Chapter 111
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 111
Chapter Title: The Dwarf Caravan
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111. The Dwarf Caravan
Of the three, the Dwarf Caravan was the least difficult.
‘The monsters that appear are mainly orc hordes. At their current level of over 20, the players should be able to handle them without much trouble.’
But that was a fact only a regressor like Ryu Min would know.
The players who chose the Dwarf Caravan would have no idea about the difficulty.
That’s why the tension on their faces was so palpable.
“Is this the other world?”
“Wow, this is amazing.”
“Idiot. It’s not just here; this whole place has been the other world.”
“Oh, right. It has, hasn't it?”
The players looked around, taking in the unfamiliar environment with its distant rocky mountains and stone spires rising here and there.
“Huh? Hey, I can’t see your nicknames.”
“Really? You can’t see mine either?”
“Nope, can’t see it.”
The nicknames that should have been floating above their heads had vanished.
But some players remained unfazed.
The group of traitors who had been tipped off by the angel.
‘If they stay that calm, aren’t they just broadcasting that they’re traitors?’
Ryu Min was inwardly calm as well, but just in case, he put on a surprised expression.
Once you were suspected of being a traitor, the suspicion tended to stick.
‘I need to be careful not to draw any suspicion. Of course, if the traitor group exposes me, I’ll be found out immediately.’
While others might not know, there wouldn't be a single traitor who didn't recognize the face of the famous Black Scythe.
‘I have to take care of them before they can blab about the Black Scythe being a traitor.’
By "take care of," he didn't mean he planned to kill them.
He wasn't some quest-crazed murderer, and there was nothing to gain or lose by killing them.
‘I just need to read their thoughts and stop them beforehand.’
He already knew the faces of the 28 traitors, so there was nothing to worry about.
All he had to do was control the situation.
Ryu Min glanced around, doing a rough headcount.
‘Around 200 people chose the Dwarf Caravan.’
Of course, that number excluded the traitors, so in reality, there were about 230 people gathered.
And just as he thought.
“Huh? Look at this.”
A message appeared before the players’ eyes.
[Escort the Dwarf Caravan]
└Safely escort the Dwarf Caravan to its destination.
└All participants will receive an experience reward upon successful escort.
└One person who contributes the most to eliminating the traitors will receive a sub-quest reward.
└If all traitors are eliminated, everyone will receive an additional reward.
The quest they were seeing wasn't just for the regular group.
‘The traitor group can also get an experience reward if the escort is successful.’
But no traitor would let it succeed so easily.
If they failed this time, the success rate for the next caravan would plummet disastrously.
‘Not to mention the Human Caravan.’
What if the traitor group failed the missions for both the Dwarf and Elf Caravans?
They would suffer a 20% stat reduction twice and then have to stop the escort at the most difficult caravan, the Human one.
‘They’ll probably think it’s impossible.’
But Ryu Min was confident.
Not only had he cleared this round multiple times, but his current condition was at its peak.
‘Even with two stat reductions, it won’t be a problem for hunting. And it’s a debuff that disappears after this round ends anyway.’
As Ryu Min nodded, looking at the progress window, the other players were in shock.
[Current Personnel Status]
└Participants: 230
└Traitors: 29
“What is this?”
“It shows the number of traitors?”
It was because the personnel status was displayed for all to see.
“There are 29 traitors among us?”
The players glanced at each other.
With no nicknames visible, they couldn't tell who was who, but one thing was certain.
‘There’s a traitor in here. 29 of them.’
With 230 people, that meant roughly one in ten was a traitor.
It was only natural they would eye each other with suspicion.
Well, to Ryu Min, who knew their faces, it was plain to see where the traitors were hiding.
“Huh? Black Scythe?”
At the sound of a voice recognizing him, Ryu Min turned his head.
The owner of the voice was none other than Min Ju-ri.
“Wow! I can’t believe I’m seeing you here! You chose the Dwarf Caravan? Don’t tell me you followed me?”
“Well, your buffs are pretty useful.”
She seemed so happy to see him that he couldn't bring himself to say no.
But it seemed his answer meant something a little different to Min Ju-ri.
Her face suddenly flushed as she grew flustered.
Embarrassed, Min Ju-ri quickly changed the subject.
“Uh, umm. But Black Scythe, why can’t we see anyone’s nicknames?”
“Beats me. I wouldn’t know.”
Playing dumb, Ryu Min turned his head and met the eyes of a traitor.
A smirk—
The man shot him a meaningful smile before turning away.
Reading his thoughts, it seemed he wanted to acknowledge their shared group identity…
‘Crazy. Does he want to advertise that we’re in the same group?’
He couldn't even get openly angry about it.
All Ryu Min could do was let out a disbelieving laugh.
“230 people for the Dwarf Caravan. Fewer people gathered than I thought.”
“You’re right.”
230 out of 2,166 was certainly a small number.
The fact that only 10% chose it meant the other 90% had flocked to the other two caravans.
It was also proof of how unpopular the Dwarf Caravan was.
‘The Human Caravan probably has the most. It was like that before, too.’
Perhaps because of the small number of people, someone who recognized the Black Scythe cautiously approached.
“You… you’re the Black Scythe, right?”
“Hm? Seo Ah-rin?”
Seo Ah-rin’s eyes widened like a startled rabbit, then she smiled warmly, pleased.
“I never thought I’d meet you here, Black Scythe. It’s really nice to….”
Seo Ah-rin’s gaze naturally shifted to Min Ju-ri standing beside him.
Her warm smile vanished as if it had never been there.
“Oh, Democracy is here too?”
“Ms. Seo!? Hello, it’s nice to see you!”
“Yes.”
Unlike Min Ju-ri, Seo Ah-rin didn't seem particularly pleased.
For some reason, Min Ju-ri, who had been sticking close to the Black Scythe, had been rubbing her the wrong way.
‘I don’t know why I’m being like this.’
It was natural to feel a sense of goodwill toward the Black Scythe who had saved her, but that was as far as it went.
She shouldn't have any feelings beyond that, yet strangely, she felt a pang of jealousy toward Democracy.
“By the way, where’s that person who was always with you?”
“Ah… you mean my guard… Ahn Sang-chul? He went to the Human Caravan.”
“The Human Caravan?”
When Ryu Min repeated her words with a hint of surprise, Seo Ah-rin looked just as clueless.
“For some reason, he insisted on going there.”
“I see.”
Ryu Min replied calmly, but inwardly he was surprised.
‘I told him it was the most difficult one, yet he still went to the Human Caravan… that’s unexpected.’
Did he want to hunt stronger monsters and gain more experience?
He’d have to hear the reason from the man himself, but for Ryu Min, who had been underestimating Ahn Sang-chul, it was a surprising choice.
It was then.
A sudden commotion made him turn his head to see a procession of wagons approaching.
*Clop-clop, clop-clop, clop-clop—*
There were only ten wagons in total, not that many.
A number that 230 people could more than adequately handle.
The players relaxed at the sight of the smaller-than-expected number of wagons.
It was clear these were the wagons they were supposed to escort.
Soon, the wagons came to a halt.
“Ohoho, so here you are! Warriors from another world.”
A short, stout, bearded dwarf, looking exactly as one would imagine, disembarked from a wagon with a hearty laugh.
“Greetings. I am Blacksmith Heimer of the Dwarf Caravan. From the looks of it, you are the warriors from another world who have come to escort us… am I correct?”
When the players nodded, Heimer slapped his short-fingered hand against his knee.
“I knew my guess was right! I thought you had a different air about you than a band of thieves, and it turns out you’re warriors from another world! Khahahaha!”
Laughing boisterously, Heimer gestured proudly at the wagons.
“The cargo here consists of various iron ores and metal materials that must be transported to the Albitz Kingdom beyond the Kargago Mountains. But the path is so infested with monsters that we had no choice but to request aid from the temple.”
Although it was a language they had never heard before, the players understood the dwarf’s words.
They only realized how that was possible after seeing the message.
[Round Trait ‘Translation’ has been activated.]
[You can now converse with species from other worlds.]
Kingdoms, temples.
Listening to the dwarf’s explanation, it all seemed quite detailed.
‘What is this? They’re not real people, are they?’
‘No way. They must be fakes, created like monsters.’
With angels already existing, it didn't really matter anymore whether otherworldly beings were real or not.
For the players, all they needed to do was complete the quest and leave.
But Ryu Min knew it wasn't that simple.
‘Round 8, the first encounter with otherworldly races. This is when you need to start building your reputation to receive preferential treatment when you meet these races later on.’
Most would neglect their relationships with the otherworldly beings, thinking of them as just passing figures…
‘These otherworldly races don’t just appear in this round. They’ll show up from time to time in the future, and the reputation you build now carries over.’
That was why the first impression was so important.
If you were branded as unfavorable, it was incredibly difficult to reverse that reputation.
In that respect, the traitor group was in a bad spot.
Killing the dwarves to stop the caravan from reaching its destination?
Their reputation would undoubtedly plummet to the absolute worst.
‘Then, when they meet dwarves later on, it could lead to unnecessary fights and put them at a disadvantage for receiving various benefits.’
Dwarves could provide legendary-grade weapons and divine-grade materials.
No player would have the guts to throw away such benefits and make an enemy of the dwarves.
‘They have no way of knowing that, which is why the traitors are looking like that right now.’
Where Ryu Min was looking, the traitors were staring at the dwarves with murderous intent.
They looked ready to stab them to death at the first opportunity.
But even the traitors knew.
Killing them in front of the other players would be tantamount to advertising that they were traitors.
That was why they couldn't make a move and could only glare, pondering when the best time to kill the dwarves would be.
‘If possible, it’s best to assassinate them without anyone noticing.’
There were a total of 20 dwarves in the caravan.
Two were positioned on each wagon.
If all of them died, the traitor group would win.
‘But if even one dwarf remains, they can reach the destination.’
If that happened, the traitor group would have no choice but to target the next caravan.
The Elf Caravan, which specialized in spirit magic.
‘It’s easier to target the dwarves, who have no combat abilities, than the elves, who use spirits to keep watch.’
As he was thinking, the dwarf shouted in a loud voice.
“Warriors from another world! We’ll be counting on you for the escort!”
[Time until arrival at destination: 04:59:59]
As if signaling the start of the quest, a timer appeared.
Now, for the next five hours, they had to protect the caravan to its destination.
From the orc hordes.
‘Orcs are a piece of cake.’
The players, unaware of this fact, were tense, not knowing what kind of monsters would pop out from where.
In contrast, Seo Ah-rin, Min Ju-ri, and Ryu Min wore relaxed expressions.
*Clop-clop, clop-clop, clop-clop—*
As the wagons began to move, the players flanking them started walking.
Each held their weapon, remaining vigilant, and it wasn't long before they encountered a horde of orcs.
“Chwiik- Chwiik-!”
“What? They’re orcs?”
“These bastards, good to see them again after Round 5.”
The tension vanished from the players' faces.
In Round 5, orcs were on the stronger side, but not anymore.
Most had reached the late 20s in level, gaining the skill to easily dispose of mere orcs.
As if to prove it.
*Slice— Slice—!*
“Chwieeek! Chwiek!”
“Chwik!”
The orcs fell, screaming.
Their once-tough muscles were now easily cut by the swords of level 30 players.
“But there are a lot of orcs.”
“Where are they all coming from? It’s endless.”
The players were already getting fed up as orcs continuously poured out from all directions.
After about five minutes of fighting, the situation was resolved.
Countless corpses were piled up like mountains.
Ryu Min knew the exact number.
‘4,600 of them must have appeared.’
The number of orcs spawned was proportional to the number of players.
In each wave, a number equal to twenty times the player count would appear.
‘In other words, each person has to face 20 of them.’
This kind of monster assault would happen 30 times.
Simply put, monsters would appear every 10 minutes.
It seemed like a lot, but a shadow fell over the players’ faces.
“This experience…”
“We’re barely getting any.”
The lower-than-expected experience disappointed the players.
It was because the orcs’ experience was being evenly distributed among the 230 people.
Because they were in a party.
‘Strictly speaking, 29 of them are excluded.’
The traitor group was not in the party; they were individuals.
Therefore, the experience and items from the monsters they killed were entirely their own.
Just like Ryu Min.
[You have defeated an Orc!]
[A 3x experience buff is active.]
[Experience increased by 1.5x due to a title effect.]
[Experience +0.18%]
[Gold +40]
[Current Kill Count: 463/100]
[All stats increase by 100% due to the effect of the Slaughter Rune.]
Ryu Min grinned as he saw the messages appearing in the corner of his vision.
‘Already killed 463.’
By slaughtering them alone with his overwhelming prowess, he had single-handedly taken down 10% of the 4,600 orcs.
And as a result.
He had already leveled up.