Chapter 34
Chapter 34
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Monopolizing as the Protagonist Is National Rule Anyway
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I stared at the message floating in front of me, my mind a little blank.
Id dug into it mostly out of curiosity.
Who would have thought it was a hidden quest?
'And not just any reward—theyre giving me a skill? Thats insane.'
The importance of a good skill went without saying.
Having one could mean the difference between life and death.
Especially if it was a hidden quest reward—it sure as hell wouldnt be some basic skill.
I hurriedly pulled up the skill info.
▶ Skill Name:Eye of Truth
▶ Grade:A
▶ Level:Max
▶ MP Cost:10
▶ Skill Effect:
Allows you to check the target's job and traits. The skill may fail if the target's level is excessively higher.
'Talk about a webnovel-classic skill.'
A skill that revealed the opponents stats.
In a sense, it was standard-issue for webnovel protagonists.
Its uses were endless, of course.
Knowing an enemys—or even an allies—traits and skills was a massive advantage.
'Might as well test it out.'
Thankfully, the MP cost was low, and there were no downsides.
I cast it on Hye-na.
Name:Yoo Hye-na
Job:Best Driver
Trait:Inferiority Complex
'Hm? Inferiority Complex?'
Id known about her Best Driver job already.
But I had no idea she had a trait like that.
What puzzled me most was that the target was Hye-na, of all people.
'Why would a girl like Hye-na have a trait like that?'
Pretty face, top of her class, cycling club captain.
If anything, she was the schools idol.
Who would have thought she felt inferior enough for a trait to form?
'Is she comparing herself to us? Thinking shes useless?'
In terms of combat power, Yoo-ri and I dominated, sure.
But Best Driver was an insanely overpowered job.
There was zero reason for her to feel inferior.
Of course, I couldnt know how she really felt.
Maybe she thought she was just dead weight, getting carried.
'Webnovels do have those dark-turn character arcs sometimes.'
I liked them as a reader.
But getting stabbed in the back myself? Not so much.
"Hye-na."
"Yeah?"
"I need you."
"H-Huh?"
Hye-na blinked wide-eyed in surprise.
I ignored it and pressed on in a serious tone.
"Youre talented. Id like you to stick with me."
"U-Uh, wha—?"
Maybe the praise was too sudden.
Hye-nas face flushed beet red, words failing her.
"G-Geez! What the heck?"
She fanned her cheeks furiously, but she didnt seem to hate it.
'Gotta dodge that heroine dark route, no doubt.'
Yoo-ri, watching from the side, muttered in disbelief.
"...Idiot."
"Oh, and youre necessary too, Yoo-ri."
"I dont need compliments that feel like an afterthought."
Come to think of it, what were Yoo-ris job and trait?
As the original protagonist, they had to be impressive.
'Tch, doesnt work on Yoo-ri.'
Id thought Id gotten pretty strong myself.
But the level gap was enough to nullify the skill.
Yoo-ri really was something else.
'Wait. Was this skill originally meant for Yoo-ri?'
A hidden quest reward, no less.
As Id said before, thats protagonist territory by the rules.
Id felt it since the last zone boss.
I was slowly stealing Yoo-ris growth opportunities.
Of course, I had no intention of stopping my own progress.
I needed to survive this doomed world too.
Still, it left a bad taste.
'Might as well check the original story just in case...'
Luckily, I had a skill for that.
I opened Comment Search.
I almost picked the most recommended one on instinct but stopped.
No. 3 caught my eye.
'Most replies?'
In webnovels, heavy reply threads meant one of two things.
Either a hilariously savage joke stacked with lolz,
or readers flaming each other.
Considering the keyword Eye of Truth...
'Thats 100% hate mail.'
My veteran reader instincts screamed it.
I confidently clicked No. 3.
'...Just reading it chokes me up.'
Plenty of series barely scraped 10 comments per chapter.
17 replies on this one?
No reader likes hate on their favorite series.
It could even break the author into hiatus.
But with all those likes, the writer probably fumbled the plot.
'More importantly, this skill was meant for the villain originally?'
Made sense. Yoo-ri was cool-headed and strong,
but not the puzzle-solving type.
This hidden quest needed some deduction,
so her missing it wasnt surprising.
'Even better.'
It wasnt her skill anyway—no loss to her power.
And it weakened the villain instead.
'A villain capable of clearing this hidden quest here? Probably just Kim Min-su ruling the place.'
So he was the villain, after all.
Good call not teaming up.
Yeah, these little lucky breaks with big rewards?
Thats the webnovel flavor.
"Whatre you grinning about?"
Yoo-ri eyed me suddenly.
Hye-na stared blankly too, ears still pink.
"Nothing. Anyway, its confirmed: the mist spawns monsters from peoples imaginations."
"Hm. But isnt that info kinda useless to us?"
Yoo-ri tilted her head.
Even that simple move looked picturesque, thanks to her beauty.
"We were just gonna pass through anyway. Mist details dont matter much."
She wasnt wrong.
The monsters in the mist were fewer than expected.
No real merit in hunting them down.
A measly 50 coins per mosquito at best.
"If it was just us, yeah. But there are plenty of scared folks here to scout the mist for us, right? The more afraid they are, the stronger the monsters."
Yoo-ris eyes narrowed at my words.
Shed caught on to my plan.
"Use them as bait?"
I smiled at her response.
"We only brought you because Min-su hyung recommended it. Normally, this wouldnt fly. Got it?"
"Ah, I see. Thanks for that."
A little later.
We were scouting the mist mixed in with the survivor group.
14 in total, including us.
6 from Kim Min-sus faction.
5 from the survivors.
"Exactly half."
"Makes sense why half the scouts never come back."
Kim Min-su had looked a bit thrown by our request to join,
but agreed readily enough.
He himself never joined scouts, though.
Claimed he had leader duties,
but everyone knew he just valued his life.
"You guys really owe hyung one. They were too chicken to join before, but seeing everyone forage for food made it look doable, huh?"
The groups rep was a real talker.
If that was all, fine.
But his every word reeked of arrogance.
"You wouldnt get it, but underestimate this mist and youre screwed~"
"Is that so."
"Hah, seriously. Normally wed charge for a spot. Count yourselves lucky. Getting combat XP on top of rations? Not easy."
Wonder if he worked at some shitty small company.
Guy was a goldmine of cringy lines.
"Anyway, dont get in the way. Just play bait and—"
"Kyyyaaah!"
Mid-sentence, a monster burst from the mist.
Truck-sized, four legs.
Straight out of a kaiju flick.
"U-Uwaaah!"
"Crazy! You expect us to fight that?!"
The tagalong survivors panicked instantly at the sight.
Id expected as much—no surprise.
Broken in body and spirit already.
No way they could fight.
The rep yelled at them.
"Shut up and grab your weapons! Hold it off and well attack—"
But his words cut short.
Someone beside him suddenly charged out alone.
"Up close, it really is hideous."
That someone was me, naturally.
I swung my baseball bat full force.
-Kwang!
[You have used the skill 'Soul Strike'!]
[50 MP consumed!]
A thunderous boom echoed through the mist.
The monster burst, spraying green goo.
'Yes!'
A fortune compared to zombies or mosquitoes!
Stronger monsters meant bigger coin payouts.
'Alone, wed just get annoying mosquitoes. But with others? This place is a goldmine.'
The survivors gawked at me checking my coins with glee.