Chapter 40

“You're dead now. How dare you come here and...!”

Woojin let out a low sigh at the doorkeeper.

“Seriously, what's so special about this place that you keep going on about how dare I this, how dare I that?”

“What? You came here without even knowing that?”

“Besides, it's Charlson, your head, who's impressive. Not you lot guarding his house.”

“Y-you bastard...!”

WHOOOOSH!

His face livid, the doorkeeper swung his club at Woojin with all his might.

Hundred Flowers Valley, home to the portal leading to the central continent, could be considered the final region of the Dark Forest. Accordingly, the NPCs here averaged level forty or higher—by no means low.

CRASH!

The pillar struck by the doorkeeper's club shattered into pieces.

“You're an outlander, aren't you? Nobody goes easy on you for being an outlander here in Hundred Flowers Valley.”

WHOOSH!

The doorkeeper growled as he kicked debris from the shattered pillar at Woojin.

This was what made Hundred Flowers Valley so dangerous. Unlike other cities with guards, it had no NPCs responsible for maintaining order, so disputes between NPCs and players were far from uncommon.

“How dare you defy Azen...”

THWACK!

“Urgh!”

Just then, a flying stone snapped the doorkeeper's head back.

“B-boss!”

Startled to see the doorkeeper fall, his men hurried to help him up.

“Hey, big guy. Anyone listening would think Azen belonged to you.”

“Y-you...!”

“Get your facts straight. I didn't come here to fight you, and I never attacked you. You're the one who told me to fuck off out of nowhere.”

STEP. STEP.

Woojin came to a stop in front of the doorkeeper.

“I'll ask you one more time. Do you really intend to fight me?”

“You bastard...!”

One of the men behind the doorkeeper rushed out and swung a fist at Woojin.

WHIZZ!

At that moment, an arrow flew from behind Woojin and buried itself in the man's shoulder.

“Don't do anything stupid. Stop right now if you don't want to die!” Ruen shouted urgently.

“You little...!”

But the man pulled out the arrow and shouted back at her instead.

SLICE!

A sharp sound rang out.

“... Huh?”

The man charging at Ruen toppled forward.

Blood trickled from his leg.

SPLURT!

“H-hieek!”

As blood gushed from his severed leg, he flailed helplessly and screamed.

“I told you to stop.”

Ruen sighed as she dragged the man with the severed leg out of the way.

“Hold still.”

She took a potion from her pouch and poured it over the stump.

HISSS!

With the smell of burning flesh, the spurting blood gradually began to subside.

“Aaargh!”

“Keep quiet, unless you want to lose your other leg too.”

Ruen glanced warily at Woojin as she clamped a hand over the screaming man's mouth.

“Where's the clinic? If you take your severed leg there right away, they should be able to reattach it.”

She carefully picked up the leg from the ground.

HUMMM...

She held her palm over the severed leg, and it froze in an instant.

“Here. Hurry.”

But the man's face crumpled as he took his severed leg from her.

“Th-there isn't one.”

“What?”

“There isn't one. Hundred Flowers Valley doesn't have anything like a clinic.”

The man spoke to Ruen on the verge of tears, all trace of his furious charge moments earlier gone.

“Wait, then... where do you get treated when you're injured?”

“There are alchemists deep in the Dark Alley. We buy potions there and such... but nobody has the medical skill to reattach a severed leg.”

“How can there not be a single healer in a city this big?”

Under Ruen's questioning, the man lowered his head, though it was hardly his fault.

“Why would anyone risk getting caught up in trouble by treating people hurt in faction fights...? I'd leave this place too, if I were them.”

“That's ridiculous... Fighting when you can't even get treat—”

Ruen was sighing at his answer when she suddenly sprang to her feet, as though something had occurred to her.

“W-wait...! Everyone, stop!”

She hurried to put herself between Woojin and the doorkeepers confronting him.

“Stop, all of you. You said you can't even get proper treatment if you're hurt here!”

“Who are you supposed to be?”

“Who do you think? The person who's going to save you. Back off unless you want to spend the rest of your lives crippled.”

“Get out of the way!” the doorkeepers shouted at her.

“That's right. You don't need to worry about being crippled.”

“... What?”

Woojin, too, nodded as he walked past her.

“Because I'll send you straight to your graves.”

“Ugh! That's exactly what I'm worried about!”

Ruen lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Woojin's waist.

“You came here to do business with Azen. What good will fighting the doorkeepers do?”

“That depends on how you look at it. This isn't a peaceful city. In a place that worships strength, sometimes it's better to show them strength worthy of their respect.”

Ruen looked into his eyes. She had wondered why someone normally so coolheaded was suddenly reacting this way to such trivial provocation, but the instant she saw his eyes, she knew it had all been planned.

“We didn't come here to make a fair deal.”

Woojin tightened his grip on his sword.

“If the relationship isn't equal, it's better to have the upper hand.”

CLAP. CLAP. CLAP.

It happened then. Woojin turned toward the applause ringing through the otherwise silent alley.

“If the relationship isn't equal, it's better to have the upper hand.”

The building's door opened, and a small gnome walked out toward him.

“I like that.”

Draped in all manner of jewels and ornaments, he hardly needed to introduce himself.

“Are you Charlson?”

“Indeed. I came out because of the commotion, and found a more entertaining sight than I expected.”

“I wouldn't call it entertaining.”

Woojin pointed to the man lying on the ground.

“But if you enjoyed it, you could reattach his leg as payment.”

“Heh heh. Why should I? Aren't wounds a warrior's glory? Then he'll have something to brag about for the rest of his life.”

Charlson gave a nasty, mocking grin.

“Have it your way, then.”

“Shouldn't you plead his case a little more?”

“Why?”

“Well, you're the one who cut off his leg. As you can see, there's no clinic here, and reattaching a severed leg... would be difficult without help from someone of my stature.”

“For someone who swung a sword at me?”

Woojin's response was cold instead.

“If there's anything I should be asking on his behalf, it's whether you'll let me finish him off.”

At his answer, the man's face turned deathly pale as he looked at the gnome.

“Hahahaha!”

The gnome began to laugh with apparent delight.

“You said Teron sent you? It seems he's sent me someone worthwhile this time.”

He beckoned to Woojin.

“Come in.”

“I don't think you've answered me yet.”

“... Hmm?”

“As their master, surely you have a duty to answer how your men are to be treated.”

“Heh heh. That fellow has been with me a long time, you know. His welcome may have been lacking, but you did thrust a sword through the door.”

'So he was watching from the start.'

“And?”

Woojin smirked at Charlson.

“Why don't we both give a little? In exchange, whatever it is you need, I'll offer you favorable terms.”

He extended a hand to Woojin.

Woojin looked at the gnome's hand for a moment before taking it.

“Let's hear the terms first.”

“Hee hee. This should be an entertaining deal.”

As Woojin followed Charlson inside, the man whose leg he had just cut off bowed his head to him.

* * *

“You were right, Master.”

“Hmm?”

“About needing to show your strength sometimes. To be honest, at first I wondered what was going on.”

Ruen spoke quietly to Woojin as they walked down the vast mansion's corridor.

“But in the end, you got a private meeting with the head of Azen.”

“Well, I just got lucky.”

RUMBLE...

The door at the end of the corridor opened, revealing a room nearly as resplendent as an imperial palace.

“What matters starts now.”

At Woojin's words, Ruen swallowed nervously and nodded.

“Now then, why have you come to see me?”

“There's something I'd like to ask first.”

“What is it?”

“You were watching everything happening at the door. Why didn't you receive your guest?”

“You really are an interesting fellow. Most humans who come to see me start by telling me how desperate their situation is.”

Charlson looked incredulous at Woojin's question.

“But you're more interested in my situation instead.”

“When making a deal, you need leverage over the other party's weakness.”

“Heh... Do you think I'll tell you the truth after you say that so openly?”

“You will. If it really is a weakness.”

Charlson looked puzzled.

“What an odd thing to say. Weaknesses should be hidden. Why would I tell the other party?”

Seemingly intrigued, he leaned a little closer to Woojin as he asked.

“That might change if you start to hope the other party can help you.”

“Hahaha! I rule Hundred Flowers Valley, and you're saying I need help from a greenhorn who can't even get to the central continent?”

Charlson threw himself back, laughing loudly.

“I'll have to hear you out to know whether I'm right.”

“Really? I don't see why I should tell you about my situation.”

“Your doorkeeper said you couldn't spare the time to meet someone like me.”

Unlike the pompous Charlson, Woojin answered in a consistently calm voice.

“...”

Strangely, despite never raising his voice, he was actually overwhelming Charlson.

“Am I the only one who finds that strange? What could keep you so busy that you can't meet someone like me?”

STEP.

He took a step toward Charlson.

“Was it simply a rejection?”

Charlson's cheek twitched slightly.

“Or has some problem come up?”

Woojin bent down to meet the gnome's eyes and gave an enigmatic smile.

“For some reason, I think it's the latter.”

GULP.

Charlson swallowed audibly.

'I've made enough deals like this to be sick of them.'

Trapped inside a game though he was, Woojin had never once forgotten who he was in reality. He was a businessman who had risen from rock bottom to the top.

An eye that saw right through people. An instinct for assessing a situation in an instant. Those weren't things stats or skills could grant him. They were talents uniquely his own.

“Tell me. As you said, I can't go to the central continent...”

Woojin addressed Charlson.

“But if it's a problem in the Dark Forest, I'll solve it for you. Whatever it is.”

Charlson's gaze wavered.

DING!

[You have discovered a quest.]

At that moment, a notification sounded.