Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: Pay-to-Win Knight
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"Oh, this is..."
I stared blankly at the screen for a moment.
"An item... from another game?"
A whirlwind of thoughts raced through my mind in an instant. The biggest one among them was this.
It might not just be me.
"What an idiot..."
It was the obvious conclusion. The power that a social misfit like me had gained overnight could just as easily be gained by anyone else, right?
I patted Cheda's belly and searched for [Reality] and [Game Abilities].
[The way elders' skills apply to reality.]
[Reality game abilities of the Game Masters' priests.]
[Exclusive! Reality application of game abilities for players from D.I.O.]
[Game abilities of the Half-Sages from the God of War Tournament.]
[Shocking! Legendary skills of the Game God's Apostles.]
"Ah, damn it..."
I gave up right away. There were just too many search results! Then again, in the 34th Earth, the domain of the Game Masters who dominated the very concept of [Games], it was foolish to expect meaningful results from such vague keywords.
Instead, I found an unusual video.
[Ogre from a game appears in Apgujeong!?]
"What the hell?"
I tapped to play the video. As the title suggested, it showed Apgujeong, bustling with crowds of people. Some hurried along, others strolled leisurely, when suddenly the space on the street warped, and something emerged from within.
"Grraaah!"
In the midst of the throng, a 3.5-meter giant appeared. A monster armored head to toe in thick muscles like plate armor. An ogre!
Known as the man-eating giant, possessing inhuman strength that defies belief as a living creature, the ogre is one of the top-tier monsters. It claims entire mountain ranges as its territory, creating countless victims—a being of terror!
"Ah, what is that? An ogre?"
"But its build looks weird, doesn't it? The ogres I know have bigger heads, longer arms, and protruding bellies... That one's almost human-proportioned. It looks more like something from a game than the ones in the beast preserves."
"Is it a summon?"
Yet despite the appearance of such a monster in the city, no one showed any fear. It went beyond the usual urban complacency—no one even blinked.
"Ooh, my body's tingling. Is this killing intent?"
A man, mere two meters from the ogre, broke into a cold sweat but crept closer anyway. Either trusting the crowd around him or simply fearless.
Did that irk it? The ogre's eyes flashed with murderous intent.
Thwack!
"Gah!"
The man who approached was sent flying with a scream, rolling across the ground from the ogre's punch.
The crowd's gaze shifted instantly.
"It hit a person? Right in the middle of the street? Out in the open?"
"Oh my god. Is it actually insane? We've seen it all now."
"This is self-defense!"
"Call the police! Or... do we even need them in this case!?"
As the atmosphere chilled, the ogre's eyes turned bloodshot.
And then.
Crack!
"Gurk!"
The ogre staggered. An ice hammer had dropped from the sky.
"Rraaagh!"
Caught off guard by the pain, its killing intent thickened. A rage that wouldn't be sated even by devouring every human nearby!
But the ice hammer was just the beginning.
"Catch it! It's an assailant!"
"I'll look for the summoner!"
"Police notified! ETA 21 seconds!"
"Alright, then I'll get one hit in before that!"
Uproar erupted from all directions.
Boom! Crash! Thud! Crunch!
Lightning bolts, ice spears, steel flowers—dozens, no, nearly a hundred attacks rained down.
This was the city. A place teeming with people.
And... more than half of the ability users on the 34th Earth were mages skilled in ranged attacks.
Crack! Thwack! Boom!
"Gurk! Gah! Kek!"
The ogre screamed under the relentless barrage. It tried to move and dodge, but iron chains and ice bindings had erupted from the ground, pinning it down.
"As expected, no one stands against a mob."
Even on the 34th Earth, few had the combat prowess to face an ogre solo. Unless you were in the police or military, there was no need to train fighting skills, and even less reason to hone them to the level of a master.
However... even if one-on-one was impossible, with numbers this lopsided, there was no hope.
The ogre died before the police even arrived.
"And this isn't even the only case."
From famous monsters like ogres, trolls, and manticores—common even in beast preserves—to crystal lizards, clerics wielding maces (humanoid, so it was captured rather than killed), giant undead rats, cursed trees, and other beasts recognizable only to veteran gamers.
"I can't believe I had no idea about any of this..."
But on second thought, it made sense. These incidents hadn't been big news on the 34th Earth.
A quick search turned up over thirty cases of monsters appearing in urban areas or rural spots, yet only three had made the news—and those involved injuries, not deaths.
No one was suppressing information.
They simply weren't worth covering.
Even the ones that did make the news felt like, "A wild boar appeared in the city center, causing a brief commotion."
"Got it. Stuff like this has been happening quite a bit since last year. Monsters... and items appearing."
I checked the articles. Things like [Monster appears in city center! Game Master event?] or [Grade 2 magic tool discovered—modeled after a game item?].
"What kind of headlines end in question marks? Is this that clickbait journalism crap?"
I laughed in disbelief, but it was inevitable. They knew nothing about it.
In fact, these incidents were all...
'Trivial.'
Yeah. All trivial. An ogre in the city center? It got beaten down by passersby and vanished—no issue. A few got hurt, but they were treated right away.
A Grade 1 or 2 magic tool dropping on the street? Someone picks it up, drops it at the nearest station, done. In a medieval land like this, it might spark a war, but on the 34th Earth, few covet items with unknown owners.
Of course, something on the level of the Black Sun Staff I found would be different, but that was an exceptional item among exceptions.
'Still... no cases like mine.'
None of the search results mentioned anything like my situation. Though, of course, I couldn't be sure they didn't exist. There might be others hiding it, just like me.
In the end.
"Nothing... I can do about it right now, huh?"
A deflating conclusion for someone who'd logged out in shock, but what could I do? I just resolved to keep a closer eye on the news from now on.
"Log in."
Back to Ardania. I poked my head out from behind Kasim as he soared through the sky, watching the land flow backward like a river below. And the monsters swarming atop it.
Gazing down at them, a thought struck me.
"Oh yeah..."
I yanked the reins, and Kasim folded his wings halfway, diving like an eagle spotting prey.
"I'm dumping hundreds, thousands into trash gacha games for one item or skill..."
Kasim drew in a breath, a orb of divinity forming before his gaping maw. Just before hitting the ground, he snapped it up.
"While someone else is playing a god-tier game---!"
One where legendaries drop from every dungeon, and skills come with every level up! No way someone's playing something like that!
"Graaaah---!"
The two beasts roared!
Flash!
A blinding light pierced a massive hole through the densely packed horde.
"Whew."
I regulated my breathing, feeling the drops from the slain monsters fill my inventory via Kasim's collection ability.
But in that moment, elite monsters popped up amid the throng.
"Bind it!"
"Grraaah!"
"Kill it!"
Chill blasts surged from between the icy forces, linking from the sky to form a massive ice net.
"What?"
I panicked at the unexpected counter. Despite wiping out hundreds in one strike, their response was instantaneous.
As if they'd been waiting for my attack.
"Damn!"
I instantly drew the Superhuman Sword.
Fleeting Sword Art, First Form.
Single Sword Strike.
Crack!
The sky-covering ice net shredded in an instant.
Which meant it hadn't fully broken.
"What the...!?"
This was a slash that even cleaved the Ice Queen—a one-hit kill drawing every ounce of my strength—yet this net withstood it?
"Graaang!"
Kasim flapped fiercely, tearing through the ragged net.
Shatter!
But another layer of ice net descended atop it.
Thud! Thud! Crack!
It snagged Kasim mid-ascent, sending his massive bulk crashing down. His flight was impressive, but his bulk was too great. Lose momentum for a second, and he plummeted.
"Graang!"
Boom!
Kasim hit the ground, thrashing his tail wildly, smashing the oncoming ice elementals like a tsunami.
But that bought them time.
Shatter!
Another ice net rose.
"No way...?"
I turned to see dozens—no, over a hundred elite frost monsters blasting chill into the sky. Their coordination was unbelievably precise.
Thud!
Even the ice golem before me spewed its last chill and collapsed.
It had drained itself to death.
"Kill it! Crush him!"
"Kieeek!"
A rare snow woman bellowed, and yetis charged with shrill cries.
Kasim's wings were frozen solid; he couldn't move. Unlike me with my Frost Guardian Ring, he had no cold resistance.
Crunch!
I channeled inner energy for another Single Sword Strike, toppling a swarm, but it was like tossing pebbles in a lake.
I was in the midst of thousands—tens of thousands, maybe.
"Huh? This setup feels...?"
A spine-chilling, death-trap situation!
But luckily, I had a way.
Thud!
A staff shaped like a signpost slammed into the ground.
[All your stats drop by 1 rank!]
[Supreme Intimidation activates!]
I tested my inner energy. It worked.
But no sword aura manifested.
'Rank drop...!'
But my debuff was nothing compared to the foes around me.
Crackle!
The chill-radiating ice nets lost power and crumbled. The ice elementals flinched, the snow woman's blizzard halted.
Crunch!
My movements didn't stop. I swung the Superhuman Sword, decapitating the elites closing in.
The monsters panicked as their abilities cut off.
"Kasim!"
"Krang!"
With the enemies' powers severed, Kasim shook off the ice on his wings and crouched low, upper body to the ground.
I retrieved the staff and mounted him.
Boom!
The usual brutal takeoff!
Reading my intent, Kasim skipped his roar and flapped madly. Late recoveries hurled ice spears, but we were already airborne.
"Hah... hah... Damn, that scared me."
I groaned high in the sky. Even a brief skirmish left me gasping, sweat beading.
"Wow, I got cocky. Too arrogant."
I'd strolled into a warzone like a picnic and nearly died without knowing why. I thought Divine Roar after a dive-bomb would let me trade blows and escape unscathed. Wrong.
"Combined technique. An ability not even in monster skills..."
On reflection, the Ice Queen had unleashed ice barrages from insane altitudes too. As games became reality, monsters' strategies and attacks diversified.
Shick.
The Black Sun Staff vanished smoothly into my inventory. I glanced at its icon—distinct from the others—then ignored it and pondered the war ahead.
"For now... focus on the fire points. If the Ice Queen revives, it'll be a headache."
Nearly dying to monsters without a special boss pushed thoughts of other game systems on Earth to the back burner. Obviously—they were future problems, right?
But I didn't know. That what I'd seen in the video was happening nationwide, worldwide.
No.
Across the entire universe...