing else ranked top-tier.
Intuitive names limited their roles.
Vague, anything-goes names allowed all-purpose versatility.
"Kinda makes sense. Like how the God of Fire beats the God of Matchsticks."
The kid looked a bit uneasy.
"Is Archmage really good?"
"Don't say that around mages or you'll get slapped. Never ask elsewhere."
Magic was harmony created by skills, never surpassing real magic.
Thus, skills enhancing magic mastery itself reigned supreme.
Stacking one more made the kid a prodigy for becoming this kingdom's top mage.
"Really? For real?"
With magic as her sole interest, she beamed at the praise.
Her smile was adorable, too.
"Honestly, I'm not sure. What's the difference based on picks?"
"Top unique skills often can't coexist with peers. Conflicting acquisition conditions."
Get Silver Flash, and you couldn't have extreme attack power skills.
You'd compensate attack with gear and play a chipping attrition style.
"In your ideal party setup, what's my exact role?"
"Mobile strike team. Rush support to hot zones. Sync with pro assassin recruits for dual roles."
"Hybrid, huh. Power assassins usually are."
"Yeah. Pure specialists are common. Versatile all-rounders? Rare."
"And you? What's your position?"
I could do everything.
So I'd handle everything.
"I'll decide per situation—prioritize strength, agility, or stamina to cover party weaknesses."
"Strength-agility-mana now, right? Pre-vampire was agility-mana."
"Tri-stat spreads efficiency too thin."
My current game character state was beyond undesirable—a total mess.
Lord of Blood wasn't acquired normally. Just barely meeting minimums while abusing chaos authority.
Without Barbaroy's cloak, impossible.
A normal mind map builds solidly from the core, branching far. Mine stretched thin and unnaturally long.
Conversely, the cloak saved tons of skill points.
I'd invest them elsewhere.
Not staying vampire forever, so just patch immediate gaps.
My current state didn't matter. I could output mage-level power without skills.
Compensate with gear, wait for race setup.
Complete party members one by one.
Heewoo first, nearly done.
She decided without much deliberation.
"Speed. I've stacked tons of Dagger Mastery anyway—my reach stays short consistently."
"Stable choice. Surprising."
"Why? Thought I'd crave one-shots?"
"Kinda. Your ingrained tech packs lethality per strike."
"Too risky."
"Scared of dying?"
"I'm definitely marrying you someday."
I couldn't help laughing. Heewoo got mad.
"Why laugh!"
I answered with the grin intact.
"Never even considered it. Life after escaping... Never crossed my mind."
"Uh..."
Back to our worlds? Or does the game world collapse?
Must figure it out before clearing.
"Anyway, allocate points. Gotta fight Blanche."
"Won't lose this time!"
"Yeah, but stay cautious."
She didn't agree to make herself bait out of fondness for Remy.
The elf archer didn't know, but Remy had already crossed paths with Blanche—and died plenty.
Evoking sympathy or touting utility meant nothing.
Just kill.
A monster viewing exiles as mere XP.
Now that monster targeted her.
Of course, she knew the situation differed vastly from the tutorial.
Remy accepted the plan trusting the boss-man, but also because amid the shining party members, she had to prove her worth somehow.
Fear of Blanche paled against that anxiety.
Newbie Jenny's presence accelerated it, not soothed.
Blatantly superior exile.
Not yet a century in, minus 30 kingdom years, Jenny's 20-year veteran status matched Angel's experience.
So Remy's duties stayed the same.
Nothing to teach. Just guild master bluffing.
Jenny dutifully questioned the sudden bodyguard gig but complied.
Angel drew too much attention.
Henry was busy managing followers as the kingdom's sole chaos priest.
Northern hospital district guild masters weren't trustworthy yet.
Despite the northern king's change, they were more bewildered than joyful.
Some even preferred the old regime.
Remy sighed.
Jenny beside her asked.
"Something wrong, Master?"
"No, nothing."
Still, this cat-eared dual-wielder was loyal.
Her guild came from rankers. Now suddenly bodyguarding a chaos temple guild master.
A mage, no less.
Amid the chaos, she kept mum and followed orders.
Even switched faith to chaos. Previously worshipped the God of Weapons for durability buffs—cost-effective.
Weather was cold, but temple interior warm. Sanctuaries always optimal.
Remy yawned, spreading documents.
Paper mills existing was surprising. No computers, but the kingdom was advanced.
Ballpoint pens? Someone figured it out.
Then the Goddess sent divine speech. Remy was Time's apostle, but sanctuary enabled it.
Not rare. Since handling the church with Henry, she'd gotten plenty of guidance.
Usually ditzy Goddess, but centuries of wisdom shone.
Always spot-on advice when needed.
But this was intense.
"Insane. An assassin just entered the temple. You know I can watch every inch of the sanctuary."
"What?!"
"She's running! Escape!"
Blanche's strength was unknown. Remy had no intent to risk it.
As Jenny followed cluelessly, Remy pondered directions.
Where to run? Leaving sanctuary riskier?
"No good. Tons of movement buffs, looks like. Just face her inside the sanctuary."
Remy glanced at Jenny.
"Prepare to fight."
"Here?!"
"Assassin's coming soon."
That alone steeled Jenny's gaze. Goodness, such loyalty.
Remy got it, though. Watching a leader, you never want to drop that line.
Remy briefly considered Time Stop.
Probably impossible. No time to rebuild faith.
Mana detection spread.
Nothing pinged. Ways to fool mana detection?
Focusing, she vaguely caught a severance where spread mana didn't return properly.
If detection was radar, this was stealth.
And its position...
"Above!"
A hole tore in the worn ceiling, crumbling as a shadow dropped.
Jenny lunged.
Clang of metal on metal.
Sparking flash.
Two silhouettes overlapped, then parted.
Remy hurriedly cast debuffs.
Jenny staggered.
Debuffs flew.
But with Stealth's black smoke effect, she vanished.
No mana detection hit.
"Got away. Circling wide. Fast."
How the hell?
Late, a gray oddity caught her eye.
Familiar after ages. Even-layer fruit!
Gray? What was it this run?
Fruit color memories muddled.
As it burst, she realized.
Smoke spread. Degrading mana detection, disrupting senses. Smoke screen.
Narrow spaces? Asphyxiation too.
Just before full paralysis, potion-gulping Jenny rose.
"Poison! Careful!"
Remy memorized cast debuffs around herself.
Prepped spells orbited.
Meanwhile, two angels took flight at the Goddess's call.