The White-Robed Priest Emerges
Four days later.
Hilde and her companions arrived one by one, each laden with heavy packs.
“Here we are?”
“The world is truly vast. Look at all these places.”
“There are still plenty of unexplored spots. The Central Continent. And beyond the Orc Empire to the west, there’s another land entirely.”
Horizon’s world was enormous.
An ultra-giant planet three times the size of Earth.
Every server received a continent of sufficient scale to serve as its world.
“Whoa, there are dungeons here too. Mind if we take a look?”
“Go ahead. Just don’t touch the central dungeon.”
Fafnir explained the forces of the Iron Blood Alliance that had arrived first.
“Since their guilds are exploring, if we run into them, we’ll fight or kill on sight to protect the dungeon.”
“Iron Blood… those people are truly awful. They control hunting grounds, and if you don’t pay or resist, they call in knights and slaughter everyone.”
The Iron Blood Alliance’s infamy spread throughout the entire community.
“Probably best not to provoke them.”
“Once they mark you, you’re in trouble. Even one guy I know got wrecked by the Iron Blood. Paid a hefty penalty and barely got cleared.”
Drexler and Veron added their own remarks.
“By the way, Hilde-nim, are we all here?”
“Ah, no. One more.”
“The one I mentioned last time……”
“Yes, just a moment… Ah, here she comes!”
A girl in a flowing white robe descended from the nearby mountainside.
She carried a small cross-staff decorated with light wave patterns. Her petite frame and bright red twin tails made her instantly recognizable.
She was a priest of the Ru Church.
“……Haa.”
The girl took a deep breath.
‘I can do this. This time, I really have to do well!’
As the girl approached the group, she lifted her gaze and scanned the surroundings.
She saw Fafnir, Hilde, and the other two people.
‘First, I have to say “Hello.”’
The girl steadied her racing heart and spoke up.
“A… a… no…… wait, what kind of Necromancer is hanging around here looking for dark-element hunting?!”
The atmosphere instantly turned icy cold.
‘Oh no… this is bad!’
The flustered priest quickly continued.
“Are the brothers really useless? Buffs can’t even reach these useless Necromancers~.”
She had just stepped into two consecutive traps in a row.
Instead of the girl, whose face had turned as red as a ripe tomato, Hilde stepped forward.
“S-sorry, Fafnir-nim. She really is kind-hearted, it’s just that her words are……”
“It’s fine.”
Fafnir hadn’t even spoken yet. He was simply a bit surprised.
It had nothing to do with the girl’s sharp tongue.
Fafnir already knew exactly who the priest in front of him was.
‘I never expected to meet Lihana here.’
Lihana.
Not just on the Korean server—worldwide, she was the ultra-high-level priest who held the number-one ranking among all priests.
‘It’s a name that appears often in the original novel too.’
She joined in the middle part of the story and later became a member of the Arc Guild, turning back several attacks by the Five Star Guild with overwhelming power in the later chapters.
And she knew Hilde from the novel?
‘No, the original didn’t have that connection, so the future has changed?’
Hilde had built a reputation and friendships in the capital with Fafnir’s help, and that must have led to this meeting.
‘The future has changed.’
But the good news was it had changed for the better.
If she could meet one of the future’s top players early, that was a huge advantage.
‘Hidden pieces will still be there. I need to grab them as fast as possible.’
“Hello. I’m Veron, this is Drexler. Just call me Ver and Dre.”
“……Lihana.”
While Fafnir was still thinking, the others exchanged names.
Lihana avoided answering Veron’s greeting.
She stepped back, afraid she might say something strange if she opened her mouth.
Just as the atmosphere was about to turn awkward, Fafnir spoke up.
“Hilde-nim, I’ll handle the rear with this one. Everyone else, take the front.”
“If Fafnir-nim is in the back, there’s no need to worry about the flanks.”
Although he was a Necromancer, Fafnir’s close-combat ability was already legendary among players.
And here, with Lihana on his side, he could personally protect her too.
‘She’s the kind of character who is rough around the edges no matter what. Can’t be helped.’
Lihana was a character who was kind-hearted and gullible in the original novel but spoke with harsh words.
As the number-one priest, unless deliberately provoked, pulling her into the party would do no harm.
‘If she’s on our side, she’ll take only light damage, and when we fight black mages or undead, she’ll be a massive help.’
It was like pulling out a gun in the middle of a sword fight.
She wasn’t doing it out of pure malice, so even if she insulted him, Fafnir didn’t mind.
“Then let’s get started. The Iron Blood guys might show up anytime.”
“You’re right.”
After distributing roles, Fafnir’s party headed deeper into the dungeon.
Crossing the passage, they entered a large room. From both side passages, Living Armors suddenly appeared.
“W-whoa!”
“I’ll handle this.”
Since they were dark-attribute enemies, Hilde’s attacks would land well.
At that moment, Lihana chanted her spell.
“Louis! Guard your children! Give them strength to fight evil! Divine Strength!”
A high-level priest’s buff spell!
White light enveloped Drexler’s body.
“Eh…?”
“Boss! Stop standing there doing no damage! Are you seriously that useless Necromancer who can’t even use skills?”
Lihana shouted at the hesitant Drexler.
Following her words, he attacked once more. This time, a huge hole appeared in the armor of one Living Armor.
“Oh!”
“The buff effect is surprisingly powerful?”
Even Drexler, who had swung his spear, was startled by the unexpected power.
“What happened?”
“This guy is level 191 even though he looks this way. He attended the Conclave, so his actual stats are even higher.”
“Wow……”
Anyone who could reach the Conclave was top-tier rank. With such high stats, his skills were overwhelmingly strong compared to others of the same level.
“At this rate, I should be able to hunt fine too.”
“W-wait! I’m a black mage, so I can’t cast heal buffs… eh?”
Without a word, Veron’s healing buff was applied automatically.
“Ah, that’s……”
“You mean you didn’t know that level was enough to use it?”
Veron scratched his head.
It was basic common sense, yet in actual party play it happened surprisingly often.
Especially among ordinary high-level, high-spec players.
It was a phenomenon often seen among the so-called “pay-to-win” players, but Lihana’s skill alone was worth acknowledging.
“Louis! Light judgment on your enemy!”
“Thor!”
Hilde charged forward and hunted as well. Lihana used her own offensive priest skills.
“Kuuuuh…… hot…… so hot.”
“Kuaaaa……”
The approaching Living Armors writhed in agony.
A stable hunt against even high-level Living Armors, with no major crises.
‘Good people. Thanks to them, the hunt is going well too……’
Lihana was quietly relieved inside.
‘I’m sorry about earlier. Even if I wanted to apologize properly, I kept……’
Even if I wanted to praise her, the moment she tried to say it, her words got stuck.
‘But where is that Necromancer?’
That was when Lihana suddenly realized something. Her spine went cold.
‘Wait a minute, the other passage?’
The room clearly had two passages. If even one Living Armor had been waiting in ambush from the other side, the entire party would have been wiped out instantly.
Lihana hurriedly turned her head, eyes wide.
“Ah, no……”
“Wow!”
“As expected, it’s Fafnir-nim.”
The group stared wide-eyed at the other side.
“You finished that side too?”
Fafnir stood with numerous skeleton soldiers, Penelope, Bell, and the rest.
Before him lay ten Living Armors, smashed into pieces.
“We’ve finished here. Let’s move deeper. Try to avoid the center.”
‘Wow…… truly amazing.’
Even as a Necromancer, he had held off the entire rest of the party single-handedly.
Lihana’s eyes sparkled as she opened her mouth.
“Huh…… even a Necromancer who can’t fight up close himself? Hmph……”
“Lihana!”
“Khem……”
Hilde gave her a warning, and Drexler cleared his throat.
In that instant, Fafnir quietly approached Lihana.
‘Ah……!’
Lihana, having already predicted the future, squeezed her eyes shut.
Now she expected a slap on the cheek or at least angry words.
That was when Fafnir spoke.
“I’m a bit short on close combat, so if danger arises, I’ll only rely on you. Please take care of me.”
“……!”
A response no one had ever given him before.
Lihana opened her eyes wide in disbelief, then quickly replied.
“O-of course. I can’t leave just one person to handle the rear—anything could happen! For the sake of the whole party, that’s what we have to do.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
The others might think it was arrogant, but Fafnir, who had read the novel and understood her thoughts to some extent, felt no ill will.
‘Plus, she actually helps a lot.’
If one more person appeared who could block the future protagonist Flush with just a few words, he would have pressed that button a hundred times over.
“Looks like we’re done here. Shall we go deeper?”
“Ah, yes! Fafnir-nim.”
“Heh……”
“That person has surprisingly good patience.”
“Yeah.”
Since the person involved was fine with it, the other party members had nothing more to say.
The party moved deeper into the dungeon.
‘……trusting me.’
Lihana secretly glanced at Fafnir.
***
Merchant player Jeraer!
After the eruption of the Orc Empire, he had been moving tirelessly every day.
“Here are the 1,000 Magic-grade enhancement scrolls and 200 mana stones you ordered.”
“Good, received. This batch is especially clean.”
Weaponry, materials, and food from every corner of the world never stopped flowing in.
For merchants, this was a crisis, but also a golden opportunity.
‘Depending on how it goes, I could earn millions or even billions overnight.’
Just like the stock bubbles and investments in reality.
One careless moment and you could fall behind instantly, so Jeraer was sacrificing sleep to focus harder.
‘I have to work hard now, or I’ll fall behind on Hermes’ Wings.’
Hermes’ Wings.
The colossal organization that included almost all merchants and production-class players in Horizon.
They had branches on every server, domestic and overseas.
It wasn’t listed on the stock market, but among players it felt more like a company.
For merchant players, climbing the ranks inside the company was the ultimate success.
Jeraer was one of those dreaming of greatness.
‘Especially I can’t lose to that Dapara guy, no way!’
*Grind.*
Just thinking about it made his teeth ache.
‘Today’s sweat will become tomorrow’s success…… Let’s get to work!’
He broke through bad weather others rested through and used clever predictions to avoid the gaps where battles erupted, stacking fame and merchant stats.
Even in the midst of such frantic busyness, one item always stood at the top of Jeraer’s priority list.
-Friend List
[Fafnir]
-New messages: 0
‘No messages today.’
Fafnir.
Just owning the Tears of Evil Eye made him a player worth paying attention to.
Moreover, Fafnir had gone on to achieve enormous feats after that.
‘Contribution ranking number one…… plus connections with the Royal Revival Army, and even if you just look at the quests he’s completed, it’s nothing ordinary.’
From private information networks, it was said he also had ties with the recently expanding dark underworld factions.
‘A while ago he even appeared on Ludius’s stream and performed.’
Probably to raise his own name value.
If a deal were to be rejected, he could leverage that name value to find another contact.
‘Couldn’t be helped. The market price should have been 80 gold.’
‘Morias Mountain’ information.
The fact that he sold the secret information from the Iron Blood Martial Alliance for only 50 gold was the result of pure show of force.
Because of that, Jeraer was even more eager.
‘I wonder what Fafnir-nim will bring next…… truly curious.’
Buying and selling rare treasures increased a merchant player’s skill proficiency and experience points dramatically.
‘I’m glad I made connections back then.’
The slight smile on Jeraer’s lips, who hadn’t slept for three days and nights, showed how pleased he was.