NOVEL NEXT Chapter 27
Chapter 27 – Trial (7)
‘What are they doing?’
I didn’t really have any expectations from them. Until now, I was too preoccupied to think about it. At first, I was just enjoying playing with them, and later I realized their activities were linked to my own life, so I took it more seriously.
However, seeing their actions the next day piqued my interest. Chief Balun, who had arrived in the village leading the newly joined tribe members, was calling everyone together and preparing something.
After crossing through the portal, our usual resource gathering had come to a halt.
“—, –.”
The atmosphere was notably serious. With the village residents murmuring in the background, Balun was solemnly preparing what looked like a ritual.
He had set up something resembling an altar and was diligently arranging the spoils on it. The other residents were participating, bowing together… it was clear what they intended to do.
[File Transfer Device: 2000P]
“???”
The unexpected variable was that while the residents were performing their own ritual, the Master Program also reacted alongside them.
The Master Program recommended a certain program to me, while I stood watching the villagers blankly participating in the victory ceremony.
It was a type of program used for transmitting various files. Rather than a separate program, it was basically a built-in function.
Now it was asking me to activate it for a fee.
So far, I had tested all kinds of programs, but I never imagined I could actually activate such a basic feature.
‘Wait, could it be…?’
But my frown quickly turned into a smile. The Master Program wouldn’t have recommended a program without reason. Transmitting files essentially means transferring items.
I wasn’t sure what I was transferring, but I concluded it was worth a try.
[Activating File Transfer]
Reluctantly, I spent my precious points to activate the transfer device. The transfer device pointed to the various spoils placed on the altar.
[Gold Ring] [Steel Sword] [Beast’s Leather]…
The spoils appeared in file format on the transfer device. Naturally, the transfer button was active.
If I clicked this transfer button, where would those spoils go?
“–! —-!!”
“—…”
The villagers, who were in the middle of the ceremony, were startled and stirred. Even Balun, who had been skillfully leading the ceremony, was taken aback.
His eyes widened as he watched the gold ring rise into the sky and vanish with a flash of light.
But I was equally shocked. I was so taken aback that I could hardly breathe for a moment.
“T-this is…”
My voice trembled as I held the gold ring that had popped out of the monitor, chuckling to myself.
The item I chose to transfer was one gold ring among the other spoils. I had no interest in the beast’s leather or the steel sword, and it was also troublesome to deal with.
However, even so, I never expected that this would actually be delivered to me. It was my first time seeing a gold ring since I had seen my family’s stone ring.
My thoughts upon seeing this gold piece were, of course, that I might be able to sell it.
‘Is it impossible to transfer other items?’
I set the gold ring down and looked back to the cheering villagers. Seeing Balun shouting like he was giving a speech to the residents, it seemed that accepting a portion of the spoils they dedicated helped him. Well, the newly joined villagers still didn’t know about my existence, so…
In the meantime, I examined the other items visible on the screen, but nothing else was registered in the file transfer device. It seemed that the act of them performing the ritual triggered the device somehow.
‘Am I misunderstanding something?’
Seeing their enthusiastic reactions, I felt a bit guilty. While I didn’t think it was wrong to like money, especially for a common person in this era, it felt too obvious to just take the gold while leaving their carefully prepared spoils behind.
– Can I come by now?
Of course, it didn’t matter at the moment.
I grabbed my phone and texted. I contacted my cousin, who was helping his father at a jewelry store a bit away. Since this wasn’t something I stole from someone else and it didn’t originally exist in this world, there was no one to report it. As long as I covered the source well, I shouldn’t raise any suspicions.
*
“When I just heard the story, I honestly couldn’t believe it… but it really happened.”
“I didn’t think it would become evident like this either. I never expected that you would take it yourself.”
While he was away testing whether he could actually dispose of the gold ring he acquired…
Balun and the villagers, finishing the ritual, looked bewildered while cleaning up. During the cleanup, Balun chuckled at a remark made by a newly joined villager.
The purpose of the ritual was to demonstrate sincerity to the spirit that binds the villagers together and governs this place. They had never expected to actually take the items offered as sacrifices.
Even now, their eyes vividly remembered the gold ring that had floated up and disappeared.
“Why did you only take the gold ring?”
“Perhaps the others were either not valuable or unwanted. I can’t say for sure. Honestly, is it even that significant? Gold is not important to us.”
Riena expressed her doubts about why he only took the gold ring, but Balun felt it wasn’t particularly important.
“It seems he’s just returned from battle and hasn’t called for you yet. But we can’t leave the crops and livestock in your world unattended, so I’ll go handle that shortly.”
“But you’re exhausted as well.”
“Are you the only one who fought at the forefront? Please let the newcomers know where to settle and gather materials in my stead.”
Balun recognized precisely why he wasn’t taking Riena into the game world. He then headed towards the gate with a few others.
Although he was tired, resources and food obtained from that place were essential for avoiding scarcity, so he couldn’t neglect it.
“It seems we won’t have the capacity to reach the mine. Farmers will harvest the crops, and the rest can organize supplies.”
Arriving in this block-like world, Balun now directed his tasks with familiarity.
Surrounded by sturdy stone walls that encircled the area, a variety of crops rapidly growing produced more food within a smaller area than any farmland in reality.
“Kun, have you ever seen any gold while digging? I’ve heard you’ve found other ores besides iron.”
“Well, I haven’t seen gold. Other ores are taken by him for processing.”
Balun asked Kun, the miner, whether he had seen any gold while sorting the harvested items.
The intention was clearly related to the previous ritual. If it was possible to mine gold, it’d be offered. But Kun shook his head, saying he hadn’t seen any gold.
In the actual game, gold wasn’t a rare mineral at all, but the residents weren’t aware that many elements had been adjusted due to their entry, and they regretted not being able to find gold.
“It can’t be helped. We’ll need to think of other ways to prepare offerings.”
“Is that really necessary? Until now, you haven’t taken any significant actions.”
“Just the fact that we accepted something has its meaning. Who knows? He might bestow us with greater favor.”
Kun expressed doubt whether material offerings would be effective for someone showing transcendent abilities, but Balun leaned towards doing everything possible.
[Ambush]
“C-Chief! Look over there!”
That was when the unexpected variable struck. Everyone was busy with tasks inside, not venturing outside the barrier.
Standing on the wall and surveying the surroundings, Morin suddenly turned pale and pointed somewhere.
“…What the heck is that?”
As Balun climbed up on the wall, he broke into a cold sweat upon seeing a horde of enemies approaching from a distance. Until now, the only monsters they had encountered on the surface were werewolves in a frenzy during the night. The rest were only seen in places like mines.
But the monsters charging towards them now were not werewolves. They were enemies they had never seen before.
While these kinds of events weren’t uncommon in the game, it turned into a disaster for the villagers who would have to risk their lives again.
“What do we do? They are clearly heading this way.”
“Could they climb over the barrier? Just to be safe, prepare to retreat into the bomb shelter.”
The villagers were tense at the sight of the approaching goblin raiders. The small horde of about twenty was already clearly recognizing the residents as enemies.
Right now, they only appeared as silly-looking blocky monsters from the game, but the moment they got close, they would transform into cunning predators.
‘Trials keep coming, don’t they? Is this the price of success?’
Balun sighed as he hurried to arm himself and grab a weapon.
If there is something to gain, there must also be a price.
As a mere fugitive, he had succeeded against the plunderers of a strong tribe, but it was not without plenty of sacrifices.
“Will he not help us?”
“It’s better not to expect his help. We should be able to resolve this ourselves. Everything we are enjoying now is due to his support.”
Balun, aiming his bow at the incoming goblins, spoke firmly to the residents who were hoping he might come to their aid.
“Fire away! Do you think those monstrous black creatures compare to us!”
The residents stationed on the wall shot their arrows as soon as the goblins drew close.
Having been consistently trained and thrust into real-life skirmishes since moving here, their skills were sharper than ever.
As the approaching goblins neared them, their simple faces twisted quickly, almost like an increase in resolution, turning ferocious as they bared their teeth and snarled before taking arrows and collapsing.
“They’re retreating!”
“Is this really the end?”
The now panicked goblins halted their advance as several of their kin fell in an instant. They faced the reality that their kind weren’t just game monsters, but real threats.
Getting ruthlessly battered by players and driven off while attracting more of their kind was part of a goblin raiding pattern, but they were not aware of this, and even if they were, they weren’t in a state to pursue them.
‘Indeed, greater strength is needed.’
Seeing this, Chief Balun confirmed that his decision was correct. This world provided them with essential resources and food. But it was also a place where dangers still lurked.
Until now, they had no choice but to deploy the villagers stationed here to various incidents due to a lack of manpower, but now that Balun had secured a larger population, he decided to gradually establish complete division of labor and preserve their forces.