Chapter 25: New Rules
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 25: New Rules
As soon as he finished absorbing the vitality, Seo-un picked up the recovery scroll he had dropped as bait. He tore it open, then rotated his arm to check his elbow.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever been overpowered in terms of raw strength.”
Even as someone who utilized internal power, he could never afford to underestimate the physical might of the Otherworld Knights.
Recalling the previous match where his arm had throbbed from the impact of an opponent's strike—despite having a Divine Item wrapped around it—it was clear that the people of that world possessed a mysterious power that went beyond mere internal energy.
As soon as he opened the box, a heavy axe practically radiated its presence. He lifted it, then shook his head.
“Even with a Ring of Strength, lifting this with one hand is a struggle.”
He had heard stories of the legendary general Guan Yu, who supposedly decapitated enemy commanders while wielding an 82-pound Green Dragon Crescent Blade with one hand. He had always dismissed it as the typical exaggeration of the continental people, but now he was reconsidering.
This axe weighs at least that much, if not more.
He set the axe aside and examined the rest of the box.
[Ding! You have obtained a Power Glove.]
[Ding! You have obtained Skill Book: Wheel.]
As expected, he was more interested in the items than the skill book.
[Power Glove: A mass-produced item that increases the wearer's strength.]
Seo-un slipped on the gray leather gloves. They were fingerless and offered a tight, firm fit. He clenched his fists, testing the grip.
—Strength +45
Considering it only boosted his actual strength stat by about 10, it wasn't an amazing item, but it was better than nothing.
Next, he opened the Mage’s box. It contained far more items than the Knight’s.
[Ding! You have obtained a Mana Explosion Scroll.]
[Ding! You have obtained an Awakening Potion.]
[Ding! You have obtained a Shield Scroll.]
[Ding! You have obtained a Philosopher's Stone.]
[Ding! You have obtained a Cursed Brooch.]
[Ding! You have obtained a Fragmented Secret Manual.]
Even after filtering out the useless junk, there were quite a few unique items.
“First... explain this one.”
[Philosopher's Stone: A rare stone that allows the user to learn one Askro-style magic spell that is one tier higher than their current circle. It is an item crafted with great care by the Great Sage Askro. Cooldown: 1 hour.]
“Ho. This could be incredibly valuable depending on who holds it.”
For someone like him, who could hardly be called a Mage with only a single 2nd Circle Wind Ball spell, it wasn't particularly useful. However, for an intermediate or high-level Mage, it would be a priceless treasure.
“Then what about this?”
[Cursed Brooch: An item that raises your circle by one tier in exchange for a physical curse. It was created using a Lich's Crystal Ball.]
Seo-un tilted his head. At the mention of a "physical curse," he immediately tossed the brooch into the pile of junk and clothes instead of putting it in his subspace.
Feeling a lingering sense of unease, he rubbed the hand that had touched the brooch against his clothes before reaching for the final item.
[Fragmented Secret Manual: The first fragment. If you collect all eight pieces, you will learn the true name of this secret manual.]
“Huh?”
He made a puzzled face at the particularly unhelpful description.
A fragment of a secret manual with an unknown name...
As a martial artist, this item piqued his curiosity more than most.
“Map!”
Since it was the first day of the game, he studied the vast, unrestricted map and began to strategize.
Argas cut across the map like this, and about thirty teams dropped behind me... Should I push into the center of the valley? Or should I stay on the outskirts and farm while picking off the teams trying to clean up from behind?
Looking at the map as a whole, the area was roughly the size of a major metropolitan city.
Kantras Valley sat right in the middle. He couldn't easily decide whether to plan his route through the center or circle the small villages around the valley to farm.
“Since I’ve started, I might as well go all the way.”
For some reason, this was a tutorial set in the second round. Deciding to focus on gaining experience and testing his strength rather than just surviving, Seo-un picked the closest of the seven valley entrances.
First, he used meditation to recover his significantly depleted internal power, then he began to run at a steady pace. He planned his route primarily through mountains and forests, maintaining a moderate speed to avoid wasting energy.
Of course, there were well-maintained main roads, but he wasn't bold enough to run out in the open like that. He didn't want to experience getting hit by an arrow before he even spotted the enemy.
After running for about an hour and breaking a light sweat, the sun began to set.
Seo-un, now wearing the robe of the Mage whose spine he had snapped, pulled the hood low. He stopped and checked the map.
Just a little further. I wanted to arrive before it got dark.
He caught his breath and picked up the pace. The forest ended, and a reddish landscape appeared.
Instead of soft soil, the ground was made of hard stone. On this red earth, where not a single tree could be seen, stood a row of houses built from red bricks. The setting sun dyed the already red land and houses an even deeper crimson, creating a strange, evocative scene.
Now isn't the time for sightseeing.
Seo-un stood dazed for a moment, admiring the view, but as he stepped onto the red earth, a notification sound made him flinch.
[Ding! You have entered a Monster Zone.]
“Huh? A Monster Zone?”
[Tutorial Guide: Certain areas on the designated map are specific regions where monsters appear. The species of monsters vary wildly. Hunting these monsters will result in specific item drops.]
“Wow... why? Why not just throw in a Boss Monster while you're at it? No wonder that random Werewolf showed up earlier.”
As if answering him, the system voice spoke again.
[Boss Monsters: One designated Boss Monster will appear on each map according to the map's characteristics. The type varies by map, but hunting a Boss Monster will result in special item drops.]
“I-is that so? And why aren't there any Mid-Bosses or other mobs?”
He asked sarcastically, but the system answered as if to say, Why wouldn't there be?
[Buff Monsters: In addition to regular and Boss Monsters, there are also designated Buff Monsters on the map. Instead of items, Buff Monsters provide the player with a special buff for a certain period. This buff, which is always given to the player or team that lands the killing blow, is extremely useful, so don't miss out.]
“...”
No longer wanting to argue, he shook his head and kept walking.
Monsters? He figured they might show up. They were creatures from the other world, after all. But after hearing about Boss Monsters and Buff Monsters, he once again found himself curious about the face of the lunatic who created this "real-life" game.
They’ve mixed together FPS, AOS, and MMORPG into one big mess.
As he walked a few more steps, the burning sunset faded, and darkness settled over the area. At that moment, ear-piercing, screeching screams echoed from the surroundings.
—Kieeeeeeeek!
—Kyaaaaaaaak!
—Kuaaaaaaaak!
Even to a casual listener, these were not human sounds. The high-pitched, grating screams made him instinctively tighten his grip.
Despite the loud noises and the atmosphere that felt like something would jump out at any second, nothing appeared. Seo-un stayed alert, pressing his back against the wall of the nearest house to listen for any movement inside.
Sensing nothing with his intuition, he cautiously peered through a small window to check the interior.
There’s no rule saying there isn't another Cloak of Stealth out there.
He knew better than anyone the power of that damn "glass cloak" with zero durability.
Even as the occasional screeching screams continued to tear through the night sky, making the atmosphere even more chilling, Seo-un entered the empty house. As expected, a lantern hanging from the ceiling was glowing brightly, illuminating the room.
After checking for any hidden weapons or arrows, he sat down against the wall and pulled a leather pouch containing beef jerky from his subspace.
‘Ah!’
As he chewed on the tough, gamey jerky, he suddenly remembered something he had put in his subspace shortly after returning to Earth.
How did I forget that?
A box of ramen and a portable stove set. He had forgotten about the items he’d bought at the lowest price online.
I bought them specifically so I wouldn't have to chew on jerky all the time!
As soon as he opened his subspace and reached inside, his expression turned strange. He rummaged through the subspace as if someone were playing a prank on him. Just as his brow furrowed in frustration, the system voice rang out.
[The player's Subspace Ring can take items from this world back to your own, but it cannot bring items from the player's world into this one. However, if a player suffers a Game Over, other players may take those items.]
“Son of a...”
In the end, they were items he couldn't use, and he was basically just carrying them around for someone else's benefit. He couldn't help but swear. He hadn't invested a huge amount of money, but the thought that he’d spent money on something that might only benefit someone else was irritating.
He stared down at a piece of jerky he’d spat onto the floor, then pulled out a fresh piece from his subspace and put it in his mouth.
I guess I’m stuck eating this damn jerky after all.
He regretted leaving the block of ham he’d stocked up on in the fridge, but there was nothing he could do.
—Kieeeeeeeek!
—Boom!
The sound of an explosion accompanied by a slight vibration made him stop chewing.
Someone’s here.
Well, there was no reason he should be the only one in this area. At the same time he felt a ripple of mana, the corners of Seo-un’s mouth twitched.
A Martial Artist?
He felt not only the ripple of mana but also the distinct presence of a Martial Artist. Come to think of it, he hadn't encountered any other Murim people besides Jang Do-cheon and Nam Sa-gwang.
They’re the group I try to avoid the most.
If it were just a Mage, he could end it with a surprise attack or a single lethal blow. But if the opponent was a combination of a Martial Artist and a Mage, the story changed. A scowl formed on his face at the thought of the most troublesome combination to deal with.
Meanwhile, the screams of monsters and the sounds of battle continued unabated.
Should I go take a look?
He swallowed the jerky he was chewing and stood up. In his hand was the bow he had pulled from his subspace.
As he stepped outside, the first thing that caught his eye was a sphere floating in the night sky, emitting a soft light that illuminated the surroundings.
That’s a similar technique to that damn Mage.
The Mage who had used Askro’s name and tried to gank him had fired countless spheres into the sky that were much brighter than this, turning the area into broad daylight. However, even this inferior sphere was enough to identify objects in the vicinity.
Avoiding the light as much as possible, he stayed close to the walls of the houses. He leaped onto the roof of a two-story house—the tallest one nearby—and lay flat against the tiles.
In the distance, he saw a duo: a man with long hair tied back neatly, wielding a saber, and someone in a robe firing magic from behind the warrior.
That is disgusting.
But what caught his eye even more than the duo were the strange monsters that looked like a fusion of a snake's lower body and a woman's upper body. The sight of them slithering across the ground, their lower bodies covered in dense red scales, made his skin crawl.
As someone who harbored an extreme loathing for reptiles, these were monsters he never wanted to face.
There are about twenty of them.
Excluding the ones already lying dead on the ground, that was the number trying to surround the duo. However, the Mage and the Martial Artist were handling them well, retreating steadily and never letting the monsters close the distance.
Perhaps the monsters were drawn to the Martial Artist, who was rapidly swinging his short saber at the front? The creatures that had been trying to encircle the pair gradually began to cluster around him.
In that moment, the Mage stopped retreating and conjured a large spear of ice in the air. Seo-un’s brow deepened as he watched the Mage freeze the lower body of one monster with two Ice Spears. It was a very annoying spell.
He’s definitely got a shield up.
The best-case scenario would be for those two to be killed by the monsters, but it didn't look like that was going to happen. At the very least, that Martial Artist looked skilled enough to retreat safely if things went south.
After a moment of deliberation, Seo-un nocked an arrow and began to aim his bow with careful precision.