Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Andras's Nest
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Kang-seok had only been walking ahead alone for a short time.
Sulking was one thing, but there was something he needed to look into right away.
“I told you I’m not sulking.”
“Alright, then let’s just call it pouting and be done with it. Okay?”
Choi Yu-ra said, acting cute. Kang-seok growled once more, and Seong Yu-jin, who had been watching them intently, spoke up.
“Kang-seok.”
What was she about to say? Kang-seok and Choi Yu-ra turned to her at the same time, and Seong Yu-jin gave them a bright smile.
“You’re cute.”
After a brief moment of silence, Choi Yu-ra burst out laughing again, while Kang-seok let out a long, lamenting sigh.
Was this how Caesar felt when, just before his assassination, he looked at his adopted son Brutus and said, “Et tu, Brute?”
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Kang-seok clapped his hands together, trying his best to act nonchalant.
“Let’s talk business. Back to business.”
That was the very reason he had come back instead of continuing to walk ahead alone.
System Yggdrasil.
A new term mentioned by the letters of light.
Choi Yu-ra, who had intentionally left the letters of light visible, looked up at the empty air and shouted.
“Hey, you. Be honest with me. I promise I won’t get mad. You’re Iris, right?”
She started off sounding accusatory, but her voice grew gentler toward the end.
Kang-seok added his own words.
“I’m not asking for a full conversation. Just tell me if you’re Iris. I’m worried about you.”
Again, there was no answer.
But how should he put it? Kang-seok felt as if he had heard someone ask back, ‘Huh?’ So he didn’t stop and continued speaking.
“You said you started facing restrictions because of excessive intervention. I was just wondering if something bad happened to you because of that…”
It wasn’t just Kang-seok; Seong Yu-jin also looked up at the empty space with eyes full of concern. Choi Yu-ra glanced at the two of them, then forced a somber expression. Soon, a voice came from the air.
[I-I’m fine. You don’t have to worry.]
It was tinged with bewilderment. She seemed utterly surprised by the fact that Kang-seok and Seong Yu-jin were ‘worried’ about her.
“I knew it! It’s Iris!”
Choi Yu-ra cried out in triumph. Seong Yu-jin let out a sigh of relief and asked the air.
“Iris, are you really okay?”
Her voice was filled with warmth. It was hardly the way one would expect someone to treat Iris, who could be considered a subordinate of the one who caused the Great Summoning.
Iris, seemingly having shaken off her bewilderment, answered spiritedly.
[As I’ve already said, I’m fine. You really don’t need to worry. As Choi Kang-seok mentioned, I have been refraining from contacting you because I’ve been subject to various restrictions due to excessive intervention.]
“Is talking with Players that forbidden?”
[It’s not so much the conversation itself…]
At Kang-seok’s question, Iris trailed off, unable to give a clear answer. She hesitated for a long while before finally continuing.
[I-It’s a problem for me to get close to all of you. I’m in a position where I have to support many Players, not just a specific one.]
Support.
That was how Iris described her duty.
Choi Yu-ra grinned.
“Hey, about that. Can’t you just work exclusively for us?”
[Huh?]
“You’re not the only one supporting all the Players, are you?”
Choi Yu-ra saw Iris as a sort of ‘AI assistant.’ And because of that, she could separate Iris from the one who caused the Great Summoning.
After all, Iris was an entity that was trying her best to support their party.
Even during the incident with Hunt and the Keyman Merchant Guild, Iris had subtly revealed her presence.
It must have been Iris who had marked Loxley’s words as truth when they first received his request.
The number of Players summoned to this world was 370,000.
The one who caused the Great Summoning had predicted that about ten thousand of them would pass the tutorial.
Ten thousand was no small number. And Iris was supposed to support all those Players by herself?
That was absurd. There were probably at least a hundred other beings like Iris.
Iris and the party had already built a rapport. If so, wouldn’t it be better for Iris to become their dedicated assistant?
Understanding Choi Yu-ra’s intent, Kang-seok drove the point home.
“I won’t pry about the Great Summoning or who your ‘master’ is. It seems like that would be a burden on you.”
In any case, there was no way he would get an answer if he asked about the one who caused the Great Summoning right now. And it was possible that Iris herself knew very little about her master.
If that was the case, he would rather choose to strengthen their bond with Iris.
[Nngh…]
Her voice sounded as if her weakness had just been struck.
The party couldn’t see it, but Iris saw Seong Yu-jin’s warm eyes and finally ended up shouting.
[Ah, forget it! Let’s just talk business. Go ahead and ask the questions you would have normally thrown at me by now!]
Choi Yu-ra giggled. She gestured to Kang-seok with her chin as if passing a baton.
Kang-seok asked immediately.
“What is System Yggdrasil?”
[It is the name of the system designed to support Players. Broadly speaking, I am also a part of System Yggdrasil. It is the master system that governs everything, from Kron distribution to quest tabulation.]
Iris replied instantly, as if her mind was finally at ease.
This time, Seong Yu-jin asked.
“And ‘Guild Creation’ is part of that system?”
[That’s correct. As I mentioned earlier, if three or more Players pay ten thousand Kron, they can ‘register’ a guild within Yggdrasil.]
Until now, Players had relied solely on the systems of their respective games. The ‘party’ they were currently in followed the rules of Exa Online.
But guilds were different. It was a new rule that applied universally to all Players.
Choi Yu-ra tilted her head.
“Ten thousand Kron is a whopping 100 days of Remaining Survival Time. Is a guild really worth that much?”
[Guilds have various benefits. The most prominent are the Guild Skills that can be acquired as the guild levels up.]
“Guilds level up too?”
[Yes, and the higher the guild level, the more advanced Guild Skills you can learn. Most of them are useful, such as Guild Auras that increase the stats of all guild members.]
If what Iris said was true, it was definitely worth it. And while ten thousand Kron was certainly not a small amount, it was a manageable sum if several people pooled their Kron together.
Seong Yu-jin asked again.
“Are there any benefits for guild members? Like being able to contact each other even when far apart?”
A feature supported by almost every online game, regardless of genre.
Communication that transcended space between users.
For a moment, the three of them felt as if they had witnessed Iris smile. Iris answered clearly.
[That is one of the Guild Skills. Though it does require a rather high level.]
A long-distance communication feature.
If that was truly possible, it would be a literal game-changer. Choi Yu-ra slapped her thigh in frustration.
“Don’t be so stingy and just tell us all the Guild Skills. We need to know what’s available to make a decision.”
[I apologize. This is all I can tell you for now. Please check the rest after you have actually established a guild.]
Iris’s tone wasn’t sharp, but rather pleading. When she spoke like this, it often meant she truly couldn't answer.
Choi Yu-ra grunted but didn’t press further.
Kang-seok asked about something else.
“Iris, besides Guild Creation, are there any other useful systems?”
[There is a Marriage System.]
“M-Marriage?”
It was Seong Yu-jin who asked back in surprise. Choi Yu-ra and Kang-seok also looked quite taken aback.
Iris explained.
[Several benefits apply to Players registered as a ‘married couple’ in System Yggdrasil. The most notable is that the Kron exchange loss rate becomes 0%. Because a married couple is one heart and one soul.]
Her last words were tinged with a hint of longing. Like a dreaming girl, one might say.
Seong Yu-jin’s eyes sparkled at Iris’s tone, but Choi Yu-ra was more concerned with something else. She shot her hand up and asked.
“What about things like tracking a spouse’s location?”
[Um… I believe that’s forbidden for privacy protection. It seems like only bad things would happen if tracking were actually possible.]
“An age of distrust…”
Kang-seok muttered quietly, but he understood this time as well. It was a rather valid point.
Choi Yu-ra glanced at Kang-seok, then turned back to Seong Yu-jin. She bit her lip as if deep in thought before asking Iris again.
“Can anyone get married? Like woman and woman, man and man, or multiple people to one person?”
“Y-Yu-ra?”
Seong Yu-jin was flustered by the unconventional question. But Choi Yu-ra held her head high and waited for Iris’s answer.
[There are no restrictions on marriage itself. However, marriages made in jest or solely to lower the Kron exchange loss rate are prohibited. There are also penalties for divorce.]
“How do you distinguish that?”
[This, too, will be explained when you get married.]
“You know, you’re being strangely helpful and unhelpful at the same time today.”
As Choi Yu-ra narrowed her eyes and chided her, Iris scoffed.
[If you don’t need me, I’ll be on my way.]
“Wait, hold on.”
Kang-seok stopped her. While Choi Yu-ra and Seong Yu-jin were excited about the marriage talk, he had been pondering something else, which he now put into words.
“I’m just asking, but do any Player ‘guilds’ currently exist?”
Not all Players were summoned to this world at the same time. According to Kang-seok’s own speculation, there could be Players who had been here for nearly three months.
In that amount of time, it was possible that someone capable of dropping ten thousand Kron had appeared.
But Choi Yu-ra shook her head before even hearing Iris’s answer.
“No way. A guild already…”
[They exist.]
Iris’s answer cut Choi Yu-ra off. Choi Yu-ra’s eyes widened in surprise, and Kang-seok took a deep breath.
“I won’t ask for the location. Can I at least know the name?”
[That is possible. The guild list is free to view.]
As soon as Iris’s voice faded, new letters of light appeared in the party’s minds.
Kang-seok read the characters aloud.
“The Seven Sword… Knights.”
The first guild created by Players.
But for some reason…
Kang-seok felt an inexplicable sense of unease.
***
On the plains spreading out from the outskirts of Count Monton’s domain.
Dozens of Players were engaged in a bloody battle with a massive swarm of Rat Scavengers.
Park Chang-ho, Captain of the Seven Sword Knights, who was sitting on a hill watching the fight, groaned as he stretched.
“Ughhh… It’s been a while since I’ve exercised. My whole body is aching.”
Park Chang-ho had also been fighting a desperate battle with the Rat Scavengers until just a moment ago. He had killed over twenty of them with his own hands, so it was no exaggeration to say he had been on the front lines.
The reason he, the Captain of the Seven Sword Knights, had fought personally…
It was complex. It wasn’t just to boost the morale of his knights.
Kron could be collected as taxes.
But experience points could not.
The law of the jungle.
The weak were destined to be devoured by the strong. Therefore, Park Chang-ho himself had to always remain in the position of the strong.
Though described as a bloody battle, the fight was now in its final stages. The Chieftains leading the Rat Scavengers were almost all dead, and the Warlord who commanded the horde had been cut down by Park Chang-ho’s own hand.
The remaining Rat Scavengers were nothing more than a promised band of defeated soldiers, fighting only because they couldn’t escape.
Park Chang-ho gestured with his chin to the person beside him.
“Khalid, why don’t you fight a little too? You are a Player, after all. Your basic physical abilities should be far superior to those of an ordinary person, no?”
At Park Chang-ho’s suggestion, Khalid quickly shook his head.
“Fighting isn’t really my thing…”
He was wearing leather armor and armed with a sword and shield instead of his usual Hawaiian shirt, but that didn’t turn an ordinary person into a valiant warrior.
At Khalid’s spiritless reply, Park Chang-ho simply nodded. What he wanted from Khalid wasn’t martial prowess anyway.
“Everyone’s working hard. By the way, I heard two notable rookies have joined?”
Khalid was not only the treasurer of the Seven Sword Knights but also in charge of personnel.
Khalid quickly answered.
“They’re over there. They happen to be together right now.”
Turning in the direction Khalid pointed, he saw a man and a woman.
The man with long black hair was skillfully wielding a large sword despite having his eyes covered with a blue cloth, and the black-haired woman in a cowboy outfit was weaving frantically through the Rat Scavengers, firing her gun. It looked as if she were performing close-quarters combat with a firearm.
Park Chang-ho narrowed his eyes and asked.
“The man and the woman. Are they from the same game?”
“Yes, they are. Both are of Uncommon rarity. They came here after playing a side-scrolling action game.”
“A side-scrolling action game?”
Park Chang-ho tilted his head. The only game he knew was *Blood*.
Khalid looked momentarily troubled, then gestured in the air as he explained.
“You know, like Final Fight. You move forward and beat up enemies.”
From left to right, or right to left.
A game where you move in a set direction and defeat the enemies you encounter.
Park Chang-ho tilted his head again and said doubtfully.
“Like Super Mario?”
“Uh, well… something like that.”
After an awkward laugh, Khalid began his explanation before Park Chang-ho could ask any more questions.
“Lee Hyeon-woo and Kang Su-ji. Both have great potential. Judging by their names, they seem to be from the same country as you, Captain.”
“They’re Koreans? Then the game must be Korean too.”
He said it, but his tone still suggested he had no idea what game it was.
Instead of elaborating on the game, Khalid shared more important information.
“The man is a swordsman, as you can see. Due to the nature of side-scrolling action games, he likely has an advantage in more precise combat compared to those from typical MMORPGs.”
“And the woman?”
“She uses a pistol as her weapon. However, both its power and range are inferior to the guns brought by those from FPS games.”
Park Chang-ho frowned.
“Don’t tell me she doesn’t even have an aiming reticle?”
“That’s right.”
The gun’s power was lacking, and there wasn’t even an aiming reticle.
The Seven Sword Knights already had a fair number of Players from FPS games. Although they couldn’t use them recklessly due to limited ammunition, their ranged firearms were one of the Seven Sword Knights’ trump cards.
Park Chang-ho looked at the black-haired woman—Kang Su-ji—once more.
Her agile movements as she weaved through the Rat Scavengers were impressive, but he thought it would be better for her to use a sword instead of a gun at this rate.
“Khalid, isn’t she a complete dud, then?”
Park Chang-ho asked lightly. But it wasn’t a question asked in earnest.
Khalid had said that both of them had great potential.
Kang Su-ji must have had her own strengths.
Khalid replied instantly.
“But Captain, Kang Su-ji has one incredible strength.”
“What is it?”
“She has infinite ammo.”
Park Chang-ho blinked. It was truly rare for him to show such a surprised expression.
Infinite ammo.
Bullets that never ran out.
A faint smile touched Park Chang-ho’s lips as he watched Kang Su-ji.