Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: The Pets Eat
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Waking from sleep, something huge whooshed past right in front of my eyes.
Purrrr!
"A horse...? Oh, it's the pet. Forgot to dismiss it."
Revenge's pets don't have a summon duration. Once called, they stick by the player's side indefinitely, acting according to their programmed behaviors.
It seemed the swift steed Swiftwind couldn't stray far from its master—me—so it had shoved its head into the carriage.
Crunch.
Swiftwind snatched a prepared persimmon from one corner of the carriage and devoured it in one bite. Still half-asleep, I stared blankly at the sight before realization dawned.
"It eats food...?"
As a living creature, that was only natural, but not in Revenge. The game's pet system treated them more like [stats] or [tools]. They weren't companions, so no fine details like eating had been implemented.
'No... wait. So what about the monsters?'
The North was barren land. Even the Bronze Sword Barony alone was larger than Seoul, yet it held only 3,000 residents—what more was there to say?
Rocks outnumbered soil, and it was fundamentally arid.
With no environment for large-scale farming, it was a place doomed to chronic food shortages.
But what if thousands—no, tens of thousands—of orcs, each big enough to chow down a whole pig, had poured into my territory?
'Shouldn't they all be starved out by now?'
Yet none of the monsters I'd seen so far showed any signs of hunger. Not the orcs, not the goblins.
On the other hand, they couldn't not eat.
'Pets eat, but monsters don't? That's weird. Even if the game settings were unreasonable, they stayed consistent.'
I sat for a moment, organizing my thoughts.
'Wait. Have I ever seen Sting eat anything?'
Thinking back, no. In the end, only one difference remained.
'Summon duration.'
Sweeping aside the cloth covering the carriage, I saw a soldier flustered by Swiftwind's head poking in. He snapped to salute.
"Loyalty! Good morning, sir!"
"Yeah. How long was I out?"
"A little over a day, sir."
"Slept a ton."
Putting his words together with my thoughts.
'24 hours... But the monsters have been in the real world for at least a month. Gotta get a clear read on things when we take the goblin dungeon.'
Stepping down from the carriage, I stretched as the North's signature chill greeted me. The carriage had been warm, so Smile must have cast insulation spells hourly.
"Thanks. Slept like a rock because of you."
Smile hopped down from the adjacent carriage and grinned.
"It's my job. Insulation spells are second nature now—barely costs any mana."
Even at just 2nd class, Smile was irreplaceable talent in our territory.
Magic was the power to reshape the physical world through human will.
Its value went far beyond combat. It could light fires without fuel, extract salt from seawater, or freeze ice in scorching summer.
And above all, magic could imbue objects with mystery.
'Time to teach enchanting.'
I wasn't a mage, but I possessed considerable magical knowledge. I'd once faced a situation where awakening all abilities had failed, forcing a choice between magic and martial arts.
Sure, I was spiritually disabled, but I wasn't dumb.
I had three meditation methods memorized, two circlings down pat. Admittedly, just beginner-level dabbling in both, but in Ardenia, that counted as secret lore.
"You're from Cartwheel Mage Tower, right?"
"Yes, my lord. Lacking as I am..."
"Recite the mana control techniques from the start."
Smile's squinted eyes flew wide. So shocked her irises were fully visible.
'Oh, her eyes are green.'
That was reason enough for shock. A mage's knowledge was worth its weight in gold. You wouldn't spill it under knife-point, let alone to a casual lunch-menu question.
Smile gaped wordlessly before squeezing her eyes shut, then open.
"I'll write it down."
I chuckled inwardly.
'Good.'
For her to comply without protest to what should have been an outrageous demand meant my presence weighed heavy on her now.
Of course, she might try slipping nonsense, assuming I wouldn't know.
'If so, that's the end for her.'
Scribble scribble.
As soldiers erected a simple stockade, lit fires, and grilled wild boar, she filled the paper nonstop.
About 40 minutes later, Smile handed over the densely packed double-sided sheet.
"Let's see... Log out."
Into the convenience store. With my inventories cleaned out from Ardenia looting, I filled them via auto-hunt while logging into KnowledgeIn.
[Question] PonderingLuBu (Sprout): Any way to fix my immigrant friend's circling?
My immigrant friend showed me the circling he learned. Can't learn a new one since he already has this...
PS. He was reluctant to share, calling it a secret-_-, so he might've altered it before telling me.
Posted the question, then headed to the Revenge homepage.
A popup dominated the center.
[Chuseok Event] May Every Moon Be as Full!
Chuseok holiday limited! Check out the special drops!
1. All monsters drop at set rates: Bean Songpyeon (Common), Mugwort Songpyeon (Rare), Rainbow Songpyeon (Epic), Rainbow Songpyeon (Heroic), Radiant Jade Rabbit Moonlight Songpyeon (Legendary).
2. Moonlight Coupons (all monsters). Exchange with special village NPC Jade Rabbit.
3. Random spawns across all maps: Lv1 Rabbit (Common), Lv10 Rabbit (Rare), Lv100 Rabbit (Epic), Lv1,000 Rabbit (Heroic), Lv10,000 Rabbit (Legendary).
Huge EXP and rewards on hunt!
"Oh, Chuseok already."
Been so buried in work, time flew by unnoticed.
"Event looks pretty solid, though?"
Revenge ran events nonstop, but few I could join. Sieges, world raids, wars—all for elites, not plebs like me.
This Chuseok event was different.
'Drops from any monster.'
No more food worries for a while—I grinned.
"Meow!"
Cheda meowed. Back to KnowledgeIn.
"Whoa, answers already."
With half of 11 billion being mages, magic questions got fast replies.
[Answer] QuickScholar (Sun God): Looks the part, but overall crude.
Like they slapped together a ritual without grasping circling basics.
No Ephlem's Law, no Melbourne framework...
Entry-level magic with subpar circling makes 3rd class tough, 4th or 5th near impossible. Coming to 34th Earth anyway? Must be freak talent.
Frankly, I'd say scatter the circle and rebuild, but past 4th class? Tough.
Got time till next lecture, so I fixed the circling. Base is Sculpting Knife Sect—check their papers.
└ Whoa. Clicked for reply, stayed for the effort...
└ What kinda circling is this trash? Ancient relic?
└ Not ancient—primitive ancient!
└ Primitive ancient? Nah, primitive ancient legendary!
└ Idiots, if it was named that, it'd be total scam lololol
"Beyond expectations... Lucky. Or is Smile the lucky one?"
Chuckling, I adopted the answer and skimmed MyTube on Sculpting Knife Sect circlings.
"Log in."
Back before Smile.
Snatched her quill and started revising the Cartwheel Mage Tower circling per KnowledgeIn.
More overhaul than tweak—60% scrapped, triple added. Same lineage, so no full redo needed.
"No way... My lord. How do you..."
Smile gawked at my fluid ritual-writing. Ignoring her, I finished and returned the paper.
Then I said,
"Been wanting to do this for a while. Couldn't, though. Unlike Steelstone, you hadn't pledged loyalty or built trust."
Only two in Ardenia got my real-world martial arts: Steelstone and Swordsman. Even then, only Steelstone could handle the Muscle-Tendon Changing Marrow Scripture; Swordsman couldn't.
'If I'd shared meditations and circlings with everyone, it'd be different.'
Mana and inner power were the most universal abilities—I could've awakened ten-plus.
But I didn't.
'Knowledge is too valuable.'
The Muscle-Tendon Changing Marrow Scripture was library fodder on Earth, but unmatched any Ardenian method.
No joke—if its power leaked, war would erupt.
Couldn't teach circling or meditation to anyone untrusted. For the weak, treasure meant a death sentence.
But now.
Things had changed.
'No matter how valuable my knowledge, it pales to class-unlocking power. And those empires and kingdoms coveting it? Probably wiped out.'
No need to watch my back.
"If I'm not mistaken... this is leagues beyond my mana control."
"It's a circling. A power beyond any Ardenian mana control... This could take you to 5th class."
"Haha, my lord. 5th class is legend stuff."
"Even with Sword Masters already here?"
"..."
Smile stared at the circling forever, then dropped to her knees.
"I swear on my mana. Unless you mean me harm, my lord, I will never betray you."
"Good."
Grinning, I pulled an item from inventory. Class, Rune Caster (Rare).
"Master this circling in a day. I'll teach useful spells in spare moments."
Said that and moved on. Hundred approached from afar.
"Sir! New elite recruits! Thirty-five strong, and..."
"You. Write out Silver Sword Aura training."
"..."
Hundred went through the same, handing over Silver Sword Aura training.
And he mastered the Heavenly Dragon Sword Art.
Gained Class, Gladiator (Rare).
'No time to drag feet. Full throttle.'
Log out.
Via Cheda, I bought a capsule connector. Three million won, but worth it.
Plus software.
170,000 won simulation software.
[Chakra Awakening and Training].