Chapter 28: Goblin Camping Ground (4)
TL: Haku
Editor: Stealth
Ian barely held back his mouth from hanging open. This was because the punitive force captain Hugo approached him as he had the highest level of contribution.
“Thank you. It was Ian, right?”
“yes, Captain.”
“Thanks to you, we were able to suppress the camping ground without much damage.”
“Not at all. The vigilantes were courageous, which is why we were able to successfully fulfill the mission.”
After shaking hands with Ian, Hugo expressed his grat.i.tude to the other users one by one.
“Since the mission is completed, we should return now.”
Hugo raised his sword.
“Good work, gentlemen! We will return to the town!”
“Whoooooooo!”
The vigilantes turned the heads of their horses and started to head back to the town, while Ian plopped onto the ground to rest his body a little from the long battle.
‘Shall we check the gained skills now?’
Just from the name itself, the two skills both raised his curiosity incredibly. Ian opened his skill window while sitting down to rest.
Familiar Skill Grant
Cla.s.sification: Active Skill
Skill Level: Lv 0
Proficiency: 0%
Cooldown Time: 24 hours
One random skill will be granted to a Familiar.
Every time Skill Grant is casted, the targeted Familiar will consume 20 Potential, and in the case that Skill Grant is casted on a Familiar that was already granted with a skill, the existing granted skill will be transformed into the new skill.
The higher the level and the proficiency of Skill Grant, the higher the chance of the Familiar obtaining a high-cla.s.s skill.
Ian, who opened the first skill, nodded his head.
‘As expected, one skill related to Potential formed.’
And shortly after, he let out an exclamation inside himself.
‘To grant a Familiar a skill…! I must grant Ly a new skill.’
Ian checked how much Ly’s Potential was.
‘Ly’s Potential is only at 6.’
This was because to evolve, it consumed 100 Potential.
‘Once his Potential reaches 20, the first thing I’ll do is grant a skill.’
He also wanted to quickly collect 100 Potential and see his next evolution but he felt it would be more favourable to grant a skill first.
Ian, who had roughly grasped what the first skill was about, opened the second skill.
s.p.a.ce Distortion
Cla.s.sification: Active Skill
Skill Level: Lv 0
Proficiency: 0%
Cooldown Time: 3 minutes
Among the Familiars summoned, you switch positions with one of the Familiars you want to change with.
During the 0.5-1 second that the skill is being invoked, you must not receive any attacks for it to be invoked normally.
The higher the level and the proficiency of s.p.a.ce Distortion, the shorter the cooldown time.
‘It’s a little disappointing that an attacking skill or one related to capturing didn’t come out… but at least a skill that could be useful in combat came out.’
Ian was quite satisfied after reading both the skills. He thought that the skills he gained were excellent.
While Ian was organizing the skills and items he obtained, Harin approached him with a satisfied expression.
“Ian, thank you, because of you I was able to clear the quest.”
Harin looked exhausted but her expression was incredibly bright.
“Haha, it’s nothing. You’ve done the work of more than one person.”
“Still, if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to clear it. Thank you for your hard work.”
Ian petted Ly, who came next to him before he knew it and sat down, and replied.
“Rather than me, it’s this one who put in a lot of work, honestly.”
Harin agreed.
“No kidding, I was really surprised while watching Ly. His combat skills are unbelievable.”
Harin, who turned her attention towards Ly, smiled brightly and crouched down in front of him.
“Ly, thank you for today.”
As if his mood lifted at Harin’s words, Ly growled.
Grr-. Grrr-.
However, just then, Rukin and his party, who were organizing their obtained items, approached Ian.
‘What’s this? Are they trying to thank us for our hard work.’
They weren’t users that he had a good impression of but he couldn’t act as if he didn’t know they were approaching him, so Ian brushed his b.u.t.t and stood up from his spot.
Eventually, Rukin held out his hand towards Ian and greeted him.
“It’s nice to meet you. My name is Rukin. Because of the quest, I was in a daze and am only greeting you now.”
Ian took his hand and responded.
“I was also in a daze. It’s nice to meet you, too, my name is Ian.”
Rukin, who had a simple introduction with Ian, slowly pulled out his point.
“But, Ian, I was wondering if you would like to do another quest with us by any chance?”
“A quest?”
Rukin nodded.
“Yes, we know another hidden quest that is related to the Camping Ground Quest.”
Ian’s eyes shone momentarily but n.o.body was able to notice that instant change of expression.
‘If it’s a hidden quest related to the Camping Ground, that means it’s probably the Chief Priest Quest…’
Originally, because of the level of difficulty, he was going to give up but during the Camping Ground Quest, he raised his level a lot more than he was expecting, so he was actually slightly considering it. And in the midst of that, they had approached him.
But Ian wondered.
‘But these guys… just by roughly looking, those two seem like they’re over lv 50 but why are they trying to drag us into the Chief Priest Quest?’
Ian was in a situation where he already had an a.s.sumption of what level the two were at after seeing Falcon and Millun fight in the middle of the battle. Especially because Millun was an Archer, just by looking at the combination of skills he used a couple times, he could a.s.sume what level he was.
‘I have a bad feeling about this…’
Ian suspected something strange but he acted as if he didn’t know anything.
“Oh, there’s a related hidden quest?”
At Ian’s naïve(?) expression, Rukin yelled in delight on the inside.
“yes, it’s called the Goblin Chief Priest Quest and if you go around through the tunnel behind the barracks, the Chief Priest is there. It’s a quest where you just need to kill him.”
Beside him, Falcon a.s.sisted.
“He is weaker than the Chief but we thought it would be too hard on our own. From the looks of how you fight, it looks like you also have a Summoning Magic Artifact… We thought it would be easily accomplishable if the Priest joined as well.”
Falcon said those words to probe Ian and to see if he really had an artifact, but through words, Ian was able to become certain of their intentions.
‘Ah-ha, would you look at these guys. They thought that Ly was a Familiar that was summoned through a Summoning Magic Artifact, huh?’
The corners of Ian’s mouth slightly rolled up.
‘Since the artifact is expensive, they were going to catch me and try to make it big…’
If it were the beginner days where Ian knew nothing, he would have taken their proposal without any suspicions but he was a veteran user that had seen so many situations like these before resetting. To this Ian, Rukin’s party was too lax.
‘Should we go the other way around and screw them up?’
Ian, who made up his mind, sent a message to Harin.
Ian: Harin.
At the sudden message, Harin flinched but as she was not clueless, she responded with a message instantly.
Harin: Yes, Ian, why suddenly through message…?
Ian: Just now…
As the others could be suspicious if they didn’t respond for a while, Ian firstly smiled brightly and responded to Rukin’s proposal.
“I would love to but I’ll ask my party members as well. Could you wait a moment?”
Rukin nodded.
“Absolutely.”
Ian approached Harin.
“Harin, you heard Rukin’s words, right? What do you think?”
“Yes… I….”
While speaking, Ian sent a message to Harin at the same time.
Ian: Harin, I think those guys are trying to PK us.
Harin: Huh? PK?
Ian: Yes. While doing the Chief Priest Quest, they’ll most likely kill us when they see an opportunity.
Accurately, though, rather than ‘us’, it was ‘Ian’.
Harin: Then what should we do?
Ian: Firstly, respond to my question saying that it sounds good.
Harin was taken aback at the unexpected response but as Ian’s expression was so composed, she instantly regained her composure and followed his lead.
“Sounds good. There’s no reason for me to reject the offer when they’re willing to share the hidden quest with me.”
After Harin nodded her head and expressed her approval, she instantly sent a message again.
Harin: What are you planning on doing?
Ian: What am I planning? We need to catch these idiots instead.
Harin: Huh? Will it be alright?
Ian: Yes, don’t worry. I have an idea.
Ian, who rea.s.sured Harin, returned to Rukin and opened his mouth.
“Harin says it sounds good.”
“Haha, as expected, I knew you would consent. Thank you.”
To rea.s.sure Rukin, Ian expressed his grat.i.tude with exaggeration.
“You’re willing to share the hidden quest with us, so we’re truly thankful. If something drops from the Chief Priest set, we’ll give it to you.”
“Haha… You don’t have to…”
Rukin yelled in delight on the inside again.
‘Naïve guy… Hehe. A guy that’s so rich that he has a Summoning Magic Artifact, he probably doesn’t even see the Chief Priest set as an item.’
The Chief Priest set was an armor set that was suitable for magic users around lv 40-50. The price was around 50 million-80million gold per piece and it was quite a good item.
On the other hand, Ian cluck his tongue on the inside.
‘How should I roast these stupid guys so that I feel better?’
Ian felt if he could ambush them first even now, he could suppress these guys but in order to find a better way, he put his brain to work. There was no need to put up with any risk.
‘These guys aren’t even worth putting up a risk of raising Infamy…’
Just then a good idea popped up in Ian’s mind.
‘Alright, if it’s this method…!’
Ian, who thought of a satisfying method on his own, snickered to himself.
A wicked smile hung from his mouth.
Ian’s Plan (1)
“As expected, Kailran’s clean air is refres.h.i.+ng no matter when you breathe it in.”
Looking about 50, a middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair and a strict expression sat down on a large rock and stretched.
“The scientists who implemented this incredible virtual reality are really wonderful.”
The place where the man was sitting on was the highest peak of Robos Mountain, Merkan Peak.
Looking down from the top of the peak could simply be described as grand.
Sharp, steep cliffs, oddly shaped rocks, colourful fall foliage as well as a spilling waterfall that twisted along the valley!
“Starting next month, I must persuade the members of the Gipilko Mountain Club in climbing with me in Kailran.”
The man, who felt allurement while sitting on the rock, pulled out a lunch box from his backpack and began to eat.
It was only 10 silver for one roll, and it tasted amazing, Trombone’s famous food, Kimbap!
While he over-exaggerated his admiration for the Kimbap’s flavour, he enjoyed the scenery of Merkan Peak.
However, just then.
“Neukttol, summon!”
As he shouted his order, one black wolf appeared.
A-wooo-!
The wolf howled before sitting next to him and leaning his head.
“Neukttol, eat one of these.”
The man tossed a piece of meat from the deer he hunted on the way up from his backpack. As he did that, the wolf took a bite of the meat with a happy expression and began to chew it.
“It’s really relaxing and nice.”
He thought.
‘Kailran is not something you consider as merely a game. It’s indeed another world! Virtual reality in a true sense!’
He was not a scientist that was experimenting on virtual reality. The thing he was experimenting was studies related to virtual reality’s social and cultural influence on reality and its possibilities.
His ident.i.ty was Korea University’s princ.i.p.al professor of the VR department, Lee Jinook.
“Neukttol, shall we slowly head down now?”
Grr- Grr-!
In reality, he was also an environmental enthusiast that really liked mountain climbing and nature as well as animals. And in Kailran, there was a cla.s.s that fit perfectly with him, precisely the Summoner.
“I want to go up the Flanian Peak next but they said there are dangerous monsters at lv 17 there, right?”
Jinook had a warm smile as he watched Neukttol, who tagged along next to him. This one was a precious Familiar that he just barely caught after grilling all the a.s.sistants that played Kailran.
“Neukttol, let’s work hard to level up and go climb Flanian Peak next!”
Grr- Grr-!
As if Neukttol was expressing his excitement, he jumped up in the air.
Jinook moved with light steps. And suddenly he remembered the one freshman that boldly made a nonsense bet with him.
‘That lying brat is still probably gaming, right? Should I have at least asked what his cla.s.s was?’
Jinook moved his feet while humming to himself. He felt that Kailran’s sky was especially clear today