Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Reunion
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Necrotic Body Part
• Contaminated by an unknown malice.
‘Necrotic?’
A look of confusion crossed Lee Shin's face.
He had hunted orcs before, but this was the first time he’d seen such a message.
It made sense, considering his attacks were little more than stabbing with a dagger and setting off critical explosions.
Such simple methods of attack couldn't possibly cause necrosis in the first place.
‘No, wait.’
Come to think of it, there was one thing.
The tentacle.
*Wriggle.*
The tentacle, receiving Lee Shin’s direct stare, flinched.
Though it was said to have no will of its own, it seemed to have basic reactions to external stimuli.
Lee Shin watched the tentacle swaying gently from side to side and thought.
‘Could it be because of this thing?’
The tentacle was a summon from the Manifestation of Malice.
And the Manifestation of Malice was the reward Lee Shin had received for being the first on the server to achieve over one million infamy.
The description in the status window,
‘Contaminated by an unknown malice’
—considering that, it wouldn't be strange to assume the necrosis was caused by the tentacle's influence.
Of course, this wasn't explained in the summon's description, but that wasn't particularly wrong or strange.
The game world itself was so vast that it was common to have to figure out these minor details through experience.
‘So that’s what it is.’
With that, the question was settled.
But another concern arose.
‘…Can I even sell this?’
Monster body parts could usually be sold at shops in cities or towns.
But it seemed unlikely they would buy something defective like this.
It might be different if his affinity with the merchants was high, but considering his infamy, it was out of the question.
‘I’ll have to be careful when fighting bosses.’
It was fine if some junk items got contaminated, but not boss drops. There was no telling what kind of valuable items might drop.
Now that his level and drop rate were increasing, it was about time for rare items to start dropping, so he just needed to be careful then.
[All mana has been restored.]
His mana recovered quickly during the short break. Lee Shin set off with Arthur to find the second settlement.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
* * *
While Lee Shin was engrossed in his hunt, a sinister movement was stirring elsewhere.
[Recruiting for the Punishment Squad.]
It was a post on the quest board of the Avala Online community forums.
At first, the response was predominantly negative and mocking.
-LMAO, you got wrecked by a level 100-something player and now you're putting out a kill order?
-What a mess.
-The standards of 'that kingdom' lmao.
└LMAOOOO
└Lmao
Part of it was that people found the situation funny since it didn't concern them, but it was also because the kingdom had such a poor reputation.
Among players, the Eteun Kingdom still had a strong image as 'a place for plunderers'.
-Lol, not even surprised. Is this the first or second time they've pulled something like this?
-Huh? But they've gathered quite a few people?
└That's just 'cause they're paying a lot of gold.
Typically, the first characteristic people mentioned about players from the Eteun Kingdom was that most of them were incapable of party play.
And for the most part, this was true.
After all, those were the kinds of players who went to Eteun because they wanted to play the game however they pleased.
└They'll probably start dropping out soon enough.
└Ah, right.
Thus, most players thought the party wouldn't last long, and Lee Shin shared their opinion.
He believed that a group with less cohesion than sand on a beach could never have the perseverance to search for a target whose whereabouts were unknown.
This was why Lee Shin had stopped paying attention, even after seeing the punishment squad's numbers grow rapidly.
However.
[Participants: 100]
[Participants: 151]
[Participants: 151]
[Participants: 171]
[……]
[……]
[Participants: 300]
Lee Shin's assumption was wrong. The number of participants snowballed!
People were gathering faster than initially expected.
-I've created a Discord server! Let's all gather and communicate there.
-I've posted the link.
And their solidarity was much stronger.
It was something that defied Lee Shin's expectations!
The reason for this phenomenon was simple. They had a clear focal point.
Jeras.
The player who had ambushed Lee Shin as he left the lord's castle, only to get PK'd himself.
Lee Shin had long since forgotten him, but Jeras had not. It was due to the stark difference in perspective between the one who hit and the one who was hit.
‘Damn it!’
He still couldn't forget Lee Shin.
No, far from forgetting, he was burning with a fierce desire for revenge.
It wasn't a one-on-one loss; seven of them had been torn apart by two people.
And one of those two was just cheering from the back like a totem.
In effect, they had lost 1-on-7!
As if that wasn't humiliating enough, his high infamy meant he'd lost almost all of his cherished equipment.
It had become a grudge that would never fade until he paid them back in full.
‘…Hmph.’
Jeras immediately began planning his revenge.
But it was difficult to do it alone.
He hated to admit it, but his opponent's skills were far superior… and finding someone whose location was unknown required a significant number of people and a lot of time.
‘Who can I do this with?’
While he was pondering this, the players who had been ambushed and killed by Lee Shin appeared.
Those who had died without even getting a proper start on the quest!
Their resentment toward Lee Shin was even greater than Jeras's, if not equal.
While Jeras had at least initiated the attack, for them, it had truly been a bolt from the blue.
Their hatred for Lee Shin pierced the heavens.
‘…This is it!’
After hearing their stories, Jeras offered to be their leader.
He didn't just throw money around; he put his own name on the line to gather people with similar grudges!
There were a few calculations behind this move.
First, it served as a good justification.
Jeras's original goals were revenge on Lee Shin and the recovery of his lost equipment.
But to state this outright while mobilizing his connections would have been quite shameful for him.
If someone were to ask 'Why?', he would have to recount the story of how seven of them were defeated by one person.
But this way, there was no need to bring up that story.
Instead, he could position himself as a representative of the victims, which wasn't bad for his image either.
Killing two birds with one stone!
As long as he could achieve his goal, spending a bit of gold was an acceptable loss.
[Recruiting for the Punishment Squad.]
• Players who participated in the Pirate Subjugation quest are especially welcome!
While gathering players who had participated in the quest, Jeras and his party members devised a plan to find Lee Shin.
“First off, he wasn't in the territory.”
“Well, of course. Given what he did, he probably left before we revived.”
“Then how do we find him…?”
“Should we ask the NPCs around?”
“Already on it. But it hasn't been very effective.”
“Really? Then…”
As the players put their heads together, they soon came up with a good idea.
“…What about finding that, uh, Lee Si-eun person?”
“Huh?”
“The woman who was with him. If we ask people to report any sightings, wouldn't we get some leads?”
“……!!”
“……!”
It was to search not for Lee Shin, but for Lee Si-eun, who had been by his side.
Considering the gender ratio of players in the game, her appearance was much more conspicuous than Lee Shin's.
They figured that if they promised a huge reward, someone, somewhere, would recognize her and report it!
“…That’s a good idea.”
“Then…”
The suggestion was persuasive enough, and the plan was established in a flash.
While they collected the reward money and encouraged people to send in tips, they also prepared transportation so they could set out the moment they learned of Arthur's location.
‘…We will find him!’
‘Find him and kill him!’
‘Kill him and take back what’s ours!’
The players burned with murderous intent toward Lee Shin.
And.
“…Oh, right. What about the others who were with him at the time?”
“Who?”
“You know, the people on the same boat as him.”
“Ah… we’ll just kill them too. They’re accomplices, after all.”
“True. Let's ask for tips on them as well.”
“Yeah.”
…even the players who were unintentionally caught in the crossfire! While all these plans were being actively laid out.
Lee Shin, the center of all this commotion, was at his university, completely unaware of what was brewing beneath the surface.
* * *
“…That’s all for today’s lecture.”
The last lecture on Friday was over.
Lee Shin organized his textbooks and checked the time.
5:50 PM.
‘I can head straight there.’
Today was the day of the group blind date with the students from the Western Painting department that they had talked about before.
Lee Shin let out a yawn and slowly made his way to the meeting spot.
‘There they are.’
His classmates, who he was supposed to go with, were all at the school's main gate.
Lee Shin approached them and spoke.
“I told you before, right? I’m only staying for a little while.”
“How long?”
“Uh… maybe about 20 minutes? I’ll make an excuse and leave around then.”
In truth, it wouldn't matter if he stayed longer since he was already here, but he inherently disliked these kinds of gatherings, and the orc subjugation quest was progressing more slowly than he'd expected.
He just wanted to get back quickly and continue the subjugation.
“Yeah, okay.”
“We’re just thankful you came at all.”
His classmates nodded readily, oblivious to what Lee Shin was thinking.
Soon enough, everyone they were waiting for arrived, and they started walking to the agreed-upon meeting place.
“…Ah, there they are.”
“?”
Since they were all from the same university, they didn't have to walk far to meet.
At his classmate’s words, Lee Shin turned his head.
In the distance, he could see four women huddled together.
Probably the art students they were supposed to meet.
‘Hm?’
But one person, in particular, caught Lee Shin’s eye.
“……”
A person standing stiffly by herself, glancing around.
Lee Shin thought to himself.
‘…Looks like she was also asked to come as a favor.’
He was sure of it.
The way she fidgeted, radiating an aura of someone dying of awkwardness, was a dead giveaway.
‘…….’
It was perfect timing.
If their interests aligned, the two of them could just leave in the middle.
It was a much better method than having to invent an excuse.
The only problem was that she would have to agree.
Deciding he should just ask her right away, Lee Shin approached her.
But.
“Excuse me.”
“…Ah, yes! Yes?”
The fidgeting girl looked up, and the moment their eyes met.
“……!”
Lee Shin froze. Her face was far too familiar.
Someone he never imagined he would run into again like this.
And the same was true for the person looking back at him.
“……Huh?”
Ripples spread through her hesitant eyes.
Soon, she was staring intently at Lee Shin.
“……”
“……”
Lee Shin thought to himself.
‘She might not recognize me.’
His appearance had changed since then.
He thought she might just feel a sense of familiarity without being able to recall who he was.
But contrary to his hopes, she soon spoke up.
“Si-eun?”
“……”
Lee Shin didn't answer.
But it didn't make much of a difference.
Jeong Yu-ra began to press him again.
“Si-eun.”
“……”
“Lee Si-eun.”
“Who are you talking abou—”
“Aren't you the Lee Si-eun I met in Erington back then?”
“……”
‘Tsk.’
Realizing it was a lost cause, Lee Shin immediately cut Jeong Yu-ra off.
“Should we talk outside?”