Chapter 46: The First Major Update
Cain...
Let's hurry as well.
Yeah.
We set out to find knights once more.
Knights afflicted with various debuffs were easy prey.
Thwack.
[Cain, to the side!]
Crash! Thwack!
We dispatched them without pause.
We gained a massive amount of experience.
We focused even harder on the game and moved with maximum efficiency.
Kwaaaa!!
[Cain, look over there.]
Kwaaaaaaaaang!!!
Before we knew it, we had reached the front of the enemy formation.
There, the Holy Knights and knights were locked in battle.
Swords infused with blue sword qi clashed rapidly.
And then...
In the center of the fray, a figure who appeared to be the Holy Knight Commander and a knight fought one-on-one.
Kwaaaang! Kwaaaaaaaaang!
The shockwaves from their duel were so powerful that even skilled knights dared not approach.
The Holy Knight Commander's blade was cloaked in pure white, while the opposing knight's sword burned crimson.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!!!
[Cain, what are those...]
[Swordmasters. Stay away.]
[Yeah...]
It would be suicidal to close the distance. They could vanish without a trace.
Their blades would carve through even aura-reinforced weapons and shields as if they were paper.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!!!!!
[Cain, the Holy Knights are terrifyingly strong...]
Seolhwa observed the clash between the Holy Knights and the knights and spoke.
As Seolhwa noted, the Holy Knights were holding their own despite being outnumbered by less than half.
Factoring in the debuffs of poison, paralysis, and morale collapse the Holy Knights endured, alongside the buffs of rising morale and power the knights received, each individual Holy Knight was overwhelmingly superior to their foes.
Yet even these formidable warriors could not endure indefinitely.
Because allied knights kept pouring into the fray.
When the ratio of Holy Knights to knights tipped past one to four, the stalemate shattered.
Deaths began to mount on the Holy Knight side.
The imbalance grew even wider, and soon the Holy Knight Commander himself fell.
[Defeated the Holy Knight Commander!]
The knight who had been unleashing red sword force raised the severed head high and roared.
[Waah!!!]
[Waahaaaaaaa!!!!]
Allied morale soared even higher, pushing the enemies past the threshold of 'morale decrease' into outright 'confusion'.
[Seolhwa, Fersin!]
[Yes!]
[Yes!]
We swiftly eliminated the confused enemies.
To prevent anyone else from snatching our experience.
Thwack.
Thwaaak.
At that moment.
Killing neutral NPCs can result in a bounty.
"Eh!?"
I let out a startled sound without realizing it.
Neutral NPC suddenly?
Curious, I glanced at Eunhye, who was playing beside me.
Eunhye met my gaze with wide eyes.
Our eyes locked.
Without words, we both understood the same warning had appeared for us.
"Don't attack for now."
"Yeah..."
A moment later, the reason for the alert became clear.
Do not attack!
We won!
📍 Location: Kasa Castle
🎁 Reward: Victory Festival
[Look at the white flag raised on Kasa Castle!]
[Waahaaaaaaa!!!!]
[Waah!!!!]
The NPCs thrust their weapons skyward and roared in triumph.
Conversely, the users let out sighs of regret.
They had been staring at an enormous amount of experience they could never claim.
Squeak. Bang!
The gates of Kasa Castle swung open, and the event screen faded in.
The Pope and cardinals stepped out through the gate.
[Emperor, that will suffice.]
[It has been a long time, Your Holiness the Pope.]
The Emperor dismounted and conversed with the Pope.
[Let us discuss the remainder inside the cathedral.]
[Understood.]
The Emperor entered Kasa Castle alongside his knights.
As the Emperor's figure vanished into the castle, the event video concluded.
War Rewards
📍 Location: Kasa Castle
🎁 Reward: Receive rewards inside Kasa Castle tomorrow
📍 Note: Adventurers allied with the Emperor may now enter and exit Kasa Castle
[Cain, is it over?]
[Seems so.]
[Let's link up with Sara and Elena first.]
[Yeah!]
While carving through the enemy lines, we had separated from Sara and Elena, who specialized in ranged combat.
We moved to the rear and reunited with them.
[Cain, what happened inside? Your level jumped five at once?]
[Five levels?]
[Yeah!]
It had likely been when we felled the Supreme Knight.
Even though we delivered the final blow, we still gained substantial experience.
If we had slain it from the start, the yield would have been far greater.
Of course, that scenario was impossible.
[Party Window]
- Cain (Lv. 132)
- Seolhwa (Lv. 132)
- Elena (Lv. 132)
- Fersin (Lv. 132)
- Sara (Lv. 132)
We opened the party window and checked the members' levels.
Thanks to the relentless chases and today's fierce fighting, we had leveled up considerably.
[Since it's tiring today, let's log out early.]
[Yeah.]
We had focused on the game several times more than usual.
To make the most of every opportunity to farm experience.
Seolhwa and Elena, sensing our fatigue, readily agreed to log out.
We entered the inn inside Kasa Castle and immediately logged out.
"Doun-ah, you worked hard."
"Yeah, you guys too..."
The next day.
The Hero game erupted with one piece of news.
It appeared that an agreement had been reached between the Emperor and the Pope who had entered the cathedral the previous day.
The agreement could be seen posted everywhere in Kasa Castle.
Because copies had been affixed to bulletin boards and walls.
[Agreement]
1) The Holy Church must pay taxes to the affiliated lords.
2) Citizens of the Holy Royal Empire cannot be arbitrarily burned at the stake by the church.
3) Open the God's Colosseum to knights as well.
[Victory Festival]
- Knight duels will be held in the God's Colosseum.
Celebration funds and items will be awarded to top-tier knights. Please participate enthusiastically.
- A duel for adventurers who distinguished themselves in this war will also be held. Please participate.
[God's Colosseum? What does that mean, Cain?]
[Um... Sounds like a duel arena?]
The beginner's guide made no mention of the God's Colosseum.
It was probably not something newbies needed to worry about.
[Are you adventurers? You don't know about the God's Colosseum?]
An NPC standing by the agreement addressed us.
[Yes, what is the God's Colosseum?]
[The God's Colosseum is a divine arena blessed by the gods. You can be resurrected even if you die during a duel.]
[Even if I die?]
The Hero world had raised its realism.
One of those elements was character deletion upon death in-game.
This space offered a way to escape that penalty.
[That's right. It was originally only open to Holy Knights. That is why their levels surpassed those of ordinary knights.]
[Is that so. Thank you.]
A duel arena blessed by the God's grace where death did not mean deletion.
It was worth participating.
The absence of character deletion was an enormous advantage.
[Let's participate too.]
Our party had grown at an astonishing pace.
We had discovered beginner dungeons faster than anyone else and leveled up,
then continued to grow in the Apse Mountain Range.
The same held true in the recent war between the Emperor and the Pope.
With me and Seolhwa, we seemed destined for great results.
Especially since there was also a duel for adventurers, the odds of facing off against other adventurers were high.
Then...
We could aim for first place.
We approached the participation application booth set up before the God's Colosseum.
A long line had already formed.
[What?! Why can't archers participate!]
[You may participate. However, you must wield a sword during combat.]
[That's why you can't participate! It's unfair! Are you an NPC? An operator? If this keeps happening, I'll go to the company and complain!]
The archer fiercely protested to the person accepting applications.
[Sigh... In the Holy Royal Empire, a nation of gods and knights, why are you archers causing trouble. Drag him away.]
[Yes!]
Soldiers on both sides seized the archer and hurled him far off.
The archer offered no resistance and was dragged away.
Resisting could lead to imprisonment or, in worse cases, execution.
From that point onward, participation applications proceeded without incident.
Unlike ordinary games, users in the Hero game were not Heroes.
In the Hero game, users simply lived as residents of the world.
[Please enter your name. Present your identification if you have one.]
The turn came. We entered our ID in the blank and presented our mercenary pass.
[Oh... You are a C-rank mercenary. Rare among adventurers.]
After the application, the staff handed over a document.
[Details are written in the document. Next.]
[Thank you.]
We left the booth and examined the document.
The document listed basic information.
- Duel date.
- Duel location.
- Precautions.
The victory prize listed at the end caught our eye.
In the knight duel, the first-place prize was the Ring of Fire.
From the brief description, it appeared to be a growth-type weapon similar to the Ice Dragon's Sword.
The first-place prize for the adventurer duel was also noted.
[Ring of Fire?]
The Ring of Fire description stated it was a ring that increased fire resistance.
[Knight prizes are better.]
Unfortunately, we had no choice but to accept.
The main duel was between knights.
Adventurer duels could only be a minor league.
The level gap between knights and adventurers was vast.
[Cain, what are you doing?]
[Ah... I was reading the document from the application booth.]
[Read that later and head to the weapon shop.]
[Got it.]
We headed to the weapon shop with the party.
During the war, we had steadily collected items that looked expensive.
The item windows of Cain, Seolhwa, and Elena were overflowing with weapons and armor.
We visited the weapon shop and armor shop to sell the war-acquired items.
[Let's take a look at the armor.]
[Yeah!]
In ordinary games, many chose weapons first.
Because weapon performance directly affected hunting speed.
In the Hero game, however, armor came first.
Even if weapons made hunting faster, one death ended the game.
Name: Kasa Fire Armor.
Defense: 100
Fire Resistance: 5%
Description: Armor blessed by Luna's grace. Raises specific attribute resistance.
It carried 5% fire resistance.
Items with water, wind, and earth resistance were also available.
Performance was similar, but each bore a different name.
- Kasa Fire Armor.
- Kasa Water Armor.
- Kasa Wind Armor.
- Kasa Earth Armor.
[Cain, which one should we buy?]
[For now... Let's get the fire armor.]
[Yeah!]
We chose the fire armor because of the realism of the Hero game.
Party members could damage one another.
If you mistakenly slashed an ally during combat, their health would drop.
That was why Sara's Fireball could harm allies.
Of course, Sara was careful, so such incidents were rare.
Since we had to, it seemed wiser to purchase the fire-type armor, Sara's primary magic.
[Cain, look. Gloves and shoes also have fire resistance.]
[That's right...]
We bought items with 2% fire resistance on gloves and shoes and equipped them.
Even after changing the party members' armor, Elena continued to examine items with a curious expression.
[Elena, let's go. We don't have money.]
[Understood.]
In truth, we had no money left.
We had spent every coin from war rewards and the sale of war-acquired items.
That was why items in Kasa Castle were expensive.
Especially those with resistances attached.