Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: The Queen Bee's Aftermath
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Lee Shin’s act as a queen bee had been devastating.
It didn’t just end with wiping out a single party; it left a deep-seated trauma regarding party play itself.
Kang Woo-jin still remembered it vividly.
The words Lee Si-eun had shouted after killing most of the party members, leaving only him, her, and the party leader.
“Nice!! Well done!”
“?”
At first, he didn’t understand what she meant.
What had they done well?
But her next words made the meaning painfully clear.
“You’ve worked hard.”
“I’ll settle the payment right after we’re done.”
It was a truly wicked plan to frame an innocent person as an accomplice!
By the time Kang Woo-jin realized her scheme, it was already checkmate.
The party leader had already lost his senses, and unfortunately, Kang Woo-jin’s usual reputation wasn’t very good.
The party leader didn’t believe a word he said.
[A party member has died.]
In the end, the party leader died in vain.
The venomous glare he shot at Kang Woo-jin with his last breath was just the icing on the cake.
“Sob! Why are you doing this to me…!”
“Sorry.”
Kang Woo-jin cried his eyes out, but she simply left with a half-hearted apology and disappeared.
And that was the end of it.
After that day, the party disbanded, and Kang Woo-jin never saw or heard of the player named Lee Si-eun again.
All of this had happened just two months ago.
* * *
“…And that’s what happened.”
“I see.”
“It’s just so unfair, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is…”
After Kang Woo-jin finished his explanation, Yu Han-seong nodded in agreement.
He was sympathizing with someone in a similar situation.
But his reaction was somewhat lukewarm.
There was a reason for that.
‘…She’s just a queen bee.’
He had wondered what kind of horrific incident prompted someone to respond so quickly to his bounty post, but it turned out to be more anticlimactic than he’d expected.
Of course, what Kang Woo-jin went through was terrible.
Lee Si-eun had joined the party with the sole purpose of using them, sucked them dry, then destroyed the party and ran.
It was a clear betrayal of trust!
But…
‘The victim is also a bit…’
The victim shared some of the blame.
Why would you trust someone you met in a game enough to give them your heart and soul?
Before complaining about being backstabbed, the fundamental problem was accepting two useless players into the party in the first place.
It was an admission that they had ulterior motives outside of the game from the start.
He had simply reaped what he sowed.
“You must have had a very hard time.”
However, Yu Han-seong didn’t voice these thoughts.
Right now, he needed the information the other man possessed, so he played along and kept the conversation going.
And in the process, he learned a shocking fact.
The time gap between their two incidents was surprisingly short.
“That was two months ago!?”
“71 days ago, to be exact.”
“Sev… What? Ah, yes.”
“……”
‘He’s been counting the days…?’
A slight chill ran down Yu Han-seong’s spine at Kang Woo-jin’s serious correction, but he quickly composed himself and spoke.
“…Ahem! Anyway, that means she was a beginner until recently, right? To the point where she hadn't even chosen a class.”
“Yes.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. From what I saw, she looked like she was at least level 150…??”
And that was a conservative estimate.
He hadn’t interacted much with Lee Si-eun, but recalling the scene where she slaughtered the soldiers, she looked to be close to level 200.
Yu Han-seong was stunned.
‘She gained that many levels in two months…?!’
Even considering the faster growth rate for new players after the recent patch, this speed was astonishing.
Finding it hard to believe, Yu Han-seong tilted his head and muttered.
“Could we be thinking of two different people?”
“I don’t think so. Her methods are similar. The physical description matches, too.”
“People can look alike.”
“That’s true, but I doubt there’s more than one person like that out there……”
“……”
Yu Han-seong fell silent.
‘True.’
Even he had to admit, it was unlikely there were two people that unhinged.
Thus, the conclusion was simple.
“…She was just an incredibly strong person.”
“I think so too.”
A master of immense skill, inversely proportional to her character!
Yu Han-seong mentally raised his alert level for Lee Si-eun another notch.
‘If we find her, I need to make sure we have enough people.’
He thought that if he pursued her recklessly, he might end up being defeated even after finding her.
Moreover, she seemed very experienced with PK, so letting his guard down was not an option.
Once he had a rough plan in mind, the two got down to business.
Now that they had confirmed they shared the same goal, the question was how to find her.
Yu Han-seong asked.
“Do you have any ideas?”
But Kang Woo-jin didn’t have any brilliant methods either.
He hadn’t been deeply involved with Lee Shin, after all.
“She probably can’t go to another kingdom.”
“Why not?”
“Her infamy is too high.”
“Ah… right.”
That only served to narrow down the search area.
Yu Han-seong sighed.
‘I have no choice.’
The only way was to post as many bounties as possible and keep his guild members on patrol.
The only silver lining was that he had gained a free pair of hands.
“I’ll do my best to help as well. I’ll check the likely places and contact you if I find her.”
“Yes, thank you.”
The search was officially underway.
Of course, Lee Shin had already removed his disguise and traveled far away, so the chances of him being caught were slim.
And there was something else Kang Woo-jin hadn’t told Yu Han-seong.
‘…….’
A trivial yet crucial piece of information.
The fact was, Kang Woo-jin himself didn’t particularly hate Lee Shin.
Of course, when talking to Yu Han-seong, he pretended to still hold a grudge, but that was all an act to appear natural.
In reality, he held no negative feelings whatsoever.
There were a few reasons for this.
A lot of time had passed, diluting the memory of that day…
And crucially, the crush he’d had on her before the betrayal had been enormous.
So enormous, in fact, that it overshadowed the shock of betrayal.
It was a level of gullibility that a normal person would find hard to understand, but there was a pitiful reason behind it.
A rare case in this day and age, Kang Woo-jin had gone through an all-boys middle school, an all-boys high school, and then the military.
For someone like him, Lee Shin’s calculated flirting had been a critical hit.
Calling him by his name.
Praising him for being dependable.
Laughing at his silly jokes…
He couldn’t resist.
Of course, he knew now that it was all a lie, but that didn’t make the thrill he felt back then disappear.
No, because it was such a fleeting spring, it remained as an even more intense memory, tormenting him.
If he could just be with her like before, he was now willing to be a worker bee or anything else.
‘…Si-eun.’
Muttering Lee Si-eun’s name, Kang Woo-jin clenched his fists.
His eyes, already clouded with a murky light, shimmered dangerously.
* * *
Utterly oblivious to the fact that one of his minor actions had sown the seeds of a terrible disaster, Lee Shin logged into the game as soon as he returned from his meeting.
“Check item.”
Silver Thorn
A masterpiece forged by a master blacksmith who tempered his very soul into the blade.
It is characterized by a sharp edge crafted from light materials.
Attacking while moving has a low chance to trigger a powerful critical hit.
• Attack Power: 99
• Durability: 200/200
• When equipped, increases Health by 400 and grants 1% Lifesteal on all damage. The Lifesteal effect is amplified as the user’s current Health decreases.
• Skills ‘Cleave in Two’ and ‘Vital Point Attack’ can be used.
• Due to the unique effect ‘Consecutive Strikes,’ landing an attack within 5 seconds increases Attack Power by 5%. Can be stacked up to 100 times.
Lee Shin let out a sound of admiration.
‘These specs are insane.’
This was an item that would sell for millions of won if he put it on the auction house right now.
Then again, he had taken for himself what was supposed to be shared among 40 people, so it wasn’t that strange.
‘The problem is my infamy.’
After this quest, Lee Shin’s infamy had surpassed 1.2 million.
It was so high that he couldn’t even walk the streets without the dagger’s curse effect.
And because the equipment was so expensive and had such a beautiful appearance, it was likely to attract the attention of others.
Since he had many enemies at the moment, he couldn't wear it all the time and had to be mindful of when to use it.
“Tsk.”
Lee Shin clicked his tongue.
If his level were as high as a ranker’s, he would have just gone solo, but he wasn’t at that stage yet.
It was a shame, but it couldn’t be helped.
‘There are a lot of other items, too.’
He had obtained more items than expected from killing the soldiers and players.
It seemed to be because his drop rate buff had now surpassed his experience buff.
‘I’ll keep what I can use and sell the rest later.’
Since Lee Shin already had good equipment, there were only a few items he could use himself.
Instead, there were many items with specs that Jeong Yu-ra or Arthur could use.
Just as Lee Shin finished sorting the items, Arthur and Jeong Yu-ra logged in.
Lee Shin handed them the gear he had set aside.
“Huh?”
“Take it. It’s about time you changed your equipment.”
“Well, yeah, but is it okay to just take these? They’d sell for quite a bit.”
“It’s fine. Think of it as your editor’s salary.”
Lee Shin said it as if he were doing him a great favor, offering items instead of a salary.
It was, of course, a ridiculously low wage (even on a per-project basis), but Arthur, who never cared much for money, was happy regardless of the amount.
“What about me?”
“You…”
On the other hand, there was nothing he could give Jeong Yu-ra as payment in items.
After a moment of thought, Lee Shin answered.
“You can pay with your body.”
“…You mean pay with labor, right!?”
“Yeah.”
With the item distribution finished, a portion of Cedric’s debt was also paid off.
The fee for Jeong Yu-ra’s priest training and his performance in the recent quest were calculated in gold and deducted.
[Cedric’s remaining debt is 880,000 gold.]
He had started with 1.8 million gold, so he had already paid off more than half.
In other words, it also meant he had been worked that hard, but Lee Shin felt more disappointment than satisfaction.
Potent poisons and curses.
An attitude accustomed to evil deeds.
As expected of a priest who worshipped an evil god, his abilities and mindset were an excellent match for Lee Shin, who was the embodiment of ‘evil.’
He was too valuable to just let go.
“……”
Lee Shin stared at Cedric with an eerie gaze.
“……? W-Why are you looking at me like that…”
“It’s nothing.”
‘I’ll have to set a day for it soon.’
He didn’t have a specific method in mind, but it didn’t matter.
Lee Shin was a master of fraud, threats, and brainwashing.
He could always come up with a way.
After deciding on Cedric’s fate, Lee Shin called for Gillaim.
He had something to discuss about their future plans.
“Yes?”
“About that quest, I’ve been thinking about it for a while.”
“Yes.”
“No matter how I think about it, it seems impossible for just us, don’t you think? The goal isn’t to kill one or two people, but a hundred… Right?”
“That is…”
Guessing Lee Shin’s intention, Gillaim’s expression hardened slightly.
[Gillaim becomes tense.]
“…That is true. But we cannot just stand by and do nothing, can we?”
“I’m not saying we should do nothing.”
“……”
“If we can’t do it on our own, we can just find people to help us first.”
“Hmm?”
Gillaim wore a confused expression at Lee Shin’s words.
Facing him, Lee Shin continued in a suggestive tone.
“Think about it. You can’t be the only one, right?”
“Pardon?”
“You can’t be the only loyal knight who hopes to see the rightful heir of the royal family sit on the throne of the Eteun Kingdom again.”
“……!”
“I don’t think so. We just haven’t found them yet.”
From Lee Shin’s perspective, he had put a lot of thought into these words.
If he just left him be, Gillaim would obviously keep nagging him about nobles, nobles, and more nobles.
So, his plan was to divert his interest to buy some time.
…The problem was that these words, thrown out casually, had a tremendous effect.
“…Ah! There is someone!”
“There is!?”