Chapter 70
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Orc Shaman
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The five men were just waiting for the Black Scythe to leave his spot.
“Huh? Look over there. The Black Scythe is going into the house.”
“But only the woman has gone into that thatched hut until now.”
“Is the Black Scythe going to lure the orcs out himself this time?”
“But why is that woman leaving?”
As they watched, completely puzzled.
*Crack—*
They saw the Black Scythe burst out as the door shattered.
“What the? The Black Scythe is being chased by orcs!”
“Does that make sense? The almighty Black Scythe?”
They had seen him dismember orcs dozens of times.
He was definitely not the kind of man to be scared of ten orcs.
“Huh? Wait. What’s that thing chasing him from behind?”
“The one with the staff and the mask?”
“Looks like he’s over two meters tall, doesn’t he?”
“Seeing as he’s bigger than the other orcs, maybe he’s the boss?”
“The boss?”
His attire and build were on a different level from the regular orcs.
Moreover, the staff and the shaman-like mask were things any player with a lot of gaming experience could make an educated guess about.
About what kind of skills it used.
“Don’t tell me this wasn’t an orc respawn point, but he was summoning them?”
And just as they suspected.
The boss summoned ten more orcs, surrounding the Black Scythe.
*Clang— Cla-ang—!*
A total of twenty orcs swung their axes relentlessly, and the Black Scythe, trapped within, danced here and there.
“Crazy, he’s dodging all of that?”
“Whoa… he’s a monster.”
While they were amazed by the Black Scythe’s incredible feats, someone else saw an opportunity.
“Guys. This isn’t the time to be spacing out.”
“Why?”
“That guy we think is the boss. He’s completely defenseless, isn’t he?”
“Huh? You’re right.”
The Orc Shaman’s attention was entirely focused on the Black Scythe.
If they crossed the fence and attacked from behind, they might be able to steal the boss.
“What should we do? Should we steal it?”
“Well…”
“This is our only chance. Decide quickly.”
“What if the Black Scythe catches us?”
“He won’t. He’s too busy dealing with the orcs right now.”
That was certainly true.
It didn’t seem like a situation he could possibly break out of.
If he could have, he would have done so already.
“If he asks us later why we stole it, we can just make an excuse that he looked like he was in danger and we were trying to save him.”
“Ooh, that would actually work.”
“So? You in on the steal?”
“I’m in.”
“Me too.”
Having reached an agreement, the group climbed over the fence one by one.
Like thieves in the night, they stealthily approached the Orc Shaman from behind.
The creature, oblivious to the enemies at its back, was still focused solely on the Black Scythe.
‘Alright. On the count of three, we strike.’
‘Okay.’
They exchanged signals with their eyes and readjusted their grips on their weapons.
‘One, two…’
The very moment they were about to attack the Orc Shaman simultaneously.
‘Thre—’
Darkness fell before their eyes.
“Huh?!”
“What the hell!”
In their panic, they couldn’t help but cry out.
“Hmph!”
The group quickly covered their mouths, but the Orc Shaman had already noticed the enemies behind it and created some distance.
“Chwiik? Chwiiiiiiiiik—!”
Was it angry that it had almost been ambushed?
The Orc Shaman, letting out a particularly loud shriek, raised its staff high.
*Tssssssss—*
As their eyes adjusted to the darkness, the group saw it.
The orcs that had been surrounding the Black Scythe were now summoned right in front of them.
“Gasp…!”
“Shit, we’re fucked…”
They were completely surrounded by twenty orcs.
“Chwiik! Chwiiik!”
Following their master’s command, the orcs began swinging their axes in unison.
*Thwack! Thwack— Thump! Crack—!*
Dull thuds echoed.
“He-help m— Gack!”
“Keck!”
Short screams were heard.
As were the sounds of something being crushed and broken.
Unlike the Black Scythe, the men had no skill to block the simultaneous axe swings.
It was a foregone conclusion for a group that struggled against just five orcs.
***
Ryu Min wasn’t flustered when the orcs suddenly vanished.
On the contrary, he looked in the direction the orcs had moved, as if he had expected it.
The summoned creatures that had been attacking him were now surrounding someone else.
It was obvious who was surrounded.
The group of five who had been bad-mouthing him and Min Ju-ri.
‘Looks like they tried to steal the Orc Shaman and got caught.’
Ryu Min had deliberately lured the Orc Shaman outside.
He could have killed it inside the house, but he feigned being chased by orcs for the sake of a test.
Then, while fending off the attacks of twenty orcs, he had baited the five men.
‘Will they go for the Orc Shaman? Or will they not?’
It was a sort of personality test.
To see whether they would try to steal the Orc Shaman by taking advantage of his apparent peril.
The result?
As you could see, it was just as he had predicted.
‘As I thought. I knew guys like them would go for the shaman.’
Their character was well within his expectations.
‘The price for failing the test is death.’
Just as they were about to ambush the Orc Shaman, he had cast Night of Death.
The day turned dark, and the Orc Shaman’s aggro shifted to the five men.
As a result, they were all turned into minced meat without exception.
He felt no sympathy.
They were scum who tried to profit from another’s danger.
‘If they hadn’t been so greedy, they could have lived.’
He had certainly given them a chance.
A chance to live.
They were the ones who chose death.
Scythe in hand, Ryu Min walked forward with steady steps.
“Chwiik? Chwiiik!”
The Orc Shaman spotted him and pointed its staff.
The orcs, axes in hand, charged forward in a horde.
However.
*Slash—!*
The moment they entered Ryu Min’s range, a fountain of green blood erupted.
The orcs fell without even swinging their weapons once.
The result was the same no matter how many swarmed him.
Like being fed into a blender, they were mercilessly shredded the moment they entered his range.
An attack speed so fast it was invisible to the naked eye.
It might have seemed even faster due to the semi-transparent effect.
‘Still, my attack speed has definitely gotten faster.’
The difference from before was clearly palpable.
‘With Bless, Swift, and the 50% attack speed bonus from it being night, it all adds up.’
It made sense that it was too fast to see.
“Chwiik?”
The Orc Shaman’s eyes widened in surprise as its summoned creatures were shredded to pieces.
“Chwiik! Chwiiik!”
Just as the agitated shaman was about to summon more with its staff.
*Thud—*
Ryu Min, with his incredible movement speed, instantly closed the distance and hooked his scythe around the shaman’s neck.
“Farewell.”
The moment he finished speaking, the Orc Shaman’s head flew into the air.
[You have defeated the Orc Shaman!]
[EXP +37.73%]
[Gold +4,000]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have acquired ‘Orb of Eternal Rest’.]
[You have acquired ‘Mysterious Wooden Totem’.]
[You have acquired ‘Lesser Blue Magic Stone’.]
[You have acquired ‘Stone of Balance’.]
[Sub Quest Progress: Stone of Balance 2/4]
Killing the shaman raised his level to 33.
4,000 gold, a Stone of Balance, a Magic Stone, and more.
He had gained quite a lot.
The unique material item, the Wooden Totem, was also a welcome harvest.
But there was one item, above all, that caught Ryu Min’s eye.
[Orb of Eternal Rest]
-Type: Necklace
-Grade: Epic
-Effect: Gain 1 stack and lose 1 durability per monster kill. Convert 100 stacks into 1 stat point.
-Durability: 1,000/1,000
-Requirement: Regular grade or higher
-Description: A necklace with a murky, grayish-white orb. It is said to capture the souls of those you kill.
The Orb of Eternal Rest was a game-breaking item that gave a stat point for every 100 stacks.
It had an effect similar to the Rune of Absorption that Black Flame Dragon in the Right Hand possessed.
The only difference was that stacks were only gained from killing monsters.
‘There’s nothing better than permanently increasing stats.’
The only downside was that it was a consumable item whose durability decreased with each stack gained.
‘In other words, with 1,000 durability, I can get 10 stat points.’
After that, the necklace would be destroyed, but so what?
It was a permanent increase of 10 stat points.
‘It’s not a waste at all, even if it breaks.’
But Ryu Min wasn’t satisfied with just that.
‘What if I could restore its durability indefinitely?’
He wouldn’t be limited to just ten; he could raise his stats infinitely.
That is, if there was a way to restore durability.
‘Of course, I know the way.’
There was a special rune that restored durability.
He couldn’t get it until Round 8, so there was nothing he could do for now.
However.
‘If I get help from a Blacksmith class, I can keep profiting until then.’
Blacksmiths had a skill called [Repair] that fixed durability.
Most blacksmiths used Repair to make some pocket money in the early stages.
If he gave one a decent item and had them use Repair every round, he could continue to stack stats.
“Black Scythe-nim! Where are you!”
Min Ju-ri was looking around, searching for him.
It seemed she was having a hard time finding him due to the Reaper’s Rune effect, which drastically reduced his detection probability when he stood still.
He immediately deactivated the Night of Death skill.
“Huh? Why does it keep getting dark and then bright again?”
Min Ju-ri, looking bewildered, finally spotted Ryu Min.
“Ah, there you are! I’ve been looking all over for you.”
“As you can see, I was busy.”
In front of Ryu Min lay the corpse of the Orc Shaman.
But Min Ju-ri’s reaction was calm, as if it wasn’t anything surprising.
“You finally got him, I see. By the way, have you seen anyone else? There were some people trying to steal the Orc Shaman…”
“Hmm. I haven’t seen anyone.”
“That’s strange. I thought I heard screaming…”
Min Ju-ri expressed her doubt, but Ryu Min remained silent.
There was nothing to be gained by showing her the bodies.
“Let’s hurry and go for the next boss.”
“Okay!”
***
[You have defeated the Orc Archer!]
[EXP +37.73%]
[Gold +4,000]
[You have acquired ‘Boots of the Agile Archer’.]
[You have acquired ‘Rusted Arrowhead’.]
[You have acquired ‘Lesser Green Magic Stone’.]
[You have acquired ‘Stone of Balance’.]
[Sub Quest Progress: Stone of Balance 3/4]
He killed the third boss the moment he saw it.
Unlike the Orc Shaman, there was no reason to drag it out.
‘Let’s see the items.’
[Orb of Eternal Rest]
-Type: Necklace
-Grade: Epic
-Effect: Gain 1 stack and lose 1 durability per monster kill. Convert 100 stacks into 1 stat point.
-Durability: 1,000/1,000
-Requirement: Regular grade or higher
-Description: A necklace with a murky, grayish-white orb. It is said to capture the souls of those you kill.
An Epic pair of boots that increased Agility by 10 had dropped.
Since what he was currently wearing was Normal grade, there was no reason not to switch.
‘First, I’ll remove the Lowest-grade Green Magic Stone I hadsocketed…’
He then combined the Lesser Green Magic Stone he had just obtained.
[Combination Successful!]
[The ‘Agility +4’ option has been added to the Boots of the Agile Archer.]
‘With this, all the mid-bosses are taken care of.’
All that remained was the final boss, the High Orc.
Unlike the other bosses, this one was subject to a time attack rule.
‘This one I have to kill as fast as possible. The faster I do it, the greater the reward.’
His best record in his previous lives was 43 seconds.
Even after 99 regressions, he had never managed to shorten it.
And yet, Ryu Min was confident he could set a new record.
‘Because I have Min Ju-ri’s buffs.’
With Min Ju-ri’s buffs, which he never had before, a new record was a sure thing.
‘But it would be better to shorten it even more if possible.’
To squeeze out the best possible time, Ryu Min decided to put off hunting the High Orc for later.
‘There’s plenty of time, so I’ll level up as much as I can, then kill it. I’ll also use the Orb of Eternal Rest to the point just before it breaks.’
His plan was to raise his stats even a little before taking it on.
All to break the record he had never been able to achieve before.