No Easy Path
"Damn. As expected, it wouldn't be easy."
Confirming the warning-like time limit message, Vulcan immediately quickened his pace. The bastard outside was just going to rattle the barrier for ten minutes without breaking it anyway, so he turned his back and headed deeper inside. Then he activated Dragon Eye.
He hadn't spotted anything hinting at clues beyond the murals when he'd glanced back earlier, nor any entrances leading to underground spaces or elsewhere. So he figured there had to be some mechanism. Twisting a statue's head to open a path was cliché, but it popped up often enough.
"Huh?"
Straining his eyes to scan around, Vulcan sensed something off. Had the surroundings gotten brighter somehow? It felt like someone had flicked on fluorescent lights—unnaturally bright.
Look up.
"Found it."
The moment he registered the oddity, Vulcan looked up. And there it was: the hidden clue.
The reason everything felt so glaringly bright was that Dragon Eye had picked up something on the ceiling.
"Letters popping up out of nowhere in a mural? A twisted exam question, huh."
Curving around the ceiling like a ring of carvings was none other than ancient goblin script. Layered in concentric circles from inside out, it masqueraded as intricate patterns at a glance—but it was actually sentences chronicling past events.
One day, a colossal serpent descended upon our tribe. Bearing orders from the Deep Darkness, it demanded we reveal the method to impregnate new flesh with ancient souls.
It sought to steal the secret of life we'd guarded for ages. With it, they aimed to resurrect a long-vanished Demon King and spawn countless shadows. We fled.
The beast pursued us relentlessly. It devoured our kin alive, and in the end, we were captured. We teetered on the brink of having our life's secret forcibly taken. Then, He descended from the heavens.
He crushed the beast's head in a single blow. Thereafter, He said nothing, but remained there, protecting us.
The beast's mate soon came searching for us. Under His protection, we hid our bodies, and the remnants of other shadows neither found nor harmed us.
"So that's how it was."
Reading them all pieced the puzzle together. The one disguised as Hainel was the mate of the snake killed by Tud's hammer, and it served the Deep Darkness as its master too. That Deep Darkness was probably a Demon King. Likely one of those that survived the Demon King Wars, hiding in the middle realm, biding time for revival or another king's descent. As part of that scheme, it'd targeted the goblins' Book of Life.
"...But why leave this here? It's not totally meaningless, I guess. Or..."
Of course, having snagged the red tome called the Book of Life and peeked inside, Vulcan couldn't quite grasp that part. But other bits made sense, so he tabled it for now.
Main Scenario Quest 'Old Plan' completed.
Main Scenario Quest 'Remnants of Darkness' received.
Remnants of Darkness
[Main Scenario Quest]
You've uncovered that remnants of darkness originating from the Deep Darkness still lurk and scheme on this land.
Spread the word and eradicate these remnants before their ancient conspiracy comes to fruition.
📍 Success Condition: Report to a noble or temple
🎁 Success Reward: Massive Contribution Points OR Massive Temple Contribution Points
"Pick one, huh."
Spotting the ceiling script auto-completed and updated the quest. If Vulcan couldn't read ancient goblin, he'd have had to copy it down and translate later—but he could, so no hassle.
Still, the success condition and rewards felt off. Report to either nobles or a temple? Vulcan read between the lines.
"Pick wrong, and you're screwed."
Rewards-wise, general contribution points beat temple ones. Better item variety and quality. But splitting them like this screamed main scenario trap. Temples were safer, but nobles? Some in Rezina territory had fallen to mind control before—they could be puppets or collaborators.
If the report hit the wrong hands? Buried quietly, maybe even framed to make the reporter the villain on the run.
And it implied such traitors already existed.
"Eh, that's for later."
Quest accepted for now. Immediate issue: dealing with Uros hammering the barrier outside.
"Let him die once, and it's simple..."
Per the scenario, kill him here once. He'd drop the book, chaining into more quests like tracking his trail. Clues like the quest completing pre-report screamed "must-kill once."
He wasn't designed to be caught alive anyway.
"Gamers always wanna do the opposite of what they're told. Classic instinct."
You bastard, what are you scheming now...
But did gamers ever follow orders? If dying anyway, ram him first. Keep going till it works.
Vulcan was no exception—hell, a prime example.
"Hmm, this might actually work?"
And it wasn't hopeless. Berserker's longsword couldn't pierce his scales, confirmed. But an idea flashed in Vulcan's mind.
He acted on it.
"...What? Begging for your life now?"
Moments later, Vulcan reemerged at the temple entrance. Uros glared murderously, forehead bleeding from relentless headbutts, but Vulcan strolled up unfazed.
He plopped down right at the barrier's edge.
BAM!!
Uros charged threateningly. The barrier shuddered perilously, but Vulcan stared back without flinching. It wouldn't break till time ran out anyway.
"Hey, 'begging'? Call it negotiation—you're too harsh!"
"Negotiation? Hah! Think you have any say? Wait. I'll smash this barrier soon and chew you up!"
Uros snapped at Vulcan's cheeky bluff. No loss for him. The barrier had held firm before, forcing retreat—but repeated slams told him it was weakening. Keep at it, and it'd shatter.
Vulcan just grinned casually.
"Smash the barrier, the temple, whatever. But you sure that's wise? Can you find this in the rubble?"
"What?!"
He dangled and shook the Book of Life Uros sought, taunting. If the temple collapsed, good luck digging it out. Nod to Uros's bulk, but also a threat: Vulcan could topple pillars himself if the barrier dropped. This crumbling ruin? Easy.
"I'm a pro at hide-and-seek. I'll stash this somewhere soon—underground? Melted into ore? Your call if you can find it. Oh, might get wrecked in the process."
Uros's size could clear debris for a search, sure. But if Vulcan hid it while the barrier held? Nightmare. The book's curse might prevent destruction, but hiding it would waste tons of time.
Maybe forever. Neither Uros nor his masters wanted that.
Revenge-blinded or not, the direct targets—goblins—were gone. Their plan was ongoing.
"What's your game?"
"And if talks fail, I'll bolt, call reinforcements. Cool with that?"
Reinforcements would complicate everything. Uros was strong, but post-Demon Realm cutoff, far below Rezina's lord. Knights swarming? No guaranteed win.
"Think you'll escape alive?"
Uros paused but kept the high ground. Flaw in Vulcan's threat: he guarded the exit. No reinforcements. Immortal or not, Vulcan might fake death to slip out—but Uros wouldn't let him respawn. Tail-squeeze to immobilize, and no revival.
"C'mon, I got principles. Who said alive?"
Vulcan drew the berserker's longsword, pressing it to his throat with a bright smile.
"Die and log out. Problem solved."
Suicide threat. Uros stared, probing for hesitation. None—Vulcan matched any in guts and grit. No bluff; he'd do it if needed.
Win-win: reinforcements slay Uros, investigate goblin village, massive credit.
"What do you want?"
Reading the resolve, Uros swallowed rage. Table time.
"Gold."
"What?!"
"More gold! What else would I want? You charged immortals fat fees for 'sage' advice, right? That's not all you got... Burn it big while you can. No more sage act after this."
Vulcan answered without pause. Hainel had raked in consulting fees from players. His pouch alone held 1,000 gold in coins and gems—house raid for more?
Uros twitched but regained composure.
...At this point, who's the villain?
"You swear to hand over the Book of Life for that?"
"Yep. Useless to me—sell for fair price, win-win."
Uros pondered the sly response. Scamming for gold then screwing him? Possible, but no alternatives.
"Pull any tricks, and you'll beg for death."
Uros finally turned, heading to his hut for gold—leaving the goblin village briefly.
"Hiss!"
Not fully trusting, though. Like Fire Bat, he summoned minions: meter-long baby snakes. Then dipped.
"Hmm, still looks useless."
Watching him go, Vulcan shrugged and stood. Slaughter the babies and flee? Viable, but Uros might notice and pursue. Not the plan anyway.
Babies couldn't pierce the barrier either, so Vulcan reentered the temple.
"Bought some time at least."
Uros halting extended the barrier. Time for final prep.
"This'll really work?"
Depends on you. No downside, right?
"Well... true."
Back inside, Vulcan eyed Tud's hammer, enshrined like an idol. Tud called it a casual workshop tool, but it'd slain Uros's mate—loaded with narrative.
"Fuck it, let's try."
Steeling himself with a deep breath, Vulcan pulled out a repair kit. Couldn't fully fix at his level, but even a few durability points? Enough.
If it broke mid-repair, barrier down—instant chaos. All or nothing.
"Repair."
Before Uros returned, he rolled the dice.