Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Off to Steal Again Today
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Day One.
Just before Demian was about to seize the sixth outpost.
Kotaro and Kenny died.
The culprit was Iron Mask Man.
As the two rookies fell, morale plummeted in Demian's camp.
Users deprived of their rallying point began to waver bit by bit.
Of course, that didn't instantly reverse the tide.
Kaum was still on the defensive.
But only for a moment.
As Iron Mask Man—the one who'd taken down the two rookies—stepped up personally, the shifting momentum slowly began to turn.
Vice commanders.
Commanders.
Main force users, and so on.
He picked off the cores of Demian's strength one by one.
As if paving the way to victory.
And so, as Kaum captured the enemy's outpost, they finally sounded their first victory fanfare of the day.
Day Two.
A poison master brimming with venom.
Kenny gnashed his teeth, steeling himself to confront Iron Mask Man.
It had to be coincidence.
His poison failing to work. Kotaro's blade failing to connect. All of it.
Kenny planned to prove that in this second battle.
By defeating Iron Mask Man.
And showing the world once more that they weren't weak.
But he failed.
It wasn't coincidence.
Iron Mask Man.
His skill and abilities weren't mere luck from the first day.
He had evolved even further from the day before.
As a result, Kenny and Kotaro perished even faster than before.
Day Three.
He sensed something was wrong.
So he gathered the scattered users once more.
To take down an irregular monster.
By borrowing the soldiers' hands alongside the users.
Setting aside all pride.
In truth, the attempt worked quite well.
The solid formation left no openings to exploit.
Under the users' protection, Kenny freely unleashed his poisons.
Kotaro, too, held the front line with the other soldiers.
That was when it happened.
A light flickered from somewhere, and wide-area spells blanketed the field.
It was him.
Iron Mask Man.
He began tearing lowest-grade magic scrolls one after another—from who knows where he'd gotten them.
The formation collapsed in an instant.
Though they were the lowest-grade scrolls, their effects were amplified manifold on such a battlefield.
The once-impenetrable formation was swiftly torn apart by the surging Kaum forces.
And Iron Mask Man didn't miss the chance, wreaking havoc across the field once more.
Thus, Kaum seized another outpost.
Day Four.
There was no method.
Poison didn't work.
The blades of both had grown dull.
He'd considered reforming the lines, but Iron Mask Man's magic didn't let up that day either—who knew how many scrolls he had.
So this time, they decided to tie him down as much as possible and focus solely on capturing the outpost.
But it was a resounding failure.
Attempting to restrain him had been foolish from the start.
They couldn't catch him.
They couldn't even buy a moment's time.
Iron Mask Man shattered the effort with ridiculous ease.
And once again, Kotaro and Kenny couldn't escape death.
Day Five.
Kotaro and Kenny resolved to sacrifice themselves.
If that meant victory in the war, it would be a worthy sacrifice.
That's what they thought.
But it was a miscalculation.
It was no longer a sacrifice.
Just prey being hunted.
They had become merely one more unremarkable target among many.
By the time they realized it, it was too late.
And so on Day Five.
And the next, Day Six.
And all the way to the final Day Seven.
- ...They couldn't escape death.
Gulp!
The screen went black.
Meaning the video had ended.
'......'
Only then could the man seated before the screen finally breathe easy.
'What is this?'
He'd simply played a recent popular Agas video, but its immersion was no joke.
Diverse viewpoints.
Clean subtitles.
Smooth scene transitions.
Well-timed edits throughout, drawing the viewer in deeper.
The video's title: Iron Mask Man.
Channel: Timothy.
The title alone made it seem unremarkable, but the content was anything but.
He crushed two rookies.
And almost single-handedly led the war to victory.
'Insane.'
Iron Mask Man was beginning to make his mark on the world.
"Hey, did you see it?"
"See what?"
"That video that just went up."
"Oh, Iron Mask?"
"Oh, you watched it too, huh. Totally insane, right? He straight-up demolished those two rookies! Communities and sites are blowing up over it!"
Rumors spread like wildfire.
Once an incident drew attention, it exploded into a massive topic overnight.
The originating video racked up millions of views in a single day, spreading across the world.
News outlets, broadcasters, forums, community sites, and countless video channels besides.
They pounced on the scoop and reported it with lightning speed.
As a result, the recent Parten incident and Luke feature videos were getting buried.
"This is reporter Park Sena. Yes, as you can see, we're in Kaum territory. Wow, users are already pouring in..."
"Hello, this is Special TV's special correspondent! Why am I here today? To interview Iron Mask Man, obviously! Wow, the competition looks fierce. Southern guild scouts seem to have arrived first..."
Interviews.
Coverage.
Scouts.
Crowds flocked to Kaum territory for all sorts of reasons.
But their goal was one: Iron Mask Man.
Perhaps that's why.
The throng at the Kaum castle gates was no joke.
'Isn't that Jammin Guild? They came too?'
'Tch, Dagaz guys showed up. Of course the southern outfits wouldn't miss this.'
'Distant guilds haven't arrived yet... How much are these ones planning to offer?'
'Crazy, mid-tier guilds are here too?!'
Even real-time rivalries among the guild scouts.
"Everyone, make way!"
Just then, the lord's guard knights appeared, carrying chests brimming with rewards.
The ten users who'd earned major contributions in the war against Demian.
Now, rewards were to be bestowed in order of contribution.
Naturally, contribution rank 1, Iron Mask Man, would receive his inside the castle.
The gathered users watched the platform with bated breath.
"Before the rewards, first the lord's words..."
The guard knight conveyed the lord's will as per protocol.
In the process, some users began voicing doubts.
'What? Isn't the lord handing them out personally?'
'Cheapskates. Won thanks to Iron Mask Man, and they pawn it off to knights.'
'Eh, doesn't matter. We're here for Iron Mask Man.'
Indeed.
They'd sent mere knights even for this major event.
The lord himself hadn't bothered to show.
The atmosphere grew puzzled, but it was quickly overshadowed by Iron Mask Man.
After all, that's who the crowd wanted.
He was their sole purpose.
"Now, the rewards shall be bestowed!"
The moment finally arrived.
The crowd watched the recipients with tense anticipation.
Users received their rewards in contribution order.
And before long, the moment for the long-awaited rank 1 arrived.
'Finally!'
'Iron Mask Man's about to show!'
'Gotta scout him first!'
An odd silence fell.
The knight folded the scroll he held.
"That concludes the ceremony!"
Ceremony.
As in, the bestowing of rewards.
Concluding it meant no appearance from contribution rank 1, Iron Mask Man.
"......"
The crowd stared up at the platform in a daze.
"Ehhhh?!"
"Where's Iron Mask Man?!"
"Hey, no reward for first place? The lord's lost it!"
"Bring out Iron Mask Man—we came to see him!"
An inevitable backlash erupted.
At that moment.
Behind Kaum Castle.
One user slipped away from the crowds at the entrance.
'Knew it'd be like this.'
The man's identity: Iron Mask Man.
Luke himself.
'Yeah, a war with rookies—no way streamers wouldn't show. Good thing I fought masked from the start.'
Users had been filming and streaming since day one.
A few being actual streamers was no surprise.
That's why he'd concealed his face early on.
'Didn't expect the fallout to be this huge.'
The reaction was fiercer than anticipated.
Just for beating two rookies, and it became this massive phenomenon.
'If the lord hadn't summoned me privately first, it'd have been a disaster.'
Indeed.
Kaum's lord had called him separately before the reward ceremony.
'No interest in becoming my guard knight?'
He'd proposed the knight position to Luke in his chambers.
Knight—an advanced warrior class.
A guard knight came with solid pay and a sub-baron title to boot.
But it bound him to the territory, unable to roam freely.
And required following the lord's orders.
'Nope.'
'A shame. This is your rank 1 reward. Plenty of gold alongside the announced gear. Hope it's useful.'
'Thank you... Whoa, this much?'
Luke had rejected the offer and planned to snag just the rewards, but the gold exceeded expectations.
A whopping 15 gold.
Far more than he'd guessed.
'I'm almost sorry it's not more. If finances were better, I'd have given extra.'
With that, the lord handed over an honor medal and a silver bracelet.
'This honor medal is exclusive to rank 1. If anyone doubts your prowess, show it. They'll recognize you as the war hero.'
'Oh, thank you. And this bracelet?'
'An artifact imbued with communication magic. Contact me anytime you need aid. I'll help however I can.'
A connection to Kaum's lord.
Affinity wasn't high enough for immediate big favors, but that wasn't the point.
'Means the lord could contact me first.'
A line to a noble NPC.
Handled right, he could have the lord as backing.
'As a thief now, unlikely. Anyway...'
Luke gazed at his rewards.
Scrolls and throwing daggers used in the war.
He'd burned through a fair bit, but it was all covered in one go.
No— he'd profited several times over.
'Heh, and I leveled up like crazy mid-war.'
Satisfaction.
Pure satisfaction.
Luke ditched the iron mask and swiftly left the territory.
'That said...'
Glancing back midway.
A raccoon spirit trailed slowly from afar.
'Really sees me as its lifesaver.'
Else it wouldn't follow like that.
Even picked up and delivered items during the war.
Luke had sold them for a tidy sum.
'Leave it be.'
Still keeping distance meant it hadn't fully let its guard down.
So Luke decided to ignore it for now.
'This takes priority.'
The leather gloves in hand.
None other than the rare-grade rank 1 reward gear.
One could say he'd joined Kaum's war for this.
Why?
Because the gloves bore the Night King's emblem.
Black wisps rose from the gloves.
More than from the lockpick.
The Night King's aura rapidly seeped into Luke's body.
'Like the lockpick—it won't disappear!'
Fortunately, the rare-grade gloves themselves remained intact.
He was thrilled.
When...
The world abruptly went black.
And.
Boom!
When he opened his eyes again, massive giants encircled him.
Meanwhile.
Somewhere on the Agas continent.
A man sat slumped on the ground, face full of disbelief.
High ranker Synabro.
A user renowned as a first-rate swordsman.
Yet Synabro lay there, utterly dazed.
Thud. Thud.
A man approached from the front.
As the figure drew nearer, Synabro recalled their recent clash.
Once.
A single sword stroke.
A strike that seemed to cleave space itself.
Synabro had repelled the frontal charge.
Parry.
The technique said to be possible only for top swordsmen.
But.
"......He parried my parry?"
The opponent had reverse-parried it.
With one hand, effortlessly.
"Impossible."
"Ah."
"Even top rankers can't do that!"
As he bellowed.
The encroaching shadow revealed its owner.
"Is that so?"
Black dobok.
Long katana sheath at the waist.
And a bald pate.
Such a man scratched his head with half-lidded eyes.
"It just worked when I did it."
"What?"
"Ah, just mumbling to myself."
"Who the hell are y—"
"Sorry, but I'm kinda busy. See ya."
Slash!
That was it.
Synabro's form split in two.
His body soon crumbled to dust and scattered.
"Haa, what a hassle."
Shoulders sagging.
The bald man.
No, Gu Hwi yawned lazily and turned away.
At that instant.
"Huh? Focus more? What can I do, it's annoying."
Suddenly, he began conversing with empty air.
"I'm always tired, you know. You assigned this crap in the first pl—"
"Ah, stop yelling. My bad."
"Yeah, yeah, calm down. I'm hunting down the strong ones like you wanted. How much more—"
"Ugh, that nagging."
Gu Hwi chatted as if someone stood right beside him.
To onlookers, he'd seem mad.
Clank!
With that, Gu Hwi sheathed his blade.
He glanced at the vanishing corpse and spoke again.
"That guy? No clue. Said something about being from a top-10 guild. Guild? Ah, you wouldn't get it. Anyway, that sort of thing."
With those words, Gu Hwi vanished from the spot.