Chapter 30
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Ghost (2)
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Red Rock Valley lived up to its name. Massive boulders, dyed in the glow of the setting sun, encircled it like a folding screen.
Jinwoo headed for the valley's highest ridgeline.
He concealed himself there with Falcon in the deep shadows cast by a gigantic boulder.
His eyes were fixed on the faint wisps of smoke rising from a campfire below.
‘That’s it. Kellogg’s first campsite.’
He peered through the scope of his Hawk Eye.
The camp scenery sharpened into crystal-clear focus through the lens.
Jinwoo frowned for a moment.
"What the hell is this?"
The sight that met his eyes was far shabbier than he'd imagined.
No, it was downright wretched.
There were no signs of the numerous tents and plank shacks he'd seen in the game.
Just three or four dilapidated tents, nothing more.
The people slinking around them looked even more disheveled.
Their weapons amounted to a handful of rusted shotguns.
Some didn't even have guns and clutched hand axes or pitchforks instead.
‘Total headcount around twenty. Because it's so early in the timeline?’
Gaunt faces clad in threadbare rags.
They resembled a column of refugees more than any resistance force.
A dry chuckle escaped Jinwoo's lips.
‘This is... the resistance? They look like bandits chased down from the mountains. Poor Kellogg.’
He swung the scope around in search of Kellogg.
The man had gathered the others around the campfire and was unleashing a fervent speech.
He looked even gaunter than he'd been at the salt mine, but his eyes still burned with life.
"We must band together against the Trade Federation! Only then..."
Right then.
Bang!
A single gunshot rang out of nowhere. The camp's fragile peace shattered.
Blood erupted from the shoulder of one of the speech's listeners.
“Argh!”
“Ambush!”
Amid the shouts, dozens of men burst from the surrounding rocks and bushes.
Grimy attire, eyes gleaming with greed.
They were the Red Scorpion Bandits, the local outlaws with bounties on their heads.
“Kuahaha! Kellogg! That bounty on your neck is quite the payday!”
The apparent bandit leader bellowed as he fired wildly.
The rebels scrambled for their weapons to fight back, but they were never a match to begin with.
A one-sided massacre in numbers and equipment quality alike.
Boom!
Each time a battered shotgun barked once.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The bandits' repeaters unleashed three or four rounds with every lever pump and trigger pull.
Jinwoo watched the scene through his scope, his brow furrowing.
‘Damn, of all the timings.’
This was an unplanned contingency.
The rebels fell helplessly one after another.
Kellogg fought fiercely, dropping a couple of bandits, but soon a flanking bandit slammed a kick into his side. He staggered and collapsed.
The bandits swarmed him.
"That’s the one! Fugitive Kellogg! The bastard who stole Federation assets, right?"
Jinwoo paled.
‘Shit! My investment’s on the verge of delisting!’
If this kept up, Kellogg would die.
His investment would turn to worthless scraps before it even got started!
‘Can’t let that happen.’
Grumbling, he shouldered his Hawk Eye.
‘No choice. Time for a bailout.’
As an investor, he had no option but to go all-in, tears and all.
The crosshairs locked onto the bandit leader.
Most of the rebels were already pinned down or barely holding out, with nearly half suffering casualties.
“Kuahaha! It’s over now. Turn into my bounty!”
The bandit leader stomped down on Kellogg’s chest with his booted foot.
He seized Kellogg by the hair and hoisted a massive blade in his other hand.
Kellogg clutched the blood oozing from his side, glaring up at him with eyes full of hatred.
As the rebels' hope flickered out in that do-or-die moment.
Pew!
The tiniest whisper of sound.
A blue flash streaked through the crowd in the blink of an eye.
Too faint to reach anyone's ears amid the gunfire and screams.
The result was devastating.
“...Guhk?”
"Boss?"
The bandit leader’s eyes rolled back toward the sky.
A small hole pierced his temple.
Blood sprayed out like a fountain.
Unaware of what had happened, he dropped his gun and crumpled beside Kellogg.
Thud!
For a moment, an uncanny silence blanketed the camp.
“B-Boss?”
The bandits froze, unable to believe their eyes.
The rebels were just as stunned, gaping at their foe's sudden collapse.
Jinwoo didn't miss that split-second confusion.
Pew!
A bullet embedded in the forehead of a hulking bandit spraying repeater fire at the rebels.
Pew! Pew!
The throats of two ugly thieves blocking the scattered rebels' escape routes were torn open.
Pure efficiency.
Most dangerous first, then commanders, then those with the biggest impact on the battle!
Like sweeping away trash, Jinwoo methodically erased the bandits' core forces.
Of course, his pounding heart was far from calm as he pulled the trigger.
‘If the rebels all die here, I'll be the one scrambling! Gotta save them!’
Jinwoo's efforts bore fruit.
Terror gripped the bandits.
“W-What!”
“Where the hell is it coming from!”
Bullets were definitely incoming.
But no one could see from where.
No gunshots, no powder smoke!
The chilling sensation of an invisible ghost picking them off one by one.
The thieves began firing madly into the empty air.
“Over there! On the rocks!”
“No, this way!”
Their chaos became the rebels' opportunity.
Kellogg, shaking off his daze, dragged his wounded body upright and roared.
"Roooar!"
He snatched up the gun the boss had dropped and fired at the other bandits.
Bang!
"Everyone, attack! Follow me!"
"Uwaaaah!"
The rebels charged back in a frenzy.
In stark contrast.
“Now! Counterattack!”
The tide turned in an instant.
The bandits, bereft of leadership and paralyzed by unseen fear, were no longer a match for the rebels.
"F-Fuck! Run!"
Finally, the surviving few screamed, flung down their weapons, and scattered into the darkness.
Unbelievable silence descended once more on the camp.
"W-We won!"
Someone let out a cheer. Kellogg bowed his head and barked orders.
"No! Check the wounded first! Stay vigilant around the perimeter!"
At his command, the rebels tended to the injured and mounted a sloppy but earnest guard.
Watching them pull themselves together, Jinwoo slipped away from his post.
‘Luck like this won’t hold forever. Do better next time.’
The next day, at the rebel base.
The group recounted yesterday's frantic events.
“It ended so abruptly, it felt empty.”
Kellogg muttered in bewilderment.
Just recently a place teetering on the brink of life and death. Now one corner was littered with bandit corpses and the stench of blood.
They'd stripped the usable gear and boots from the bandits and piled them aside.
Awe and confusion over the miracle they'd witnessed overshadowed any joy of victory.
“What in the world... happened yesterday?”
“Did a ghost help us out?”
They asked one another, but no one had a clear answer.
Kellogg was no different.
“Sniper, right? That blue flash?”
“Yes! Faint, but from behind that ridgeline.”
“Good. Let’s go take a look.”
One rebel's report.
At those words, Kellogg shot a wary glance toward the rocky backside of the ridgeline where the bullets had likely come from.
They headed in the direction the shots had originated.
“No casings. No traces to go on.”
The rebels started to turn back.
Right then, the burly man Bartu spotted something and shouted.
“Over there! Check that out!”
His finger pointed toward the narrow entrance path into the camp.
Atop a large boulder by the roadside—empty just moments ago—sat a hefty wooden crate all by its lonesome.
A few rebels approached the box cautiously.
“Careful. Could be a dynamite trap.”
Wary of traps, they surrounded it with guns trained.
A crude note, roughly carved with a knife, lay atop the lid.
Bartu picked it up and read the words slowly.
[Investment for the future. GHOST]
“Ghost... phantom?”
“Same guy as yesterday’s sniper?”
As murmurs spread, Kellogg stepped up and inspected the crate himself.
He hesitated briefly, then opened the lid with grim resolve.
Clunk!
"...!"
The moment it swung open, everyone's eyes widened in shock at the contents.
"T-This!"
“Mystic magic guns!”
Inside were stacked items straight out of their wildest dreams.
Polished steel and intricate wooden bodies.
Flawless new models embedded with gleaming blue mana stones.
Mystic magic guns.
Packed to the brim with ammo and spare mana stones, no less.
“N-No way... a gift?”
“All this is ours?”
Shock swiftly turned to ecstasy.
They drew out the weapons one by one.
The cold touch and substantial weight inexplicably filled them with strength.
“Yes! Now we can take on the Trade Federation head-on!”
Kellogg seized the mood and climbed atop the boulder to launch into a speech.
"Comrades! Now we have weapons—our goal is set! Attack the Trade Federation convoy!"
"Waaaaaah!"
The cheers rose like those of excited children.
Jinwoo watched the entire scene from beyond the valley's highest ridgeline, his expression impassive.
A faint, satisfied smile tugged at his lips.
‘Yeah, now it’s getting interesting. Please moonshot.’
The bailout was in.
All that remained was to watch leisurely for the returns this investment would yield.
"Time to get to my quest, then."
Jinwoo turned quietly and departed.