Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Oak Hunt
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Cursed items are generally very difficult to obtain.
Before even considering supply and demand, the main issue is that merchant NPCs view curses as ominous.
This makes distribution incredibly difficult, often forcing players to go out and find them themselves, but…
Lee Shin shook his head.
‘That’s insane.’
On top of the item already being hard to find, he was looking for one with a very specific option.
Thanks to that, the already high difficulty of acquiring it had skyrocketed.
Therefore, he had no confidence he could obtain the item he wanted by searching for it himself.
He would surely give up halfway through.
Just thinking about it made him picture the ordeal ahead.
Fortunately, Kilgeo’s next words eased some of Lee Shin’s worries.
“Ah, you won’t have to find it yourself.”
“Is that so?”
“But you will need to travel far.”
As he spoke, Kilgeo handed him a map.
Lee Shin accepted it.
A red dot was marked on a port city far from here.
[Map location information has been updated.]
[Port Les (New!)]
Lee Shin looked up from the map and asked.
“What does this mark represent?”
“It’s the location of an illicit dealer I know.”
“……”
“He mainly acquires cursed items and sells them on the black market.”
“…!!”
Lee Shin, who had been momentarily dumbfounded at the mention of a smuggler, snapped his head up at the following words.
“Is that true?”
“Yes. If you can make it there safely, you should be able to get what you want.”
He has so much stock, you’re bound to find it.
As expected of an NPC with deep ties to the underworld, Kilgeo spoke with confidence.
And so, the most significant problem was solved, but there was still another to deal with.
The payment.
Whatever the item was, as contraband, it was sure to be expensive.
‘Will I have enough money?’
Lee Shin rarely worried about money.
Usually, if he wanted something, he just took it.
But that was impossible now.
For one, his level was low, and his infamy was so high that if any trouble arose, the consequences would be unmanageable.
Thus, buying it was his only option.
Worried, Lee Shin checked his funds.
However.
[Gold: 929,000]
“…?”
To his surprise, he had plenty of gold!
No, it was more than plenty.
This was a considerable sum even if converted to real-world currency.
He remembered from when he bought the disguise item that the exchange rate was about one won per gold piece.
Roughly a 1:1 ratio.
In other words, Lee Shin’s gold was equivalent to about one million won.
‘What?’
Of course, he had been hunting diligently.
But he was still low-level.
And with the drop rate debuff, it wasn’t a very meaningful way to earn gold.
Meaning, it was an absurd amount to have earned just from hunting!
‘It can’t be from PKs either. They were all low-level.’
Lee Shin carefully retraced his memories.
Soon, something clicked.
‘…Don’t tell me?’
It was the loot he got from killing the prince.
He had been too preoccupied at the time to check it thoroughly.
After the situation was resolved, he couldn’t enter any cities, so he had no occasion to spend gold.
‘He had this much?’
He hadn’t expected much from the prince’s shabby appearance, but royalty was royalty, after all.
It seemed he was carrying a lot more than his looks suggested.
‘This should be enough, right?’
No matter how rare the item was, he thought this much gold should be sufficient.
Having made his decision, Lee Shin set his destination to the location marked on the map.
Kilgeo did not go with him.
To be precise, he couldn’t.
Despite appearances, he was still the job instructor here.
“Could you at least accompany me part of the way….”
“Hmm, my apologies.”
Seeing that it was impossible even with max affinity, it seemed to be a system-level restriction.
However, perhaps as a substitute.
He offered his help one last time.
Kilgeo rummaged through his inner pocket and handed over a bundle of items.
“Take these.”
[You have acquired an item.]
[You have acquired an item.]
[You have acquired an item…]
“!”
They were smoke bombs, shurikens, and potions.
Useful items for Lee Shin, who had acquired the silent swordsmanship technique and a throwing skill.
Snatching the items quickly before he could take them back, Lee Shin bowed his head deeply.
“Thank you.”
“Haha! Don’t mention it. Come see me again once you’ve grown stronger.”
“……”
“Why the silence?”
“…Haha! Of course, I’ll be sure to visit again. Understood.”
* * *
[Would you like to start navigation?]
[Set your destination.]
“Port Les.”
[Destination set.]
[Select your mode of transportation.]
“…On foot.”
[Are you sure you want to travel on foot?]
The AI kindly asked for confirmation.
But sadly, that was correct.
“Yes.”
[…Settings complete. Searching for the shortest route.]
[Searching…]
[……]
[Optimization complete.]
[The AI will now guide you to your destination via the shortest route.]
[Follow the red marker.]
[Estimated Time of Arrival: 09:17:00]
“……”
Lee Shin unconsciously squeezed his eyes shut and tilted his head back.
Nine hours!
The reason for this disaster, worse than holiday traffic, was simple.
‘It’s because of that damn infamy.’
His sky-high infamy preventing him from entering cities was the root cause.
If, by some chance, he could enter a city, he could have taken a carriage or paid a bit more to use a portal.
That would have drastically reduced his travel time.
It was the method most players used to travel long distances!
But since he couldn't enter cities at all, he had no alternative.
Even if he asked Kilgeo to sneak him in once, he’d surely be kicked out in no time.
‘No choice.’
So, he had to walk.
Lee Shin sighed and began to follow the red line.
High infamy always came with inconveniences like being unable to use such facilities.
This was why there were so few PK players, despite the advantage of being able to loot other players’ items.
It resulted in severe disadvantages throughout the entire gameplay experience, just like now.
A moment of fun, followed by suffering for the rest of the game.
‘Is there anything on the way?’
Lee Shin checked the map.
The thought of just walking for that long was too much of a waste.
He planned to level up while traveling if he came across any monsters appropriate for his level.
‘…Ah. There is.’
Fortunately, there was a suitable hunting ground on the way.
A long stretch of terrain that followed the path to his destination.
Lee Shin slightly adjusted the map settings.
[Setting a waypoint.]
[Beginning guidance to the ‘Oak Spawn Area.’]
* * *
Oaks.
The most numerous monster species in Avala Online.
Yet, surprisingly, they were monsters that beginners rarely encountered.
Why was that?
The reason lay in the policies of most kingdoms.
‘They’ve been completely wiped out.’
Subjugation campaigns, where kingdoms periodically mobilized their armies!
They didn’t do it half-heartedly either; once an army was deployed, they would raze the lairs to the ground, practically eradicating them.
This was because oaks were a species whose population would explode if left unchecked.
Thanks to this, the only way for players within a kingdom to fight oaks was to participate in these subjugation quests.
That was the typical situation.
But things were a little different in the Eteun Kingdom.
The military wasn’t organized enough to conduct regular subjugations in the first place!
It was a grim state of affairs.
Around major cities, the local lords would use their private soldiers to conduct their own subjugations, but…
[You have entered the Oak Spawn Area.]
Out here on the kingdom’s outskirts, there was nothing to be done.
There were few players, and the kingdom's army had no influence, so no one was willing to take on the task of subjugation.
As a result, the forest stretching along the coastline was already teeming with oaks.
*Kuuuooo…*
As soon as he entered the forest, he heard the cry of an oak from the distance.
Lee Shin thought to himself.
‘A quest will probably pop up here later.’
The enemy population was too small compared to the rate at which the oaks reproduced.
For now, the forest was vast enough that the growing number of oaks remained contained, but if time passed, their population would inevitably explode.
They would then leave the confines of the forest and begin to attack nearby territories.
This was what was commonly known as a monster wave.
When things got to that point, even a hopeless kingdom like this one would be forced to act.
Anyway.
Lee Shin looked around.
He could see oaks occasionally wandering through the vast forest.
Besides himself, however, there were no other players in sight.
It seemed the hunting ground’s poor accessibility, requiring one to travel on foot, was the reason.
‘Nice.’
His favorite kind of hunting ground!
Lee Shin set out to find a group of oaks.
“Search.”
Blue lines spread out in all directions.
Lee Shin cautiously followed the thickest line.
At its end were the oaks.
“Chwik.”
“Chwik-chwik!”
The oaks wandered through the forest in a set pattern, making their characteristic nasal sounds.
Lee Shin quickly counted them.
‘…27. No. 29.’
A manageable number.
Lee Shin activated stealth and carefully approached the oaks from behind.
“Chwik.”
“……”
A defenseless oak.
Lee Shin swung his sword.
*Shwaaak!!*
[A powerful critical hit has landed.]
[Incarnation of Malice bonus damage…]
[The target has been instantly killed!]
A powerful critical hit landed from stealth.
And, by a stroke of luck, the bonus damage from Incarnation of Malice triggered as well.
With both effects applied simultaneously, the targeted oak was killed instantly.
“Chwiiiik!?”
“…!”
The devastating damage was enough to startle not only the other oaks but also the attacker himself.
It was clear where the damage, enough to one-shot a monster of a similar level, had come from.
Among the skills Lee Shin currently possessed, only Incarnation of Malice had that kind of power.
Incarnation of Malice
• On attack, there is a certain chance to deal additional damage proportional to your infamy.
Bonus damage proportional to infamy!
As he had just confirmed, the expected damage output when it triggered was immense.
Of course, its probabilistic nature meant it was fundamentally unreliable, but as the number of hits increased, the frequency would eventually converge to the average.
‘This isn’t for regular hunting.’
It was a skill that would shine in boss raids, where a high number of hits was inevitable.
Lee Shin committed the skill information to memory and continued his attack.
“Hup.”
*Whoosh!*
He twisted his body to narrowly dodge the attacks of the oaks charging from all sides.
Instantly recovering his balance, he used Charge to close the distance and unleashed a flurry of blows.
*Stab! Stab-stab!*
[A critical hit has landed.]
[A critical hit has landed.]
[Critical Stacks are accumulating.]
[……]
His control was at its peak.
The stacks built up in an instant.
[Critical Stacks have reached the maximum (10)!]
[Attack Power +100%.]
[You can now consume all stacks on your next attack to trigger a Critical Explosion.]
As the stacks reached their maximum, Lee Shin’s sword began to change.
*Fwoosh!!*
A surging red aura.
It was a destructive sight, reminiscent of a bomb about to detonate.
However.
‘Not yet.’
Lee Shin held back.
Instead of triggering the stacks, he continued to attack with only basic attacks and Deep Cut.
Patiently, he steadily accumulated damage on the oaks, bringing them to near-death.
How much time had passed?
*Stab!*
“Chwiiiiik!!!”
An oak, its temper finally flaring, let out a ferocious roar.
[Oak Warrior unleashes a roar.]
[The roar echoes in all directions.]
[Oaks’ stats have increased…]
[……]
[Nearby oaks respond and swarm towards you!]
Responding to the call, groups of oaks began to swarm in from all directions.
This was the reaction he had been waiting for. Lee Shin immediately swung his sword.
At the same time.
‘Critical Explosion!’
The sword energy, condensed to its limit, erupted.
“Chwiiiiiik?!!”
[You have gained experience.]
[You have gained experience.]
[You have gained experience…]
[……]
The red sword energy shot out in a straight line, following the arc of his blade, and slaughtered the near-dead oaks in a single blow.
And…
[…You have killed ten or more enemies simultaneously!]
[The Chain Kill effect has been activated.]
*Thump!*
With the sound of a heavy heartbeat, Lee Shin’s vision was dyed red.
A strange sense of euphoria washed over him, accompanied by a faint dizziness.
*Zzzzt.*
‘…….’
His head grew hot as his cognitive speed was forcibly accelerated.
It was an unfamiliar sensation.
“Fuuuuu….”
But Lee Shin adapted quickly and took a deep breath.
And in that instant.
*Boom!*
Lee Shin’s form vanished.