Chapter 61
Chapter 61
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Leverage
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At Lee Shin’s demand for an apology, Jeras lifted his head with a blank expression.
“Wh-what…”
“What do you mean, what? Just get on your knees and say, ‘I’m sorry for killing you.’”
“……”
“What are you glaring at? Hurry up and get it over with. You’re wasting my time.”
…*Grit!*
Lee Shin said, tapping the tip of his shoe on the ground.
Jeras clenched his fists.
His brazen attitude was making it incredibly difficult to contain his anger any longer.
*Should I kill him?*
Curse or no curse, Jeras seriously considered whether he should just kill him first and think about it later.
But Lee Shin’s next words snapped him back to his senses.
“But.”
“?”
“You’ve been talking about killing me for a while now… you think you can?”
“What? Of course…”
“You don’t have any of your friends around.”
“……!”
That was right.
He’d been so heated that he’d momentarily forgotten, but Lee Shin was skilled enough to take down over a hundred party members even when completely surrounded.
Jeras had plenty of PK experience, but he realized then that he could never defeat Lee Shin alone.
A look of dismay crossed Jeras’s face.
He had been so fixated on the curse that he’d overlooked the most important thing.
Lee Shin approached him and spoke.
“Think carefully.”
“……!”
“Will you end this cleanly with an apology now, or…”
Lee Shin cut himself off, subtly revealing the dagger sheathed at his waist.
He didn’t say a word, but the message was clear enough.
Jeras gritted his teeth.
*…Dammit!*
His shoulders trembled.
But he had no other option but to comply with Lee Shin’s demand.
He was torn between his pride and the reality of his situation, but he had no choice.
*Damn it.*
His infamy was already sky-high; if he died now, it would cause a whole host of problems.
He was already bleeding gold from paying out the rewards for the Punishment Squad quest.
He couldn’t afford to lose anything more.
And then there was the matter of the curse.
Other than Lee Shin, there was no one who could solve this for him right now.
“…F-fine, I’ll do it.”
After a long moment of deliberation, Jeras finally spoke, his lips trembling.
A smirk played on Lee Shin’s lips as he nodded in response.
“Do it now, then.”
“R-right now?”
“Yeah, hurry up. Good thing there’s no one else around.”
“……”
“Ah, forget it. Don’t do it if you don’t want to. But if you don’t…”
“…Fine! Fine! I’ll do it, you bastard!”
***
Ten minutes later.
[Recording has ended.]
“There. You can get up now.”
“……”
“I said, get up.”
As Lee Shin spoke, looking down, Jeras dusted off his knees and stood up.
His bloodshot eyes were filled with more than just anger and murderous intent; they were now glistening with moist tears.
It was proof that his emotions had reached their peak.
Jeras fiddled with his sword, muttering a curse under his breath.
“Son of a……”
But there was nothing he could do.
This wasn’t an opponent he could beat by charging in a fit of rage.
If he attacked, he would die instantly.
“What was that?”
“…It was nothing.”
Having easily subdued his opponent by showing him the dagger, Lee Shin fast-forwarded through the recording.
On the screen was the image of Jeras kneeling before Lee Shin, apologizing.
—I’m… sorry.
Jeras apologized, fidgeting nervously in case someone saw him.
He clearly just wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible.
But Lee Shin, knowing this, didn’t accept the apology so easily.
—For what?
No, to be precise, because he knew, he deliberately dragged things out by picking at trivial details to torment Jeras.
—Huh…?
—What are you sorry for? Say it properly.
—F-for killing you, I’m sorry.
—Is that it?
—……
—Hmm. I’m a little disappointed. This makes me want to reconsider…
—…And! For attacking me first near the lord’s castle. Also…
Before long, faced with Lee Shin’s relentless nitpicking, Jeras completely surrendered, pouring out a stream of apologies.
This scene was captured perfectly in the video.
Lee Shin switched off the recording, a wicked grin spreading across his face.
*Came out nice.*
Lee Shin never simply trusted people.
It might be different if his opponent had some exploitable weakness, but a predatory player like Jeras, who was proactive and well-connected, had to be handled with extreme caution.
You never knew what a user like that might do.
*When you do something, you have to do it right.*
He was submitting now because he was desperate, but who knew if he’d just form another punishment squad later when his situation improved.
That was why he’d secured such a definitive weakness. To use it then.
*Oh, right.*
A thought suddenly occurred to Lee Shin, and he fell into contemplation.
*He wouldn’t report this, would he…?*
It was a bit of a gray area.
He had threatened him, but it wasn’t exactly coercion.
Besides, they had a history of PKing each other, so even in the highly unlikely event that a report was filed, it would probably be ruled as mutual fault.
*…Well, he wouldn’t do it in the first place.*
If his opponent had any sense, he wouldn’t.
He wouldn’t be able to handle the aftermath.
For a streamer like Jeras, the cost of trading a single warning for the release of that humiliating apology video was far too great.
*Then…*
Lee Shin turned back to Jeras and got to the point.
What he had to do to get the curse lifted.
“You just have to complete one quest.”
“Hmm.”
“……”
“…That’s it?”
“Yep.”
Jeras looked bewildered at Lee Shin’s words.
He had been worrying about what kind of vicious demand he would make… but a single quest seemed surprisingly reasonable.
Jeras asked.
“What’s the quest?”
“Subjugating Orc encampments.”
“O…?”
The quest didn’t sound too difficult, and Jeras felt a sense of relief.
But you should always hear people out until the very end.
“That sounds manageab……”
“You just have to clear about 900 of them.”
“Nine hundred…?!”
“I’ll give you three days.”
“Are you insane!? How am I supposed to do that!”
“……?”
Jeras grabbed Lee Shin’s wrist with a horrified expression.
Lee Shin asked, looking puzzled.
“Why can’t you?”
“What? Of course I…”
“You have a lot of friends, don’t you? It’ll be quick if you do it together.”
The punishment squad Lee Shin remembered had over 300 members.
Of course, not all of them were skilled, but for simple grinding rather than a raid, numbers were king.
If he made them grind it out, he should be able to finish within three days, right?
If they moved quickly, they could even finish in two.
“…I can’t.”
“?”
Jeras shook his head, his expression hardening at Lee Shin’s words.
“I can’t. The reason for gathering them was different.”
The premise Jeras had used to recruit the punishment squad was to catch Lee Shin.
And that quest was already over.
Though they hadn't gained anything from the PK because Lee Shin had cast a curse at the end, they had, in fact, killed him.
It might be one thing if he was trying to PK him again as an extension of the quest, but to get them to listen to any other request, he would have to persuade the punishment squad members.
“So persuade them.”
“You think they will?”
Of course, persuasion was unlikely to work.
Most of the users in the punishment squad were players who had suffered greatly at Lee Shin’s hands.
They had no particular loyalty to Jeras, so there was no way they would participate again in something that only benefited Lee Shin.
“…Ah, is that so?”
Lee Shin nodded, understanding the situation.
But that didn’t mean he was going to let him off the hook.
Lee Shin tilted his head and said.
“But that’s your problem.”
“What?”
“Figure it out yourself. Toss some gold at them or something. You’re rich, aren’t you?”
“……!”
Lee Shin’s words were blunt.
But Jeras had no choice but to comply with his demand.
***
Somehow, Jeras managed to gather the players within the half-day Lee Shin had demanded.
He paid out enormous sums of gold as rewards to keep the departing users, and then spent even more gold to fill the empty spots of those who left anyway.
“*Sob*…”
“Spent a lot?”
“…*Waaahhh!!*”
Whatever about Jeras crying his eyes out.
Lee Shin merged the two parties.
[The parties are being merged.]
[Party members increased from 3 to 299.]
[Party leader authority is currently split between 2 people.]
“Hand it over.”
“…Fine.”
[Jeras is transferring party leader authority.]
[Accept?]
“I accept.”
[Party leader authority has been fully transferred.]
[You can now view the status and location of all party members in the Party Management tab, and you have been granted the authority to kick members.]
Only then did Lee Shin remove the curse on Jeras.
[The Mark of Malice has been lifted.]
“……!”
“You have three days. If you don’t finish by then, I’ll cast it again. You can try to run… but you’re not planning on quitting streaming for life, are you? I’ll catch you eventually…”
“…Ah, I get it!”
As if afraid Lee Shin would grab him again, Jeras disappeared without a backward glance.
After finishing his business in the village, Lee Shin also headed toward the Orc-infested area.
***
By the time Lee Shin arrived at his destination, the subjugation had already begun.
And the pace was, as expected, incredibly fast.
[Encampments Subjugated: 101/1,000]
[Encampments Subjugated: 103/1,000]
[Encampments Subjugated: 107/1,000]
[…….]
[…….]
“…Hah.”
The numbers were shooting up!
Compared to when he was doing it alone, the speed and convenience were overwhelming.
The corners of Lee Shin’s mouth turned up.
*This will be over in no time.*
The number had seemed endless when he was alone, but at this rate, it looked like he could easily finish within three days.
If he lent a hand, it could be over even faster.
Lee Shin opened his map.
The map of the surrounding area was dotted with red marks representing his party members, spread out widely.
Lee Shin and his group moved to an area with as few party members as possible.
They found an encampment quickly.
As they ventured deeper into the forest, a rather large encampment came into view.
“Should we take them?”
“Yeah.”
Lee Shin nodded at Arthur’s question.
Normally, he would have ignored such a large encampment and focused on smaller ones to quickly raise the subjugation count, but there was no need for that now.
The users Jeras had brought were taking care of that for him.
All he had to do was clear out whatever encampments he saw and rake in the experience points.
“Buffs.”
“Okay.”
Jeong Yu-ra cast her curses.
[A curse seeps into your body.]
[A curse seeps into your body.]
[A curse seeps…]
[…Yata has a change of heart!]
[The skill, ‘Curse of Weakening,’ transforms into ‘Yata’s Blessing’!]
[Defense is slightly decreased, but Attack Power is greatly increased in exchange.]
[Using the skill, Stealth.]
[The first Hidden Blade has been activated.]
He activated all the skills he could use before battle.
Lee Shin took out his tentacle.
But just then.
*Vvvrr!*
“…Hm?”
The moment he summoned it, the tentacle began to tremble as if it had been electrocuted.
Lee Shin tried to control it, but the shaking didn’t stop.
On the contrary, it began to thrash about wildly, as if resisting his control.
*Thwack! Thwack!*
“……Eek!”
Seeing the black, slimy tentacle flailing around, Jeong Yu-ra took a step back with a stiff expression.
Lee Shin narrowed his eyes.
*What is this?*
It flinched whenever he issued a command, so his orders were getting through.
But seeing as it immediately started thrashing again, something stronger than his commands seemed to be at play.
As if confirming his thoughts, a message appeared before his eyes.
[The ‘Forgotten God’s Ninety-ninth Leg’ is reacting to a corrupted holy relic.]
*…A holy relic?*
Why would a holy relic be here?
He didn’t know the reason, but…
[Warning!]
[Your familiar may go berserk.]
He knew what he had to do.
*I’ll know when I see it.*
Lee Shin completely relinquished control of the tentacle.
And then…
*Whoosh!*
The tentacle shot out on its own, as if drawn by a magnet.
Lee Shin and his group followed behind it.
*A cave?*
At the end of its path was the entrance to an eerie-looking cave.
Arthur turned his head and asked.
“Where are we?”
“I don’t know either.”
He had just followed the tentacle.
Seeing as it was still hovering around the entrance, it seemed like they were supposed to go inside…
*…Hmm.*
There were no visible traps, but the atmosphere was so unsettling that he was reluctant to just walk in.
Who knew what was inside?
So, Lee Shin tilted his head toward Arthur and said.
“You go check it out.”
His plan was to send Arthur in first, and if nothing happened, he would follow.
However, the moment Arthur stepped past the entrance.
*Bzzzt!*
“Aghhhhhh!?!?”
Arthur’s body convulsed as if he were being electrocuted!
Lee Shin flinched and jumped back.
Just then, someone came running out of the cave in a hurry, shouting.
“Who’s there!”
“…Hm?”
…It was an incredibly familiar face!
The moment Lee Shin saw the man’s face, a memory flashed through his mind.
*‘Have you perhaps seen a man like this?’*
*‘This man is a dark magician.’*
*‘I cannot tell you the specifics… but he has committed a grave crime.’*
“……!!”
Lee Shin’s eyes widened.
Standing before him was the dark magician the royal knights had been looking for just a few days ago.