Chapter 27: To Eat or Not to Eat. That is the Question.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 27: To Eat or Not to Eat. That is the Question.
He held up the pure gold necklace, examined it for a moment, and then carefully tucked it into his subspace.
After sorting through the recovery scrolls and other useless items, a specific book caught his eye.
[Ding! You have obtained the Magic Book: Ice Lance.]
He had seen that mage fellow use it earlier, so he knew its power firsthand. He would have loved to learn it if he could, but he had a gut feeling.
[Ding! Only mages of the 4th Circle or higher can learn this.]
I knew it. Come to think of it, it would be nice to find a high-level Circle Stone.
But since none had dropped, he couldn't use the book.
The drops, including the magic books, are quite random.
It reminded him of an old online game he used to enjoy. It was a brutal game where you’d randomly drop items or spells upon death, but that was part of the thrill, and he remembered having a lot of fun with it. After all, as long as it wasn't him dropping the items, watching a player’s loot spill out was the most entertaining thing in the world.
[Ding! You have obtained Toka’s Ring.]
“Whoa!”
A sharp intake of breath escaped him as he read the name of the ring he’d just picked up.
This rare thing!
As soon as he grabbed it, he slid it onto his finger and checked his Magic Resistance.
—Magic Resistance: 30.
The stat had exactly tripled. Last time, wearing two of Toka’s Rings had brought his Magic Resistance to a whopping 90. If he could wear them as a pair, he’d be able to tank most spells with his body—it was a top-tier rare item in gaming terms.
If I can just increase my Circle, my Magic Resistance will skyrocket.
With that thought, he moved toward the leather pouches left behind by the monsters that had vanished in the distance. He picked up the nearest pouch and opened it; as expected, it contained beef jerky.
Tsk, of course. Why on earth were those guys hunting these things?
He couldn't quite understand it. While food was important, you could find enough to survive with just a little bit of farming. Still, he wasn't in a position to leave free food lying around, so Seo-un trudged along, picking up every leather pouch on the ground and stowing them in his subspace.
Just as he picked up the last pouch, it felt different from the others.
“?”
[Ding! You have obtained the Tear of Lamia.]
A tear?
Curious, he opened the pouch. A gem shimmering brilliantly in the moonlight revealed itself. When he took it out, he found a diamond-like jewel about the size of a large coin.
“A—A diamond?”
[Tear of Lamia: A crystal formed from the tears of a Lamia about to give birth. It is used as a material for various magical experiments and item crafting. It is difficult to obtain and trades at high prices.]
“Tsk.”
It might trade at a high price, but it wasn't a particularly useful item back on Earth. Nor was it useful here, where people from three different worlds were gathered for a struggle for survival.
In the end, it’s just junk that’s worse than jerky. At least jerky fills your stomach.
Nevertheless, he slipped the item into his subspace and looked toward the compact village standing behind him. It was dark now, and since he had wiped out a team here, all the houses were his for the taking.
Of course, there might be others moving around at night.
On this vast map, the probability of encountering another enemy on the first day wasn't very high. As expected, he didn't run into anyone else while he finished his farming.
Just in case, he never turned off his lantern, and he made sure to shut the doors of the houses he had finished looting. Furthermore, he left behind useless junk like arrows to make it unclear whether the house had been searched or not.
He farmed every single house, but he only managed to find one more useful item.
[Necklace of Tyrun: Increases the wearer’s Agility by 20%.]
He didn't fully understand the Agility stat yet, but he had a general sense of it from his previous gaming experience.
The power to process more information in a split second and make agile decisions... probably.
That was enough. As he was realizing in this game as well, in a life-or-death struggle, momentary judgments and mistakes often made a more decisive difference than individual skill gaps.
That’s why ambushes are so effective.
When one side is completely unprepared and the other strikes after thorough preparation, the ambusher naturally holds a much higher chance of victory.
“Map.”
He hung the black leather cord of the necklace around his neck and examined the map he had summoned.
I can’t get a good read on this valley.
The massive valley at the center of the map was just a giant gorge flanked by red stone walls, with water flowing down in waterfalls.
Aside from being unnaturally large, it doesn't look like there's much there...
He began to deliberate again: should he head toward the center, or continue farming the villages?
He had acquired new information he hadn't known before. Now that he knew about the monsters, he couldn't help but be concerned. In particular, his gut told him that the existence of boss monsters and buff monsters, which supposedly gave special items, might be crucial elements that could flip the game on its head.
He had played enough games to be called a shut-in. He had played every genre, and because of that, he knew well that this survival game was heavily influenced by Earth’s games.
Buff monsters... they might have enough influence to change the outcome of the match.
If they were modeled after buff monsters in AOS team-based games as he suspected, they certainly would.
If there are important monsters, they’ll definitely be inside this valley.
He had no concrete evidence for this. It was just the name of the map and the fact that creepy Lamias had appeared as he got closer to the valley. But for someone who had played a few games, that was enough to give them a hunch.
The problem is twofold: is the monster level something I can handle, and how many other players are thinking the same thing?
Having organized his thoughts, he immediately sat down in a cross-legged position. He wasn't trying to put effort into Qi Condensation. On Earth, it might be different, but here, killing one more player was more helpful than struggling with Qi Condensation.
However, nothing was better than Energy Circulation for washing away physical fatigue and recovering. Chronic fatigue, the bane of modern people—it was a story that applied even to the young Seo-un. After staying up all night gaming and living an irregular lifestyle with poor posture, he rarely felt refreshed upon waking up, no matter how much he slept.
He could solve all of that through Energy Circulation. Even if his sleep time was reduced, he felt refreshed because there was no physical fatigue. In this survival game, where one had to run a marathon, Energy Circulation was something he couldn't afford to skip.
If you get exhausted, you lose.
It was obvious that if you tired first, your rhythm would break, and your survivability would plummet.
After finishing his Energy Circulation, he lay down on the floor and closed his eyes for a moment.
*
Seo-un woke up in the dark of the night, just before the dim dawn. He stood up feeling refreshed, checked the route he had planned yesterday, and left the village. Since the terrain was devoid of trees, it was easy to be ambushed if he was spotted by an enemy who had already moved into position. He needed to quickly reach the terrain with many rocky mountains, so he started moving before the sun rose.
As he ran, using his internal power without reservation, he spoke.
“Survivor List.”
I guess there’s no rule saying an Otherworld Knight has to be weaker than a Martial Artist.
Over 60 people had died in a single day. Since he had killed eight of them himself, it wasn't a bad score for the first day.
I need to grab as many kill rewards as I can.
Coins could only be used after the game was over. Since they couldn't be used at any time, coins were truly vital. Being short just one coin could prevent him from getting a necessary item. If that happened, he wouldn't be able to get that item until the next game ended, and there was no guarantee it would even be available then. Therefore, he had to attempt and aim for every reward that provided coins.
As he ran fast, consuming a significant amount of internal power, a terrain of hills made of numerous rocky mountains appeared. At the same time, the sun rose, and as the sunlight hit the already red terrain, the surroundings were dyed a burning crimson.
He naturally sat in the shade of a hill and looked back at the terrain he had just traversed. There, on the burning red land stretched out without a single patch of shade, a black shadow was flickering and revealing itself.
“Huh?”
Reflexively, his gaze shifted upward, searching for the source of the shadow.
“Ah...”
A black wooden box, encased in a translucent membrane, was drifting down to the ground like a soap bubble. Intense red light was flashing and spreading in all directions from around the box.
“No way...”
He hurriedly scrambled up the hill behind him and scanned the surroundings. His heart pounded wildly as he lay flat on the hill, searching for any sign of people.
Damn it!
In this hilly terrain, an enemy who was determined to hide wouldn't be easily visible. A look of intense hesitation flickered in his eyes. He looked back and saw the wooden box already settling onto the ground.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained!
As soon as he made up his mind, he poured all his internal power into his legs and exploded forward. His heart thundered, and a sensation of his blood vessels tightening with excitement surged through him, swallowing him whole.
He reached the black wooden box in an instant. The moment he touched it, a notification sounded.
[Ding! Would you like to open Cloyd’s Supply Box? The moment you open it, the box’s powerful seal will be released, and a pillar of light will soar into the sky.]
“What?!”
The box had already been flashing red light as if saying "I'm here" since it started descending. But if opening it sent a red light into the sky, there was no way his location wouldn't be discovered.
However, Seo-un didn't hesitate for a second and yanked the box open. He had already come this far, and the anticipation of what items might be inside the black box made it impossible for him to turn back.
—Fwoosh!
A red pillar of light shot into the sky. Seo-un squinted and closed his eyes for a moment against the blinding radiance. Despite his closed eyes, the red light pierced through the darkness. When it finally faded, Seo-un opened his eyes slightly and quickly reached for the items.
[Ding! This is a Cloyd Supply. If used, the wearer’s location will be revealed by a red light every 30 minutes for 6 hours. Do you truly wish to obtain it?]
“You son of a...!”
He couldn't help but curse. He had already taken a risk just by opening the box, but if using the item revealed his location for six hours, it wasn't a supply item—it was a death sentence. This was a completely different level of risk compared to what he had faced so far.
“This is insane.”
A look of deep conflict crossed his eyes as he stared down at the item, his hand frozen. Inside the box lay a pitch-black cloak.
It was a Cloak of Stealth.
And beside it lay a Circle Stone and a wooden box. The box was clearly an Elixir. In addition, a magic book and a secret manual caught his eye.
You want me to leave all this behind?
How many players could walk away from items like these? He’d rather die than leave them.
There’s no time to hesitate.
It was true. He didn't even have time to deliberate. Swallowing hard, he made his decision.