Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: The Spoils of Victory
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In a typical game, the mere existence of a boss monster was a form of content in itself.
A formidable foe that sparked a desire to challenge it.
A story unique to the boss monster.
And the various rewards one could obtain after defeating it.
If this were a game, the moment they defeated Aden, King of the Gnolls, a plethora of items would have dropped.
But this was reality, not a game.
Since there was no item window to begin with, there was no way for items to be automatically bound to them the moment they killed a monster.
↓↓↓↙←+HS
Continental Divide
“What a grandiose name for a skill.”
Kang-seok, gripping the handle of the giant axe used by Aden, King of the Gnolls, muttered to himself before turning to look at Seong Yu-jin.
Seong Yu-jin, like Kang-seok, also placed her hand on the axe handle.
“Uh… Aden's Axe. Attack speed decreased by 10%, 3% chance to stun the enemy, attack power is… But this is way too big, isn't it?”
Seong Yu-jin trailed off, her brow furrowed. Kang-seok nodded.
“It's too big.”
It was an axe used by a giant gnoll that was a good four meters tall. It was far too large for Kang-seok or Seong Yu-jin to wield.
Having cleanly given up on Aden's Axe, Kang-seok and Seong Yu-jin looked down at the corpse of Aden, King of the Gnolls, once more. Park Han-yeong, who had been clinging to Aden's waist and rummaging through his pouches, suddenly lifted her head.
“There are gold coins in the pouch!”
Several gold coins were in Park Han-yeong's hand. They were all different shapes and sizes, but they were all undeniably gold and shiny.
“Did he take them from people?”
Seong Yu-jin muttered softly, as if to herself.
Unlike in games where even slimes carried money, this was reality.
There was no way gnolls living cooped up in a dungeon would have minted their own gold coins for transactions; they must have been stolen from people.
‘Like a crow.’
Did he just grab them because they were shiny?
While Seong Yu-jin was marveling to herself, Kang-seok turned to Park Han-yeong and said,
“They might not be useful right now, but they'll be essential once we get out of the dungeon. Take everything you can find.”
“Yes, sir!”
She seemed so excited that she even snapped into a salute, showing none of the hesitation she had at first.
Aden, King of the Gnolls, had quite a few pouches hanging from his waist, so Park Han-yeong's hands moved busily.
Kang-seok tore his gaze away from her and looked a short distance away.
Kim Kang-san was collecting Kim Nam-yeong's and Ahn Jae-min's equipment. Although their bodies had vanished in a flash of blue light, the gear they had used remained intact. Most of it was crude stuff used by gnolls, but they were still the two men's last possessions.
Kang-seok didn't say anything to Kim Kang-san's retreating back. He turned his attention back to the corpse of Aden, King of the Gnolls.
The weapon and armor Aden had used were too large to be of any use. That meant the only things they could take were his other belongings.
Before touching the body himself, Kang-seok scanned the King of the Gnolls' entire form one more time, then suddenly narrowed his eyes.
“What's that? It's glowing.”
“Huh? What is?”
Kang-seok raised his hand and pointed at Aden's neck.
“Over there, by his neck. There's a small red light. Can't you see it?”
Seong Yu-jin squinted, carefully following the direction Kang-seok's finger was pointing. Then, startled, she whipped her head around to look at him. She placed a hand on his forehead and abruptly held up two fingers.
“Are you okay? How many fingers am I holding up? Huh? Tell me.”
It seemed she thought he was seeing things. Kang-seok calmed her down as he thought to himself.
‘MVP.’
Most Valuable Player.
The one who contributed the most.
Though this was reality, it was a world with some game-like systems mixed in. It wouldn't be strange if there was a system that revealed the location of items only to the MVP.
Kang-seok moved away from Seong Yu-jin, who was still looking at him with worried eyes, and approached Aden's neck. He reached into the thick, dark fur and pulled out two stones, each slightly smaller than his palm.
A red stone and a white stone, both engraved with intricate patterns in the center.
Kang-seok held out both stones to Seong Yu-jin.
“Please.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Seong Yu-jin first picked up the red stone. She looked into the air and murmured softly.
“Rune of Flame. Greatly increases the wielder's resistance to fire. The Molotov cocktail!”
It was obvious that her last exclamation was not part of the text she was reading from the light.
Aden, King of the Gnolls, hadn't been particularly affected by the flames during the battle. They'd wondered if some special power was at play, and it seemed it was the power of this rune.
Excited, Seong Yu-jin picked up the white stone as well.
“Rune of Stealth. Has the effect of erasing the wielder's presence.”
“I see… No matter how fast he was, his appearance was too sudden.”
This time, it was Kang-seok's turn to understand.
Aden, King of the Gnolls, who had appeared while slamming Ahn Jae-min into the wall.
No matter how fast a creature that large and heavy was, it was bound to make a loud noise when it ran. To think it had completely silenced that sound—the rune's effect was truly incredible.
After finishing the appraisal, Seong Yu-jin unhesitatingly handed both stones back to Kang-seok. Taken aback, Kang-seok accepted the stones and couldn't help but chuckle. He spoke to Seong Yu-jin, who was deliberately looking away as if afraid of becoming greedy.
“Let's split them.”
“Huh?”
Seong Yu-jin asked in surprise. It was only natural, as both stones were unusually powerful. In a world where they were forced into life-or-death battles, the importance of items that aided survival was immense.
But Kang-seok didn't feel it was a waste. Hadn't Seong Yu-jin shared with him her remaining survival time, something far more precious than any item?
Still, seeing Seong Yu-jin's hesitation, Kang-seok added,
“I'll do the choosing, though. Here, the Rune of Flame.”
Both were excellent items, making it hard to choose between them, but the Rune of Stealth, which greatly increased the success rate of surprise attacks, was a better fit for a speed-type like him. The Rune of Flame also had good synergy with Seong Yu-jin, the tanker.
“Thank you.”
“Of course, the stealth one is….”
The first came from Seong Yu-jin, who smiled shyly. The second came from Park Han-yeong, her eyes narrowed.
Shaking his head, Kang-seok opened his mouth to say something to Park Han-yeong. But the words that actually came out were completely different from what he'd intended.
“Whoa, is that whole pouch full?”
The one pouch Park Han-yeong was holding.
The pouch, about the size of a human head, was literally bulging at the seams. Could everything inside really be gold coins?
“Hehe.”
Park Han-yeong laughed happily from behind her mask. Kang-seok let out a disbelieving chuckle and looked at Aden's corpse.
“This guy was a walking bank.”
But on the other hand, it also meant that many people had died at Aden's hands.
Suddenly reminded of Ahn Jae-min and Kim Nam-yeong, Kang-seok's smile vanished. He spoke to Kim Kang-san, who still had his back to them, mourning the two men's deaths.
“They haven't shown up yet… but with their king dead, the gnolls might swarm us soon. Let's head back to the base for now. We can split the gold and get some rest.”
No one objected to Kang-seok's proposal. The party moved back to their base.
“Fighter.”
On the way back to the base, Kang-seok projected letters of light into the air and muttered under his breath.
He had been promoted from Novice to Fighter. An entry for 'Fighter' had been added to his status screen.
It wasn't a 'class.' In fact, none of the others—Seong Yu-jin, Park Han-yeong, or Kim Kang-san—had their class change or get promoted.
Therefore, Kang-seok was certain.
‘It's a rank.’
The ranking system from God of Combat Online.
The more you fought, and the more you won, the higher your rank became.
The lowest rank was Novice.
The highest rank was 'God of Combat,' a title held by only one person per server.
In God of Combat Online, your rank increasing didn't particularly affect your character's performance. But would that be the case here?
Kang-seok waved his hand in the air again, bringing up a new window. As expected, he activated the 'Title' that had also been added to his status.
[King Slayer: Defeated Aden, King of the Gnolls]
[Intimidates gnolls. Gnolls who succumb to the intimidation may even obey the title holder's commands.]
[Makes the holder slightly braver.]
[Slightly increases the holder's stamina.]
Since half the monsters he'd encountered in the Labyrinthos so far were gnolls, it was an incredibly useful title.
‘Judging by the title's name and effects, there must be other 'Slayer' titles. That means I can collect them. I could even use tactics like switching to the appropriate title for the situation.’
Answering his own questions, Kang-seok activated the King Slayer title. He felt a strange sense of calm settle over him.
‘Feels like I took a calming pill.’
Clenching and unclenching his fists a few times, Kang-seok watched the backs of Seong Yu-jin and Park Han-yeong as they walked and chatted. Instead of interrupting them, he quickened his pace.