NOVEL NEXT Chapter 357
Kapu and I successfully managed to escape.
That past hero, was it Hemet? The old geezer runs faster than you’d think for his age.
But thankfully, they hadn’t systemically blocked us from robbing NPC houses.
If we had been met with immediate penalties as soon as we smashed our way in or dropped dead while trying to escape with stolen goods, my plan would’ve gone awry from the get-go.
Once our plan to loot the NPC’s house hit pay dirt, Kapu looked extremely exhilarated. His already high tension seemed to spike even further.
“Aha! Boss, this is killer, right?”
“Haha, Watson! We’re rich now!”
[Is this a bandit roleplay now?]
[These two are totally in sync]
[Kapu’s a little insane too, huh?]
[I miss the normal An-sae….]
[Watson LOL]
[Surprisingly, the other room is saying Kayak looks a bit crazy too]
[Crazies plus crazies, terrifying]
[This isn’t just a roleplay; they’re actual thieves]
[Common sense should dictate that if you’re told to observe NPCs closely, you should interact with them, right?]
[Lol at what time would you sit and talk?]
[Seriously lol, how many NPCs are there to begin with?]
[Normal person: “There’s something with this NPC! Let’s interact by talking!”]
[Kayu: “There’s something with this NPC! Let’s attack first and see what they have!”]
[Even cops will raid first when in a hurry, right? It’s similar]
“Then hurry up and pull out that treasure map!”
“Yup!”
Then, Kapu pulled the treasure map out from his inventory.
It emanated a strange aura even from the outside — a map that anyone could tell must mark the location of a dragon.
“Treasure map, open!”
“Yah!”
With a shout, Kapu unfolded the treasure map.
As we had guessed, there it was marked: the location of the dragon.
With an array of symbols, indecipherable letters, and a picture that clearly represented a dragon drawn at one part of the map.
But there was one problem.
“…What does this say?”
“It looks like some kind of code…”
There were about three lines of script next to the dragon’s drawing.
It certainly seemed related to the dragon, but we couldn’t make heads or tails of it.
“Um….”
“Well, we’ve pinpointed the location, so can’t we just ignore it and go?”
“Is that right?”
[Isn’t it true you can’t enter the nest without the password?]
[Are we not going to die from a trap if we just barge in?]
[The curse of Tutankhamun ㄷㄷ]
[Trap? The Broadcast Host can avoid all that.]
[Why does it take so much effort to catch just one Dragon?]
[The long and perilous road of the Dragon Slayer….]
Ignoring the anxious responses of the viewers, I pondered alone. Could I just enter the nest without deciphering this code?
“Hmm.”
After a moment of deep thought, I concluded that it wouldn’t work.
I figured that this code was not something they just wrote down for fun. This Taker server obviously required a lot of effort. There’s no way they’d leave something like this unattended.
Therefore, the password written on the map was something I absolutely had to decipher.
“Should we go back and ask Hemet Grandpa again?”
“I’d be lucky if he doesn’t take a swing at us….”
“Since we were wearing masks earlier, he might not recognize us, right?”
“I hope so.”
As I put the map back in my inventory, I contemplated with Kapu.
*
“A treasure map has been found!”
“Already?”
It was barely an hour since the Taker had solved the hint, and the news reached him via the operators.
“Who found it? Was it too easy for Hemet? Still, they must have chosen the keywords well in the conversation. It would have been quite tricky since they had to build rapport too.”
Candidates flashed through the Taker’s mind: Minmin, Crowley, Yangyangs, etc… Most were comprehensive game streamers or skilled at deduction.
However, the name the operators mentioned was completely outside of his expectations.
“It’s Kayak.”
“…Kayak?”
It wasn’t a name he could have entirely ruled out.
But Taker figured Kayak was someone who had the potential to catch a Dragon; he never thought she would deduce that Hemet had the treasure map and would go after it.
“Kayak succeeded in the deduction?”
“Well, technically, she didn’t exactly succeed….”
As Taker heard the whole story, his eyes widened.
“No way, are you saying she rummaged through the whole village?”
“Yes, she even raided Hemet’s house.”
“I even raided the old man’s house.”
“Is that even possible in the first place?”
As a Taker who built the server, I was baffled by the process and the outcome, but this was precisely why the Taker server received high praise from users.
The Taker server was implemented in a way that made many things feel like they truly existed in the world.
Residents acting like living beings and the high level of freedom made it so users could have a lot of fun even while chatting with NPCs.
Just receiving requests from residents and completing them gave users a sense of being an otherworldly adventurer.
The NPCs, created by training high-performance AI, didn’t just repeat the same lines like idiots. They genuinely behaved like long-time residents of that world.
Interactions with the residents were not merely a means to progress quests in-game and earn gold, but allowed for real conversations and connections with them.
It wasn’t uncommon for people to become immersed in the stories of the in-game NPCs like a masterpiece game.
Hemet, who had a treasure map, was no exception.
He was an exclusive and hard-to-please old man compared to other NPCs, but as one talked to him more often, clues would gradually appear, revealing that one could obtain the treasure map through him.
The normal route was to build rapport by talking to the old man Hemet, hear his stories about dragons, and then receive the treasure map from him.
Yet, Kayak somehow managed to skip all that and snatch just the treasure map.
The buildup starting with the treasure map to hunt the dragon was also quite an effort put in by the Taker. Hemet’s blunt speech and personality were all results of the Taker’s touch.
Thus, it was certainly annoying that Kayak stole the treasure map without having a single conversation with Hemet, skipping all those necessary steps.
“Why aren’t you talking! Kayak, do you have no blood or tears?!”
“Right? I never imagined a civilized person would pull such a stunt…”
The operations team, who was keeping me updated on the situation, also chimed in, seemingly in agreement.
“Still, since they just snatched the map randomly, it seems they’ve received divine punishment.”
“Divine punishment?”
At the staff’s words, my eyes widened.
“I’m unable to decipher the code.”
“A code? Ah… right! There was a code!”
I cheered in delight.
If things were normal, Hemet would have detailed where the treasure map and its coded message were to be used.
But Kayak, who got the treasure map through a bug exploit, probably didn’t hear such explanations at all.
And there’s no one to ask about the code. The ancient script on the treasure map can only be interpreted by Hemet, its owner.
In conclusion, Kayak, who stole the treasure map, was ironically in a situation where they had to return it to its owner, Hemet.
“Hahaha! Serves you right! Your trickery will bring divine punishment! Let’s see how you handle this! Try to get that code on the fly, huh!”
Taker chuckled wickedly with a mischievous grin.
*
“Do you want to learn ancient language?”
“Yes, Grandfather. Is that not possible?”
“Hmmm… What do you need with a language that’s been dead for ages…”
“It’s my long-held dream. My deceased Grandmother’s masterpiece is written in the ancient language.”
In Hemet’s mind flashed the events of that day. A few days ago, when a duo of thugs stole the treasure map.
‘No way.’
Hemet’s gaze sharpened as he pierced through the woman in front of him.
Could it be that one of those thugs infiltrated to interpret the code? A slim chance, but if she was boldly lying in front of Hemet?
‘That can’t be.’
The girl before him was completely different from those thugs, not to mention she was not the type to do such things.
A timid and exceedingly kind ordinary citizen. That was An-sae, the girl.
“…Grandfather?”
“It’s nothing, An-sae. I must be mistaken.”
An-sae, who had been diligently helping the townsfolk these past few days.
She had even stepped up to repair the broken doors of houses after the thugs had invaded.
The thought of her being one of the thugs was a joke too far.
“Is it enough if you teach me the ancient language? That doesn’t seem like much of a reward for what you’ve done.”
“Hehe… That’s all I need. Ah! And maybe an apple pie baked by you, Grandfather…?”
“Alright, I got it. I’ll bake you the pie, just wait a moment.”
Hemet smiled kindly and turned towards the kitchen. Little did he know.
“Uh-huh….”
The giggling face of An-sae, covering her mouth, went unnoticed.