Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 85
>Chapter Title: Death's Orc Warrior
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>“Guhhh!”
“Sp-Spare me!”
“You monster... guh!”
Whenever a hunting party showed up, he slaughtered them in an instant. Just as he was about to finish them off, new hyenas would swarm in, and Eliza would step up to pull aggro again.
Then he’d slaughter them once more.
This simple, straightforward strategy kept working.
Of course, midway through, rumors had spread enough that some refused to attack orcs outright, but that wasn’t up to them.
Even if they gritted their teeth and tried to ignore the orcs, the orcs would butt in and provoke attacks somehow.
It was commonplace for them to tap a hidden player’s shoulder, startling them into attacking.
“What the hell? What kind of orc does this?”
“Is an orc even allowed to do that!?”
“Man, this is bullshit. How does hitting an orc count as a preemptive strike?”
How many times had Eliza perfectly baited them into justified self-defense, only for Do-hyun to appear and slaughter them?
At some point, everyone gunning for Do-hyun had vanished.
Instead, for dozens of minutes now, the scene had been Do-hyun using Eliza as bait to hunt the hunters in reverse.
“Hey, you heading to the Fetid Rock Forest right now?”
No one was in the Fetid Rock Forest—not the hyenas targeting Do-hyun, nor the players hunting orcs.
It was all because of a single rumor spreading through Brion.
“Beware the orcs. Attack an orc, and ‘he’ shows up.”
“That guy appears out of nowhere. Remember: never attack an orc.”
The bizarre rumor that attacking an orc meant death.
“Hey, wanna go hunting?”
“Not now, they say.”
“Why?”
“You don’t know? Killing orcs right now is instant death. Mountains of corpses piled up.”
“There’s a mutant orc. Attack it, and some monster flies in. Impossible to kill.”
“Nah, I heard you get hit by splash damage when the orc dies. Like a suicide squad.”
As rumors tend to do, they twisted and warped, reaching ordinary players as something entirely different from the truth.
But all the bizarre tales shared one common thread.
-Beware the orcs.
The same advice always given to newbies in Brion.
The moment that advice took on a twisted new meaning.
* * *
[Your level has increased.]
[Quest material ‘Orc Concentrated Blood’ acquired.]
“Whew~.”
Do-hyun couldn’t hold back a sigh of admiration at the level-up message.
This wasn’t his first—it was already his second.
Putting him at level 29.
[Orc Concentrated Blood (50 / 50)]
[You have collected all the Orc Concentrated Blood.]
Perfectly timed, he’d gathered all the Orc Concentrated Blood too.
In his frenzy of hunting, he’d nearly cleared the main quest without realizing.
-Brion Area Monster Kills (776 / 1,000)
At this rate, he’d clear it by tomorrow.
[Fetid Rock Forest Exploration (0 / 1)]
Now, just exploration left.
If he’d hunted while watching his back, it would’ve taken much longer, but with the pests gone, he could hunt in peace.
“Yeah, this is how hunting should be. So relaxing.”
How peaceful was this hunt?
A few players still glanced his way now and then, but none dared interfere like before.
And that wasn’t all. He’d looted a ton of items from crushing those who(?) charged him.
‘One shield and ten pieces of armor.’
Eleven pieces of gear in total.
They overlapped with his own equipment slots, but as lower-grade versions, most were headed for the auction house—not all, though.
[Special Silver Shield Crafted in a Special Workshop]
[Grade: Rare]
[Description: A special shield made from silver iron, one of the rare ores.
Silver, known since ancient times as a noble and sacred ore, is said to hold holy power.]
[Level Restriction: 30]
[Equip Restriction: Shield Warrior classes]
[Defense: 110]
[Damage Reduction: 124~143]
[Durability: 90 / 100]
[Special Option: Successful guard three times in a row increases Defense by +30 for 90 seconds.]
The silver shield from the first attackers.
With a level restriction ten higher than his old silver iron shield, its stats were superior.
Plus, unlike the silver iron shield that required holy power to shine, anyone could benefit from this one’s option.
[Thousand Changes devours ‘Special Silver Shield Crafted in a Special Workshop.’]
[An item has already been devoured.]
[Spit out ‘Silver Iron Shield’ and devour ‘Special Silver Shield Crafted in a Special Workshop’?]
“Yeah.”
[Devoured ‘Special Silver Shield Crafted in a Special Workshop.’]
Do-hyun swapped shields without hesitation.
This was another perk of Thousand Changes.
Devouring a new weapon spat out the previous one, making it fully recyclable.
[Registering ‘Silver Iron Shield’ to the auction house.]
[Set to 24 hours.]
With the last piece registered, Do-hyun’s face was all smiles.
‘Guess I’ll hit the beef place again today.’
If these all sold, he’d net at least ten million won, right?
Hunting done, quest progressing, money rolling in, and solid footage for NewTube.
The perfect multi-kill.
Do-hyun gazed fondly at Eliza in her orc form.
“Eliza, you’re my lucky charm.”
-Liza liza!
All thanks to Eliza’s parasitism ability.
At first, he’d just thought it was intriguing, but in practice, its utility was insane.
Especially for someone like Do-hyun, swarmed by enemies.
Just look at this time—Eliza’s orc parasitism had cleared out all those annoying small fries.
‘Can’t blame them. I’d be scared too. Some crazy orc charges, you hit it, and bam—preemptive strike.’
Ignore it, and it harasses you; kill it, and you’re screwed.
Even Do-hyun would’ve given up approaching.
‘But even accounting for that, aren’t there way fewer players? Like the population halved.’
A bit more disappearance than expected, but good was good.
For a center-of-attention like Do-hyun, this was way more comfortable.
“Eliza, how long you gonna stay transformed?”
-Liza? Liza!
-She says she’ll keep patrolling in case more bad guys show up.
“Hmm... alright. Thanks.”
Do-hyun’s response was somewhat nonchalant.
He appreciated the sentiment, but that cute voice from such a brutal face never quite sat right.
No, the voice was the least of it.
Eliza’s affectionate nature meant happy bounces and head rubs... which, sorry Eliza, but gave him chills sometimes.
‘No. Gotta endure this. She’s such a pretty lucky charm.’
Brushing his arms, Do-hyun shook his head and steeled himself.
If she got hurt and refused to parasitize next time, he’d be the one losing out.
-Liza!
“Yeah, yeah...”
Stroking the orc’s massive chin beard as it nuzzled him, Do-hyun turned his gaze.
Not because it was hard to look at. There was a more important reason.
“Feels like I’ve scoured everywhere, but no clear.”
The Fetid Rock Forest was vast, but he should’ve met the conditions by now.
He’d ventured into the thickest fog, yet no sign of completion.
-There’s still a spot you haven’t checked, Master.
-Liza!
Jihad chimed in abruptly, and Eliza nodded along.
Yeah, they were right.
‘There is one spot left.’
More accurately, one he couldn’t check yet.
[Death energy is extremely thick.]
[Field boss will respawn in the Fetid Rock Forest shortly.]
[Time Remaining: 00:03:01]
The field boss hadn’t respawned yet.
He’d figured simple exploration like Raven’s West Forest would do it.
Apparently not.
Right on cue, the message popped up, and Do-hyun grinned.
“Perfect timing.”
-Liza liza.
The Fetid Rock Forest’s field boss appeared from thick fog.
Not metaphorically—literally.
The death energy system, meant to curb excessive mob farming, created especially dense fog when it built up.
A random spot in that fog birthed the field boss.
‘That’s the lore, anyway.’
Try gaming the system with forced farming—the boss wouldn’t spawn outside its timer.
But it wasn’t just fluff either.
Without enough death energy accumulated, it wouldn’t appear even on time.
Anyway, folks griped about Brion’s field boss like this:
-Ugh, luck-based trash game!
The infamous field boss lottery.
For lottery-haters like Do-hyun, nothing was more infuriating—but not anymore.
“Heh... hehehe... hehehehe...”
-...Eliza, don’t look. It’s dangerous.
-Liza....
Even Jihad looked uneasy, and Eliza agreed at that vile chuckle.
Master being master, but Do-hyun couldn’t help it.
[Time Remaining: 00:01:58]
[Condition met.]
The timer hit one minute.
[Trait ‘Slayer’ activates.]
[Nearby matching boss confirmed.]
[Field Boss ‘Death’s Orc Warrior’ location revealed.]
Slayer triggered, marking the boss on his minimap.
The lottery became a sure thing for Do-hyun.
‘This is why people use map hacks.’
He’d never got cheaters in Craft Star, but now? He understood.
Why skip this sweet honey?
‘Not super close, but...’
Full sprint should get him there in time.
Grinning, Do-hyun bolted.
Dashing with occasional Backstep bursts for dozens of seconds.
[Time Remaining: 00:00:05]
Unbelievable speed for level 29, Backstep paying off—he arrived just in time.
-Hah, haah... M-Master. Too fast.
-Liza liza....
Poor Jihad, trailing behind, was dying.
Eliza, parasitism released for the run, patted Jihad’s head from Do-hyun’s shoulder.
Whatever. Do-hyun stared at the empty ground.
He stood right at the boss marker.
Five seconds until spawn.
[Orc Warrior drawn by death energy appears.]
[Field Boss, ‘Death’s Orc Warrior’ has respawned.]
Tchiiiiiik-!
As expected, the message came with a ferocious roar.
If regular orcs were pressure cookers, this was a freight train.
Its looks matched the menace.
Tchiiik....
Around 250cm tall, bulk 1.5 times a normal orc.
Unarmed orcs were brutal enough, but this field boss wore armor too.
At least it had some mercy—not full plate.
More barbarian warrior than medieval knight?
Armor covered shoulders, vitals, head—key spots only.
Plenty intimidating still.
Kkiiigik-.
Its weapon dwarfed the double-bladed axes other orcs wielded.
So huge it dragged on the ground.
Anyone would tense up, but Do-hyun’s eyes weren’t even on it.