125
My Villains Chapter 125
34. Graduel Mountain (1)
The dark and quiet PC bang.
"Did it crash again?"
"Yeah."
Jong-seok, sitting next to me, chuckled as if he couldn't believe it.
"Does that combo always make it crash? It's a total bug-fest. What kind of bug is that?"
"I know. If it crashes one more time, I'm just going to quit."
After starting a new server, he selected a man with a pale appearance and strange makeup.
"What, is he hardcore too?"
"Yeah."
"Isn't he supposed to be an experimental character?"
"I don't normally play on normal mode."
"But still, you turned on hardcore even for an experimental character? You're really crazy."
It wasn't just a day or two, Jong-seok clicked his tongue. Then he continued to click his tongue, "Ah, what a pitiful guy."
"....What?"
"You took a vacation just to develop a Dark World build. If you had a girlfriend, you could have kept seeing her... No, never mind."
The man on the screen started chanting a strange incantation while holding a large stone tablet.
"This is kind of fun too."
"It's not that this is fun, but writing a strategy guide on the forum is fun, isn't it?"
"That's true."
Jong-seok accessed the forum and went to the strategy tab.
"Hey, how do you think the one you wrote is?"
"Try searching for 'Blood Knight’."
"Blood Knight... Wow, you wrote a lot."
Meanwhile, on the screen, the man holding the stone tablet continued the incantation. It would probably take a while. I pressed Alt-Tab and scrolled through a webtoon that didn't interest me much.
As Jong-seok scanned the screen, he let out a hollow laugh.
"Standard build, PvP build, tanking build, vortex build... Did you write all the Blood Knight builds?"
"Of course."
"Blood Mage build? Why does this one have such a low rating?"
"It's probably because the builds are all quite demanding, so everyone hates it. They say it's inefficient."
"Anyway, those kimchi gamer bastards. They don't know how to enjoy the game, do they?"
Amidst Jong-seok's chatter, a notification sound rang out, and the SNS messenger started blinking.
Corporal Moon Jeong-hyeok. The mouse cursor hesitated...
"This dual sword build looks fun. Is it similar to the ramen berserker?"
"It's better than that. When was the ramen berserker ever a viable build?"
"And what's this swordsman? Was there something like this before?"
"It's from the expansion pack."
"The appearance is to my liking, but... Why are the skill names all so weird? Law-rending, half-dead, and so on?"
Alt-Tab. The game screen was covered by the SNS message and the webtoon.
The man holding the stone tablet's incantation reached its climax.
Oooooh, a vibration rang out from the side. After a short call, Jong-seok said,
"The others are almost all here. Let's go."
"Just a moment. Let me try this."
As the man holding the stone tablet shouted, the souls gathered around him were sucked into his body. And then, 'Destruction'.
Clang, the world shattered.
So far, I have met four sub-characters.
Elemental Mage Ellen, Necromancer Luke, Berserker Utequais, and Phantom Hunter Atalante. Two of them became my allies, one became an enemy, and one was still ambiguous.
The case where Ellen and Utequais became allies was one where I was able to see their character sheets. That's why I've been cautiously speculating that seeing the character sheet might be evidence of trust.
For this reason, the character sheet of the fourth character that appeared last night left me confused.
Name: Nameless
Level: 23
Class: Swordsman
Ability Scores: Remaining Bonus - 0
Strength - 15(20) Agility - 38(92)
Stamina - 14(18) Magic - 10(10)
Skills:
Assault 5pt, Stealth 5pt, Poison 2pt, Escape 1pt, Swallow 3pt, Deviation 1pt, Concentration 3pt, Ease 1pt
I naturally thought the new tab that appeared in the dream screen would be Atalante's sheet. Putting aside the question of whether trust had been built with her, there was no other candidate in the first place.
But the new sheet was not Atalante's. It was the sheet of a completely unfamiliar swordsman that had been added.
Although I haven't actually met him, just looking at the sheet, I could easily guess what kind of character he is.
In the Dark World, the higher the ability scores, the harder it is to increase them.
When the ability scores are in the single digits, investing 10,000 bonus points would raise it by 1 point, but when it's in the 10s, 20,000 bonus points are needed to raise it by 1 point, and when it's in the 20s, 30,000 bonus points are needed to raise it by 1 point.
So it's more efficient to evenly raise multiple ability scores rather than focusing on just one.
But looking at the swordsman's sheet, the agility is marked as '38(92)'. It means he invested 92 bonus points to create a real score of 38.
In addition, the fact that he focused on ninja-related skills like 'Assault', 'Stealth', 'Poison', and 'Escape'...
"Phoenix, here."
"Hm?"
A voice broke my thoughts, and when I looked up, Bald Steedman was holding out a wooden bowl. It was a stew with pork, beans, and tomatoes.
"It's delicious. Boonie is quite good at cooking these kinds of dishes."
"Okay, I'll eat it."
"Would Lady Ellen like to try some as well?"
Sitting on a flat rock with her robe spread out, Ellen pondered for a moment and then nodded.
"Hmm, just a little bit."
"Yes, just a moment, please."
Steedman quickly went down the hill.
At the bottom of the hill, Utequais and Amias' group had lit a small campfire and were grilling various things. In the center, the lanky Boonie was diligently sautéing something in an iron skillet.
Surrounding the campfire were the two Mages and the druid and Swordsman from Siren Lao's group.
On the other side, Atalante was lying down with her arms folded, and the Swordsman Vittorio was chewing on a piece of bread.
A rather peaceful scene.
If it weren't for the archer Cole and the Swordsman Agos keeping watch on the nearby rocky hill, it would have seemed like a picnic outing.
I slowly scanned the surroundings and then looked back at Ellen.
"But you've been eating quite well lately, haven't you?"
".....Me?"
"Yeah. Isn't that your second sandwich?"
Ellen looked down at the sandwich she was eating and nodded.
"But why?"
"You used to barely eat that much, you know."
"It wasn't that bad."
"It was."
At my assertion, Ellen paused for a moment. Then she gently put down the sandwich and started feeling her belly, thighs, and arms.
"Am I... A little heavier?"
"... Huh?"
"When you hold me, do I feel a bit heavier?"
The expression on Ellen's face was filled with the same trivial worries that Korean high school girls often have after eating late-night snacks.
"Puhahaha!"
I couldn't help but laugh at how amusing it was, and Ellen scrunched up her face.
"What's so funny?"
"Heh, it's just... *chuckle* that you're also concerned about things like that, you know. Getting heavier and all that."
"'Things like that'?"
"Yeah. Gaining weight and stuff."
At my words, Ellen's expression hardened a bit.
"So you're saying I've gained weight?"
"Huh? No, that's not what I meant."
"Be honest."
"No, you haven't gained any weight at all. And even if you did, it's okay."
As I waved my hands, I suddenly remembered something that had happened about a month ago.
"Ah, wait, is it maybe because you're eating more to grow taller?"
"... Height?"
"Yes. You grew taller a while ago, didn't you? Hey, stand up for a moment."
"Ow, while I'm eating..."
As I put down the wooden bowl, Ellen reluctantly infused magic into her wing ornaments.
"Just for a moment, with your feet on the ground."
"I can do that part by myself."
The one who stopped me from trying to hold her feet was firmly planted on the ground.
"Oooh..."
"... Did you grow?"
"Just a moment."
I carefully measured her height by placing the edge of my hand on the top of her head.
... It's the same. No matter how I look at it, it doesn't seem like she's grown.
But seeing Ellen's eyes sparkling like stars, I couldn't bring myself to tell the truth.
"Ah- you grew a little bit?"
"Really?"
"Yeah. Yes, you grew. It's a very subtle change, but you did grow."
At my words, her face lit up, and she rose a couple of inches off the ground.
"Actually, I've been feeling like my appetite has been increasing lately, and I was wondering what was going on."
"Ah, is that so?"
"So that was a sign that I'm growing taller. Now that I think about it, my knees have been feeling a bit tight when I sleep."
She continued to chatter on as she finished the entire bowl of stew that Steedman had brought.
"But what if the clothes I just bought don't fit anymore? It's hard to find decent clothes around here since it's a rural area."
... Ah, how pitiful.
Yesterday, the day we left Longville, we searched the area around Graduel Mountain all day. We closely examined the path leading to the summit, the bushes at the base, and the ridges leading to the mountain pass.
The reason I didn't immediately go up to the summit to deal with Akanku Karamek was to first eliminate any other threats. I didn't want to come back down the path exhausted and encounter a group of Greenskins or Anupads.
After a full day of searching, the only monsters we had captured were two orcs and three goblins.
"It seems the monsters in this area have dried up."
Atalante, leaning a white spear on her shoulder, continued.
"The Greenskins must have all fled, and the Anupads have probably gathered at the mountain pass."
"The Anupads' army needs a lot of food. If they just hunker down like this, they won't be able to obtain food. There must be a hunting party somewhere."
At Utequais's claim, Atalante shook her head with a grim expression.
"They've probably made separate supply arrangements."
"The monsters, you mean?"
"It's not for nothing that they're called an army. And when they run out of food, they even eat their own kind."
"Oooh..."
The rest of the people also fell silent, following Utequais. The temporary party of 16 glanced at each other without saying a word.
Amias wants money, Atalante wants points, and Siren wants to stop Akanku. Since everyone wants different things, they hesitate to speak up.
After a moment, as if they had planned it, fifteen pairs of eyes converged on one spot.
How burdensome.
I scratched my eyebrow and opened my mouth.
"So, Atalante, what's your opinion?"
Atalante, tapping the spear with her long fingers, smiled slightly as if she had been waiting and answered.
"We need to go to the mountain pass."
"... Are you saying we should attack the Anupads' army?"
"It's similar, but a little different."
Atalante glanced around.
"The reason we haven't been able to reach the summit is that we're worried about being surrounded by the Anupads' army when we retreat to Longville, right?"
"So?"
"So we need to deal with the Anupads' army first. Let's ambush near the mountain pass and wait for the lord's army. When the lord's army attacks the Anupads, we'll seize the opportunity to join the battle."
"'Seize the opportunity', you say."
At my muttering, Atalante shrugged her shoulders.
"Yes. I think you all know what that means."
In other words, if it looks like the lord's army will win, she'll quickly join in to reap the rewards, and if it looks like they'll lose, she'll just run away. It's a predictable story.
"But will that be okay? If we run away, we won't be able to earn any points."
"By then, points won't matter, will they? If the Anupads are strong enough to defeat the lord's army, it's better to abandon the territory."
Well, what Atalante wants is a stable settlement, not a precarious village constantly threatened by monsters.
Of course, Atalante must believe that the lord's army will win. Her goal is to join the battle at the right time and maintain the top position.
As I nodded, the Mage Siren quickly stepped forward.
"Just a moment, Sir Phoenix."
"What is it, Lady Siren?"
Siren blinked her large eyes at me and then looked around the party.
"Regardless of the outcome of the battle, we must reach the summit. If the lord's army is defeated, the area will become dangerous, but if Akanku's ritual is completed, not only Marva but the entire kingdom could be in danger."
... The entire kingdom, that's an exaggeration.
"And in fact, we've already wasted enough time. If we get caught up fighting the Anupads' army, we may end up being too late, and it may be irreversible."
"So, Lady Siren, what do you want us to do?"
At my question, Siren briefly looked at her lover. Then she nodded briefly and spoke again.
"We must deal with the most important task first, and leave the less important ones for later. We need to reach the summit as soon as possible to prevent the dimensional collision. The Anupads can be dealt with afterwards."
As Siren finished speaking, a breeze blew in from the west. A welcome mountain breeze that cooled the sun-baked rocky hill.
"Hm?"
As I turned to look in the direction the wind was blowing, Utequais stepped forward.
"I have a good idea. Both Atalante and the Mages will be satisfied."
With everyone's attention on him, he placed his hand on the handle of his stone club and continued.
"Send two mercenaries to scout the mountain pass. When the battle starts, the scouts will signal us. Then we'll go up to the summit and deal with Akanku. The Anupads won't be able to chase us, as they'll be busy fighting the lord's army. It's very simple."
Judging from the expressions of Atalante and Siren, they didn't seem very satisfied.
Utequais smiled slyly at them.
"And before that, we'll hunt some trolls."
"Trolls again. Can you stop with the troll talk already?"
"Shut up, woman. I know you're craving the troll's blood."
"Who's craving whose blood?"
Utequais completely ignored Ellen's grumbling.
"Trolls give high points. If we catch them, we can maintain the top position."
Atalante slightly furrowed her brow and shook her head.
"Mr. Hatanka, the rewards for the expedition over there are triple, you know. Seventeen Anupads would be 153 points."
"We'll catch several."
"... Several?"
"Yes. I found traces. It's not just one troll."
As Atalante fell silent, Utequais's gaze turned to Siren.
"If we catch the trolls, we can use the forest path."
"The forest path, you say."
"We can reach the summit quickly. If the battle starts at the mountain pass, we can quickly ascend the summit and deal with Akanku."
Just as Siren seemed to be convinced, the wind blew again.
I stared intently at the direction the wind was coming from, that is, the bushes. This time, I definitely felt something was off.
"But we must hunt the trolls carefully."
"Why? With three Mages here, even a troll should be..."
"From the traces, I can tell the male's territory has been invaded by a female with her young."
"So?"
"They must have mated. A mated troll is hungry and ferocious."
Around that time, my nose detected a faint scent. It was a horrible smell, like rancid sweat and rotting excrement.
"We have to lure and hunt them one by one. In the dark of night."
The sun high in the sky was blazing.
I let out a bitter smile and drew Hrunting. The clear ring of the blade made the party members look puzzled.
"Can't wait until night, huh."
"Can't wait? What do you mean,"
Utequais, who belatedly caught the scent, frowned and lifted his Maul.
At the same time, a bizarre sound came from somewhere in the bushes.
Kwaaaack!
A sharp roar, like a scream. It was a troll.