Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Off to Steal Again Today
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Money.
Luck.
Talent.
These three were impossible to catch up to with ordinary methods.
Only a tiny fraction of people could ever step into that realm.
And most of those were born with that fate from the start.
Just work hard?
What a joke.
These days, even effort itself was considered a form of talent.
The ones destined to succeed would make it no matter what they did.
You couldn't brush that off as mere hyperbole anymore.
And Agas was no different.
The talented.
The wealthy.
The lucky.
They dominated the game as the main players.
An area no ordinary user could ever aspire to.
Even those in that realm didn't shun each other—they got along just fine.
Like Kotaro and Kenny, for instance.
"Infantry unit, advance!"
"Now's the time—thrust those spears!"
Right on cue, units from each faction were locked in fierce attack-and-defense battles to seize each other's bases.
"How much contribution per soldier NPC again?"
"Who bothers calculating that exactly? Just kill whatever's in sight. Users give way more anyway."
"Oh, yeah?"
"So let's hurry up and join 'em."
Trailing behind them were adventurers.
In other words, the 200 users participating in each faction.
Warriors.
Mages.
Archers, and so on.
Amid the diverse jobs, arrows and spells rained down like hail.
At the center, tanks endured the onslaught while holding the front line.
"Damn Demian bastards—don't get cocky just 'cause you've got some rookies!"
"Might as well go all out and show 'em what for."
"Tch, these Kaum pricks are coming in hot right from the start?"
At first, it was Demian on the back foot.
Some Kaum users were pushing with everything they had, aiming to seize the momentum early on.
And that was why Demian was slowly getting pushed back by the unexpected pressure.
"Gaaah!"
"Gurk!"
Casualties piled up left and right.
The clashing soldiers on the front lines were affected too, big and small.
In short, the Demian faction as a whole was starting to waver.
'If this keeps up...?'
A glimmer of hope.
The Kaum faction sensed the possibility in the current setup.
They could win.
They could capture it.
Demian had two rookies, but they could still take their base.
Their first base on the first day, no less.
"Demian? Piece of cake!"
"Whoa, totally curb-stomping 'em. Keep pushing like this!"
The mood flipped in an instant.
The hyped-up Kaum users charged ahead without a backward glance.
Straight toward the enemy's first base.
But they were overlooking one crucial thing.
The rookies hadn't even shown their faces yet.
And one of those rookies was just now making his move.
As if to prove it, a purple puddle formed on the ground.
"Wh-what the hell is this?!"
"Watch out—it's the poison user's AoE skill! I swear I saw it on TV once!"
They hesitated for only a moment.
"Hah! Thought it was something big—just a poison puddle? Go around it!"
One shout was all it took for them to press forward again.
The field was a highland plateau, after all.
There was only one path to the base, but it wasn't narrow by any means.
Around the poison puddle.
There was plenty of space to skirt past it.
That was why the users were bypassing the puddle without issue—but suddenly, soldiers started collapsing one or two at a time as they crossed.
The culprit was the toxic fumes.
Purple smoke seeping out bit by bit from the puddle.
The NPCs poisoned by it collapsed first.
"Crazy— it poisons through smoke too?!"
"You, the one who saw it on TV—get on your damn knees!"
"Antidote potion... I need an antidote potion. Ah, I stocked up 'cause of the poison user—where'd they go?!"
Chaos reigned.
But Kenny the poison user's onslaught didn't end there.
Drip!
A single streak.
Drip drip!
Then more.
Purple raindrops falling around the puddle.
To add insult to injury, poison rain poured from the sky as well.
"D-damn it—just charge through!"
"Ignore it and cross—hurry!"
Staying meant certain death.
Realizing that, the users desperately pushed past the puddle.
Enduring the ongoing poison damage as best they could.
Once they'd fully escaped the zone.
The enemy's first base loomed right in front of them before they knew it.
"Alright—if we just capture that...!"
They could claim victory on the first day.
So the Kaum users thought—but that was a grave miscalculation.
What awaited them instead was the other rookie.
A sly grin.
Kotaro the dual-wielder.
"Pardon me."
Talent.
One stepping into that realm.
Rookie ranking: a solid 8th.
A prime example of the talented stood before them now.
"Ugh!"
"Shit, it's Kotaro—what do we do?"
It was only natural for them to shrink back for a moment.
But it didn't take long for the users to remember their numerical advantage and start encircling him from both sides.
'Ganging up is unbeatable.'
'Even a rookie can't handle this many hitting at once...!'
He'd have no choice.
The users nodded with confident glares.
And then the barrage began.
Ting ting ting!
But what was this?
Why were all the melee weapons bouncing harmlessly into the air?
No one knew.
All they could tell was that Kotaro was somehow the cause.
'No way—in that instant, he deflected all our attacks...?'
'All of them?!'
Impossible.
It couldn't be.
A level 43 user at best—how could they have that kind of attack speed and reaction time?
"Quit screwing around!"
An enraged warrior user charged again.
Ting!
But.
Ting ting!
The more he swung.
Ting ting ting!
The more his weapon just kept bouncing away.
"Hah... huff!"
"You look pretty beat—maybe switch out for someone else?"
"How the hell...?"
The warrior user was in a daze.
Kotaro, meanwhile, held his ground with a knowing smile.
Then, arrows shot out from the duo's midst.
Of course.
Plink plink!
Even those were parried by Kotaro's blades.
"Fuck—don't stop, keep hitting him!"
Users who'd crossed the puddle kept up the relentless assault afterward, but not a single one landed a solid hit on Kotaro.
Instead, they grew exhausted or—
Thud!
—got effortlessly countered and dropped.
"Good—mana fully recovered."
To make matters worse, Kenny reappeared atop the hill, sending the situation straight to hell.
"Shit—it's the poison user!"
"Other users incoming from the front!"
"R-run!"
"Can't—puddle and poison rain hit the rear again...!"
That day.
The Demian faction turned the tables, repelled the enemy, and proudly claimed the first base.
The flow held steady even the next day.
No—it grew even more one-sided.
The two rookies.
The soldiers and users following their lead.
In just one battle, the pair had become the center of the fight.
'Well, some guys still aren't on board...'
But that was just a minority.
'One AoE, one single-target.'
What a headache combo.
The worst possible matchup for Kaum.
But the problem didn't end there.
First off, the poison user's high-sustain AoE skills.
Using poison puddles and poison rain in tandem to dictate a one-sided advantage.
'And that Kotaro guy.'
She'd seen it in videos, but his style was fast and efficient.
No wasted motion.
Reaction speed that no one else could match.
A top-tier powerhouse rare even for his level range.
'He's no 8th-place talent—top three material... maybe even enough to tangle with Roxie at number one if he pushes it.'
His skill level was beyond all expectations.
'Guess I gotta step it up too.'
Luke flung something straight into the face of a soldier thrusting a spear at the front lines.
[Two of the three daggers hit NPC Garus's face!]
[Vital hit!]
[Additional damage occurs!]
[Stun occurs!]
Throwing daggers.
'Nice timing.'
+1% extra damage and +1% accuracy per skill level.
Throwing Mastery.
A skill he'd had pre-reincarnation, now regained amid this war.
'Hunting here's a real treat.'
Soldiers, unlike users, even dropped items.
Luke scooped it up and darted toward nearby allies.
"I'll back you up from behind!"
"Appreciate it, adventurer!"
Of course, he was pretending to support while rifling through the soldier's back pocket.
Item lists popped up one by one.
Luke cherry-picked the useful ones and swiped them.
[Iron Arrows x23]
[HP Potion (Lowest)]
[Daily Supply Box]
[5 Silver Pouch]
Stuff like that.
His second level-up.
Luke had been level 32 just yesterday; now he was 34.
'Nice. Sucks there aren't any pricey items, but this'll do.'
So far, only regular grunts.
Probably days 3 or 4 before other units and captains showed up.
He'd have to content himself with these drops and grow until then.
Luke made that call and fell back to the rear.
"Hey, adventurer—here's your daily supplies and pay!"
"Thanks."
A supply unit member at the base's rear handed over the goods.
Daily supply box.
And daily pay worth 2 silver.
'Keep this up, I'll be swimming in supplies.'
Inside the box: two pieces of fresh-baked barley bread.
HP Potion (Lowest).
10 iron arrows.
Even a portable whetstone.
A solid package for any newbie.
Luke hunkered down in a corner for a quick break.
'Whew, this grind's no joke.'
Stamina.
Running low.
He'd have to rest a bit, then get moving again.
'Speaking of...'
Luke turned his head.
Something peeked out from a nearby pile of blankets.
Small, round ears.
A slightly protruding snout.
Black fur under the eyes.
The raccoon spirit that had been caged in the black mage's lab.
Shivering as it burrowed into the blankets.
'Thought it'd bolted for good—didn't expect to run into it again here.'
Why was it here?
Luke eyed it curiously before reaching out a hand.
Flinch!
Still on guard, it vanished back into the pile in a flash.
"You... followed me or something?"
"......"
No reply.
Instead, it peeked out again and gave a tiny nod.
'Unbelievable.'
No place to go?
Or just blindly tailing its rescuer?
Who knew.
Maybe simple curiosity.
'Don't tell me it thinks I saved it on purpose. I only busted it out to pull aggro...'
He'd even forgotten he'd unlocked its cage mid-escape.
'Catch it and sell the thing?!'
The thought crossed his mind briefly, but he shook his head.
No container for it anyway, and contribution rewards came first right now.
War took priority.
Luke pulled out a fresh-baked barley bread and tore off a chunk, tossing the pieces toward the blanket pile.
"Here—eat up."
"......"
"Bread's plentiful anyway."
Did it get that?
Chomp!
It snatched the pieces in both paws and started munching away.
Nom nom!
Went to town on it.
Luke stared blankly for a moment before looking away.
His gaze settled on the battlefield's heart, where soldiers clashed fiercely.
"Hah, just scooping up everything on the ground would net a fortune."
Corpses.
Drops rolling amid them.
Items scattered everywhere in the ally-enemy melee, with no gaps to slip through.
"Looks like gear drops mixed in too."
He wanted to grab them.
But even he couldn't plunge into that soldier swarm.
Might end up trampled while grabbing a few.
"Guess it'll all go to the Demian crew in the end."
No way the base-capturing faction would leave them behind.
"Ahh, if only someone'd pick 'em up and hand 'em over."
Luke grumbled as he flopped onto another blanket pile.
"......"
Oblivious to the spirit intently eyeing the battlefield drops.