Chapter 171
Chapter 171
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 171
Chapter Title: Wish Village, Idea Peninsula (4)
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7.
Jeong-cheol traveled with a group of bizarre people as companions.
Among them, there were three important figures.
One was a girl with the <Storyteller> class.
Sakurai Yuya.
It might seem surprising that Jeong-cheol cherished her so dearly despite her non-combat class.
There was a very simple explanation.
Sakurai was a beauty of considerable caliber. Of course, that also sparked enormous problems.
Right beside Jeong-cheol stood Livione, the Russian silver-haired big sis—a formidable rival.
But this big sis... she was somehow profoundly peculiar.
“No, that’s not it, okay?”
I first sensed it
while I was teaching Jeong-cheol magic.
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
“So, like, whoosh! then slash! and whoomph! You get the feeling?”
“You little punk... are you messing with me right now?”
Jeong-cheol wore a dumbfounded expression. I was the dumbfounded one.
“I’m explaining it with every gesture imaginable! And you can’t understand this?”
“Drop the abstract crap and use scholarly terms. Magic’s basically identical to math from the start.”
“Fine. Mentally compute the formula for [Flame Barrier], then spin it around five times.”
“......”
“Then zap! It hits just right, and that’s when you form the magic circle in your palm.”
Jeong-cheol glared at me, clenched his fist tight, and trembled. I hurriedly backed away.
“Calm · down! Calm · down! Calm · down!”
Jeong-cheol stared at me blankly, then finally shook his head with a sigh. That was when it happened.
“Indeed...!”
[Player, Livione casts magic, [Flame Barrier Lv.1]!]
Livione swung her right hand.
A flame wall rose along the trajectory of her fingertips, spewing smoke.
“No way!”
Livione clasped her hands together and let out a ladylike cheer.
“GodSpring-nim. Truly profound teachings. To impart magic so effortlessly...!”
Something was off right there.
GodSpring was my nickname, a mashup of God + Spring.
Weird.
The only ones who called me by that nickname were NPCs...
But at the time,
I was too thrilled to question it.
“Right? Awesome, right? That pop-! feeling hits spot on.”
“Yes. The pop-! feeling came just right.”
“Hehe.”
“If it’s not too presumptuous, might I learn other spells as well?”
“Huh?”
“This is the first time I’ve encountered such masterful magic instruction!”
Her speech was remarkably archaic...
Was she some British royal princess or something?
“Please, Great Archmage GodSpring-nim!”
Great Archmage?
That was when Livione gently clasped both my hands.
My mind blanked out for a second.
W-warm... no, not that—I just didn’t know how to handle a woman in a moment like this.
“W-well? If you’re asking, how could I refuse? R-right? I’m the Great Archmage, after all!”
That day’s incident ended up as nothing major...
But Livione’s peculiar behavior began coiling into thick suspicion deep in my heart.
An NPC?
No... that couldn’t be.
I wasn’t as deep into the game as elite players, but I had all the key NPCs memorized.
I’d never heard of or seen any NPC named Livione.
“Wait, hold on. So who’s the principal wife?”
Pot-bellied Howard.
He came off prickly about everything, yet had a fairly bold personality too, as he asked.
“Principal wife? No, did you actually listen to my story?”
Howard raised his pinky finger.
“Of course! Who do you cherish more! Isn’t that the key point in guy talk?”
“Left: Russian silver-haired big sis, right: Eastern beauty... no way to rank them.”
I’d wanted to ask who the principal wife was, but it sounded too stupid, so I dropped it. My guess was the latter.
Ugh, my luck.
Truly a tale to twist your insides, cramp your gut, and throb your skull.
“Where are the gods... why’d I go to all-boys middle and high...”
If reincarnation was real,
I’d become a Casanova strutting around with beauties like that too.
Ah, one sec.
The last one...
was the genuine headache and hazard.
An elite hunter.
Elite players collaborating was forbidden by the rules... so how was this happening?
Above all, Chris Myers.
The woman tagged as elite hunter at the battle royale briefing—where’d she go, and who was this guy?
“No need to know. Just keep in mind he’s the elite hunter now.”
Jeong-cheol didn’t give detailed answers...
“Hyung, that guy... I just don’t like him, for some reason.”
It’d been that way from the start.
His oppressively drab aura... and the slimy, leering look he shot at every woman.
In critical moments, this creep would definitely turn into massive trouble...
That was my read on him.
And soon, in this elite clash, my judgment would prove spot on.
8.
Bryuka’ruk’s Forest.
This vast woodland, where eerie silence coiled tight... was chillingly barren of any vital energy.
“That forest is the devil’s forest.”
I spotted Sakurai translating ancient script for Jeong-cheol.
“Devil’s forest?”
A boy stood beside him.
Oh... wildman guide. Better skills than expected.
Wildmen.
Users of ancient tongue.
Beings who knew the ever-shifting geography of this forest inside out.
Essential NPCs for conquering this raid.
“Trees turn into humans, humans into trees.”
The boy shuddered head to toe, hissing like a beast.
“Fist-sized maggots... eating Mom’s head, or so they say.”
Jeong-cheol replied flatly.
“Bullshit.”
What...?
I stared at Jeong-cheol in shock. Sakurai looked the same.
“Bullshit?”
“This forest’s already been devoured by the [Forgotten Kings]’ subordinates. Of course it’s bullshit.”
“No... the kid’s mom got eaten... calling that bullshit... still, a little...”
Jeong-cheol paused briefly, then eyed the sniffling wildman boy.
Oddly enough, that was when the system alert pinged in.
Sub quest arrival:
Lord of the Trees.
1. The jungle sings of death. The trees reek of the fallen.
2. Inexplicable peril watches you.
Warning: The abyss peers into you.
A warning—or confirmation—to kick off the raid for real.
“Good.”
Jeong-cheol nodded right away, then glanced at the rear ranks.
“Switching to wedge formation now! Push to [Branch Point].”
My Team 1 up front.
Fairy-manned Team 2 on the right wing.
Human-manned Team 3 on the left wing.
“Advance time: roughly 20 minutes. No breaks.”
Death odds over 50%.
The instant the elite player war began—half certain to die.
“Waaaaaaaah!”
All mounted up, the player alliance roared loud enough to rupture eardrums.
“We’re counting on elite bro!”
“Shin Tae-yeop captain, fighting!”
That moment, I... squeezed my eyes shut and stayed silent.
- This isn’t a game. It’s battle royale.
Someday.
Yeah, someday they’d be enemies... so... it’s fine.
I rationalized hiding my identity that way.
A pretty solid rationalization.
Bryuka’ruk’s Forest clash.
Better logged not as a clash but a rout. That disastrous a defeat.
The plan turned nightmarish from the jump.
Ten minutes post-launch... I whipped my head around.
Bwoooo... bwoooo... bwoooo...
Three trumpet blasts...?
How could... cold sweat trickled down my spine.
“Giant Treemen already...?”
Three blasts.
Signaling the raid’s worst abyss spawn: Giant Treemen.
“Hyung!”
I yelled urgently for Jeong-cheol.
No reply. I spurred my mount to his side, hollered in his ear.
“Hyung! I’ll handle it and be right back.”
Giant Treemen were legit deadly.
“Hyung?! I said I’ll handle it!”
Looks birthed from a lunatic’s skin-crawling nightmare.
Height up to 10 meters max.
Strength unreal enough to pulp players in one blow.
“Ignore it and the formation crumbles! You hearing me?”
Faced with that foe... Jeong-cheol just said this.
“We can ignore and push past.”
What...?
I had to blink hard.
Ignore Giant Treemen? Even possible?
“Branch point’s coming up anyway.”
Branch point.
Where the forest forked three ways.
Point where teams split to their raid spots.
“Scatter there, and they won’t chase. No threat anymore.”
Thud... thud-thud... thud-thud-thud... thudthudthudthudthudthudthud.
Ground-shaking footfalls.
Distant Giant Treemen roars echoed, followed by shredding screams.
“A-2 Team... t-two dead...”
Bell, up front in my saddle, said.
Bell’s <Storyteller> class let her use the wide-area scout skill 《Thousand-Li Eye》.
“Th-three more... A-3, 4 Teams in combat.”
I lifted my head in utter despair.
Right now...
Deep in the blaring forest...
Someone fought. Someone died...
“Whoa, for real?”
That was when the elite hunter whistled. Hunters had enemy sense skills.
“Sorcerer, seven more barreling from northwest?
Every Giant Treeman in Bryuka’ruk’s Forest converging here?
Even Jeong-cheol looked rattled.
Small wonder. A variable never seen in all of [For the Princess] playtime.
“Hyung! You heard! Order something, quick!”
As I bellowed that, Bell spoke through quivering lips again.
“A-3, B-2 Teams... w-wiped... c-can’t hold formation.”
“Hyung!”
Jeong-cheol said nothing.
His helmet hid any expression.
“Branch point now.”
The instant Jeong-cheol spoke those words,
my heart skipped a beat.
What the actual fuck...?
I saw them: colossal Giant Treemen charging fiercely over the distant thick woods.
“Goddamn it...”
Still coming, even at the branch point?
If their stampede didn’t halt post-split?
“Won’t wait for hyung’s no—I’m going, got it? I’m going!”
No waiting for a response.
Just yanked the reins hard, full gallop toward the left-wing [A] point.
Weird.
Way too weird.
Per plan, Giant Treemen hit at operation’s end... but dread already loomed.
Couldn’t have fathomed it then.
Giant Treemen were subordinates spawning when Bryuka’ruk descended to the boss room... that someone had already clashed with Bryuka’ruk.
“Come along, GodSpring-nim!”
“Yeah, take it easy on the horse. Huh? It’ll drop dead exhausted.”
A voice called then.
Glanced back—Livione and the elite hunter closing in.
Jeong-cheol sending backup?
Livione joining was great... but the elite hunter? Just made my neck crawl.
“C-captain?!”
Bell blurted urgently then.
I reflexively looked ahead... and gaped at the impossible scene.
“What. What the hell’s going on?”
Team 3 held [A] point.
Jenne’s very team—clearing abyss spawn from [A] point.
“Shin Tae-yeop? What, why’re you here? You’re Team 1, right?”
Jenne, directing the rear fight. She saw me hop off my mount and cocked her head.
“Reinforcements? Damn, even an elite? But no need for that.”
What.
What the hell was this.