Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Temporary Monster Residence VER.N.DAWN
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[Temporary Monster Residence VER.N.DAWN]
“Land? Land out of nowhere.”
An unexpected topic came up, and Prim tilted her head.
“It has to be uninhabited land. The more diverse monsters there are, the better.”
“Your tastes are peculiar. Mind if I ask what for?”
“I’m planning to have a bunch of monsters following me around, and they’ll need a place to live.”
Prim suddenly recalled the pet monster that Dun kept with her. Truth be told, that slime no longer gave off the unpleasant vibe or temperament of a typical monster, making it debatable whether to even call it one.
“You mean like that pet slime of yours?”
“Yeah. They won’t harm people, but if I bring them to the village, folks might get scared and chase me and Rihaowel out.”
“Rihaowel? You call your mother’s name awfully casually.”
“Uh, Mom. I mean, my mom.”
Dun panicked and hurriedly corrected herself.
Prim watched the scene with interest before speaking up.
“Anyway, you want to borrow some land to raise tame monsters, right?”
“Yeah, lend me some land.”
“You’re not asking for the land outright, and after doing something huge for me, your request is surprisingly mundane.”
“Then hand over all your assets.”
“My bad.”
Worried that Dun might actually change her mind and demand everything, Prim quickly apologized.
“I don’t officially own any land. To weaken the Bachinums’ power, my generation got minimal support on purpose. All the land left after the nobles took their shares belongs to the emperor.”
“Bachinums? You’re a Bachinum?”
“That’s right.”
Dun’s eyes went wide. The chosen one, the promised person, a Bachinum.
Dun didn’t know much about Bachinums, but she knew that just a few decades ago, they wielded power equal to the emperor’s, protecting the empire and its kingdoms. She also knew that after the previous Bachinum died, no successor had appeared.
As far as Dun remembered from her gamer days, there had been a massive quest involving a Bachinum rebellion.
Who would’ve thought it all tied back to Prim.
No wonder her combat prowess was above average. Though still lower than what one might expect from a Bachinum.
It made sense that she didn’t get along with the emperor, too.
Dun mulled over Prim’s situation for a moment before pursing her lips.
“What? So no land to lend?”
Prim burst out laughing at Dun’s dry, straightforward reaction.
“Don’t worry. I’ve been quietly buying up land through nobles I’ve pulled to my side. I’ll give you a bit of that.”
“Oh, for life?”
“If you want. But you have to keep all info about me secret.”
“Won’t tell, won’t tell~”
Dun cheered inwardly. Getting caught raising monsters on someone else’s land could land her and Rihaowel in jail, so securing a dwelling for them had been a real headache.
She’d been dreading having to tell Rihaowel and scout for land, so if Prim’s offer panned out, her plans were off to a smooth start.
“But what kind of monsters are you bringing, exactly?”
Prim, who disliked monsters, found Dun’s talk of raising them a bit uncomfortable, but oddly enough, she didn’t mind the well-behaved ones like that slime.
Prim figured Dun meant the tame ones from places like the Genesis Plains.
Still, monsters were inherently vicious, so she pulled a book called ‘Monster Encyclopedia’ from a drawer to prepare for any accidents.
The book classified monsters by danger level. Prim flipped to the front and held it out to Dun.
“Here, I’ll give you this book. Point out which monsters.”
Dun took the book and checked the table of contents. Skipping past the early slime pages that Prim had opened, she flipped to the end.
It was a page plastered with red danger warnings.
“This one. Lycus.”
“……Huh?”
Prim tilted her head and met Dun’s eyes.
Lycus were among the fiercest monsters even on Yoharaum, the continent teeming with brutal beasts—and the strongest there. After a staring contest with Dun, Prim soon burst into laughter.
“Got it, Dun. Your sense of humor is a bit offbeat, but I admire the effort.”
“What’re you talking about? I’ll layer security spells so no poop splatters, so you don’t need to prep anything extra.”
Dun let out a big yawn. She’d been running around all day, and sleep hit her fast.
“Sleepy. I’m crashing first.”
“Wait, Dun, is even the serious stuff a joke? I can’t tell where your jokes end. Wait, Dun, don’t sleep!”
Dun, thoroughly drained, had already fallen into deep slumber.
* * *
Well-crafted games always have a richly built world.
Games like ‘Ninapinta’ were famous for their intricate, expansive lore.
Ninapinta’s world featured various conflicts, with ‘monsters’ playing a huge role. More than wars between nations or tribes, clashes between humans and monsters dominated.
The official site had some lore compiled, but fan wikis like Namuwiki held even more details.
Around the same time as Dun, Lee Saebyeok sat on the toilet searching ‘Ninapinta’ on Namuwiki.
With no phone of her own, she wiped the borrowed staffer’s screen with tissue now and then to avoid leaving fingerprints.
“Most people awaken inside the Ninapinta simulation, right?”
Outsiders saw Ninapinta as just a game sim. But living in the Hunter Association, Lee Saebyeok knew it was a high-success awakening tool that didn’t risk lives.
To enable in-game awakenings, plenty of kids had been sacrificed.
Beta test subjects for hunter game capsules were low-scorers on hunter tests.
All died in under a month.
The string of deaths and failures had many calling the ‘hunter game capsules’ impossible.
Then came the first case: a demo capsule where a hunter successfully awakened without dying.
Lee Saebyeok had doubted sim awakenings too, but things had changed. In a few years, she’d log into Ninapinta for her own awakening.
So lately, she’d been digging into Ninapinta info ahead of time.
She skimmed the Namuwiki lists for new additions. With crowds editing and uploading, it was full of trivia. Lee Saebyeok loved that stuff.
Seol Doyun, who acted smart 90% of the time, hated fiction wiki dumps like Namuwiki.
Thinking of Seol Doyun mocking her for using Namuwiki made her brow twitch.
Whatever, fake it till you make it, you arrogant prick. Bet he sneaks peeks at Namuwiki for trivia too.
Lee Saebyeok snorted and scrolled down.
「Ninapinta
Last edit: 20xx.xx.xx (1 day ago)
Category: VR Game | Ninapinta | Ninapinta/Lore
…
5. Ninapinta Monsters/Demons
>5.1 Monster Background
Beings with deep resentment toward humans. They rarely communicate and attack without motive. All attempts at peaceful exchange with individuals ended in death. No monster-related classes or skills yet. #link
Per Ninapinta devs, to the world’s people, monsters are like invasive species in a peaceful ecosystem, or malicious code in clean programming…[3] -interview deleted
Unknown what makes them so ferocious. In-game Licht Empire speculates infinite mana from hidden Montjihel Continent grants them life and destructive nature.
…
>5.5 Monster Myths
All Ninapinta monsters show aggression to humans, but smart ones occasionally differ. They target the strong selectively, craft strategies when outmatched.
Rare monsters suppress killer instincts, said to turn into *NPCs. Some claim elf NPCs as examples.」
“Lee Saebyeok!!!!!! You the one who stole my phone??”
“I saw Seol Doyun take it—”
The staffer burst into the bathroom calling her. Lee Saebyeok scrolled down innocently.
“Get out quick, it won’t come if someone’s nearby.”
Plop plop!
“What’s that noise?”
“……My poop.”
* * *
Dun had planned to fetch the Lycus alone, but Prim, refusing to believe it to the end, tailed her.
En route to the Yoharaum teleporter, players spotting Dun looked baffled.
“Her circle just leveled up outta nowhere…… That snot-nosed tag-along kid…….”
“Yeah, turned super popular while we weren’t looking. Where’d she snag that golden connection? Hidden quest incoming?”
A low-level quest NPC hanging with a high-level one? Wild combo.
Prim often crossed paths with her during Selk Academy high-level quests; Dun, at starting village lowbies.
Unlikely pair drew stares.
A rare in-game princess NPC trailing a commoner one was kinda cute.
Like a Brianezk (high-level chimera) following a slime.
Assuming high-rank quests from the odd duo, players tailed them secretly.
“As always, venturing to town draws weak adventurers.”
Prim glanced at their stalkers.
Selk visitors were all beasts; these included total noobs.
“But how long they planning to follow?”
“Who knows. Persistent bunch—might trail to world’s end if bored.”
“A massive stalker squad…… Scary.”
“Prim, you’re a mage—got no stealth spells?”
“Nope.”
To shake the crowd, they’d need to loop around.
As Dun tsked and brainstormed, Prim offered an idea.
“But I can do something similar. Make thick fog.”
“Yeah, super humid.”
Ignoring her human humidifier pitch, Dun sighed, hoisted Prim, and bolted at max speed. Simplest: grab and run, no overthinking.
“????”
Air whooshed; Prim’s eyes bulged.
Level 999 speed made them vanish like ghosts.
Tailers assumed teleport, grumbled, and dispersed.
Dun zipped to the elemental continent portal, warping to Yoharaum.
Upon arrival, both collapsed.
“Huff, huff. What the—”
Prim wanted answers for Dun’s stunt, but the exhausted girl lay dead to the world beside her.
Prim poked Dun’s cheek with a finger to check if alive.
Dun flipped her off: don’t.
“Phew, she’s fine.”