NOVEL NEXT
Chapter 8: I Didn't Know (1)
It must have taken at least two to three hours in real time, considering that the sun was only setting after we arrived, but it still felt like ten.
However, I managed to take these bad conditions so well that even I was surprised.
Of course, I felt more annoyed than proud of my level of patience or whatever it was. If one had to travel for an hour while barely able to move, one would think that hour was a waste of their life. They would undoubtedly feel the same about sitting still for two hours.
I felt similarly when getting off, too. However, even if I thought it was a waste of my time and patience, I couldn't make it look like I felt uncomfortable.
That earned me a few looks of awe, which felt comforting, at least. However, it was just that.
Damn you, Deep Sea Pearl…
* * *
I checked my Quest Window while wearing a sullen expression.
「Tikone Village」
「? Danger in the Northwestern Forest
? Move to the Northwestern Forest
? Search for the Demon in the Forest」
It didn't say anything special, but my body hurt as much as if I were beaten, so even this innocent text pissed me off for some reason.
Shit. If this game’s transportation system really was that garbage, I might have to revoke my claim that this game would never fail. It was already problematic that the travel time took multiple hours, and now the travel comfort was nonexistent, too?
If they didn't patch this, the game would definitely flop. Even I, a diehard fan, wanted to beat up this game, so most newbies would surely kick the shit out of it before throwing it away!
“Erm, honorable sir…"
I ended up pretending that I was slinging my sword over my shoulder—it was so long that I had to unequip it when I sat down—so I could stretch my back a bit. I clenched my teeth and pretended to be calm, but I couldn't hold on much longer. It really had been a waste of my patience.
Then I heard a voice from behind me.
“Did you have a comfortable ride… Hehe."
After I glanced back upon hearing that, my face crumpled up even more. The coachman was looking at me while rubbing his hands. It seemed he was expecting a tip.
“What answer do you want?"
Why would he expect that? That was a rhetorical question, given I had tipped the boy who’d brought me to the driver quite generously before I left.
So it wasn't too strange for the coachman who had seen it to expect the same. I didn't plan on giving him any, though.
“I already paid for the service you provided. Maybe even too much."
Was he actually trying to get me to tip for that bumpy ride? Thieving bastard.
I hadn’t planned on giving him anything from the start, but I had even less intention to do so now after that exercise in patience. I hardened my expression.
“If you have no other business with me, leave." In case he didn't understand, I put some force into my hand. When he heard the knuckles of my left hand cracking, the coachman jumped a little and fled.
Good.
I blew a little air out of my nose and turned my body. When I stepped forward, the people around me slowly backed away.
Considering their timing, it didn't seem to be a coincidence… It seemed the coachman wasn't the only one affected by my actions. Did my sincere annoyance leave that much of an impact on them?
“Sigh.”
Although purely unintentional, that scene didn't go against my character setting.
I just moved on, covering my neck with my hand in a way that displayed less shame than I actually felt. My goal was to cross through this village and enter the forest.
“W-we don't have any inns here…!"
Then, a courageous soul called out to me. It wasn't exactly the advice I wanted, but I was truly grateful for his reaction anyway.
“We really don't…"
However, common knowledge dictated that playable characters would be fine even if they didn't sleep. That, however, was a different matter from the existence of a sleep function.
So, I wasn’t even intending to stop by an inn to sleep. If I were to get tired, I'd just turn on sleep mode, but it wasn't like I couldn't hold out without doing that. So why did that mode even exist?
Why would one even do a Full Dive if one planned to sleep anyway?
I was mentally exhausted from patiently sitting in that carriage for hours. I would have been fine had I spent that time hunting or something. My exhaustion came from feeling incredibly bored that whole time, not because I was genuinely tired.
“If you plan on entering that forest, just give up."
But these people here, aren't they actually extremely nice? It was my first time meeting them, yet they were worried about me.
“The Demon will kill you."
But you know? I was a cold city man… No, I was just a cold asshole.
I passed him without sparing even a single glance. The man was about to fly into a rage, veins protruding from his throat.
“Didn't I just tell you that the Demon will kill you?! And you even want to enter the forest at night, not even during the day?!"
Hearing that, I slowed down a little.
“What does it matter whether it's day or night?"
Monsters were usually stronger at night than during the day. Sometimes, one could close that gap by increasing their HP or Attack Power.
“If I were to lose to these Demonic worms just because it's night, that would be a problem in and of itself."
However, it should be different here. As it was a game mainly focused on hunting, the difference in strength between night and day shouldn't be that substantial.
However, with the Attack Power of my pre-order bonus weapon, I should be able to defeat mobs until the game’s middle stages. Wouldn't it be a piece of cake to defeat some in the early stages?
Having made my decision based on experience gained through long years of gaming, I strode towards the dark forest.
The forest, a seemingly dark void that wouldn't allow even a single ray of light to penetrate, swallowed my body whole.
* * *
“I thought the 700,000 Gal on that Demon’s head was pretty exaggerated at first.”
A woman smashed the Goblin blocking her way with her mace.
Its color was so red that one couldn’t tell whether any blood had splattered on it.
“That thought is understandable, considering the number of victims is small. At least, that is what’s known to the outside.”
A handsome older man followed behind the woman along the path she cleared. Beneath the white hair crowning his head was a face resembling a lion, the soft white fur giving him a rather elegant and graceful appearance.
“Still… It seems I was too short-sighted. Even if it didn’t cause any direct harm, it still stole their livelihoods. That would make those people victims as well.”
“It’s enough that you already understand this much. After all, didn’t you just come out of the Temple and experience the real world for the first time?”
Hearing the older man’s remark, the woman shook her head. She resented both herself and this situation, which showed no sign of ever getting resolved.
“For the sake of these innocent sheep, we should quickly root out this evil lurking within the forest, but we can’t even get a glimpse of it.”
“That’s why the bounty on it was increased by so much. Don’t rush. Sometimes, things will end up failing if you rush them.”
“I know, but…”
She sighed, thinking about how they hadn’t seen even a single hair of the Demon, even after wandering for several days.
It was frustrating. She never thought things would turn out like that until leaving the Temple after receiving a revelation. The outside world she had experienced since was very difficult to understand.
There were no fixed routines or answers. She had to judge, decide, and move by herself.
“Sigh. As Sir Archmage says, evil won’t reveal itself even if I act like this. Let me gather my thoughts a little before combing through the forest once more.”
“A wise decision.”
After crushing another Goblin that suddenly appeared with her mace, the woman tried to concentrate her thoughts.
“…Thick Demonic Energy!”
As if to reward her efforts, her senses caught a deep malice she had never felt before while wandering through the forest.
“Sir Archmage!”
“Yes, I’ve also felt it. Please go ahead, Miss Inquisitor.”
“Then please excuse me!”
The woman left behind the older man holding a cane and headed toward the source of that Demonic Energy.
“I’ve finally found you, Demon!”
What she found was a man holding a lamp, wearing a sword both at his waist and on his back.
Thick Demonic Energy was flowing out of his right arm, which seemed to be covered by a gauntlet.
“How dare you betray God as a living being!”
She felt even more disgusted seeing that.
It was unbelievable that a person was carrying Demonic Energy in their body. It was impossible unless they made a pact with a Demon. In other words, this person turned his back on the world and God.
“In the name of God, I shall punish you!”
She would never let this traitor deserving of death get away.
She firmly held onto her shield and gathered Divine Power into her carried mace.
“…?”
Then, when his uncovered gloomy eye met with her own—
Kaang!
A sword and a mace collided against each other.
* * *
* * *
「[Detection] │ Being able to point out one’s enemies is the basics of the basics on the battlefield. Hostility can be perceived.
Effect: When a target hostile toward you approaches within a radius of 10m, a mark will appear close to the person’s location.」
I couldn’t really see anything, much less the Demon, because it was night, so I just selected [Detection] from among the Survival skills. With that, any hostile being within a 10m radius would be marked.
「A hostile existence has entered a radius of 10m.」
“…?”
However, I didn’t think that it would trigger right away.
“How dare you betray God as a living being!”
And the one who triggered it wasn’t even the Demon I was looking for, but a person.
“In the name of God, I shall punish you!”
I wielded my sword, barely holding back my shock. I knew that blocking a mace with a sword was the perfect way to ruin the blade, but at the moment, I had no other choice.
Kaang!
Based on that sound, it seemed [Perfect Parry] had been activated.
It was a Defense-type skill that triggered when one parried at the right time and mitigated 100% of the damage, unlike a normal [Parry], which only mitigated 90%.
That allowed me to quickly hide my shock and prepare myself so I could respond to any attack that might come at me.
“Someone from the Temple?”
At the same time, I worked my head hard.
This enemy who appeared out of nowhere… Judging by her shouting out God’s name and the white light flowing from the tip of her mace, it seemed like someone with a Priest class, no matter how one looked at it.
Seeing how she wasn’t moving like a slug in that heavy armor and shield, she seemed to be of a fairly high level.
“Yes, I have come to punish you.”
However, after confirming her identity, I became even more puzzled. Why would… a priest come to punish me?
It didn’t seem to be a type of event or part of the plot. My Quest didn’t show any signs of changing, either.
Was she a Field Boss, then? However, her design didn’t really go well with the map, and wasn’t the setting of a priest acting as this forest’s guardian a bit strange? It wasn’t like this forest had that kind of backstory to it.
In that case, was it actually part of the plot or an event? Nothing like this ever happened in the original game, but I couldn’t be sure it wasn't the case as this was a remake. I felt dumbfounded.
“The people of the Temple I know revel in performing good deeds and being merciful in the name of God, but it seems that’s not the case these days, seeing how one of their people just recklessly wields violence in favor of reason.”
Hmm. But since she appeared, I should have some fun with this. It wasn’t like I would stop roleplaying just to avoid trouble.
“A Demon is talking to me about violence?!”
When I heard these lines, it was clear that something was off about this conversation.
Why did she call a normal person a Demon?
Did she mistake me for a Demon? Did she have tomatoes for eyes?
Just what did I have in common with a Demon…?
I didn’t even have a cursed item on… me…?
Ah…
Did she say that because of my right arm?
“…!”
The moment realization struck me, my instincts as a roleplayer kicked in, leading me to harden my expression.
According to my setting, this character wore a gauntlet on his right arm because he didn’t even want to look at the arm the Demon was sealed in. He was built as someone who held intense hatred for Demons, but at the same time, whenever he saw the Demon in his arm, he agonized, wondering whether he was actually still a person or not.
And now this guy had been called Demon by a priest? Hey, wasn’t that something that would make him flip out?! He would never let such a person out of his sight!
“Don’t call me a Demon, you fanatic!”
He wouldn’t be able to stand it. So I just had to raise my voice and make some noise!
He didn’t know whether he was still a person, so he became a wanderer. How could he pass over that statement?!
“How dare you, a traitor who has fallen to the temptations of evil, call me a fanatic?!”
So my enemy was a Priest of a much higher level and a bad match for me? I didn’t really care. In these kinds of games, levels didn’t necessarily dictate victory or defeat, and even if I died, I could just try again.
To a roleplayer, death was also interesting content. Either way, it would be enjoyable for me.
“Obediently accept judgment!”
I avoided the Priest’s mace as I struggled to keep the corner of my mouth from twitching in excitement. Then, I performed my usual ceremony by raising my sword to face the sky.
“Victory to my blade, glory to the heavens…!”
“Are you impersonating a knight?!”
Yeah, I was imitating a knight. But I wasn’t actually an officially appointed knight so I wouldn’t fight virtuously, okay?
I killed the light of the lantern hanging from my waist, melting into the darkness.
After all, that woman’s whole body was shining because of the buff she’d cast on herself, but mine wasn’t. Even though my field of vision would narrow, I would still be able to attack my opponent, unlike her.
“You cunning little…!”
As I had expected, my opponent immediately lost sight of me. I obviously held an advantage over her.
“I shall cut off that tongue of yours and offer it to God…!”
Well, then, I should let her feel the refreshing sensation of being ambushed. I didn’t know whether my attack would go through, though.
“[Breaker]…!”
「[Breaker] │ Wraps one's weapon in Arcane Power to perform a powerful AOE attack imbued with Demonic power.
Effect: Consumes 10 MP. Causes 540% damage to enemies before you in a certain range.」
The Attack skill, [Breaker], which I had selected just before [Detection], split the night air, adding a black effect to my Zweih?nder.