Chapter 77
Chapter 77
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: Off to Steal Again Today
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NPCs, and monsters.
In other words, all living beings except users leave behind corpses when they die.
Even specific entities like named NPCs or boss monsters are no exception.
Excluding users, it could be seen as Agas's own touch of realism.
And because of that...
Corpses would gradually degenerate or become damaged over time, losing their form.
Until only pristine white bones remained.
Anyway, those leftover corpses or bones were mostly treated as game objects. But among them, a few corpses remained perfectly preserved, untouched by the passage of time.
Gathering spots.
Quests.
Terrain features.
Special conditions, and more.
They were fixed objects intentionally created for all sorts of reasons and purposes.
A simple example: a quest to recover belongings from some dead person's corpse.
Those were commonly used for exactly that.
But on the flip side, plenty of corpse objects still existed whose presence or purpose remained unknown.
Corpses left scattered across the continent.
Including unexplored regions, the number was undoubtedly even higher.
Experts in ecology, archaeology, paleontology, history, magitech, and more had investigated, but nothing had been clarified in detail even now.
Mysterious corpses of unknown origin.
Among them, some famously known objects stood out.
The Giant of Nilbaran Citadel.
The grotesque lifeform in the basement of Cristo Imperial Palace.
The Ice Spirit of Bingryeong Palace.
The ancient barbarian of the Great Canyon.
The Ebony Knight Order of Abyss Gorge.
The White Archmage of Bahalin Court Library.
The massive beast carcass sighted amid reports from the Great Primeval Forest, one of the Eight Great Forbidden Zones. And so on.
Just the fixed objects that came to mind numbered in the dozens.
Now, what if he could loot those specific corpses?
What if something was left inside them.
And what if he could rummage through and claim it for himself?
'It's not confirmed yet, but if it's possible...'
Corpse Looting.
The potential uses for this skill were truly limitless.
Luke shuddered inwardly at the realization.
After all, these were corpses whose identities and purposes remained unknown.
If he could loot them, he might take a step closer to uncovering their secrets.
High-grade items.
Hidden quests.
Concealed functions and mechanisms.
Those kinds of hidden pieces.
'Looting the living and the dead alike.'
Two birds with one stone.
Luke thought that as he rose to his feet.
He could see them.
Monster corpses left behind by users after hunts, scattered everywhere.
Farming just those would yield a tidy haul of items.
And that was far from all.
The patrol soldier's corpse he'd just looted.
NPC corpses like this, abandoned or left behind somewhere, were far from ignorable.
'Not just out in the field—you can find them in villages or cities sometimes too.'
The only regrettable part was that looting corpses didn't grant EXP like Steal did.
'But who knows what might happen once the skill levels up later.'
In fact, even when looting Parten residents' homes without the skill, he'd started gaining EXP midway after meeting certain conditions.
Thus, Scout and Steal.
Mix those two while doing Corpse Looting.
Expand the scope of growth and farming activities that way.
'Ehehehe, now I can loot anything in sight, alive or dead!'
He was already looking forward to his future thefts.
Dungeon City Jerumi.
Its lord was Viscount Vallag Chainver.
The scale was naturally larger than Parten, but compared to the central continent, it was downright shabby.
At least the nearby dungeon cave drew mercenaries and adventurers from all over, swelling the crowds to some extent.
And so...
Unlike other cities, the streets were lined mainly with inns, smithies, shops, and job guilds.
"They say the smithy here has better weapon performance than anywhere else?"
"For inns, Wind Inn's still the best—the food there is killer."
"Heading to the dungeon cave's fourth floor today, so better stock up on necessities first..."
A dungeon city perfectly optimized for adventurers.
'Ahh, always a sight that brings joy.'
In other words, it was overflowing with people loaded with gear and items.
So much to steal.
The ultimate hunting ground for a thief.
'Can't even compare to Parten.'
Levels.
Jobs.
Population.
Even equipped gear.
All far superior to Parten.
'Plenty of users settled here permanently up to level 80.'
The dungeon cave ran six floors underground, with an appropriate level of 80—that was why.
'Might as well level up a bit more here in Jerumi before leaving.'
His current level was 76.
Factoring in stats, his effective level neared 110, but Scout and Steal success rates were ultimately based on raw level.
'Though agility and luck do factor in...'
The issue was that with a significant level gap, unidentified items piled up like in Agas Land, and identification slowed too.
So for now, target users and NPCs around his own level.
Luke made that call as he climbed onto a building roof.
"But first things first, Poko."
"Poko?"
Poko poked its head out from the backpack right on cue.
Luke stroked its head while saying,
"Get that out."
"Poko."
"Scroll."
"Pokopoko!"
"Yeah, yeah."
"Poko."
He naturally extended a hand to his shoulder.
Before long, Poko fetched a sheet of white paper from its subspace.
The Scroll of Enlightenment.
'Carrying it in the backpack has its perks. Maybe tell it to just stay in there from now on?'
With the absorbed mana mostly digested by now...
Luke had entrusted his key items to Poko's empty subspace.
No need to open his own inventory—a single word, and Poko would fetch them instantly.
In emergencies, it was even more invaluable.
'Originally planned to save it as emergency funds...'
But he'd changed his mind.
Investments always yielded returns proportional to the stake.
Especially for Great Thief skills—the expected value was sky-high.
It might even bring gains beyond expectations.
'Upgrade growth and farming speed another notch.'
For the future ahead.
The question was where to use this scroll.
[Scout]
[Steal]
[Unlock]
[Corpse Looting]
'Excluding Corpse Looting, they're all level 2.'
He could use it on other skills, but thief-related ones had higher utility and efficiency—better bang for the buck.
So Luke pondered the skill list for a moment.
Which one would be the optimal choice to level?
"Hmm."
"Poko?"
"Poko-ya, what do you think would be best?"
"Pokopoko."
"Yeah, got it."
"Pokopoko!"
"Oho!"
Luke stroked his chin in feigned awe.
Not a word of it made sense.
After a bit more time...
Luke's eyes lit up as he reached a decision.
'Scout it is!'
Exactly.
The gateway to all theft: Scout.
Sure, Corpse Looting was a new exception, but Great Thief's core was Scout and Steal.
And Scout was essential before any Steal.
Leveling it up felt like the absolute best move.
"Huu, alright."
A short deep breath.
Then Luke promptly tore the scroll in his hand.
'Scout!'
Ding!
A cheerful alert rang out.
A message appeared before his eyes.
[Immense insight surges through you!]
[Scout proficiency 42.35% maintained as level rises!] [Scout skill level has risen to 3!]
'Yeah, that's what makes the Scroll of Enlightenment great.'
Leveling up while preserving proficiency.
Luke wore a satisfied grin as he promptly opened his skill window.
'Now, time to check the enhanced Scout's effects.'
Expectations ran high.
Scout, the skill that let him peek at others' items.
How had it upgraded?
Luke checked the Scout skill description with bated breath.
And...
"...Huh?"
He froze in place like a statue.
Meanwhile, at that very moment, on the far eastern edge of the continent.
A man slowly ventured deep into a forest where human traces were scarce.
Black training robe.
Brown curly hair.
Long scabbard at his waist.
And the mysterious scroll clutched in his hand.
It was the ranker hunter Gu Hwi.
"Let's see, it should be around here..."
Gu Hwi stared piercingly into the scroll before finally raising his head.
A serene blue lake lay directly ahead.
Here.
This was definitely the place.
The person he sought was surely nearby.
Gu Hwi was certain.
Crunch, crunch.
As he drew nearer to the lake...
Halt!
A man abruptly leaped into view.
"How'd you find this place?"
Deep blue eyes.
Plate armor covering his entire body.
Blue energy overflowing from both arms.
The ominous figure blocked Gu Hwi's path outright.
As if to say, "Come no further."
But Gu Hwi was hardly one to care.
"Ah, found you."
He simply gripped his scabbard, as always.
Slash!
An instant.
Truly a single moment.
The man blocking his way was cleaved clean in half.
Clang.
The only sound after was the scabbard's rasp.
Having dispatched the man ahead, Gu Hwi turned away without a second glance.
"Ranker processed."
He pulled out the scroll again and unfurled it right there.
To confirm his next target.
"Hmm, next up is... Huh?"
Something was off.
The man he'd just taken down.
His epithet hadn't vanished from the scroll.
It should've if he were dead.
Gu Hwi scratched his head and turned back.
There, he saw it.
"Looks like that scroll tells me locations but not their rankings."
The man rising once more above a seething pool of blue liquid.
[Ryud]
[One Who Reached the Pinnacle]
Ryud's form.