Chapter 117 - The Money-Blowing Necromancer

Selection Tournament (2)

'N-no.'

Not that nightmare again...

Just then, Kim Minwoo quietly raised an index finger to his lips, as though telling Popo not to acknowledge him.

Popo hastily nodded, then addressed the awakeners gathered around.

"Uh... um... I will now announce the first test! You will each be going to a separate, but identical, city."

'A city?'

As the awakeners tilted their heads in puzzlement, Popo continued.

"You have one week. You're free to do whatever you want there. However, you will accumulate points based on your actions. Whoever earns the most points wins! Your scores will appear on the notice board from time to time, so check them and work hard!"

Then Popo snapped its fingers.

"Now, let the test begin!"

[The first test is beginning.]

[You have entered 'City - No. 123'!]

[This is a special stage where you cannot gain experience!]

[Instead, you will now accumulate points based on your actions!]

[Earn as many points as possible over one week.]

[Something special may happen if you accumulate points above a certain threshold.]

[Rules]

[* Only the top 50 scorers in the first test will advance to the second test.]

[* Items already in your possession cannot be used for trade.]

I looked around, taking in everything from the architecture to the people walking about.

'A fantasy setting, for starters.'

I thought I understood what Popo had meant by separate but identical cities.

This was No. 123. There were probably similar cities numbered all the way up to 150, one for each participant.

"Snowy."

"Coo."

"Stay close to Daddy, okay?"

"Cooo."

I walked down the street with the now-invisible Snowy. Strange, curling letters covered the signs, but fortunately, I could read them. Even the merchants' cries as they hawked their wares reached my ears automatically translated.

"Hot, freshly baked bread! Two points!"

"Get your fresh fruit! Starting at one point!"

It worked much like a gate, where I could understand all the writing and speech too.

Judging by the odd way everyday necessities were priced in points, this seemed to be a world where points served as money.

'They said I'd earn points based on my actions.'

There was still a lot I didn't know, including what counted as an action and which actions would earn points.

I stopped a passerby and asked,

"Is there a mercenaries' guild here?"

"The mercenaries' guild? Head that way."

"Thank you."

When you had neither proper identification nor money, the best option was that staple of fantasy worlds: becoming a mercenary.

I followed the directions the passerby had given me. Before long, a large building came into view.

[Mercenaries' Guild]

Inside, rough-looking mercenaries were drinking. One by one, their eyes began drifting toward me.

"A rookie?"

"Heh, he's got a pretty face."

A bald, muscular mercenary promptly sprang to his feet and approached, an unpleasant smile playing on his lips.

"Hey, pretty boy. Being a mercenary isn't easy, you know. So here's the thing..."

"I'll give you three seconds."

"Huh?"

"Fuck off."

"Ha! Let big brother show you an easy way to earn some poi—"

BAM!

Struck in the face by my scabbard, he slammed into the wall.

The other mercenaries' faces stiffened.

"What? Did he just take out Kundel?"

"But he's a Gold-rank mercenary!"

I looked around. The mercenaries met my eyes for only a moment before abruptly looking away.

Apparently, the man I'd just knocked out had been something of a big shot.

I approached the counter.

"Can I become a mercenary?"

"Uh. O-of course, sir. Do you have any identification, by chance?"

"No."

"I-I see. Then we'll need to issue you a temporary mercenary badge. Once you've built up a record, you'll receive an official one. Here you are."

The clerk handed me a round silver badge.

[You have become a 'Temporary Silver-Badge Mercenary'.]

[You have been awarded 200 points.]

[Current Points: 200]

They hadn't been kidding about earning points through my actions. Apparently, becoming a mercenary counted too.

"A silver badge..."

"Y-your accomplishments also matter when it comes to raising your rank."

"How high can I go with a good enough record?"

"Adamantium. You can rise that high, though of course, you'd need some truly impressive accomplishments."

Copper, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Adamantium.

Apparently, the mercenaries' guild had five badge ranks in total.

"Where can I find missions?"

"Right here."

The clerk pointed to a board covered in mission notices.

[Mountain Climbing]

[Climb a mountain.]

[Time Limit: 30 minutes]

[Difficulty: Very Low]

[Reward: 10 points]

[Wild Beast Hunt]

[A dark mountain. A pack of wild beasts is said to rule it. Hunt down the beasts.]

[Time Limit: 2 hours]

[Difficulty: Low]

[Reward: 50 points]

[Encounter with Assassins]

[You have encountered a group of seasoned assassins. Can you survive?]

[Time Limit: 5 hours]

[Difficulty: Medium]

[Reward: 200 points]

[Investigate the Volcanic Region]

[A scorching volcanic region. Unidentified cries are said to echo from its depths...]

[Time Limit: 24 hours]

[Difficulty: Medium-High]

[Reward: 1,000 points]

[Village of the One-Eyed Giants]

[Exterminate all the cyclopes.]

[Time Limit: 48 hours]

[Difficulty: High]

[Reward: 10,000 points]

[Vampire Castle]

[Exterminate the vampires guarding the ancient castle.]

[Time Limit: None]

[Difficulty: Very High]

[Reward: 500,000 points, ???]

[Remaining Attempts: 1/1]

"How do I carry out a mission?"

"Just tear up the paper there. You'll be transported to the location. However..."

The clerk glanced at me and added a warning.

"For Medium difficulty and above, failure means death. So don't rush into anything."

"Understood. About that Very High difficulty mission, though. It has a limited number of attempts. Does that apply across all the cities?"

"Yes. If someone completes it in any city, it will disappear from the list. Though that's never happened before."

I nodded.

With tasks like mountain climbing and beast hunting, you could spend your whole life at it and still linger near the bottom of the rankings. The points were that stingy.

But the higher-level missions?

If you could pull it off, exterminating the cyclopes would earn you a whopping ten thousand points in two days. And Vampire Castle went without saying.

Five hundred thousand points.

An enormous sum by any measure.

I could probably make a very rough estimate of the difficulty.

Cyclopes alone were extremely troublesome monsters. Their average level was over 600, and as giant-type monsters, they possessed power that ogres couldn't even compare to.

'It says village, so the place must be crawling with them.'

Killing all of them earned ten thousand points.

Yet the other mission offered fifty times that, plus something extra?

'That puts the difficulty at least close to fifty times higher.'

If exterminating a group of vampires was that difficult...

'Are they all truebloods?'

Vampires were ranked by the blood in their bodies. Those with genuine, proper vampire blood were generally called truebloods. If that castle was crawling with nothing but those, a reward of five hundred thousand points wasn't so strange.

"There's something I'd like to ask."

"Go ahead."

Perhaps because I'd smashed a Gold-rank mercenary in a single blow, the receptionist was exceedingly polite.

"How are necromancers viewed here?"

"Well... not badly?"

"Enough that it's fine to walk around with summoned undead?"

"Yes. There aren't any particular restrictions, as long as you don't harm anyone."

So that was how it worked.

I immediately summoned Cedric and Merhen. A large skeleton and a woman carrying a parasol. Even at the sight of them, the receptionist didn't seem particularly startled.

He merely asked, sounding a little taken aback,

"... Huh, so you really were a necromancer?"

"That's right. Do you get paid in points for your work too?"

"Yes. Five hundred points a month."

"Five hundred? Couldn't you earn that just by climbing the mountain fifty times?"

"You could. But there's one thing you're overlooking. Ordinary people can't do that in thirty minutes. Their bodies simply aren't up to it."

So that was the general idea.

I nodded, then looked at the receptionist.

"Does five hundred points put you above the average earner?"

"A laborer usually receives ten points a day. Compared to that, it's not bad at all."

In this world, being able to complete missions—even just climbing a mountain—was enough to warrant being treated as an elite.

A laborer had to work all day for ten points, whereas climbing a mountain for thirty minutes paid the same amount.

There were twenty-four hours in a day. Spend just twelve of them climbing, and that came to 240 points.

Twenty-four times a laborer's daily wage.

It was practically printing points.

Mountain climbing was that lucrative?

'Then I've got to test it.'

I summoned Hail.

CLATTER!

As he snapped off an energetic salute, I pointed at the board.

"Hail. Tear that up and go climb the mountain."

CLATTER!

He ran over and tore the paper.

That was when it happened.

['Hail's' location is changing!]

[He is too far away!]

[The summon is canceled!]

'That's a shame.'

Apparently, tearing the paper transported you somewhere very far away.

Point-printing plan one: failed.

Still, that was fine.

'I've got more plans.'

They'd said I was free to do anything, and that my actions would earn points.

Were missions my only option?

No.

I took a serviceable weapon out of my inventory and looked at the receptionist.

"How many points do you think this sword would be worth?"

"Hmm. May I examine it?"

I handed him the sword, and he inspected it. It was one of the Common-grade items for levels in the hundreds that my skeletons could craft. Soon, he nodded.

"A decent sword. Copper-rank mercenaries would like it, and perhaps even Silver-rank ones. I don't know the exact market prices... but I'd say you could get four hundred points for it."

Four hundred points was what you'd earn from eight Low-difficulty missions.

'So that's the going rate for Common-grade gear.'

Out of every ten items the skeletons made, roughly three came out Magic-grade. Those would probably fetch a lot more.

I looked at the receptionist.

"Is there anything else you'd like to know?"

"About the hundred and fifty cities. Are they far apart?"

"By carriage, the nearest ones are about a day's journey away."

Having finished speaking, Malcolm took out a sheet of paper and drew a diagram.

One small circle, with a slightly larger circle above it. He continued drawing circles in this fashion, then spoke.

"Our city, No. 123, is located here."

He pointed to the edge of the largest circle.

Not too far away.

'Nice.'

Cities No. 1 through No. 150.

I'd wondered whether they were completely cut off from one another, but they weren't. There was simply some distance between them.

If that was how it worked...

"Then there must be trading companies too?"

"Of course."

A point-printing plan.

I thought I'd found one.

Items already in my possession couldn't be traded. Making things out of materials I already had was pointless, since I couldn't sell them.

But what if I crafted items using materials acquired here?

Would those be banned from trade too?

'Surely not.'

Those wouldn't be items I'd already possessed.

Besides, a trading company would naturally have plenty of materials stockpiled. There couldn't be a better source.

"What's the largest trading company here?"

"The Malay Trading Company is the most famous. They trade with thirty nearby cities."

I nodded in satisfaction.

The way to print points through crafting was to secure easy access to materials. An abundance of customers would make it even better.

'Thirty cities... '

There would be plenty of Silver- and Gold-rank mercenaries. And demand wouldn't stop with them.

Cities had lords, city guards, and orders of knights, didn't they?

Everyone would covet good weapons and armor.

'Very nice.'

I asked a few more questions. Once I'd obtained all the information I needed...

"How do you transfer points to someone?"

"Just think about it."

I did as the receptionist said.

At that very moment...

[Would you like to give 50 points to 'Receptionist' Malcolm?]

Oh, it really worked.

I nodded.

[Points are being transferred to Malcolm!]

Malcolm's eyes widened as he abruptly received fifty points.

"Huh? Why are you giving me..."

"For the information."

"Th-thank you."

He thanked me, looking bewildered. It was a reward for answering my questions so earnestly, even though they must have been a nuisance.

"If there's anything else you'd like to know, please feel free..."

"No, I'm all set. I'll be going, then."

I left the mercenaries' guild.

Merhen looked human, so that was one thing, but even with the visibly skeletal Cedric accompanying me, I attracted little attention from the townspeople.

As Malcolm had said, this certainly seemed like a pleasant city for a necromancer to live in.

After about twenty minutes of walking, my destination came into view.

〈Malay Trading Company Branch〉

The trading company.

[Earn as many points as possible over one week.]

[Something special may happen if you accumulate points above a certain threshold.]

They'd said something special might happen if I earned enough points.

What would it be?

I'd have to find out while printing some points here.