Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Scammed by an NPC
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‘Is she out of her mind?’
That was Lee Shin's first thought.
‘Why?’
Why would she want to party up again with the person she betrayed and ran from?
He thought it over, but he could only come up with one possible reason.
‘Is she planning to use me until I quit the game?’
Now that she has leverage, she's going to follow me around and bleed me dry.
In Lee Shin's mind, this was the most plausible hypothesis.
“That's not it… at all!?”
Of course, that was only in Lee Shin's imagination.
Jeong Yu-ra replied with a look of disbelief at Lee Shin's ridiculous deduction.
“I'm just talking about a normal party.”
Not understanding, Lee Shin asked.
“I told you, I'm a psychopath.”
“I know.”
“Then why.”
“I just told you. I'll make it so you can trust me.”
“……”
“Besides, it was more fun back then than playing alone like I am now.”
Her last words were sincere.
It was a bit chaotic… but at least it was more fun than wandering around by herself.
And the fact that he was a psychopath didn't really matter.
When she didn't know, she'd thought, *what kind of person is this?*, but after learning his circumstances, she figured it was understandable.
It was a little scary when his expression changed so drastically, but he still felt much safer than the image of a psychopath she had in her head.
The psychopath in her imagination was usually a vicious criminal or a cold-blooded monster without a shred of empathy.
The type to casually commit violence or other crimes.
However.
‘…I don't think he's like that.’
Before he brought up being a psychopath, Lee Shin had been relatively gentle.
At least, not to the point where she felt uncomfortable.
Besides, the fact that he'd come to the group date with his classmates showed that he was capable of forming proper relationships.
In reality, her imagined version was an extreme case.
Psychopaths who become such heinous criminals don't just appear out of nowhere.
99% of them turn dangerous due to abuse experienced in childhood.
In other words, Lee Shin was different.
Having been well-educated from the time his personality was forming, Lee Shin, unlike others, had developed a strong ability to control his impulses and excellent social skills.
“Let's just party together for 30 days. After that, the video gets deleted automatically.”
“And after it's deleted.”
“Then you can do whatever you want. I gave you my word. If I haven't earned your trust by then, you can kick me out of the party. I don't mind.”
“……”
As Lee Shin fell silent, she asked with a confident expression.
“How about it.”
“……”
“Besides, I'm a priest. A dark priest. I'll definitely be a help.”
Jeong Yu-ra's final words helped Lee Shin make his decision.
Putting everything else aside, it was a good time to have a priest around.
His expression returning to its initial state, Lee Shin spoke.
“Alright.”
“…!”
Hearing his reply, which had suddenly switched back to formal speech, Jeong Yu-ra's eyes curved into crescent moons.
She stretched her back as if in relief and said.
“So, can we speak casually now?”
“Pardon?”
“We're in the same party, go to the same school, and we're the same age.”
“Sure, whatever.”
“…Th-that was fast. Okay.”
Jeong Yu-ra was flustered by Lee Shin, who had changed as if swapping masks.
* * *
-Come here.
After logging into Avala Online, Lee Shin searched for Jeong Yu-ra's ID and sent her a party invitation.
Then, he sent her a short message with his location information.
Even though it was a long way, there were no instructions on how to get there.
‘She'll figure it out.’
With that irresponsible thought, Lee Shin opened his quest window.
[Orc Villages Subjugated: 73/1,000]
“…Hoo.”
Seeing the number, Lee Shin's expression clouded over.
Despite hunting orcs for days on end, the progress had barely changed!
Of course, he knew it wasn't something he could finish in a short time, but actually doing it was more daunting than he'd expected.
When on earth would it end?
“……”
In truth, objectively speaking, his current subjugation speed wasn't slow.
In fact, it was fast enough to astonish others.
Especially considering there were only two of them.
The reason the progress felt so sluggish was because of the nature of the quest itself.
<Special Quest – Kinslayer>
As the name suggested, it was a quest that would never appear for a normal Orc player—one that only appeared for users who chose an unconventional path.
Naturally, its rarity was high, and so was its difficulty, requiring a great deal of time.
‘…But my growth is definitely fast.’
Looking at his status window, Lee Shin nodded, his expression softening.
His level had already gone up by six.
Considering he was at a point where his level was approaching the average and his experience buff was diminishing, it was an incredibly fast pace.
The reason for this rapid growth was the sheer number of orcs. An enormous population that kept appearing no matter how many he killed!
There were literally a disgusting number of them.
It was so frequent that Lee Shin's mana would run out before the monsters did, so if one's only goal was to level up, there was no better place.
The only problem was that it was a bit tedious….
‘It's still fine.’
This much was bearable.
It wasn't as mind-numbing as the Tower of Penance he'd experienced during his class change.
If it had been on that level, Lee Shin would have quit immediately, regardless of the reward.
And once Jeong Yu-ra joined today, the progress would surely speed up.
“Hyung, I'm here.”
While he was checking his status window, Arthur logged in. Lee Shin closed the window and equipped his gear.
“Are we leaving right away?”
“Yeah.”
There was still so much to do; no time to waste.
Lee Shin resumed the subjugation from the opposite side of where he had sent the royal knights.
Jeong Yu-ra joined the party after Lee Shin had cleared out two more villages.
* * *
-I'm here.
-Where should I go?
“……”
The whisper from Jeong Yu-ra arrived while he was taking a short break to recover his mana.
Lee Shin opened the map.
Not far away, a red dot signifying a party member was glowing.
-It should be on your map.
-It's a forest, so I can't find my way.
-Stay there.
After sending the whisper, Lee Shin turned his head and gestured to Arthur with his chin.
“You go get her.”
“Ah, yes.”
He had mentioned earlier during their hunt that someone would be coming. Thanks to that, Arthur understood immediately and set off.
A short while later.
“Hyung, we're here.”
“……”
In the distance, Jeong Yu-ra appeared with Arthur.
‘Oh.’
A glint appeared in Lee Shin's eyes as he checked Jeong Yu-ra's equipment.
Dressed head to toe in a priest's uniform, she had shed most of the novice look she had when he first saw her.
She looked like a relatively normal player!
It seemed she had been playing consistently on her own even after the party disbanded.
‘Good.’
Lee Shin's expression relaxed.
He'd wondered what he would do if she wasn't much help, but this meant she would be useful.
Even if she only cast buffs from the back occasionally, if the target of those buffs was Lee Shin, it would be more than effective.
Dark priests mainly specialized in debuffs, but it wasn't like they had no buffs at all.
“But who's that person?”
Jeong Yu-ra asked with a bewildered expression as soon as she saw Lee Shin.
“Who, Arthur?”
“I don't know his name… but he looks exactly like you, so I thought it was you.”
“Ah…”
‘Right.’
It was understandable to be surprised at first glance. Lee Shin explained it as if it were nothing.
“He's just… someone who handles junk items, assists with hunting, and does what I tell him to.”
“……?”
Jeong Yu-ra's expression turned strange.
It sounded like a very polished way of calling someone a gofer!
“It's fine.”
Thinking she might be getting the wrong idea, Lee Shin quickly added another word.
“He does it because he likes it.”
“Ah… really? But you said the same thing when we partied before.”
“What? Who did.”
“Who else? You did……”
Lee Shin had completely forgotten the past incident, but Jeong Yu-ra still remembered their conversation vividly.
‘Is it really okay for us to do this?’
‘Pardon?’
‘We didn't do anything… but we just leeched experience. We even got a share of the gold!’
‘What does it matter? I'm doing it because I want to.’
…The conversation went something like that.
So, Jeong Yu-ra looked at Lee Shin with an expression that said, *Aren't you deceiving him or something?*
Having been burned badly before, her suspicion was understandable.
However.
“No.”
“Huh?”
“I'm serious, it's not like that.”
This time, Lee Shin's answer was so firm it made Jeong Yu-ra flinch.
He might be docile now, but Lee Shin knew all too well how obsessive his old die-hard fans were.
‘Hyung! I love you!’
‘Gasp…! He looked this way!’
‘…….’
Even Lee Shin found them unbearable, so he knew just how intense they could be.
He was sure Arthur was the type who would happily follow any order.
“He really is doing it because he likes it.”
“R-really?”
“Yeah.”
At that, Jeong Yu-ra's gaze toward Arthur cooled slightly.
‘……He's not normal either.’
Perhaps he was even stranger than the blatant psychopath, Lee Shin.
As she subtly distanced herself from Arthur, Lee Shin approached and asked.
“First, show me your skills.”
“Huh?”
“Your skills. What you have.”
“Ah, okay.”
At Lee Shin's words, Jeong Yu-ra shared her skills for him to see.
[Dark Sphere Explosion]
[Curse of Weakness]
[Chains of Corruption]
…….
[Tear Wounds]
[Spread Plague]
[Mana Burn]
‘……?’
An expression of doubt crept onto Lee Shin's face as he scanned through the skills.
Why does she only have skills like these?
She might be a dark priest, but she was still a priest.
It was strange that she only had a long list of curses and offensive spells without a single common blessing.
“Blessings. You don't have any?”
“Blessings? I never had any. This is all of them.”
“……”
“Why? Is it weird?”
“Not exactly…”
But it wasn't exactly normal, either.
Lee Shin thought for a moment before asking.
Who the god her order worshiped was.
“Yata.”
“…Yata?”
He'd never heard the name before.
“Yeah. What was it? The god of the tilted scales, they said.”
“……”
‘Who's that?’
Most of the gods in Avala Online 2 were carried over from Avala Online 1.
Thanks to that, Lee Shin already knew the names and characteristics of most gods in Avala Online 2.
If it was a god whose name Lee Shin didn't recognize, it was either a newly added one,
or, more likely, a minor god that almost no one knew about.
Lee Shin immediately went to the Avala Online community forums and searched for Yata.
[Search Term: Yata]
[Search Results: 17]
‘……So it's the latter.’
With over ten thousand posts updated daily, 17 search results was practically nothing.
Just a minor god nobody knew!
Lee Shin turned to Jeong Yu-ra and let out a sigh mixed with various emotions.
“Hoo.”
“Wh-what…?”
“…It's nothing.”
Lee Shin shook his head.
Perhaps this, too, was a talent in its own way.
It wasn't easy to even make contact with such an unknown god, yet she had managed to become an official priest of its order….
‘…No, shouldn't it have been suspicious from the start?’
A characteristic of such orders was that they had almost no priests.
No priests meant no followers, and no followers meant no donations.
Without donations, it was common for them not to have a single proper temple.
Lee Shin asked.
“Wasn't there anything strange at the beginning?”
“Huh?”
“Like the temple. Or the priest who proselytized you.”
“Uh……”
At Lee Shin's question, Jeong Yu-ra stared into space for a moment before answering.
“I haven't been to the temple yet.”
“Why not.”
“They said I have to level up more to enter? So they'll tell me the location later.”
“……?”
At this point, Lee Shin felt a chilling sensation.
Something's not right…?
“Why?”
“…Just keep going.”
“Ah, right. The priest who converted me disappeared after my class change. When I asked where he was going, he said he'd come back later when my level was higher.”
“……”
“So I've just been hunting alone and leveling up.”
After hearing the full explanation, Lee Shin asked with a look of disbelief.
“You think he's coming back?”
“Huh?”
“I'm asking if you think he's coming back, you idiot.”
“But he said he'd come back later…?”
As Jeong Yu-ra answered, blinking blankly, Lee Shin let out a hollow laugh and told her the truth.
“You got scammed.”
“Wh-what?”
“You got scammed. Why would he come back after he's already converted you? He'd be spending that time luring in other users…”
As Lee Shin spoke, clicking his tongue, Jeong Yu-ra's eyes widened.
She asked back with a tone and expression of disbelief.
“……An NPC can scam you?!”