Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Transformation
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An orc claiming to be a user.
Lee Shin narrowed his eyes.
‘…’
A user becoming an orc.
Lee Shin had never done it, disliking the strange feeling it gave his body, but it was possible.
The method was incredibly simple: just choose Orc or Elf as your race during character creation.
So, the reason for Lee Shin’s hesitation wasn’t that the orc was a user.
‘The starting point should be a long way from here, though.’
Choosing the Orc race offered fewer starting locations than humans.
As far as Lee Shin knew, there were a total of three.
All of them were in the northern regions, which, according to the lore, were untouched by humans.
This was to allow orc users to level up in safety.
After all, the orcs bordering the human kingdoms waged war every winter.
Of course, once you reached a high enough level, it didn't really matter where you went, but…
‘He looks low-level.’
His gear was different from human equipment, so it was impossible to gauge his level from that.
But if he were a confident, high-level user, he wouldn’t have begged for his life before even putting up a proper fight.
He would have at least tried to escape.
Curiosity piqued, Lee Shin extended a finger, pointed at a tree stump, and said.
“Stay right there and don’t move.”
“Yes…”
The user hesitantly leaned against the tree.
Watching him, Lee Shin added bluntly.
“If you run, I’ll hunt you down and kill you until the day you quit this game.”
“…!”
***
It didn’t take long for Lee Shin to clean up the rest of the orc mob.
He was already more than familiar with using his skills.
With that familiarity, Lee Shin’s movements were utterly efficient, with no wasted motion.
Thanks to this, his hunting speed had increased dramatically.
*Slice!*
[You have acquired experience.]
“Hoo…”
After dispatching the last orc in an instant, Lee Shin walked over to the user who had been waiting for a long time.
Perhaps because he’d witnessed the clear difference in their skill levels, the user was waiting quietly, seated on the ground.
“So. You’re a user?”
Lee Shin asked, plopping down beside him.
But no answer came.
He was just staring at Lee Shin with a dazed expression.
“I asked if you’re a user.”
“……”
“Hey.”
“……”
“…Is he lagging?”
It looked like his mind had gone blank after witnessing such god-like movements up close.
It was a sight Lee Shin had often seen during the arena’s preseason when the ranks were reset, so he waited for a moment for the user to come to his senses.
How much time passed?
Just as Lee Shin was getting annoyed and thinking, ‘Should I just kill him?’
“…Hah.”
The user finally snapped out of it and whipped his head toward Lee Shin.
Lee Shin turned to continue the conversation, but.
“No…”
“?”
“No way!! This is insane!!”
The user shouted, pointing at Lee Shin with a trembling hand.
An unexpectedly intense reaction.
‘What is this?’
Startled, Lee Shin instinctively backed away.
At the same time, his hand went to his dagger.
‘…’
He was ready to kill if necessary.
It might seem like an overreaction to someone who hadn't done anything yet.
But there was a reason for it.
Usually, when Lee Shin said, ‘I’m going to kill you!’, there were a few common responses.
The first was vowing revenge.
The second was begging for their life.
The third was, ‘You? Kill me?’
There were occasional exceptions, but by and large, reactions rarely strayed from that framework.
But this person was approaching him with eyes sparkling as if he’d met someone he was happy to see.
His expression was so genuine it was hard to believe it was an act.
‘Not bad.’
That was why Lee Shin was impressed.
Trying to get out of a crisis with acting skills?
A type he'd never seen before.
It was a very novel response.
A typical PK user wouldn't be faulted for being flustered in this situation.
And in that moment of vulnerability, they might have even allowed a counterattack.
But.
‘Can’t be helped.’
This time, he had picked the wrong opponent.
When faced with something he didn't understand, Lee Shin wasn’t the type to ponder for long.
*Grip.*
Lee Shin clutched his dagger.
He had already made his decision.
‘Kill him.’
This was one of Lee Shin's core principles.
If you don't understand, kill first.
If it's suspicious, kill first.
If they're about to do something, kill first.
Lee Shin believed it wasn't too late to think after eliminating the source of the problem.
…Of course, most users wouldn't be able to sympathize with this, but in reality, Lee Shin had eliminated users seeking revenge on him multiple times this way.
*Charge.*
Lee Shin launched a surprise attack.
He planned to kill him before he could do anything.
But…
“You’re Lee Shin, right?”
“…!?”
The words that shot from the user’s mouth made Lee Shin slam on the brakes and freeze.
It was that shocking.
‘How did he know?!’
He had thought his identity wouldn't be revealed until he at least made it into the rankings.
He never imagined he’d be found out by some no-name user like this.
“……”
As Lee Shin stood frozen, still holding his dagger.
The user provided the answer to his question.
“I’m a fan of yours!”
***
Once he regained his composure, Lee Shin immediately played dumb.
“Who?”
He wasn't sure what was happening, but he had accumulated a lot of bad karma in the past.
If word got out that he was *that* Lee Shin, he could find himself in a very difficult situation.
“I think you’ve got the wrong person.”
As expected of someone well-practiced, his expression, tone, and gestures were all perfectly natural, without a hint of awkwardness.
…The only problem was, his opponent wasn't listening to him anymore.
“Wow. It’s really Lee Shin.”
“?”
“I thought you quit the game. When on earth did you start again?”
The user just muttered in an awe-struck voice, regardless of what Lee Shin was saying in front of him.
Lee Shin, dumbfounded by the sight, mumbled.
“I told you, I’m not Lee Shin.”
“Oh, come on. You are.”
“How would you know?”
He had worn a mask back then. He had no choice, with so many enemies.
That was why he thought his identity wouldn't be revealed until he hit the rankings.
But at his words, the user let out a scoff as if he found it absurd.
“Of course I’d know!”
“?”
“I’ve watched your videos so many times. I can tell just by how you fight.”
The sun rises in the east.
His tone was as calm as if he were stating such an obvious fact.
Momentarily overwhelmed by that serene confidence, Lee Shin fell silent.
‘Just how many times did he watch them?’
His weapon and class were different from before.
It had been quite a while since he quit, so he had even grown a little taller.
And yet, to guess his identity just by watching him fight…
Lee Shin’s expression turned sour.
‘He’s not in his right mind.’
The classic example of a crazy fan.
Come to think of it, there had been a few like this back in the day.
Those insane guys who followed him around for God knows what reason.
‘Hyung! I love you!!!!’
‘…Gasp! He just looked at me!’
‘No! He looked at me…!’
…(Self-proclaimed) fans, every single one of them displaying a frantic madness.
In truth, it was to be expected.
These were people who had been captivated by Lee Shin’s ‘abnormal’ playstyle in the first place.
There was no way such people would have the sensibilities of a normal user.
‘…’
Of course, this image didn't sit well with Lee Shin. They didn’t cause him any direct harm, but there was something repulsive about it.
Naturally, Lee Shin had tried all sorts of things to get rid of them.
‘Get lost.’
‘No.’
‘If you don’t go, I’ll kill you all.’
But threats weren't very effective. In fact, they backfired.
‘R-really!?’
‘Hoo, hah…!’
‘…’
Even when he threatened to PK them until they quit the game, they were die-hard stalkers who would shout, ‘I’d love that!’ and follow him to the bitter end.
No matter how many times Lee Shin purposefully killed them on sight, they would keep popping up from somewhere like cockroaches.
In the end, he was never able to completely exterminate them, right up until he quit the game.
Recalling those memories, Lee Shin clicked his tongue.
Then he turned his gaze to the user.
His eyes were a degree colder thanks to those unpleasant memories.
“Wh-what is it…?”
“……”
Honestly, he just wanted to kill him.
But if he did, something like ‘Saw Lee Shin today lol’ might pop up on the community forums.
It wouldn't matter if it got buried, but if it happened to spread, it could become a problem serious enough to make him quit the game.
‘Hmph.’
After a moment of thought, Lee Shin decided to try talking first.
He mulled over how he could get this guy to keep his mouth shut.
However, contrary to his worries, a conversation wasn't necessary.
“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.”
“Huh?”
“If I say anything, a lot of people will come after you. We can’t have that, can we?”
“…!”
He had guessed the depth of Lee Shin’s grudges and said it first.
It seemed he wasn't lying about being a fan.
For Lee Shin, this was a massive stroke of luck.
But.
“In exchange, please let me travel with you.”
Because he was a fan.
A different problem arose.
***
*I’ll never tell.*
*In exchange, take me with you.*
“Are you crazy?”
“…!?”
Of course, Lee Shin flatly refused.
He would rather quit the game than drag around dead weight.
It was a natural response, given his personality.
“Just post it.”
And with that, their positions were reversed.
As they say, the desperate one is the one who clings.
It was now the user who was begging Lee Shin.
“Hyung! Please!”
“No.”
“I won’t hold you back!”
“How can you promise that? Are you somebody special?”
“Well, no, but…”
Having already made his decision, Lee Shin was cold.
Emotional appeals didn't work on him in the slightest.
In fact, they had the opposite effect.
‘…This isn’t working!’
Realizing this belatedly, the user changed his approach.
Instead of emotional pleas, he began to appeal to his own usefulness.
“In return, you can use me like your slave.”
“What?”
“Equipment repairs, selling junk items, map reading, I’ll do it all.”
In short, he was offering to be his gofer.
This made even Lee Shin a little tempted.
Slightly mollified, Lee Shin cleared his throat and asked.
“What exactly can you do?”
“I’ll die if you tell me to.”
“That’s a given.”
“……”
If they were to party up, he fully intended to hold absolute authority as the party leader.
So what Lee Shin was asking about wasn't such a basic thing, but rather about his abilities.
If they did party, it would be a party of only two.
One person couldn't just be a porter and a meat shield, could they?
To be useful, he would have to take on more roles.
“My roles?”
“Yeah. Like buffs. Or rare skills.”
At those words, the user fell into deep thought.
Then, a moment later, he spoke with an ambiguous expression.
“I have something rare… but I’m not really sure if it’s useful.”
“I’ll be the judge of its usefulness. What is it?”
“I’ll show you directly. It’s something I got while running away…”
The user shared his skill information with Lee Shin.
Transformation
• Consume mana to imitate the appearance of the most recently fought enemy.
• While transformed, Defense and Magic Resistance are reduced by 99%.
• If your HP drops below 50% from an enemy attack, the transformation will be canceled.
“Hmm.”
A classic emergency escape skill.
It was certainly very rare.
No, it was more than rare; even in Lee Shin’s eyes, it was fascinating.
An orc, whose stats were geared toward melee combat, possessing such a cowardly skill?
‘Strange.’
There was only one way to obtain a skill that completely deviated from a race’s concept.
By acquiring it through a title, like Lee Shin’s ‘Deception’ or ‘Avatar of Malice’.
This way, one could obtain special skills regardless of class or race.
‘…’
He was curious about what this user had been doing to get such a skill, but…
Instead of asking, Lee Shin focused on something else for the time being.
How could this be utilized?
‘I’ll have to check.’
To find a way to use it, he first needed to know its performance.
Lee Shin approached the user and lightly jabbed him with his dagger.
“Does this work?”
“Huh?”
“I’m asking if this changes the target for transformation.”
“Ah, yes. Even a light hit will change it.”
*The target selection condition is good, at least.*
Lee Shin nodded and said.
“Use it.”
“Right now?”
“Yeah.”
When it came to skills like this, the most important thing was the execution.
How precisely could it transform?
And how stably could it maintain that state?
Depending on these factors, it could be either a trash skill or an S-rank skill.
“Ah, alright.”
The user used the skill with a slightly nervous expression.
As if it were a skill effect, smoke billowed up, obscuring Lee Shin’s vision.
Lee Shin waited for the smoke to clear, his expression a mixture of worry and anticipation.
Just how similar would it look…?
‘…Hm?’
But his worries were needless.
When the smoke completely cleared.
Lee Shin’s jaw slowly dropped as he looked at the other person.
“H-how is it?”
“……”
A perfectly replicated appearance and set of equipment.
It was so perfect that even the original person found it hard to spot a difference, so it was obvious how it would look to others.
They would never be able to tell.
The corners of Lee Shin’s mouth crept upward.
He still had to think about how he would use this, but…
“You pass.”
“…!”
For now, it seemed like a good idea to keep him around.