Chapter 90
Chapter 90
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: The Executives' Appearance
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The battle situation had been on the verge of flipping with the sudden appearance of the executives.
But in the end, the tide didn't turn.
On the contrary, they swept through the enemy forces alongside the knight order, as if such a reversal was utterly impossible.
With this, victory was firmly in their grasp.
Once they cleared the interior of the mountain stronghold, the extermination would be complete.
What nagged at him was the reason why the executives—the central pillars of the enemy group—had suddenly collapsed.
If they hadn't fallen right there, the momentum would have fully shifted to the enemy side.
Their tactics and command abilities had been that formidable.
Yet somehow, the executives had dropped from an unidentified attack.
No, it wasn't even clear if it had been an attack.
They had simply started keeling over one by one right before everyone's eyes.
Later, a single throwing dagger was found near the bodies.
The moment he saw it, the Iron Mask Man came to mind, but unfortunately, the man was nowhere to be seen on the battlefield.
Had he slipped away midway...
Or could it be... a forced logout?
'Was I expecting too much?'
If it was going to turn out like this, he shouldn't have pinned any hopes on him from the start.
It had been the first time he'd felt genuine respect for another player.
Now, all those high expectations had backfired into pure disappointment.
It left a sour taste.
Roxy scowled and turned his head.
"Still, we're pulling off the win somehow."
"It's all thanks to the rookies. Without you and Baek, we never would've won like this."
"Yeah, yeah, you got it."
"Meanwhile, the Iron Mask Man didn't pull off anything notable till the end."
"Right? Gotta be a fake after all."
"Nah, this is just his true skill getting exposed. No fake or anything needed. From my view, Kotaro and Kenny were just pathetically weak. Otherwise..."
"Come on, but Roxy hyped Kotaro up so much..."
"Anyway, that streamer from earlier ended up on the losing side..."
Just then, the Iron Mask Man came up in conversation again.
The general consensus on him was much the same.
Fake.
That's his real level.
Kotaro and Kenny were the weak ones, really.
Opinions were split in various ways.
Early in the sweep, he'd brushed off such talk as baseless rumors, but now even that conviction was gone.
'......'
This nagging feeling.
He just wanted to wrap up the sweep already.
Once this commission ended, interest in the Iron Mask Man would probably fade away too.
And he'd stop bothering to seek out every scrap of news about him.
Roxy thought that as he turned away.
Just then, the soldiers were pushing to enter the stronghold interior.
That instant.
"Huh?"
"What's this message?"
It wasn't just him.
The other players seemed to have gotten the same message.
Roxy glanced around before checking the message details.
As expected.
The Iron Mask Man, fading into obscurity amid all the disappointing reviews, was back in the spotlight.
Infiltrating the stronghold.
Rescuing the hostages.
A feat dozens of others couldn't pull off easily, done solo.
"The Iron Mask Man—isn't he the hero of Kaum territory?"
"Hm, so that's why the lord praised him so highly."
"Rescuing all the hostages alone? What an incredible adventurer!"
"Yeah, we can't just stand around!"
Everyone was calling out for him.
Iron Mask Man.
His name.
They praised his feats to the skies and spread word across the battlefield.
Morale surging.
The atmosphere shifting.
Amid it all, only the players stood there blankly, utterly baffled.
The Iron Mask Man's utterly unforeseen exploits.
No one had even witnessed when he'd infiltrated the stronghold.
A stupefying turn of events.
But the shocks didn't stop there.
The Iron Mask Man had exposed the bandits' identity alongside the rescue.
"R-Revolutionaries?!"
"Sudden mega-revolution vibes."
"No, seriously, what the hell is that Iron Mask Man doing all by himself..."
The incident's scale exploded in an instant.
NPCs—an indispensable part of any RPG game.
Especially in Agas, where they were virtual beings loaded with advanced AI, virtually indistinguishable from real people.
In other words, they could think for themselves.
And act on those thoughts.
Just like real people.
What that meant was simple.
The NPCs on the continent weren't like those in other games—stuck in one spot, mindlessly handing out quests to players.
Some stayed true to their initial roles and goals forever, while others shifted paths upon certain triggers.
Infinite possibilities.
Changing roles, activity zones, and more.
Each living out their own lives faithfully.
And that was why.
Some among them possessed the power to sway the game's overarching flow.
The benchmark for that influence? Their NPC grade.
Named.
Hero.
And the legendary ones, never once sighted.
Those couldn't be taken lightly like in other games.
The revolutionaries' leader, Drauder.
He was no exception.
The second Named NPC Luke had encountered after Regull Balkins.
But Drauder's influence wasn't even comparable to Regull's.
Revolutionary forces defying the kingdom's will.
An armed faction trying to carry on the legacy of Dell Mark, the great traitor.
They could shake not just the kingdom, but the entire continent.
'If his level were a bit lower, I might've considered taking him down myself...'
Impossible.
Absolutely impossible.
The revolutionary executives were level 110.
But the leader standing there, Drauder, was 40 levels higher.
Level 154.
And not just any NPC—a full step up, a Named one.
A level 154 regular NPC and a level 154 Named were worlds apart.
No matter his near-110 physical stats or 100% bonus damage to humans, solo-killing was out of the question.
Even pulling off an assassination first.
'Damn, what is this, Terminator? The boss is a full-on revolutionary meat puppet.'
At that level, he was leader material.
Yeah.
You bet.
The earlier message had hinted at his escape potential.
Whatever he was hiding, he at least had some method or means to flee the stronghold.
'Let's Scout him first.'
Luke made his call and cast Scout on Drauder.
Probably due to the level gap.
Even at level 3, Scout took its sweet time revealing items.
'Oh?'
Then, the desired text appeared.
One green for high-grade.
The other blue for rare.
Both showing as unidentified, needing appraisal.
Fortunately, not everything was unidentified like with the rankers.
Meaning, stealing wasn't outright impossible.
Appraisal had some shot too.
'Judging by my secret map, the half he's got is likely high-grade too, but...'
But who knew.
Could be rare on his end.
Plus, Drauder's pose—peering out the window.
Even knowing the battle had turned against him, he waited calmly.
'What're you waiting for?'
Couldn't say exactly.
Just that no signs of escape yet.
'Good, keep staying put.'
Luke wasn't one to miss the chance.
He assigned the rear to Poco.
And kept checking the minimap while appraising starting with the high-grade.
The high-grade appraised at a decent clip—not too slow.
'Faster, faster...'
Still, Luke stared holes into the Scout window, heart burning.
A bit more time passed.
Finally, the unidentified item's identity revealed itself.
'Jackpot!'
As expected—the rest of the secret map, high-grade.
54% wasn't bad odds.
He tested a few more Scouts just in case, but it wouldn't climb past 54%.
Accounting for 5% drops per fail, still good for near 10 tries.
Confirming that, Luke swiftly switched to the rare item.
Slow.
Noticeably slower than before.
But not unmanageably so.
And that patience paid off.
Not only did he appraise the rare item, but he snagged the special stat Dexterity too.
'Dexterity!'
The special stat Dexterity he'd had pre-reclass.
Back then around level 100, but now in the 70s—faster.
Boosts hand-related skills.
Or precise work.
Anything involving hands got a lift.
Stealing efficiency would jump even higher.
'But...'
Satisfaction was short-lived.
His eyes narrowed at the belatedly revealed rare item name.
The item that instantly returned up to three people to a designated spot in seconds.
A top-tier Return Stone.
Now it clicked—the escape-related message.
'So that's it.'
No wonder he gazed out so leisurely.
Another ace up his sleeve.
With that, even if the viscount's army stormed in, he could bail to base in seconds.
'Planning to ditch the subordinates and bolt, huh?'
Solid(?) call.
But no letting him escape with the map half.
'What now.'
Luke pondered.
Opponent leagues above in level.
With a top-tier Return Stone for instant escape.
If he noticed Luke or the army breached, he'd pop it and vanish.
'Even if he spots me...'
Given the situation, he wouldn't chase doggedly to kill.
Might just assume delay tactic and Return first.
'But that's its own problem.'
Ideal scenario: Snitch the map unnoticed.
Risky as hell, given the foe.
Mess up, and two or three hits = forced logout.
Thanks to pre-invested stamina stats and honed Hunter set, at least no one-shots.
Luke, deep in thought, glanced downward.
'......'
Bleed.
And poison.
Staring hard at those two, Luke made his decision.
The Kukri filled his hand.
Its bloodied blade now cloaked in green.
'Before, maybe not—but with Sneak Mastery now...'
Worth the shot.
Target faced away, toward the window.
No better time to steal.
So—sneak up and yoink before he bolts.
Swoosh.
The door nudged open slightly.
His form slipped through the gap.
[Sneak Mastery Correction!]
[Target: Shadow Step]
Presence and footsteps greatly reduced!
One step.
Another.
Closing distance slowly.
Barring some special presence-detection skill, he could slip right up behind.
'Hasn't noticed me so far—probably doesn't have one.'
Table, bookshelf, pillar, tactical board.
Plenty of cover in the room to creep forward, body low.
Thus narrowing the gap bit by bit.
Before long, within half a step's radius.
Scout window right in his face.
Luke calmed his pounding heart and carefully extended his hand.
First target: the remaining secret map half.
'Map first.'
Return Stone after, depending on the sitch.
So thinking, he reached for the map.
Current odds: 54%.
Lucky, could snag on first try.
'Make it smooth this time.'
Ideally, first go...
[Security magic on the map activated!]
[Non-transferable!]
[No seizure!]
[Indestructible!]
[...]
[Probability greatly reduced due to security magic!]
[Del Mark's Secret Map - Lower Half probability reduced to 0%!]
His face hardened.
'What the hell...'
Luke jerked his head up in panic.
A massive weapon came flying straight at his gut.