Chapter 10

[You have died.]

[You will be forcibly returned to the town where you most recently stayed.]

▶ You are in a beginner area.

▶ There is no stat penalty upon death.

▶ You do not drop items upon death.

"..."

Woojin opened his eyes. He was alone in the musty shrine. That was hardly surprising, given how rare deaths were in the beginner area.

The [Shrine of the Revived] stood behind the Adventurers’ Guild.

Its function was simple. Those who died without a resurrection item would awaken here after a set amount of time. The higher their level, the longer the wait for resurrection became, and they could suffer reduced stats or lose experience or some of their equipment.

That made players increasingly wary of death as their levels rose.

'But this is a beginner area. There's no penalty, no matter how many times I die.'

A nasty headache throbbed as Woojin sat up, but he smiled almost defiantly.

A death that had cost him nothing.

It had been a rather deranged thing to do, but in terms of cost-effectiveness, perhaps it hadn't been such a bad decision.

At that self-deprecating thought, Woojin smiled bitterly and jabbed his temple with a finger.

"Status window."

Name: Khan

Class: Warrior

Level: 12

Total Points: 240

Remaining Points: 0

Traits: Adventurer, Solitude, Dragon Slaying, Indomitable, Swiftness, Presence

Title: [Hunter of Swiftness]

Specialization: Soul Imprinting (1/1)

Imprint: Incomplete Essence of Sarbandin

A new stat entry had been added to the bottom of the status window.

CLICK.

When he moved his finger to it, another window appeared.

Name: Incomplete Soul of Sarbandin

Description: Death prevented the contract with the soul from being fully completed.

▶ Strength +15

▶ Agility +15

▶ Trait: Black Guardian

▶ Trait: Hungry Brand

▶ Trait: Shell Eyes

[You have awakened new Traits.]

[Would you like to view them?]

Woojin nodded.

Trait: Black Guardian

▶ When your health falls to half or below, you can conceal your body in black mist.

▶ While the black mist lasts, wounds slowly heal at the same rate as Low-Grade Regeneration.

Woojin let out an involuntary, incredulous laugh at the imprinted essence's effects.

Health regeneration alone would have made it a hard-to-obtain Trait, and it even offered concealment...

But the next one was an even bigger jackpot.

Trait: Hungry Brand

▶ Once per day, you can brand any living creature other than yourself.

▶ One-third of the branded target's highest stat is applied to you.

▶ The branded target's stat decreases by the amount stolen.

'Living creatures? That means I can brand monsters too.'

That opened up endless uses for the brand. Using it on a dungeon boss in particular could yield tremendous results.

'And that's not all.'

The brand could be used for more than hunting. Perhaps that was its true purpose.

Not hunting, but killing people.

'Beyond the beginner area, it's a lawless zone where PK is possible at any time.'

There was no telling what might happen or when. If there was anything he could do to prepare, he was better off doing it, whatever it might be.

[Evil Tale] wasn't all hope and heroic tales of hunting monsters and climbing the tower.

The final Trait, however, wasn't immediately clear to him.

Trait: Shell Eyes

▶ You can see what is concealed.

That single brief line was the entire description.

"Hmm... See what, exactly?"

He couldn't quite grasp it, but that didn't matter. The first two alone were valuable enough.

"Whew..."

Woojin let out a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart.

"First, I should look into Sarbandin."

GRIND.

As he left the shrine, Woojin made himself a promise.

'This is the last time I'm coming here.'

That pain that had engulfed his entire body...

It hadn't been a mere effect. There had been a distinct will behind it.

'A will to steal my body.'

And that thing still existed inside him. His death had stopped it, but all he had done was buy himself a little time.

"That was close."

To think something like that had followed him from the other world. It could come after him at any moment.

"Try it if you dare. This body is mine."

GRIND.

He thumped his chest and spoke in warning.

"Whoever the hell you are, you're never taking it."

* * *

"Sarbandin?"

The Adventurers’ Guild clerk tilted their head at Woojin's question.

"I'm afraid I've never heard that name either."

"I see."

The clerk checked the pouch Woojin had handed over.

"That's all the goblin teeth received."

[D-Rank - Collect 10 Goblin Teeth]

[Quest complete.]

[Reward: 1 Silver]

As Woojin accepted the coin laid before him, a dazzling golden notification appeared, far too extravagant for a meager reward of one silver.

[Congratulations.]

[Tutorial - Preparations for Adventuring complete.]

[You are now eligible to receive an adventurer registration card.]

"Well done. Here is your token identifying you as a ninth-class adventurer. You may travel freely through Moretti and the settlements in the Dark Forest."

"What settlements are there?"

"To the west is a supply outpost in a desert region called Ogal. To the north is an intermediate city called Parta."

"... A city?"

"Yes. The only city in the beginner area. Oh, if you're looking for something, try Parta. There's a library there."

"A library?"

"Yes. As the saying goes, books remember what people cannot. Books never forget."

The clerk grinned, looking pleased with that remark.

'It's uncanny, no matter how many times I see it...'

They were so human that it felt unsettling. Was it because he had experienced a real world identical to this one? Watching behavior like that made him wonder whether they really were programs.

"Thank you."

Woojin accepted his adventurer registration card and left the guild.

"Parta..."

A city at the northernmost edge of the Dark Forest, surrounded by hunting grounds with an average level of around twenty-five.

'That's where the Orc Citadel is. I think.'

It wasn't a bad destination. He would have to go there sooner or later anyway to break the Dungeon Board records.

CLICK.

Woojin opened the community window.

The community forum, which could also be accessed in-game, featured not only game discussions but all sorts of gossip. In a way, it was his only means of communicating with the real world.

There was one restriction: it could only be used in towns, not out in the field or inside dungeons.

"... Huh?"

Nearly the entire forum was flooded with posts about the new top-ranked player in [Goblin Nest].

"People must have too much time on their hands. They could be out hunting instead."

Despite his words, Woojin chuckled at the greater-than-expected attention and quickly scrolled down.

'That's right. Keep those posts coming. That'll get the developers' attention too.'

TAP.

Then his finger stopped.

"... Hmm?"

One of the many posts caught his eye.

- [Breaking] Apparently the Ten Great Clans Are Holding an Emergency Meeting.

It was no exaggeration to say that they currently dictated the course of [Evil Tale].

'The ten great clans...'

Woojin recalled the man who had been recruiting party members before he entered [Goblin Nest]. He had belonged to the [Jaina Clan], one of the ten great clans.

'It's a beginner dungeon with so many people going in that I should be fine, but...'

Someone might remember his face. It wouldn't hurt to be careful.

'This is still a safe zone where PK isn't possible, but there are countless ways to interfere with someone's hunting.'

Players couldn't kill one another, but even in the beginner area, they could cut off arms and legs.

'I'd better be careful visiting the other dungeons.'

TAP. TAP.

When he pressed the magnifying-glass icon in the community window, a virtual keyboard appeared. It was out of place in a fantasy world, but this place wasn't [real], so it didn't matter.

[No search results for 'Sarbandin.']

He had held out a little hope, but Woojin clicked his tongue at the empty results.

'What on earth is it?'

He couldn't shake his unease, but for now, it seemed he had no other option besides the library in Parta, as the guild clerk had suggested.

"I'll find out eventually if I keep playing."

He was still a rookie who hadn't even set foot on the central continent.

"Looking for a tank for Wolf Cave!"

"Buying herbs!"

"Anyone's welcome to join us collecting slime cores!"

The square bustled with people recruiting parties before going hunting and others buying and selling all manner of things.

"..."

Watching them enjoy the game normally, unlike him, left him feeling a little bitter.

'Get a grip, Kim Woojin. We may be in the same place, but they're nothing like me.'

They had somewhere to return to.

'I'd better get ready to leave.'

It was time to move a little farther ahead.

* * *

"Can you craft armor?"

Woojin had visited a small shop beside the Adventurers’ Guild, a general store selling armor and assorted weapons. Naturally, there was no proper smithy in the beginner area, but this place could still craft various things from materials obtained through hunting.

"What material do you have?"

An elderly craftsman emerged from the back of the shop.

"How... did you get this?"

The old man's eyes widened when he saw the hides inside the pouch Woojin held out.

"Nothing special. I got lucky."

"This isn't something luck alone would get you... But what am I to do? I don't have the skill to work with this."

The hides in the pouch were none other than those Woojin had obtained from killing the Goblin Lord.

"I thought you could work with any material found in the beginner area."

Woojin asked the question as he recalled the information he had found on the community forum. This man was the only crafter in the beginner area. That meant players had to come here to have things crafted even when they obtained their materials by hunting in the next region.

Why make it so inconvenient?

It had drawn considerable complaints when the game first launched. Several years later, however, a marketplace accessible from any town had been introduced, and few people mentioned it anymore.

Only a faint question remained.

'They said the program that made Evil Tale, [Ethan], was the most perfected AI.'

Had an AI like that made a mistake?

Well...

There was no way to know.

"The Goblin Lord may not be a particularly high-grade monster, but this is different."

After examining the materials, the shopkeeper looked at Woojin.

Name: Magic-Infused Goblin Hide

Grade: Rare

Description: Hide infused with the Goblin Lord's magical power. Tougher and harder than ordinary goblin hide, it possesses magical properties.

"This isn't ordinary material. It's magical material. I've lived in Moretti all my life, but you're the first to bring me any."

'Hmm?'

Woojin narrowed his eyes slightly at the old man's words.

[Evil Tale] had been running for several years, so guides already covered practically everything in the beginner area. A simple search on the community forum turned up strategies for the Dark Forest's dungeons and its various field monsters.

Latecomers had missed their chance to get ahead of everyone else, but in exchange, they had all that information at their disposal.

But...

'The first.'

Being first could itself be a condition for triggering something. For a latecomer like him, those words couldn't help but pique his interest.

"If I worked with it, all I'd make is slightly sturdier leather armor. If you're happy with that, I don't mind... but why not leave it to a specialist instead?"

The refusal was unexpected, but the proposal was certainly intriguing.

"There's someone who can handle this? From what I've heard, you're the only craftsman in town."

"A craftsman doesn't necessarily have to be human."

He gave Woojin a curious smile.

"Would you like to meet them?"

DING.

The sound rang in Woojin's ears.

"Ah."

At that moment, he understood why players had been made to go to all the trouble of bringing their materials to Moretti.

It hadn't been some mistake by the AI.

[You have discovered a quest.]

'This was why.'