Chapter 69

“Lower your stance.”

“Hyaaaa!!!”

“Your sword tip is wavering. Don't use the techniques you've learned. Fight with nothing but your eyes and body. At your level, those aren't sword techniques. They're just fancy tricks.”

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The bright clash of swords rang out.

[GRRR...]

The ice troll facing Karlan growled, seemingly enraged by how often its attacks were being blocked.

“Ruen. Bring another one.”

“Will he be all right?”

“Yes.”

Unlike the worried Ruen, Woojin looked entirely confident.

Name: Karlan Balan

Class: Sword Emperor's Son

Level: 50

Strength 90 Agility 50

Constitution 80 Conviction 20

Dexterity 30 Tactics 40

Total Points: 310

Traits: Sturdy Build, Monstrous Strength

Sturdy Build and Monstrous Strength both increased stamina and strength, while Sharpness increased the precision of swordsmanship. Judging by his traits and stats alone, he unquestionably had the makings of a swordsman.

Why, then, was his skill so poor?

[This NPC is currently cursed.]

This was why.

Astonishingly, after Shell Eyes activated, another line had appeared at the bottom of Karlan's status window.

'A curse...'

He had tried using [Pilgrim’s Cross] in the hope that it might lift it, but unfortunately, Karlan's curse was of a different nature.

▶ The curse grants negative traits.

▶ Traits: Hot-Tempered, Discouraged, Self-Doubt.

He could tell without even reading their descriptions. Those traits must have been why Karlan had given up on swordsmanship of his own accord.

'Curses don't just appear on their own.'

Someone had cursed him.

'Who could it be?'

Woojin pondered as he watched Karlan struggle valiantly against the ice troll.

'To find that out, I'll probably need to learn about House Balan...'

Not its public face, but the hidden history known only to members of the family.

That would be no easy task.

'Honestly, investigating behind their backs is an easier way to uncover a family's hidden problems than building friendly relations with them.'

Remembering [Squall Ring], which he had seen at the Azen Trading Company, Woojin clicked his tongue.

[ROOOAAR!!]

An ice troll's roar rang out.

“Master! I've brought another one!”

“What are you doing, Karlan? Go fight that one too.”

“W-wait...! Are you telling me to fight two at once?”

“You can do it.”

“That's absurd! I-I'll die!” Karlan shouted in alarm.

“You can do it. If you can't trust yourself, trust me.”

Ruen sprang aside in a flash, and the ice troll charged at Karlan as he came into view.

“... Damn it!”

He adjusted his grip on his sword and blocked the troll's spear.

'I can't lift the curse right now.'

That was why Woojin had decided to train Karlan another way: by giving him experience.

'He doesn't even know he's cursed. In that case, I'll just make him strong enough to beat monsters as he is.'

Of course, it would not be easy. [Discouraged] and [Self-Doubt] hindered Dexterity growth and reduced combat ability, while [Hot-Tempered] ruined the precision of his attacks.

'But if he can hunt monsters even with all those curses...'

The moment the curse was lifted, he would undergo a complete transformation. Woojin looked forward to seeing it.

'Even if it's only in the game, perhaps the Irurin born later will have a different life.'

The other world and the game were similar, like parallel worlds, but they were clearly separate worlds. If only they had been the same, the life of the other world's Irurin might have changed too.

'She wouldn't have had to witness the horrific experiments carried out by the head of the Red Tower, either.'

The thought left him with a pang of regret.

“A-aaaargh!”

SHUNK!

Though his stance was awkward, Karlan's sword pierced the ice troll cleanly through the throat.

[GACK... GURK...]

The ice troll shuddered, gasping raggedly.

“I... I did it!”

“There's still one left.”

“Yes!”

At Woojin's words, Karlan hastily pulled his sword free and deflected the spear coming at him from the side.

His expression had changed.

'Experience builds confidence.'

He hadn't let it show, but after watching Karlan fight, Woojin had found his abilities quite decent. No, excellent would be more accurate.

'He certainly inherited the Sword Emperor's blood.'

It was simply that the Sword Emperor himself was such an extraordinary genius that his son had been lost in his shadow.

'If he gets good enough to fight an ogre before we cross the portal, that should give him some confidence...'

The problem was what would happen after he returned to his family.

“Hmm...”

As Woojin pondered the matter, Karlan swore.

“Damn it!”

Perhaps because it had witnessed its companion's death, the troll Ruen had brought over this time was not letting Karlan close in as easily as the previous one.

[GRR...! GRRR...!]

It thrust its spear at him again and again, as if taunting him.

“You bastard...!”

Had killing the first one given him courage? Or had [Hot-Tempered] activated?

Karlan gritted his teeth, launching himself from the spot and leaping at the ice troll.

[SKREEE!]

At that instant, the ice troll's eyes turned red.

“Ah!”

It closed the distance in a flash, charging forward with a thrust of its spear. Karlan twisted in midair, but he could not evade the spearhead already right before his face.

SLICE.

Just before the spear could touch his throat, the ice troll's head fell to the ground.

THUD!

At the same time, Karlan dropped from the air and landed hard on his backside.

“What, do you have ten lives to spare?”

“I-I'm sorry.”

“Never lose your composure in the face of a weapon.”

The ice troll's severed head rolled across the ground and stopped at Karlan's feet.

“... Understood.”

Realizing that head could have been his own, he nodded, breathing hard.

“Still, you did well for your first time.”

At Woojin's words, Karlan beamed like a child praised by his teacher.

“How does it feel to have hunted one yourself?”

“It was my first time. My hands are still shaking.”

“But it doesn't feel bad, does it?”

“No! I realized... I can do it too.”

“You have what it takes to go much further.”

Along with experience, encouragement was the most important thing for someone who lacked faith in himself.

“Yes!”

And it proved far more effective than expected.

[You have earned Karlan's favor.]

[Karlan will tell you a little more about himself.]

A notification appeared.

'Hmm. So there really is an affinity system.'

But why hadn't it become common knowledge yet? Even searching the community turned up almost no discussions of affinity.

The biggest reason was probably that people saw NPCs as programs. The NPCs in [Evil Tale] were extraordinarily well made. That was why they could read players' emotions astonishingly well.

How many people actually treated them as individuals? And those oddballs were unlikely to bother sharing information with others.

'Or perhaps they're deliberately keeping it secret.'

After all, every top player would know that NPCs led to quests.

“We'll rest here today.”

Ruen deftly gathered firewood and built a campfire, while Woojin took the sleeping bags he had bought in Hundred Flowers Valley out of his inventory.

“Whew...!”

The fighting had apparently exhausted Karlan, who promptly flopped down on his sleeping bag.

-Um... would you mind?

Setsuna cautiously approached him as he lay there.

“What is it?”

-Could I taste that? Hehe, I've actually been watching it for a while. It smells so delicious!

Setsuna smacked her lips, gazing at Karlan's sword with sparkling eyes.

“It caught Setsuna's interest? Your sword must be more than just a good blade.”

At her words, Woojin, who had been preparing their food, also looked at Karlan's sword with apparent curiosity.

“What do you mean? Taste my sword?! She's not going to eat it, is she?”

Utterly bewildered, Karlan sprang upright.

“Don't worry. It won't actually disappear. She's just looking at the memories inside it.”

Looking distinctly reluctant, Karlan presented his sword to Setsuna.

-Wow!

Setsuna flew forward joyfully and placed her hand on the blade.

[Setsuna absorbs the memories contained in 'Fabricated Darkness (Grade C).']

The blade shone purple.

▶ Powerful lingering thoughts reside within.

▶ A large amount of EXP is gained.

[Congratulations.]

[Setsuna has leveled up.]

▶ 12 → 15

[Setsuna has learned a new skill.]

“...!”

Something else was more startling than her leveling up.

'A large amount of EXP?'

When she had absorbed the treasured artifacts in Charlson's warehouse, even the Grade B ones had only given her a small amount of EXP.

Then it happened.

-M-Master...

“What's wrong?”

-This sword...

She whispered to Woojin in a trembling voice.

-It's a demonic sword.

'A demonic sword?'

Woojin's expression hardened at her words.

This was strange. Why did the Sword Emperor's son have a sword like that?

'Is that why the notification mentioned lingering thoughts...?'

“Who gave you that sword?” Woojin asked as Karlan took it back and returned it to its sheath.

“This sword? My uncle on my mother's side gave it to me for my tenth birthday.”

“Your uncle? Who is he?”

“Have you heard of House Muren?”

Woojin flinched involuntarily at the utterly unexpected family name.

“Of course. How could I not? They're a count's family in the Kingdom of Bolton, one of the five great kingdoms.”

“Yes. My mother is from House Muren.”

“Is she?”

“And House Muren has a great mage named Zion Muren. He's my uncle.”

“Ha, haha...”

Woojin was left speechless.

“So you're saying Zion Muren gave you that sword?”

“Yes, that's right.”

'Found him. The one who cursed this boy.'

But of all people, the culprit was Zion...

What on earth was his reason? Cursing his own nephew? No matter how Woojin thought about it, he couldn't understand.

'Come to think of it... this bastard's a full-blown villain.'

As if becoming a necromancer, spending decades studying corpses with Ratan, the head of the Red Tower, and creating the Faceless Monster weren't enough, he had even given Karlan a demonic sword...

“If he's such a great mage, I'd like to meet him sometime.”

“He'd be delighted. Unlike his siblings, my uncle enjoys making friends with all sorts of people.”

'He's probably looking for test subjects.'

Woojin gave a sardonic smile at Karlan's words.

“Yes. I'll have to meet him.”

It was a relief that the man was already a piece of trash.

That meant Woojin could kill him without a shred of guilt.