Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Off to Steal Again Today
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A total of 100,001.
That was the number of users Luke had killed so far.
His playstyle had been extraordinary from the very start.
At first, it seemed like he was just hunting like any other user.
But it didn't take long before he killed a merchant selling goods in the field, signaling the beginning of his atrocities.
"Crazy, why'd you kill the merchant NPC out of nowhere?!"
A nearby user had asked.
Luke calmly handed over the dropped items and replied,
"Isn't it more profitable to just kill them and take it than to buy it with money?"
"Huh?"
"Why so surprised? It's just one NPC. Try it yourself when you have time. It's pretty lucrative. Oh, but avoid the ones in villages or cities. Touch one even slightly, and guards swarm in immediately."
"You... psycho..."
"Suit yourself."
That was Luke.
To him, NPCs were nothing more than chunks of data.
And other users were the same.
"It's not like anyone actually dies, and PK was part of the game from the start. Why am I the psycho here? Call me a mannerless user instead. I mean, I do play without manners."
Experience.
Or items.
Nothing more, nothing less.
A purely selfish murderer who turned ruthless in an instant if it meant profit.
Even the top rankers avoided him.
Yet, this murderer's whereabouts had suddenly gone quiet.
He'd vanished without a trace in just a few days.
"He must've finally gotten caught and thrown in jail."
"Caught? We'd have heard about it by now. I think Rover Company put out a hit on him. No way he could've stayed hidden this long otherwise."
"Maybe the top 10 guilds issued a kill-on-sight order, so he went into hiding. It's happened a few times before."
"Could've sold his character and gear and quit the game."
All sorts of speculation flew around.
But no one knew the truth.
Just baseless rumors circling endlessly.
"Hope he never shows up again."
On the other hand, some just wanted him gone for good.
As talk of Luke slowly bubbled back to the surface, another user arrived in the Starting Village after completing the tutorial.
"Kwaaaah, thank you!"
It was Luke.
A game that only caters to newbies at the very beginning.
That was Agas.
Indeed, it started off kindly with a tutorial explaining every little detail about the game.
But that kindness ended there.
The moment you picked one of the basic jobs and arrived in the Starting Village...
That was when the game's true face revealed itself.
"Oh, you're finally here! But why do I have nothing? Where's the starter weapon or armor?"
No gear.
"Thirst and hunger bars already like this? Other games at least give you bread or a water flask at the start. Is this game seriously this unforgiving? It's like getting dropped butt-naked in the middle of a city!"
Not even food.
A newbie's only possessions were the basic clothes provided.
Everything else had to be scrounged up somehow.
"Ah, adventurers!"
"Yes?"
"Oh dear, you came straight to the continent without preparation? That's no good. The locals might accept adventurers like you, but they won't provide food, shelter, or clothing. Hurry and find some work in the village."
"Got it!"
So they sought work in the village.
To avoid starving to death.
And to buy the necessities.
That way, they could leave the Starting Village as soon as possible.
That's why newbies rushed around looking for jobs the moment they arrived.
Except for one.
The user with black, curly hair was different.
Instead of scrambling for work, he sat on a bench, lost in thought.
The young man's alias was Luke.
The Worst Criminal in History, sentenced to life imprisonment not long ago.
"Damn, I managed to escape somehow..."
Luke recalled the events from an hour ago.
"Hold on, my character's getting reset?"
A new job.
A hidden one, no less, with a chance to change classes again.
The moment that opportunity arose, Luke remembered the message about character reset.
Whenever a character dropped back to level 1, this choice always appeared:
Continue from there, or return to the Starting Village and start over.
"Resetting the character sucks..."
But he was already sentenced to life, so he'd have to rebuild anyway.
After some thought, Luke chose the latter.
He'd successfully escaped solitary even from prison, but the real problem lay ahead.
"Looks like the infamy stat isn't applying."
Something had felt off since arriving in the village.
Normally, anyone who met his eyes would either charge with a weapon like he'd killed their parents or flee like he'd seen a ghost.
But this peaceful scene?
Villagers passing by didn't even glance his way.
"That's why I stopped messing with NPCs later on."
Because village and city guards...
Their levels were higher than average users on principle.
Get caught, and you'd spend the whole day running.
"A bug?"
No way.
This game had never had a single bug reported.
To check more closely, Luke opened his status window.
The job had changed first.
And...
"Great Thief? Great Thief means... No, forget that. Why's infamy like this?"
Infamy was at 0.
"Why the parentheses..."
As he panicked,
A newly applied skill caught his eye.
It must've come with the class change.
Curious, Luke checked it out.
"It hides infamy?!"
Luke's eyes went wide.
He could hardly believe it.
A skill like this existed in Agas?
For a criminal user like him, it was practically cheating.
"Wait a sec."
But his excitement quickly cooled.
The key was in the additional note.
Penalties remain intact.
Meaning...
"It only hides infamy. Die or get caught once, and it's over."
Just like before.
So Luke couldn't celebrate yet.
"If anyone figures out who I am, it'll be a huge headache."
Starting from scratch meant he was weak compared to the grudges he'd earned.
He needed to be extra careful.
With that in mind, Luke opened his skill window to check the rest.
But...
"Hm?"
Something was off.
Besides False Identity, two other skills appeared.
Their names were anything but ordinary.
Scout.
Steal.
Luke blinked in stunned silence.
"...No way. That Night King bastard."
Was he a thief?
Great Thief.
Come to think of it, the job name itself was suspicious.
"Ha, that guy. Called the king of thieves, but turns out he was just a petty crook. Probably got wrecked by the Ten Emperors while stealing and caught."
Maybe.
"Anyway..."
Back to the matter at hand: the solitary cell at the top of Sentinel.
No meals provided, so they probably didn't check daily.
Likely just occasional peeks, even accounting for adventurers.
Escape would be discovered eventually, but things should stay quiet for a while.
"No need to worry much about my identity being exposed."
Why?
He always hid his face and deliberately lowered his voice.
No one knew his real face or voice.
"Plenty of duplicate aliases too."
Thousands already shared his exact alias.
Basic info like level, alias, and job could be set to private.
Unless he revealed himself first, no one would know.
He'd barely partied or friended anyone, so leaks weren't a concern.
"Plus, False Identity hides my infamy for now."
Of course, penalties remained.
No more blatant crimes like before.
He'd have to be more cautious to stay hidden.
"All that's left is growing strong again..."
The thought made the future seem bleak, but this time he had a hidden job.
"Being a thief is the issue."
Luke gazed at his skill window with mixed feelings.
Three starter job skills.
Two actives.
One passive: False Identity.
"Anyway, since I class-changed, better check the skills closely."
First, the active skills.
Scout.
[Scout] Lv.1
Type: Active
Description: Scans a target for stealable items. Impossible if the target is watching. If you enter the target's vision or the distance increases during use, Scout cancels automatically.
Scans for stealable items.
Simple description.
Almost too simple—it was hard to grasp fully.
"Sounds like some street thief prowling around."
He'd have to try it himself.
Luke stood from the bench and strolled through the village.
"Let's see."
He activated Scout.
Designatable targets appeared before his eyes.
"Works on users and NPCs alike?"
Judging by the arrows over their heads, yes.
"Range is..."
Testing various targets, Luke narrowed his eyes.
Short.
Insanely short.
"Like two footsteps apart?"
He had to get that close to use Scout.
"Good thing it works while moving."
Problem was, it canceled if the target watched.
Even mid-use.
Distance increase also canceled it, so staying close was key.
But that brought issues.
Like drawing eyes.
Misunderstandings could arise.
"Maybe range increases with skill level."
Hoping so, Luke approached a nearby user.
What would pop up?
Tension built.
Then a rectangular scroll window appeared before Luke.
"Hm?"
Empty at first.
But soon, white text filled from the top.
He didn't get it at first.
He knew what it was, sure.
Junk among junk, everywhere.
But why was junk in the scroll?
That was Luke's question.
But only for a moment.
The second line filled, and his eyes widened.
"...No way."
By then, Luke got it.
Scout reveals stealables.
Items appearing over time in the scroll.
Parentheses and numbers after names too.
The newbie user walked away.
Scout canceled too, but no big deal.
Targets were everywhere in the village.
Once.
Twice.
Dozens of times in a row.
No changes.
"Holy shit."
Not an illusion.
Low skill level made it slow to fill, but that didn't matter.
Scout.
That alone was enough to judge this skill.
"You can peek into inventories?"