Chapter 111
Chapter 111
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 111
Chapter Title: Skorn Desert (1)
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"Phew, it's hot."
Even after equipping a somewhat feeble item called the Rune of Chill using knowledge from his past life, the heat didn't let up one bit. The Skorn Desert was truly scorching.
A Rune of Chill from the Central Continent would have provided perfect heat resistance, but it was still too early for those items to be available.
So he had no choice but to make do with this.
"The pyramid was a hidden dungeon, right?"
The pyramid that the human race quest demanded verification of was, amusingly enough, a hidden dungeon.
Because it required special conditions to locate and enter, human players had scoured the Skorn Desert like mad, but when it didn't show up, they even lodged complaints claiming it was a bug.
That meant he could have wandered for quite a while, but fortunately, Rokan knew the entry method.
"It's a long way off."
Not only was the distance considerable, but there were prerequisite quests to complete in order to find the pyramid.
[You have entered the Parched Desert Village of Skipo.]
"Traveler, please... water, some water..."
[Compassion][Quest]
The water in the desert village of Skipo has dried up, and the residents are suffering. But you have no place to get water either.
Your choice is...
-Completion Condition: Provide one canteen's worth of water
-Completion Reward:
The quest popped up the moment he arrived at Skipo, a mid-way outpost.
But Rokan knew better. He had to refuse this quest.
If he gave water to one person, the rest of the villagers would swarm him like zombies, begging for water. And if he couldn't satisfy them all, he'd rack up resentment and reputation penalties equal to their numbers.
That was why it was better to flatly refuse from the start and shake them off, rather than completing just one quest by giving water to a single person.
"Here you go. Have a drink to wet your throat."
But Rokan's actual action was the complete opposite of what he knew. He readily handed over water to the man.
"W-water!"
"Me too! Please, me too!"
"My child at home hasn't had a drop in three days. Please, show some mercy to me too...!"
"Throat... dry... voice... not... coming..."
With that, the villagers approached Rokan, squeezing out their strength with cracked, parched voices.
"Don't rush. I have enough water to quench everyone's thirst."
If he couldn't satisfy them all, he'd take a reputation penalty. But what if he could satisfy everyone?
He knew everything from the start, and he'd come prepared with inventory full of canteens and oak barrels thanks to his wealth. That's what made this possible.
"Gah!"
"I-I'm alive."
"Thank you! Thank you!"
"Ahh, finally I can bring water to the kids!"
[The reputation of the Parched Desert Village of Skipo has changed to Absolute Trust.]
Even Rokan didn't have enough water for the entire village to drink their fill, but one canteen—exactly one per person—was sufficient.
Greed and selfishness know no bounds, but with this many people, they'd need to drain an entire oasis. Fortunately, they reined themselves in on their own.
Of course, the atmosphere suggested that pushing for more would get him beaten to death.
"How did this happen?"
Once they seemed a bit calmer, Rokan finally spoke up.
In the meantime, experience points and reward items steadily piled up in his inventory. There were quite a few items that seemed far too valuable for just one canteen, since the grade and type from villagers were random.
But sorting them all out now would be futile.
Thanks to his overwhelming Strength stat, his weight gauge had plenty of room, so he ignored it for now and focused on progressing the quest.
"Well... it's only been recent. We were short on water, but the well kept us fine... But seven days ago, the well dried up completely. And for some reason, the teleport magic circle connected to nearby areas broke down too..."
The story was simple. For some unknown reason, all the village wells had dried up. They'd tried contacting nearby regions or paying the steep fee for the teleport magic circle to procure water, but the circle was busted, making it impossible.
So the villagers were withering away like half-mummies, and those who left to fetch water had gone silent.
'No way they're coming back.'
It was all staged for the quest, so the ones who left wouldn't return anytime soon.
Some might come back only after everything was resolved, but in the end, players had to fix this mess.
'Rune books don't work around here either. Water shuttling would be a nightmare. That's why players gave up on reputation here.'
Whether shuttling water continuously from other areas or solving the root cause to fix everything.
But just like the teleport magic circle malfunctioning, some magical interference blanketed the entire vicinity, disabling rune books too.
So many treated it as an inevitable reputation hit, passing through as a waypoint or safe zone at best. But the solution was actually very simple.
"I'll take care of it."
"Yes? You, adventurer? Of course we'd be grateful, but we don't even know the cause ourselves..."
When Rokan volunteered to resolve it, the villagers looked shocked at first, then desperate. They were clutching at straws anyway.
[Cause of the Drought][Quest]
Uncover and resolve the cause of the phenomenon in the Parched Desert Village of Skipo. Even if you fail, the villagers, moved by your dedication, won't blame you.
-Completion Condition: Resolve the cause of the drought
-Completion Reward: Large amount of EXP, 100 gold, Title 'Savior of Skipo'
They had some conscience; no penalty even on failure. But this was a quest he couldn't possibly fail.
"Before that, can I use the shops here?"
"Of course!"
"Come this way. I'll guide you. Anything Rokan buys, I'll give you at a huge discount!"
With reputation at Absolute Trust, the half-locked shop access lifted easily.
Price discounts were a bonus!
If not for the no-trade restriction on discounted items, he could've swept them up for a fortune, but for now, just having the shops open was blessing enough.
[You have purchased the Scorching Sun Armor.]
[You have purchased the Desert Traverser's Boots.]
[You have purchased the Sun Block Hat...]
This was exactly Rokan's aim: powerful fire resistance gear.
They weren't a set, but every piece sold here boasted strong fire resistance.
It was a feature of desert terrain, but also highly relevant to this quest.
"Let's check the well."
"The well? Why go to that dried-up place...?"
"Searching the source area first is basic exploration protocol."
In truth, it was just cheating with prior knowledge, but he made it sound grand.
Agreeing Rokan had a point, a villager guided him to the nearest well, where Rokan immediately set something up.
"What's that...?"
"I'll go down."
"Down here?"
What he pulled out and tied was a rope.
He couldn't ask the weakened villagers, deprived of water for days, to hold it, so he secured it firmly to a nearby tree and dropped it down the well.
Thud.
As expected of a dried-up well, there was no splash—just the sound of rope hitting dry ground.
"Wait here. It might be dangerous, so I'll go alone."
With that, he descended.
Grabbing the rope and walking down the wall, he soon reached the bottom.
Interestingly, it wasn't a sealed space. A path had formed, beckoning him onward.
"Looks like this is it."
Checking his magic map briefly, Rokan grinned and nodded. If it wasn't, he'd have to check other village wells, but luckily, he hit it on the first try.
Right inside here lurked the culprit drying out Skipo.
[You have entered the Rampaging Flames Dungeon.]
The alert confirmed he'd found the right place.
He didn't know why it had set up here, but this mess was all because of the 'Rampaging Flames.'
It was an event dungeon, so no first-entry bonus, but repeats weren't possible anyway, so Rokan had no regrets.
"To be precise, it's a corrupted spirit."
Fwoosh!
'As my EXP farm right now,' he seemed to say as he swung his battle axe simply, quelling the rampaging flame blob.
[Rampaging Flame Spirit][Lv 241]
Level 241, with high fire damage—nightmares for players weak to elemental resistance. But Rokan was fully prepared.
Fire resistance gear wrapped around him was basic, and his battle axe had Ice Enchant, dealing double normal elemental damage that hammered in relentlessly.
Even Force alone dealt absurd damage; with elemental boost, regular monsters stood no chance.
Despite the level gap, they felt weaker than monsters in the Linai territory.
"This is why you set up counters."
They fizzled out satisfyingly, if bittersweetly, but the incoming EXP was juicy enough for a broad grin.
Deeper in, more spirits appeared, but they posed no threat to Rokan. Just premium EXP sacks.
Sweeping through, the true culprit finally showed.
"Why... why torment me!"
Kwaaang!
[Corrupted Fire Spirit][Lv 263]
The boss room erupted immediately with a flame storm from a level 263 monster—not 250, but 260. A fire spirit leagues above those summonable by spirit summoners with hidden classes.
If anything, it was an elite among mid-tier.
"Urk, what's with the attitude?"
Spirits had no weaknesses except elements, but Rokan was confident.
A shame it wasn't enhanced, but his setup was perfect. To him, whose attacks outdid skills, spirits meant something else.
"No weakness? You're weakness incarnate head to toe."
Snarling crookedly, Rokan charged without a glance. He'd counter any first strike—that was Rokan!
"Carnage!"
He unleashed a gale to extinguish every fire spirit or candle alike.