Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Vengeful Ghost and Beastification
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Red Rat.
Not even a Rumrat—just called a Rat?
The name alone radiated an extraordinary vibe.
And this thing's appearance was downright ominous.
As proof, the air around the table—where people had been mocking me as all talk just moments ago—had shifted completely.
"...Red Rat?"
Someone muttered dazedly, standing on tiptoe to peer at the corpse I'd hoisted up.
"D-Did you hunt this demon all by yourself?! Oh."
Her gaze flicked to the woman beside me at the end of her sentence. Did she think we'd taken it down together?
But the glasses girl shook her head in denial.
"Ahh, our party did run into it first... but, um, we got... completely wiped out..."
"......"
The bob-cut glasses girl sniffled, clearly remembering her fallen comrades.
The blood and flesh chunks around this rat bastard's mouth must have belonged to one of her party members.
She spent a good while explaining what had happened to her.
Right up to meeting me.
"We were using stealth magic to escape, and this guy was just standing right there in the path! So then the Red Rat spotted him and...!"
"Y-You have our deepest gratitude...!"
The receptionist's face had gone pale for some reason. Probably spooked by the girl's tale of danger. The gate guards had reacted the same way earlier.
Maybe she was someone of surprisingly high status.
But that wasn't the point right now.
"So you really took down the Red Rat... all alone."
The silence that had fallen around me had spread, until the entire guild hall was wrapped in hush.
The only sounds were occasional whispers or shocked voices crying, "Red Rat? The Red Rat?"
No real conversation otherwise.
Even those who'd been hostile toward me were struck silent by the achievement.
I had to make the most of this opportunity.
What I needed right now was money—or a community that would let me operate smoothly going forward.
"How much is this worth?"
"Uh... i-its value is extraordinarily high. It's a one-of-a-kind monster among its kind, and the guild has a bounty on the Red Rat to boot. Its habitat is unpredictable, it appears out of nowhere, and this corpse is impeccably intact. We could name our price."
The receptionist was rambling. For a veteran like her to be this flustered by a monster...
In hindsight, what stuck with me most was how tough the damn thing was.
...Yeah. Without a pinpoint strike technique, slicing through that body would have been impossible.
Speed like a bullet, and even when you landed a hit, it wouldn't die.
No wonder it was a nightmare for most.
"And this monster is the parent of the Little Rumrats in that forest."
"Parent?"
"Yes. Parent monsters are the progenitors. Their mere existence grants various stat boosts to their offspring. With the Red Rat gone, the Little Rumrat population growth in that forest will plummet. This is... a massive contribution."
Random as it sounds, I've got a special talent.
I'm good at reading people.
If you ask why a sharp guy like me got blindsided and ended up whimpering, I'd say I got careless treating it like a game.
My perceptiveness isn't so much about spotting backstabbers as sensing people's emotions.
Probably a skill I honed after "that time."
And through that lens, the middle-aged receptionist was radiating an emotion she'd never shown before.
Unmistakable greed.
Or maybe not quite greed—more like ambition.
Not some villainous urge to steal the corpse or claim the credit, but the drive of a hardworking employee seeing a win-win chance to boost her performance.
Yet despite that ambition, she wasn't broaching the subject carelessly.
Probably because of how I'd been treated so far and the stares from everyone around.
So all I had to do was lead her there.
"The money from appraising those Little Rumrats earlier should tide me over for a bit. No real need to sell this right now."
"Ah... th-then."
The receptionist looked frantic. Like she feared I'd sell the Red Rat to some outside material shop.
I pretended to mull it over for a full minute, letting her stew, then spoke.
"Is there a way using this to restore my credit?"
"......"
"I've been thinking about what you said. Just catching it seems enough for some merit, but I want full recovery from credit delinquency. Can this monster get me out of it?"
"That... won't work. Your bad deed score is just too high..."
I spoke again as she trailed off.
"From your attitude, I'm guessing someone wants this corpse. Wouldn't there be a way for us both to benefit?"
The receptionist hesitated, glancing at me, before finally speaking.
"To be honest, it's a desperate need for our guild... but it would be a loss for you, adventurer."
I could tell she was speaking the truth.
"A loss? Why?"
"Monsters like the Red Rat are called 'Genesis Beasts.' Their materials can be forged into incredibly powerful weapons, so the lowest ones fetch the price of a house, and some are truly priceless. But we don't want to 'buy' the Red Rat—we want the corpse itself, not the materials."
They don't want to buy it? They want it for free?
And what could anyone want with the whole corpse?
This was a fantasy world.
There had to be some fantastical reason beyond normal thinking.
Best to just ask outright.
She'd answer honestly.
"What do you mean...? You need the corpse for something?"
I asked suspiciously, and the receptionist smiled.
"You probably wouldn't know, so to explain simply: it'll be used in a Holy Kingdom ritual to console the souls of the dead."
Holy Kingdom.
According to the setting docs, it was a pretty major nation.
"Souls of the dead?"
"Those killed by the Red Rat. We'll burn the monster in a rite to soothe the souls of thousands of victims."
"......"
Holy shit.
Thousands? Way more than I imagined. This guy?
This thing dangling from my hand had killed thousands...?
"Even for a ritual, the guild can just pay fair value, right? Short on funds?"
"Not at all. We'd pay proper price if we could, but..."
She glanced at me before continuing.
"Hard to believe, I know, but the Holy Kingdom won't use corpses involved in any money transactions—claims they're tainted by evil."
"Aha."
I replied indifferently, and she gave a wry smile, thinking I didn't buy it.
Nah, I believed her.
Plenty of idiots in the world obsessed with stupid traditions. Just on a national scale here.
"Some have tried sneaking money deals and passing them off to the Holy Kingdom, but..."
"Ahh, I know! They say the Holy Kingdom sniffs out money-tainted corpses like ghosts!"
The bob-cut glasses girl piped up excitedly, like a kid sharing trivia.
I ignored her and asked:
"So what does the guild gain from handing the Red Rat to the Holy Kingdom?"
"More for our branch than the guild as a whole."
"Our branch?"
"Yes. More precisely, it boosts our favor with the Holy Kingdom, strengthening our position over other branches, but..."
Sounded like there was more she couldn't say.
But yeah, I got why she was so antsy.
Who'd give away priceless materials out of pure altruism?
"So no money at all? And even handing it over won't erase all my demerits from the Hart Clan issue."
"......Yes."
Honest, at least.
She looked bitter, like negotiations had broken down.
"Fine. Hand it over."
"The sensible choi... What?"
I repeated myself clearly to the receptionist, who lifted her head like she'd misheard.
"I'll hand it over."
"Ah...!"
"But."
In Korean, you gotta hear the end.
The receptionist tensed visibly at my response, determination not to miss this chance shining through.
I leaned in close and whispered so no one else would hear.
"In exchange, I want conveniences. Like backdoor quests, ways to quickly wipe my bad deed score, or any other useful info that benefits me..."
Yeah. Like the Hart Clan's location. Or where Yulis is. That kind of thing.
"O-Of course. We'll accommodate whatever you want!"
"And since you've been so forthright out of conscience, sorry to say—I'd like a pledge from you too."
"That's only natural."
Whoa, she bit on that casual throw.
From the settings, a pledge was a magical binding that made breaking promises hard.
"However, this is beyond my authority. If it's alright, could you meet our branch chief right now?"
Branch Chief.
A pretty big shot, probably. No harm in getting friendly.
Sentimental, huh.
A social outcast back home, and here I am building connections in another world.
"Then, miss. Could you tell the branch chief for me? I'd also like info on your party members who went with you."
"Ahh, their records are right here..."
The girl handed over some documents with a glum look.
But miss?
This girl really seemed like a VIP in the village.
For a guild receptionist to call her miss...
"She's the branch chief's daughter."
The receptionist whispered, reading my confusion.
Branch chief's daughter?
What was a girl like that doing in a dangerous hunting ground?
"Ah, I'll guide you."
"Please do, miss. I'll contact the branch chief."
I felt countless stares from behind.
"For real? Red Rat?"
"That guy's supposed to be that strong?"
"No wonder his vibe was insane."
"Look at those eyes. Like he's killed dozens."
"...Ah. I picked a fight with him yesterday. Should I apologize now...?"
"Idiot. He's on the Hart Clan's shitlist. Wait and see."
Blabbing whatever.
Some of it wasn't wrong, surprisingly.
I gently shook off the girl's hand tugging me along and followed behind.
"Um, this is kinda late, but really, thank you. If it weren't for you, Outsider, I'd be dead."
"Just happened to be there."
"Ehehehe, so humble."
This guild was taller than I thought.
So many stairs...
Getting outta breath.
And somehow, after slaying a powerhouse like the Red Rat, my level hadn't budged.
"So, adventurer. Wanna party up with me~?"
"......?"
What 'so'?
Where in this convo did she get party invite vibes?
Stream-of-consciousness talker?
I gruffly rebuffed the out-of-left-field pitch.
"I prefer solo."
Cold as ice, but she pressed on without flinching.
"I'd be super helpful~. Like yesterday, I tracked the Red Rat's location~ and followed it~"
"No. I'm good."
"Hear me out~ Eh? Adventurer, you tired? How's a powerhouse like you still low level~?"
Damn, why's she poking all my nerves?
I was suppressing it hard when she spoke.
"Outsider."
"......"
"You don't know how to level up, do you~?"
"...Do you?"
Like I'm an idiot.
I read the settings. Level by hunting monsters or quests, like any game. EXP in, level up.
Problem was, no signs of it happening to me yet.
"From what I know, Outsiders need a special method at first~"
"Huh?"
Special method?
"Ahh, we're here."
Damn it, finish your sentence.
I hurried after her as she grabbed the doorknob.
The door opened to a luxuriously furnished room spanning the entire first-floor area.
As I gawked at the fancy setup, she led me to the sofa.
"So, what's this special method?"
"Ahh, you really don't know~? Curious, huh~?"
I got a bad vibe from her grinning face.
"Yup~ I'll tell you if you party with me~?"
Figured it'd come to this.
...Fine. Partying doesn't mean we have to stick together, right? Loose parties for contact only should exist.
I was about to say okay.
"The Outsider mark you have! For your first level up, touch it for about 10 seconds while wishing to level up~"
...?
What? Why tell me now?
And touch the mark?
I ignored my confusion and stared at her as she grinned and gestured like chugging a drink with both hands.
I touched the mark on my sword hilt as instructed, imagining leveling up.
And after 10 seconds.
Nothing happened.
...This chick lied?
Rage boiled up.
✨ LEVEL UP! ✨ Lv. [Previous] → Lv. [New] Several interface windows popped up before my eyes.
"Ah~ Was it 15 seconds?"
......It worked.
Who knew a simple interface could feel this welcoming.
My current status, condition, skill window... all the essentials were right there.
The branch chief was coming, so I'd skim quick.
The interface was handy—thought-scroll down, and it moved itself.
Skills first. Surprisingly many.
Level showed as 1, but why so many skills? And they all felt weirdly familiar, like I'd seen them before...?
That's when I spotted something off.
⚙ SKILL WINDOW ⚙ [NTR, Netori, Plunder Love] Lover, or spouse...
[Shout! Mate! Get Pregnant!] "What the hell kind of skills are these?"
"What skills have you so shocked?"
A deep male voice snapped me back.
I hadn't sensed a thing.
I looked up to see a tall redhead in a black eyepatch scratching his chin beard, staring down at me.
"Welcome, Outsider. I'm Apiz Leisia, branch chief of the Adventurer's Guild in Milf Village."