Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Off to Steal Again Today
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The heart of the Agas continent.
A brutal chase was unfolding in one spot in the central region, also known as the upper-tier area by mid-to-high rankers.
"Huff... huff!"
A man with a slicked-back hairstyle fleeing desperately.
His nickname was Shark, and his fierce features made him look especially intimidating.
Why was Shark running like this?
The reason was simple.
He possessed an item that was the key clue to a quest.
A clue to the hidden scenario that most players were eyeing right now, no less.
"There he is!"
"Chase him quick! Don't let him into the ruins no matter what!"
The pursuers were all after the same thing.
To claim that hidden scenario for themselves.
'The Ten Emperors!'
That's right.
They were none other than the Ten Emperors guilds.
The ones who had taken the lead right from the start when the main scenario was revealed.
As expected, they hadn't deviated from predictions—they were secretly pursuing the hidden scenario while refusing to give up on the main quest.
The chase by the Ten Emperors had begun about two weeks ago.
'This seems to be a stone tablet about the ruins' structure.'
Not long after he had coincidentally discovered an ancient stone tablet in the ruins.
'Structure?'
'Yes, the structure of what is now called the ruins—a temple. The one who designed that temple must have left this tablet behind. If you're okay with it, I'd like to interpret it further. Possible?'
'Sure, give it a shot.'
With the help of an archaeologist NPC, Shark began deciphering the tablet's contents one by one.
'Hmm?!'
'What's wrong?'
'It looks like this temple has some secret spaces designed into it.'
'...!'
Thanks to that, he learned of a hidden space within one of the upper-tier ruins sites.
That day, Shark ditched even his raid party leader spot planned for the next day and dove headfirst into exploring the ruins.
-Dude, even for a last-minute raid, quitting as party leader on the day of? No way.
-That's Shark's nickname. Avoid him on sight.
-Tsk tsk, classic raid dropout.
-Ah, ninja deserter vibes lol
Of course, the forums burned for a day with talk of him, but he didn't care.
Who would care about raids after finding a hidden piece?
He just threw himself into uncovering the ruins' secrets.
'If I input the code as interpreted here, the hidden entrance's lock will...'
Shark had even figured out how to enter the hidden space, but then a problem arose out of nowhere.
How did the info leak?
Or was he spotted by someone else?
One day, guys calling themselves the Ten Emperors showed up looking for Shark.
And what they said was this:
'We've already heard everything from the NPC. So hand it over nicely while I'm asking. Or it'll get ugly.'
Spouting lines even a third-rate villain wouldn't touch, they threatened him.
Shark could only laugh in disbelief.
'You dare defy us...?'
'Fuck off.'
He spat curses right in their faces and bolted.
Thus began the chase.
Fearing the tablet might drop, he not only hid but logged out entirely, holding out and holding out some more.
Waiting for the chance that would eventually come.
And now, at the two-week mark, that chance had finally arrived.
'Who knew the ranker hunter would be this helpful!'
That's right.
Recently, a player named Gu Hwi had been picking fights with rankers left and right.
Thanks to him, the number of pursuing guild members had dwindled significantly.
Even the tight watch on the ruins had loosened.
Shark wasn't about to miss this opportunity.
"Damn, he's gone?!"
"I saw him enter the ruins, but..."
The Ten Emperors knew about the ancient stone tablet but hadn't uncovered the hidden space inside the ruins yet.
Of course, they wouldn't know about the secret passage either.
Having shaken off the Ten Emperors guild members, Shark arrived back at the hidden space.
He unlocked the corridor-end seal as the archaeologist had interpreted and entered the final room.
"Thanks to those bastards, I'm late..."
Still, not losing the tablet was something.
'Is this the final room?'
The interior was relatively small.
The only thing there was a small altar in the center.
As he approached the altar, he quickly spotted a square indentation.
'...This is?!'
Shark hurriedly pulled the ancient stone tablet from his inventory.
The size.
The shape.
It matched the empty slot perfectly.
Gulp!
A wave of tension.
Shark swallowed dryly and slotted the tablet into the indentation.
Rumble rumble!
Suddenly, the altar descended into the floor.
At the same time, beams of light shot upward, and something floated into the air.
It was a bow.
The bow said to have been used by the very first hunter.
The moment he saw it, Shark intuited that the hidden scenario was related to archers.
"But sealed? How do I unseal..."
He peered down at the bow grip in his hand, puzzled.
Suddenly, an unidentified voice echoed in the room.
"Test me?"
"Primordial land? What the hell does that..."
The voice fell silent after that.
'Is this how the quest starts? Primordial land... where the heck is that?'
Then it hit him.
A chilling thought flashed through his mind, making Shark's eyes tremble rapidly.
"No way..."
Meanwhile, in Small City Parten, the starting point on the main continent.
"Whoa, that guy's in for it. Guards right there, and he pulls his fist first thing!"
"Best to ignore crazy bastards like that."
Luke, who had just arrived, couldn't help but be surprised.
The merchants at the entrance avoiding involvement and stepping aside.
Through their display stands, he spotted a familiar emblem.
'Why is bro coming out there?'
That's right.
It was the mask emblem marking Night King's goods.
'Wait, is it okay for Night King's stuff to just be displayed openly at a small city entrance like this?'
And as display items for merchants that newbies would only use to level up on, no less.
Luke found it absurd and puzzling, but then he remembered the broken compass he'd gotten as a reward from the village chief.
"...Not entirely impossible, I guess."
He was holding this useless thing, which was supposedly Night King's.
What reason would there be for it not to appear at a small city entrance?
Besides, the Night King was said to have collected every treasure he laid eyes on in the world.
Even in the memory flashback, he'd called the compass a peculiar item and seemed pleased.
'Mentioned something about his collection too.'
The world's greatest collector, born of infinite greed.
Maybe that was the Night King.
'Maybe he just gathered anything that caught his eye or seemed unique, calling it all 'treasures' by his standards.'
That didn't mean it was bad news at all.
Why?
It meant there were quite a few Night King items out there.
And the difficulty to obtain job skills wasn't all that high.
With those items scattered everywhere, it wasn't strange for one to end up in that merchant's hands by chance.
'Is that why they set up skill acquisition this way?'
Maybe.
'Anyway, quite a variety, huh?'
Luke's eyes scanned around.
The item with the Night King emblem was a drab-colored cloak.
But whether it was meant to scam newbies, the price wasn't cheap.
'Those bastards really just throw anything out there and pull that crap.'
Obvious.
They'd say it's useful early on.
That the price is basically a giveaway.
Tricking newbies into buying.
'Tch, displayed like that, I can't even steal it—can't touch it at all.'
That's right.
Shop display items.
Even the ones merchants set out specifically for sale.
All blocked by the system—you couldn't touch them until purchase.
And the Great Thief skill Steal could only target items found via Scout.
If it wasn't in their personal inventory, Scout and Steal wouldn't work.
'Got plenty of money.'
But he wasn't a sucker who'd actually pay that.
'...No choice. Hide and watch for now.'
Rabbit and Gulliver might show up at the main gate anytime, and some real sucker might buy it.
So Luke hid near the entrance to watch the merchant for a while.
Pondering if there were better options.
But even after an hour, nothing came to mind.
"Come on, check this out before you go?"
"Not buying!"
"Hey, it's a great deal!"
Meanwhile, the entrance merchants kept hawking to newbies tirelessly.
A truly frustrating situation.
No good opportunities, not even a decent chance, no matter how long he waited.
'Ah, maybe just drag him to some dark alley and slit his throat.'
Might be better to threaten and wrench the item out.
But just for a moment.
'No, no. Snap out of it, Yoo Seokwoo. You're a thief now.'
Luke quickly remembered his job and situation, regaining his senses.
'If I go punching like Choi Bora, the guards will nab me in no time.'
But just sitting and waiting felt off too.
A truly tricky spot.
That's when it happened.
"Mister, give me one bundle of this."
"I'm still in my twenties, young lady."
"Yes, one bundle please, mister."
"...10 silver."
"Here."
A female player handing something to a nearby merchant with a sour face.
Luke's eyes went wide at the sight.
'Money pouch?!'
That's right.
It was a pouch full of coins.
'Right, there's that transaction method.'
Well, not much of a "method."
Just players too lazy to hand over coins one by one bundling them in 10s or 50s into pouches.
'Forgot about it staying in Starting Village so long.'
Newbies usually didn't have enough for pouches like that.
So in bigger cities, this happened occasionally.
'Not super common, but...'
Luke's gaze locked on the merchant behind her.
Specifically, the pouch in the merchant's hand.
A pouch labeled exactly for the number of coins the female player had given.
With the system naturally displaying the item name, merchants could accept it worry-free.
'Can't even fake the coin count.'
His eyes lit up.
Only issue: could he steal it?
'If Scout picks it up...'
More than possible.
Certain, even.
If so, he could snag that shady entrance merchant's cloak without spending a dime.
Pay with a money pouch, then Steal it back.
Sure, you could empty the pouch later, but that usually happened after sales and settling up.
All that was left was to check if it worked.
"Can I browse your wares?"
"Of course."
So Luke approached the nearby merchant who'd just finished a deal.
'Just need to distract their gaze elsewhere...'
As he glanced around furtively.
Perfect—other customers showed up on both sides, naturally drawing the merchant's eyes.
'Now!'
Scout
[User: AmuriSaenggangKaedoNanManeul]
[Scouting target!]
[Scouting...]
Item names began popping up one by one in a scroll window.
It paused sometimes when eyes met, but with steady customers, he kept Scout going.
'Please.'
Praying for the pouch as he stared down the discovered items.
His breath caught at the late-emerging item name.
'Jackpot.'
His gaping mouth stretched into a wide grin from ear to ear.