Chapter 122
Chapter 122
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: Hardworking Pay-to-Win Knight
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Humans.
Are so scheming.
"Sigh. Time to recharge..."
After deducting the 60 million won fee, I dumped the remaining 240 million won into recharges.
[For an unknown reason, your Strength has increased by 171 points!]
[For an unknown reason, your Vitality has increased by 85 points!]
[For an unknown reason...]
My base stats and level-up bonuses were almost fully restored.
The bonus stats were still minimal, but even this was more than enough for operating as a psychic.
More importantly, didn't I have chakra abilities that worked independently of stats?
"Hmm. This should be enough to get back into matches."
Because my recharge power had gone negative, I'd canceled both the martial arts and gladiator matches.
By the original plan, I should have been in pro leagues by now, but after one cancellation, I had to start over from amateur tournaments.
"Tch. Reschedule the canceled matches. Weekdays if possible."
"There are the Hanmyeongil Newspaper Swordsmanship Tournament and the Battle Angel Mage Tower Unlimited Psychic Battle. Shall I enter you?"
"Not a martial arts tournament, but an unlimited psychic battle... Whatever, sign me up."
That's when I was clearing out the inventory of the character auto-hunting.
[Madogizon has acquired Dark Star Sword (Legendary)!]
[Madogizon has acquired Shadow Twice (Legendary)!]
The chat window at the top of the screen exploded.
⤷RechargeMaster : Wait, a legendary sword is insane enough, but a complete legendary skillbook too?
⤷NewbieLover : What the hell did they kill to get two legendaries in one go? No way... a mythic raid?
⤷ChaNoah : Whoa. Looks like that chatty, drama-filled demon raid finally cleared... With more mythics around, stuff like this is gonna happen.
⤷HotBody : Think Cheonwon will get cleared soon too?
I whistled at the flood of chats.
"Oh, a mythic raid. Come to think of it, that demon count or whatever raid was part of that lineup, right?"
My guess was Ares Guild had joined that raid too. It was only natural for the rank 5 guild.
"Ah."
And in that moment, I realized.
"The offline meetup they mentioned recently... that must've been for this mythic raid."
I hadn't even been looped in. While guilds waged bloody info wars and massive battles for the mythic raid, my characters had been grinding boars in Windbreak Plateau.
Sure, someone might wonder why. My current character, Killian, had top-tier power even in Revenge. Same guild and all—logically, why not bring me for a mythic raid?
I could answer.
'There is a reason.'
Yeah. There was. Or rather, no reason to bring me.
Even after joining Ares Guild, I wasn't inside the guild members' inner circle. My character was strong, sure, but I was still just an outsider to them.
If it were some half-assed guild where my strength made me indispensable, maybe. But Ares was a top 5 major guild in Revenge.
'I need to work on my relationships.'
Revenge was a social game.
A political one, too.
Going to war relying on someone you'd only seen in-game was possible but incredibly burdensome.
Virtual bonds could be shed anytime you wanted. Game communities thrived on those shallow ties, but Revenge was different. Massive capital moved in ways unimaginable in normal games.
About six years ago.
A guild prepared a siege war to claim a key spot. They spent big on siege objects, recruited members, recharged, leveled up, and farmed.
A new recruit joined.
Newbies usually hung on the fringes, but this guy had insane charisma and friendliness. He quickly became bros with everyone, calling them hyung or dongsaeng.
He met them IRL for drinks and meals, even invited guildies to his house.
A high-level ranker too, he rocketed to guild core.
Then, on siege day.
After just half a year, now an exec, he boarded the guild's masterpiece siege object, an In-Grade Gigass Lincoln.
And massacred allies, handing the castle to a rival guild.
A spy who'd infiltrated for six months just for that moment.
'You might think what game goes this far... but that's Revenge.'
The capital in Revenge dwarfed other games. Six months was long, but 200-300 million won could sway anyone. Think of it as a dispatch job.
Accounts could be bought, sold, even rented—no issue.
'No accountability either.'
The guild master flipped, hunting him down, but he'd vanished. Contacts changed, house was rented.
With Truth God around, how? But he never lied.
No one asked if he was a spy sabotaging the siege. Sure, in a chatty game, it might've come up.
'Still a game.'
Truth and justice in games differed from reality.
PK wasn't murder, not even assault.
Games are games; everything inside is part of play.
Deception, betrayal, theft, killing—all fair game.
"Hmm. Maybe hit that offline meetup."
It was necessary. With spies showing faces IRL, how trust in-game-only folks?
In Revenge, where guilds hired journalists, detectives, even info psychics, loner play like mine meant no real guild life.
Had to build human-to-human bonds.
"Ah, hate meeting people through games..."
I grumbled, but knew it was unavoidable. Now that recharge power ticked down on bought items, I couldn't skip mythic raids for drops.
"Anyway, once I don't need boar meat anymore. Log in."
Straight to Ardenia.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
I unloaded meat as usual. The area was bustling.
Dwarves packing, beastkin smoking meat, elves gearing up—everyone hustling.
"By the way."
I spoke up as I finished unloading. Our meat-forged bond was solid enough now.
"Why are the monsters leaving you alive?"
"You figured it out..."
"Yeah. 100,000 is way too many."
The Titanium Mine was massive, sure. Underground 100 meters, bumped into by a landworm not even looking.
Big enough for 10,000 residents—entrance well-made even underground.
If prepped, slipping in quick wasn't impossible.
But.
'No way. Monsters aren't blind.'
100,000 people hiding underground without monsters noticing? Absurd.
The orcs from Bronze Sword Barony chased us refugees dozens of kilometers.
Orc habits might differ, but ignoring 100,000 right below? Impossible.
Hellaine explained helplessly.
"It's been over a year already..."
Gate opening day.
Mysterious elves from the gate smashed the Crystal League.
Unlike orcs slaughtering humans except young women, they spared non-humans.
"No, they actively avoided killing."
They injured and kidnapped resistors, herded the scared like sheep.
Some in off-vein cities isolated, but most non-humans locked in more sealed spots.
Titanium Mine was the biggest.
"We were... imprisoned. Tried escaping, pooling strength multiple times... but their numbers never thinned. Just more kidnappings..."
Her words clicked it.
'I see. Monsters are absorbing the Crystal League.'
Monsters expand by taking bases, but not only that.
Orcs tamed wolf beasts to ride; Edward raised elephant beasts.
Edward especially exploited human POWs well. Post-Church of Heavenly Gods shop smash, intel from captives shocked.
'Not complicated.'
Edward had POWs kill respawning Church warriors (advanced) for drops—short respawn helped.
No player blessings, crap drop rates, but scale fixed that.
Not battles—factory-line slaughter of willing necks.
Fed corpses to beasts too.
Monster bodies vanish over time, but enough for beastification cores like brains.
'Hah, running an item factory with monsters. Unreal...'
Likely, special boss World Tree and elf minions kept Crystal League alive to use them.
"Then we'll rescue them first."
My casual reply left Hellaine speechless, hesitating. Her childlike look made her seem a scolded middle-schooler.
"That's insane..."
"So many terrifying monsters..."
"But look! He gave meat for our 100,000! He might work a miracle!"
"Even so, those elves' hand cannons..."
Murmuring non-humans.
I smirked.
'Yeah. Stayed too long. Wasted time passing by.'
No need to convince. Didn't need their help anyway.
"Come out."
I said.
"Landworm."
Rumble...
Heavy quakes silenced the noisy underground city instantly.
No time for questions.
Boom!
Wall behind food pile collapsed wholly, landworm emerging.
Scattering rocks and dust seized by mighty earth power, hardening into passage.
"Ugh...!"
"Eek...!"
"What's that!? What is it!?"
I'd mentioned landworms, but they couldn't process. Words vs. sight—vast gap.
'Should be used to it by now... but damn, it's huge.'
Landworm defied norms.
Crawling skyscraper.
Winding hillside.
Overwhelming presence like terrain, not life.
Even "emerged" understated; it reshaped geography, like a natural disaster.
I saw it often, but newbies' shock was immense.
Thud.
It leaped dozens of meters lightly. Head swung to catch me.
Roooar!
Head move whipped gale-force winds through the city. I addressed the rolling, crouching non-humans.
"I'll go first. Follow slowly."
Last words.
Kaboom!
Landworm surged toward the surface.