Chapter 6
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Stonebelly's Lost Legacy (3)
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Stonebelly's mayor's mansion was filled with a hypocritical calm.
When Jinwoo opened the door to the reception room, the mayor and the militia captain greeted him with charitable smiles.
"Oh, you managed to come back alive! So, did you bring the monument of our city's precious founder?"
The mayor's repulsive question.
In response, Jinwoo pulled a heavy stone tablet from his bosom instead of answering.
Thud!
The desk in the office shook violently.
A stone tablet emanating an ominous black aura.
The mayor and militia captain's faces turned to stone like statues.
"Is this the monument you were talking about?"
Jinwoo opened his mouth with a cold smile.
"Do I look like a fool to you? This is a cursed relic that awakens the undead guardians of an ancient dynasty's tomb."
"W-What..."
"How did you fools trick the tomb raiders you hired—no, that mercenary band... Thanks to you, the undead went on a rampage. Was your plan to plunder the taboo Atlas's Legacy really just this half-baked?"
Mayor?
At Jinwoo's revelation, the mayor's face drained of color.
He jumped to his feet and shouted.
"Y-You bastard! What nonsense are you spouting? Hey! Drag this madman out right now!"
At the mayor's signal, the militia captain and the soldiers guarding the reception room drew their guns in unison.
They planned to crush Jinwoo with force and bury the truth.
"You've learned too much, kid."
The militia captain sneered, his finger on the trigger.
His finger never pulled it.
Red Eye (Accelerated Shooting)
Instant disarmament complete
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
In an instant, four streaks of blue light sliced through the air.
Clang! Clang!
The guns of the four soldiers, including the militia captain, flew into the air.
"A-Argh!"
Screams erupted as blood sprayed from the backs of their hands.
Red Eye accelerated shooting!
Everything happened in the blink of an eye.
Jinwoo remained seated, casually blowing on the barrel of his Infinite Ammo Pistol, from which not even a wisp of smoke rose.
"Arrrrgh!"
"M-My hand!"
The reception room filled with terror and screams in an instant.
The mayor collapsed into his chair, his face ashen, staring at Jinwoo like he was a monster.
"Now."
Jinwoo nodded toward the relic.
"Shall we talk again? About compensation for cleaning up that trash."
The situation had completely reversed.
The gunslinger errand boy they'd dismissed had seized control in a flash, leaving the mayor and militia captain speechless.
Jinwoo boldly laid out new terms.
"First, double the reinforcements promised to Windhill. Second, as 'hazard pay' for throwing me into the jaws of death, add 5,000 gold coins."
Jinwoo paused, blowing on the smoke rising from the barrel.
"Third. Try that again, and you die."
"Y-You little...!"
"Got a problem? If the townsfolk learn about the grave robbing, you'll have to step down as mayor."
"You think anyone will believe a gunslinger like you?"
The mayor thrashed about. Jinwoo pulled an old letter from his bosom and waved it without a word.
The mayor's seal was clear as day.
"Found this on one of the tomb raiders' lieutenants."
"!!"
"Proof you commissioned the grave robbing yourself. And this tablet—it's a cursed artifact from the Atlas civilization. You know how much the Trade Federation despises forbidden relics like this? They'd see it as a threat to continental security."
Jinwoo knew this quest's other branches.
After uncovering the mayor's scheme, he could ally with the tomb raiders—no, the mercenary band.
Then the furious mercenaries would report it to the Trade Federation.
Sometime later, the town would be razed in a Federation raid.
'This old man won't end up hanging from a tree.'
"Worst of all, what if Stonebelly's citizens learn their mayor was playing dangerous grave-robbing games right next to the village, awakening the undead?"
The mayor's face grew paler.
"Oh, and the identities of the ones you hired? Magnus Mercenary Corps! Hiring those infamous bandits—looks like you've got guts hanging out, old timer."
"W-Wait! Y-Young man! Let's resolve this like civilized people!"
As the mayor trembled with humiliation, the reception room door burst open, and a sweat-soaked messenger rushed in.
"Mayor! Big trouble! Word from the western outpost at Windhill Village—it's been hit by a large band of outlaws!"
In that moment, the scattered puzzle pieces in Jinwoo's mind clicked together.
'Magnus's surviving remnants. No power to revenge on the mayor, so they targeted the softer Windhill.'
Just as expected.
The grave-robbing crew the mayor hired was the Magnus Mercenary Corps.
Their orc leader Magnus and the others had been elsewhere briefly, surviving the undead assault.
'But not enough strength to take revenge on the mayor.'
So they'd chosen the easier prey: Windhill Village.
It all stemmed from the mayor's greed.
Jinwoo spoke lowly to the terrified mayor.
"Alright, Mayor. I'll give you a chance to clean up your mess."
He stood.
"Hand over the promised reinforcements now. I'll go deal with them myself. Or should I expose the tablet?"
The mayor had no choice. With trembling hands, he ordered the militia captain.
Soon after, Jinwoo led dozens of Stonebelly militiamen out of the mansion.
The hefty gold pouch extorted from the mayor was a bonus.
A hunter's smile played on Jinwoo's face amid the annoyance—facing new prey.
'Field boss fight.'
The blood-red twilight swallowed the collapsed wooden palisade of the western outpost.
When Jinwoo and the Stonebelly militia arrived, they were greeted only by charred ruins, a few corpses, and an eerie silence.
"Too... quiet."
The moment Jinwoo muttered lowly.
"Arrrrgh!"
A gut-wrenching scream burst from inside the outpost building.
Jinwoo and the militia instantly aimed their guns and approached the building.
Moments later, a blood-soaked Windhill militiaman staggered out.
"O-Outlaws... still nearby... they got all my comrades..."
Before he could finish, dozens of dots on the horizon kicked up dust clouds, charging toward them.
Men on horseback.
Leading them: an imposing outlaw with green skin and a muscular bulk.
It was a wonder what horse could carry such a frame.
"Kill them all!"
In his hands: a dwarf-made Gatling gun too massive for any human.
'Magnus.'
Jinwoo's eyes narrowed.
'Ravenous Predator' Magnus
"Everyone, take cover! Battle stations!"
At Jinwoo's shout, the militiamen hurriedly hid behind the outpost ruins.
Magnus and his men approached leisurely, like raiders with time to spare.
"Krahaha! More rats! Perfect timing. I'll grind you all to dust!"
Magnus gripped the Gatling's handles and spun up the barrels.
Whirr!
"Take cover now!"
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The preheated Gatling spewed fire.
A merciless barrage that shredded the covered building whole!
Wood splinters and dirt flew everywhere, screams from unlucky soldiers erupting.
"Damn it! Too much firepower!"
"We can't move!"
Jinwoo gritted his teeth. At this rate, they'd dry up and die.
He darted cat-like between covers, waiting for the brief moment Magnus reloaded.
'One chance.'
Jinwoo knew from game knowledge.
That dwarf-made Gatling boasted overwhelming firepower, but slow reload.
And crucially, about three seconds preheat before firing.
Click.
The magazine swap sound.
Jinwoo leaped from cover without missing it.
"Take this."
Red Eye
World slows. Precision shot locked.
Red Eye: the world slowed. The orc's shocked face rippled before him.
"No...! Reloading...!"
Whoosh.
The blue flash cleaved the twilight air.
Jinwoo's bullet pierced Magnus's right eye, exiting the back of his skull.
"...Guh?"
The orc, who moments ago had been blasting like the world was ending, met a pathetic end.
He tumbled from his horse without grasping what hit him.
Thud!
The massive body hit the ground with a dull noise.
The battlefield fell silent.
The outlaws panicked at their leader's anticlimactic death; the militiamen cheered.
"We won! We did it!"
But Jinwoo kept his gun raised, expression grim.
'No. This isn't over.'
His intuition was spot on. Right then.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunfire erupted from the hill behind the outpost—the unguarded side.
Far more precise and powerful than Magnus's crew. An ambush.
Magnus's Elite Unit Has Appeared!
"Damn it..."
Jinwoo cursed, diving for cover.
'Killing one boss doesn't end it. Those Providence bastards' padding tricks persist even in reality!'
Bullets chipped his hiding rock.
Red Eye
Cooldown remaining—
Jinwoo drew his pistol. Fanning stance.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
In a blink, over a dozen enemies dropped.
"Tch, stamina short again!"
Jinwoo grumbled, ducking back.
Powerful, but cooldown-limited.
And Jinwoo's body wasn't bulletproof.
"Annoying. Wait for stamina refill and drag it out?"
Jinwoo could win a prolonged fight.
The problem: the others.
"Ugh... damn it!"
A militiaman groaned, hiding behind a crumbled wall. A bullet had grazed his arm.
The others couldn't even peek under the sudden firepower.
'If these guys all die, the Windhill rescue rating drops. What a hassle.'
Jinwoo quickly snapped off a shot, exploding a head popping from the hill.
Maybe from his earlier marksmanship.
The enemies advanced slowly, cunningly using rocks and terrain.
'No way it ends with just Magnus. Game dev padding patterns hold in reality too.'
He muttered irritably.
Saving as many as possible would make the mayor more compliant—and boost long-term Windhill reinforcements.
As he scanned the hill, a lightning memory flashed.
<RISING WEST> days.
This area's infamous field gimmick, used by countless players.
'Ah, right—that.'
He remembered.
The rocky hill looked like a natural fortress, but inside: a web of abandoned mine shafts. A strong impact at key points caused chain collapses due to structural flaws.
And...
'Devs hid it for players to use. Old dynamite crates.'
An icy smile crept on Jinwoo's lips.
He crawled and yelled to a nearby militiaman.
"Hey! Gather all survivors here! Do exactly as I say, and you'll live!"
"But that firepower...!"
"Just do it! Pour every bullet at them! Make it loud, draw all attention!"
The militiaman hesitated but trusted the man who'd one-shot Magnus.
"Got it! Everyone, focus fire on those rocks!"
Desperate covering fire began.
Jinwoo slithered snake-like, flanking the hill's side. Bullets grazed his cheek, but he pressed on.
His mental map showed the safest, fastest route they didn't know.
Finally, he reached their blind spot—the mine's weakest point.
Through rock gaps: bundles of red dynamite in a rotten wooden crate, faintly visible.
"Idiots. Don't even know what's under their feet."
Jinwoo raised his pistol. Aimed at the dynamite.
"Now, end it in one shot."
Whoosh!
Not thunder or flash—just air quietly torn.
Jinwoo's bullet struck true.
The tiny impact triggered a massive blast.
BOOM!
"What the—!"
As stunned enemies gawked, the shock became the domino trigger.
Rumble...
CRASH!
A small tremor at first.
Then the entire hill collapsed in roar.
The ground under the outlaws sank like a giant pitfall.
"Argh! The ground!"
"W-What?! Aaaaah!"
Their final screams swallowed by chain dynamite explosions.
A colossal dust cloud blanketed the sky. Silence followed—no trace of life.
"...Over?"
Surviving militiamen stared blankly at the hill-turned-grave.
Then, from the dust, a figure strolled out casually.
Jinwoo brushed dust from his barrel theatrically.
"What're you waiting for?"
Successfully defended the Western Outpost!
Reputation +200
Reward: 11,500 Gold
Jinwoo smirked at the familiar system message.
This game always flowed in his favor.
"I-Incredible, sir."
A militiaman approached, eyes full of awe.
"If not for you... we'd all be dead!"
Jinwoo nodded.
Today's battle was done, but work remained.
"Next quest awaits."