Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: 3. The Runner
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'Did I show too much?'
"May I ask why you think that?"
"Because you handled the Black Werewolf so skillfully."
"As I said, that was thanks to Ellie's magic support. Otherwise..."
"I saw it, though."
"Pardon?"
For a moment, Sung-hoon tilted his head, not understanding what she meant.
"That little bolt of lightning coming from your hand..."
"Oh, that."
He was a bit flustered, but Sung-hoon wasn't naive enough to lose his poker face over a question like this. He pulled out the amulet hanging around his neck with practiced ease and began a convincing explanation.
"This is why. It's an amulet that lets you cast the 1st-circle spell Shock three times a day."
"You have an item like that?"
"Yeah. As you can see, my gear is pretty lacking otherwise. No skills either. I spent all my money buying this amulet..."
Of course, it was a complete lie.
What Sung-hoon held was Turk's Amulet, obtained from hunting the sick orc long ago. It granted +2 Strength when equipped. Fortunately, Ellie seemed to buy the excuse and nodded in acceptance. Seizing the opening, Sung-hoon turned the tables with a question of his own.
"But you're a pretty powerful mage yourself, aren't you, Ellie? A ranker, no less. And that fireball was insanely strong."
"O-other mages can do this much too."
"Nah. Every mage I've seen just spams low-level spells. Isn't Fireball one of the top-tier 3rd-circle spells? And at the end, it got even stronger."
"That's Mana Enhancement, a skill I got by chance. Don't hype me up too much."
"Really? Oh, by the way, how old are you, Ellie?"
Bombarding her with questions without pause, her initial inquiry got brushed aside.
"Twenty-two?"
"Yep. And you, Sung-hoon?"
"Twenty-five. Since we're at it, wanna drop the formalities?"
"Sure, sounds good. Honestly, all the 'ssi', 'yang', and 'nim' was getting exhausting. Hehe."
Ellie stuck out her tongue halfway, her expression still carrying a youthful innocence that belied her age. Deeming the critical topic sidestepped, Sung-hoon subtly slipped in a few more questions, and Ellie answered them without a hint of suspicion.
"Others helped me learn a lot of magic at first. It was a great party, but it ended up disbanding."
"A rare item dropped as mission reward. Things got heated over whether to sell it or who should keep it..."
"Yeah, I've learned one 4th-circle spell. It's a secret, though. Got it through some lucky encounter."
"This staff? It's an Advanced Magic Staff. Boosts casting speed and total mana capacity."
'What is with this girl?'
She answered his rapid-fire questions without a shred of doubt. No, she even volunteered answers to questions he hadn't asked, leaving Sung-hoon flustered instead.
At this rate, she'd probably spill her three sizes too. He hurriedly cut the conversation short.
"I know someone you might want to meet. I could introduce—"
"Nah, I'm good. You're surprisingly chatty, huh? Thought you were the quiet type."
"I'm pretty talkative normally. Hehe. Just been holding back since we're with strangers."
"Aren't I a stranger?"
"Huh? You're not a stranger anymore, are you, Sung-hoon oppa?"
"That's the kind of thing that could get you in big trouble if the wrong person hears it."
"What's so troublesome about it?"
Sung-hoon retreated with a weary expression, finding her harder to handle than the scheming folks closing in. From his experience surviving The Mission with a few women, he divided them into two types.
The strong, and the gold diggers.
The strong had the skills and pride to match. Demon Sword Mirinae, a top ranker known for her strength, was a prime example. She was powerful and backed it up. They held their own against male players.
The second type: gold diggers.
They leveraged their gender and perceived weakness to latch onto one or two men and mooch off them. Lee So-yeon, clinging to Spear King Kang Mu-han, was the poster child. Somehow, she had him wrapped around her finger—he'd even pretend to die on command.
Even without her, plenty of women lived off sugar daddies in the city.
'But this type is a first.'
Sung-hoon, a 25-year-old veteran singleton who'd never connected with a woman, was prime battalion commander material for the lifelong bachelor squad. With a beauty like Ellie prying and sticking close, he had no clue how to respond and could only hesitate.
He couldn't treat her as coldly as beggars, so he half-panicked, tossing out random topics. Ellie listened with evident interest.
"S-so, like I was saying..."
"Hey, Sung-hoon! We're done eating! Get over here and eat!"
"Ha, ha, looks like they're calling me. Let's wrap this up and grab some food."
"Huh? Can't we talk while eating?"
'This is a nightmare.'
Ellie approached with beaming goodwill, the epitome of pure goodness—but to Sung-hoon, embodiment of evil, it was anything but welcome. He ladled some excellent vegetable soup—impressive for campfire cooking—and handed it to her, then dunked barley bread into his and swallowed it whole.
It paled next to food from his Low Cooking skill, but it satisfied hunger just fine.
Mid Poison Technique detects poisoning. Poison grade: 'Mid-level'
Type: 'Persistent'
Effect: 'Stamina Reduction'
Until that mood-ruining message appeared. Meanwhile, Ellie sidled up to Sung-hoon, who sat blankly with bread in his mouth, looking concerned.
"What's wrong? Doesn't taste good?"
"N-no, it's fine. Throat just got stuck for a sec."
"Here, have some water. Don't eat so fast when you're hungry."
"Thanks."
Gulp, gulp.
As he washed down the bread and traded light chatter with Ellie, Sung-hoon's mind raced. This world resembled a game but wasn't quite one. For instance, everyone assumed status ailments like poison, curses, or fatigue would show in your status window. But skills abounded that could fool such systems.
Without a counter like Poison Technique, the victim wouldn't notice a thing. Of course, only a minority knew this, but it was established knowledge among some.
He himself favored Poison Technique, didn't he?
'Not Park Dong-cheol or Sung A-yeon. Obviously Il-woo. Did that bastard pull something?'
Once suspicion took root, questions snowballed.
'If poison, how?'
'Not lethal, though. Mid-level stamina drain, persistent type—no real impact for a while.'
'At this party's pace, right around boss room entry?'
'To hog the loot and claim the spoils?'
First death only debuffed stats and induced temporary lethargy—no other penalties. But a second death erased you from The Mission forever, dropping all gear and guild affiliation.
Sure, other motives were possible, but unconfirmed. For now, he focused on loot-grabbing.
"Sung-hoon oppa. More bread?"
"What, you think I'm a pig? Nah, you eat plenty."
He ladled another scoop of poisoned soup into Ellie's bowl, then secretly pulled an antidote from his inventory and downed it. [Detoxified.] Stretching casually, he wiped spear blood on the werewolf pelt. Soon, Ellie finished and stood.
"Alright, everyone ate well? Let's move. We've got about 80 down— a few more and we're done. Hang in there just a bit longer!"
After their varied cheers, they followed Il-woo. Trailing behind, Sung-hoon curled his lips into a smirk.
'Doesn't matter anyway. Even if you'd stayed quiet, I would've poisoned you.'