Chapter 14
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Another Conspiracy (1)
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.
"!"
Falcon let out a mighty roar as he kicked off the ground. It was on a whole different level from their previous trek on foot.
The scenery ahead blurred into streaks, rushing past behind them.
Jinwoo felt the solid ripple of muscles along Falcon's back and thrilled with excitement.
"Run! Forward!"
"!"
Now, at last, they were truly ready to conquer this vast continent.
'Good. Mobility secured. Next up: funds and fame.'
The massive scenarios stored in his mind from [Rising West] flashed by like a panorama.
Jinwoo pondered briefly, then tugged lightly on Falcon's reins, veering south.
Red Sand Garrison.
The place where the first main quest tied to the Trade Federation began.
Before long, ramshackle wooden buildings shrouded in dust appeared over the horizon of the wasteland.
Jinwoo slowed Falcon at the village entrance, basking in the residents' awestruck stares at his majestic mount as he headed straight for the village's sole tavern.
-
As he pushed open the tavern door, a musty stench of booze and raucous noise assaulted him.
Jinwoo quickly scanned the room.
He hadn't come here just to drink.
'Around this time, the Trade Federation quest should trigger in the tavern. The condition is...'
In the game, a notification popped up: [Sit in the tavern and gather information!]
Following that, you'd just sit and eavesdrop on the merchants' chatter.
Even in this real-life Eldorado Continent, direct interaction was needed to unlock the next quest, so doing the same should work.
Jinwoo took a seat at the nearest table, deliberately tilting his ear toward the merchants.
Sure enough, the familiar lines he'd heard countless times in the game drilled right into his ears.
"I've heard the executive at the local Trade Federation branch has been acting suspicious lately. Rumors say he's involved in illegal arms deals..."
"Yeah, seems like something's up with the bandits too. You think they're up to no good?"
Main Quest: Investigate the Trade Federation's Illegal Deals
🎁 Reward: 16,000 Gold, ???
Jinwoo hit accept without hesitation.
The corner of his mouth curved faintly upward.
'Perfect. Quest accepted. Now for the intel.'
There was always an NPC hunkered in the corner of this tavern.
Information broker Henry.
'Give him 100 gold, and he'll hand over a bogus map leading to the bandits' decoy hideout.'
He rose and approached a shabby man nursing a drink in the dim corner.
Jinwoo tossed a pouch of gold coins onto the table without a word. Henry's eyes gleamed with greed.
"Where are the bandits dealing with the Trade Federation?"
"...Heh, a man who knows his stuff."
Henry pocketed the coins and pulled a tattered parchment from his bosom, handing it over.
Jinwoo pretended to examine the map and nodded.
It was the exact fake map from the game, designed to lure players into a trap.
Everything was going just as he'd anticipated.
Jinwoo left the tavern and grabbed Falcon's reins.
His gaze fixed on the rugged mountains depicted on the map.
'A classic bait quest.'
His mind filled with cold certainty.
He pictured the trap awaiting him there, and the real intel and quest leads he'd gain by smashing through it.
'Head to this fake lair, trigger the secondary ambush, take down the mid-boss. Annoying, but gotta follow the guide.'
With a resolute expression, Jinwoo mounted Falcon.
His steps resumed, following the scripted sequence.
Jinwoo plunged without hesitation into the narrow canyon marked on the fake map.
Falcon's heavy footfalls echoed off the barren stone floor.
He briefly pulled out a telescope and scanned the surroundings calmly. No enemies.
His mind sharply cross-referenced the terrain with his game memories.
'Yep, this is it. Primary ambush line. No changes. They've dug another trap in the exact same spot.'
No sooner had the thought formed than dozens of shadows appeared atop the cliffs on both sides of the canyon.
"Fire!"
!
A hail of bullets poured down with sharp whistles.
Simultaneously, log barricades rolled down from the front and rear of the canyon, perfectly sealing off escape routes.
A flawless encirclement—a slaughterhouse stage primed to tear apart amateur gunmen.
"!"
Falcon roared menacingly, rearing up on his forelegs.
As if he'd been waiting, Jinwoo lightly patted Falcon's neck and whispered low.
"Go, Falcon. Charge! Time to trample those bastards."
The moment Jinwoo's words ended, Falcon exploded off the ground in a leap closer to a detonation.
His steel-hard legs scaled the near-vertical cliff in just two bounds with unbelievable leg strength.
"Wh-what the hell?!"
The bandits firing arrows from the cliff tops stared in horror.
Their greatest advantage—the high ground—neutralized in an instant!
Falcon landed and spun his massive body, kicking out at the nearest bandits with his legs.
"!"
"Th-this monster bird is...!"
! His talons slammed the ground, shattering solid rock and sending shards flying.
Overwhelming leg power and speed!
The slashing talons ripped the bandits apart.
"Now!"
Red Eye Activated! Remaining Time: 5 Seconds
With Jinwoo's shout, a flash erupted from atop Falcon's back.
! ! !
Soundless magic bullets pierced the heads of the panicked bandits with pinpoint accuracy.
Falcon shattered the enemy's formation in close combat.
And Jinwoo picked them off with precise shots.
Perfect synergy.
The tide turned in a flash.
'Where's the mid-boss?'
Jinwoo spotted an enemy turning tail and fleeing.
The mid-boss: "Rough Koram."
“!”
The guy had lost all will to fight amid the absurd scene, using his underlings as shields while screaming and running.
"That's far enough."
A chilling voice rang out as a massive shadow dropped before him.
Falcon had leaped over in a single bound, blocking his path.
“! D-don't shoot!”
Koram collapsed in terror.
His underlings lay scattered as cold corpses around him.
Jinwoo dismounted and kicked him square in the jaw.
“!”
"Where's your real hideout? When's the next Trade Federation deal?"
Koram clamped his mouth shut at first, but the cold barrel pressed to his temple forced a full confession.
"...T-tonight! In the hidden cave to the north... we're meeting the Federation guys!"
"Good. Useful info."
Clue Acquired. Linked Quest Unlocked.
The hassle of interrogating and acting it out step-by-step to unlock quests aside, everything was on plan.
!
Jinwoo ended Koram without a second thought once the info was secured.
He wiped the blood-splattered boots on a rock and stared north at the sky.
His gaze was brutally predatory, locked on his next prey.
"Tonight, huh... A bit ahead of schedule."
The sun slowly sank beyond the horizon, casting long, eerie shadows over the wasteland.
With the "tonight" time limit, Jinwoo's mind raced at full throttle.
'Normally a few days from now. It's early. Did my actions create a variable?'
No idea. Still, everything so far had progressed smoothly per his guide.
"Falcon, up high. Follow me from there."
He patted Falcon's neck and commanded.
Falcon lowed as if understanding, flapping his short wings briefly before following from a higher rock perch.
"Smart enough to be useful."
Jinwoo watched until Falcon vanished from sight, then stripped off Koram's leather armor and donned it.
The acrid blood stench stung his nose, but he endured.
It bore the bandits' insignia.
Minimal disguise for infiltration.
Jinwoo set off alone toward the mountains.
Moonlight alone lit the treacherous mountain path.
The northern cave Koram mentioned was cleverly hidden.
A lair nestled in a massive rock crevice that an ordinary person might wander a full day without finding.
'Guards will be tight. Storming the front gate would be foolish.'
The game's terrain map unfolded perfectly in his mind.
In cases like this, skip the direct path and detour to the sheer cliffside. A hidden route he'd often used for item farming.
A path invisible amid the steep rock walls.
He traversed the narrow passage deftly and slipped silently to the cave's side.
Soon, torchlight and a bandit guard post entered his view.
The guards shivered against the cold and boredom, chatting idly.
Jinwoo concealed himself perfectly in the rock shadows, coldly calculating their patrol patterns and shift times.
'...Every 3 minutes, they patrol to that watchtower and back. Exactly 10 seconds when their backs are turned.'
After a suffocating wait, the moment arrived.
The instant the guard turned, Jinwoo darted across the shadows like a cat.
He successfully melted into the darkness near the cave entrance, behind stacked weapon crates, without a sound.
"Falcon, wait here. Come running when the commotion starts. Got it?"
"?"
Falcon trilled lightly and shook his head. Jinwoo eyed him suspiciously before turning away.
'Eh, smarter than he looks. He'll get it.'
The cave interior was far more vast and labyrinthine than expected.
Bandit shouts and the sour reek of booze echoed everywhere.
Jinwoo hugged the walls, creeping forward along the shadows cast by the torches.
Deep inside, voices leaked from the farthest chamber.
He hid behind a massive stalactite and peered through a crack.
A huge open space lay beyond.
A bonfire blazed in the center, surrounded by a bandit leader-type and a man in crisp uniform facing each other.
'Bandit guy's probably... Iron Fang Grak. Uniform's Silas, the local exec.'
Matching his long playtime experience to reality, Jinwoo kept spying.
Behind the uniformed man stood elite soldiers in Trade Federation-emblazoned armor, lined up.
"...So, you brought what we requested, Silas?"
Bandit leader Grak asked with greedy eyes.
Silas, the Trade Federation exec, smirked arrogantly and gestured.
His men flung open a hefty crate.
A eerie blue glow spilled from the box, bathing the cave in ghostly light.
Jinwoo's eyes twitched.
'Rare item. Not for me, though.'
Its gun-like form was anything but ordinary.
The barrel embedded with blue mana circuits, humming with strange power.
'Arcane mana rifle.'
On the Eldorado Continent, where revolvers, double-barrel shotguns, and lever-action rifles dominated, one of the rare automatic rifle equivalents.
Crafted with ancient Atlas civilization tech.
"Feast your eyes! Latest-model arcane mana rifle. This could wipe out a garrison like nothing."
"! Trade Federation delivers! We'll take over the nearby villages and pay you handsomely in tribute!"
Jinwoo held his breath.
The Trade Federation supplying cutting-edge weapons to bandits, using them to sow chaos in the region—a vile deal in motion.
His hand had unconsciously gripped the pistol at his waist.
'Evidence secured. If I play it right, I could handle them quietly without an ambush...'
The very moment he turned to slip away and act—
An icy voice whispered right in his ear from behind.
"Who the hell's that rat?"
Jinwoo's hairs stood on end.
Cold sweat trickled down his spine.
!
Jinwoo ducked swiftly.
A crossbow bolt embedded in the wall. From the darkness emerged a mysterious figure wielding a gleaming bow.
Jinwoo's eyes turned red.
Red Eye locked on target. Bullets erupted.
!
But the enemy vanished into the shadows, dodging the bullets at astonishing speed.
Crossbow bolts flew from the gloom.
“, just as expected. This event always triggers, huh.”
Jinwoo clicked his tongue and dove behind another wall.