Chapter 6
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Awe and Fear (2)
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The enforcement agency, Cloud.
Operating under the great Emperor, the investigators of Cloud, who managed the entire empire, all boasted exceptional martial prowess.
In the deep shadows of the empire, all sorts of heinous criminals lay in wait.
It was only natural that Clouds investigators, who had to confront them, possessed a high level of combat skill.
This was no exception for Rick Swile, a 3rd-grade investigator from Cloud, currently patrolling a small village on the empire's frontier.
Rick Swile. The sharp-eyed investigators gaze swept over the now-empty village.
A hearth that was still warm.
Food scattered on the floor.
Even a damp cloth hung on a window.
The entire village still bore the signs of daily life.
It meant that people had been living here until just recently.
But contrary to the village's appearance, not a single person was to be seen.
Gazing at the deserted village, Rick spoke to the guide who was with him.
Youre telling me this happened overnight.
Yes, my lord! The entire village vanished in a single day.
Is there any chance they moved somewhere as a group?
Impossible. My friend, Jack he has trouble with his legs.
The guide Rick had brought along had a friend in this village.
He had a friend who had difficulty moving due to his legs.
If he was saying this, they certainly hadn't moved somewhere else.
Rick took a step toward the village and said.
I can definitely sense the traces of life but theres not a soul in sight.
Feeling a sense of unease, Rick began to walk through the village, opening doors one by one.
Creeak.
The old wooden doors opened easily, without any resistance.
Yet, in none of the buildings he entered could he find any sign of people.
The traces of people were there, but the people themselves were nowhere to be found.
If the villagers hadn't moved en masse, it meant the entire population had evaporated in a single day.
Do you have any idea what might have happened?
W-well, I heard a rumor that bandits appeared in this area recently! Do you think it was their doing?
Bandits
Ricks gaze once again swept over the deserted village.
If a battle had occurred, there would undoubtedly be signs of a fight.
But nowhere in the village could he find so much as a drop of blood.
The only peculiar thing was the black soot marks found in various places throughout the village.
They were rather unusual traces to have been caused by a fire.
If bandits had shown up, there would be signs of resistance.
Then
It seems theres a mage nearby.
The ability to erase an entire village without a trace.
And the black soot marks appearing all over the village.
Putting all the pieces together, Rick Swile could only come to one conclusion.
A mage exists in this vicinity.
And a powerful one at that, capable of leaving not even a single trace behind.
A mage!
The guide looked horrified upon hearing Ricks words.
The existence of mages was not particularly rare in the empire.
Among Clouds investigators, there were even mages who wielded magic.
However, the fear of evil mages was something that had been deeply rooted in people for a long time.
The list of wanted criminals Cloud was pursuing included those who misused magic, so from the guides perspective, it was a perfectly valid reason to be afraid.
Dont be so loud. They might still be hiding nearby.
Ah, I understand.
By the way, did you say there were bandits around here?
Im not entirely sure, but there are rumors that a band of thieves roams the area from time to to time.
Hearing about the band of thieves, Rick wore a contemplative expression.
Isnt it too dangerous to send you back alone?
Theres a shortcut nearby that only I know. If I take that path, I wont run into any bandits.
I see. Then you should head back now. Ill investigate the rest on my own.
At Ricks dismissal, the guide bowed his head and retreated.
An unknown mage and a band of thieves.
It was hard to say which was more dangerous.
And the guide who had led Rick to the village placed more weight on the former.
After a brief farewell, the guide left Rick behind and departed from the village.
Left alone in the desolate village, Rick stared blankly up at the sky.
Its been a while since I had such a tricky case.
- Karma has increased by 1.
- Karma has increased by 1.
- You have reached Level 3.
Two days had passed since I gifted Yutenia the dagger and cloak.
During that time, I found five more villages and destroyed three of them.
One of the destroyed villages was filled with the bandits who had been pursuing Yutenia.
Of course, like the bandits I had met before, they met their end by my Lightning magic.
The Karma I gained from wiping out those three villages was nearly 30.
30 Karma.
It was more than enough to level up again.
Naturally, I used the Karma I had just obtained to reach Level 3.
Level 3 My mana has gone up a lot.
The biggest change upon reaching Level 3 was the increase in my mana.
Leveling up had doubled my mana pool.
If I could use Lightning 10 times with my previous mana, I could now cast it 20 times in a row.
It was a truly dramatic increase in stats.
Assuming my mana doubled with each level up, by the time I reached Level 10, Id be able to use it over 1000 times consecutively.
- Observer's Eye (Lv.2) has grown.
- It has become Observer's Eye (Lv.3). You can now observe the continent with a clearer view than before.
Next was the change to Observer's Eye.
As the skill level of Observer's Eye increased, I was greeted with sharper graphics than before.
If the characters I saw before were pixel art, they were now at the level of cute 3D graphics.
A game where the graphics evolved as you leveled up.
No matter how I thought about it, it was a strange system.
And Yutenias appearance in the new graphics was even cuter than I had imagined.
It really does feel like Im raising a character now.
A small, gray-haired character was nibbling on a piece of black bread she held in her hands.
It was like watching a squirrel eat an acorn.
Even while eating, she continued to display various speech bubbles above her head.
Seeing that their content hadn't changed, it seemed a Level 3 Observer's Eye didn't affect the speech bubbles.
After watching Yutenia for a moment, I turned my attention back to the next change.
- Warning: Karma that is excessively skewed in one direction has a high probability of causing a Causality Correction.
The next message was a warning from the Scales of Karma skill.
It stated that if Karma became skewed to one side, a Causality Correction could occur.
But I had no idea what I was supposed to do to keep my Karma from becoming skewed.
Besides, I couldn't just stop leveling up in a game Id paid 50,000 won for, could I?
I decided to cleanly ignore the message.
I dont know what this is, so Ill pass. And next is ah, there it is again.
Scrolling down, I let out a hollow laugh as I looked at the message.
The next skill to evolve had a very familiar name.
That was because the shop skill was sitting right there, large as life.
- The Paid Currency Shop (Lv.MAX) skill has been expanded.
- You have acquired Paid Currency Shop (Lv.MAX 1).
- You can now use paid currency to purchase items from the shop.
The Paid Currency Shop skill had evolved.
And what was even stranger was the bizarre level notation for the Paid Currency Shop skill.
Skill level MAX 1.
If it was Level MAX, that should be the end of it. How could a Level MAX 1 even exist?
Then again, a shop evolving just because I leveled up didn't make sense in the first place.
Faced with the games increasingly nonsensical nature, I held my forehead and sighed.
So the shop evolved. Does that mean it sells something even more amazing?
Though I was cursing it out, I couldnt help but be curious about the shops contents.
It wasn't that I intended to buy anything again.
I just wanted to take a quick peek at what kind of items were available.
Click.
I tapped the shop button in the bottom right corner of the screen and went inside.
As soon as I entered the shop, a welcome message greeted me.
- Welcome to the Paid Currency Shop.
- The Paid Currency Shop sells various items for smoother gameplay.
I ignored the pop-up message and immediately shifted my gaze to the list of items for sale.
The items in the shop were not much different from before.
An even better 10-pull.
That was the entirety of the shop's inventory.
The only difference from the previous item was the modifier an even better attached to the front.
And the price of the 10-pull had increased by 20,000 won, now costing 69,900 won.
Wow, really this game is something else.
Whats more, the 50,000 won pull that was there before had vanished without a trace.
Now, if I wanted to do a pull, I had to pay 70,000 won, no exceptions.
A shop where the purchase price increases as you level up.
The more I saw, the more this mysterious game elicited a mix of shock and sighs.
And I was the user playing this game.
Marveling at myself for enjoying such a game, I moved my finger toward the back button.
Who would buy this? No way.
I would never visit this shop again.
As I was about to press the back button with that thought in mind
I felt a sense of unease and looked down at my finger.
My finger, which had been heading for the back button, was moving in a strange direction.
Wh-what wait, why is it doing this!
A strong force emanated from somewhere on the screen, pulling my finger toward it.
My finger was moving against my will.
I tried to fight against the force acting on my finger, but the unidentified pull was far stronger than I had anticipated.
In an instant, my finger was sucked toward the 10-pull button.
Click.
And just like that, my finger pressed the 10-pull button.
Ha
The smartphone screen flashed, and the gacha pull page began to load.
With a look of utter defeat, I watched as the items were revealed one by one.
Ting.
A text message from my credit card company popping up at the top of the screen was the cherry on top.