Chapter 209

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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Splash—!

[Experience points have increased by 1,020,000.]

[Experience points have increased by 1,170,000.]

[Experience points have increased by 1,200,000.]

Slice—!

[Experience points have increased by 1,170,000.]

[Experience points have increased by 1,350,000.]

[Experience points have increased by 1,420,000.]

Experience points rose at a rapid pace every time Han-bit’s sword was swung.

The battle taking place in front of the walls of the Royal Capital flowed in an excessively one-sided structure.

The situation where they died in swaths every time he swung his sword was flustering even to the enemies.

“Shit, seriously!”

“What is that, exactly!”

“Die after at least cutting his health, you moronic bastards!”

Players watching the situation from a distance raised their voices while mixing in curses.

And they were not free from death either.

Splash—!

Crackle—!

Daggers cut throats while leaving silver afterimages, and purple spheres crushed the bodies of players.

The twins were also overwhelming existences on this battlefield.

“With useless humans.”

A man who had been watching the situation from the rear stepped forward.

[Alberto]

The name tag floated above his head.

Han-bit knew that name.

‘The information is certainly solid.’

On the way home after finishing the meal, a list had arrived from Yeon-woo.

It was a document containing the names of Advance Party members to be wary of for the time being, along with various information.

It seemed he had selected them considering their activity areas and personalities.

‘He was around 9,000th place.’

Far from Adventurer A, it was a position that should be compared with a Ranger.

However, considering he was the 9,000th among hundreds of millions of players, his confidence was understandable.

Furthermore, since he had said he just rose to the Advance Party at the age of 22, he must have been overflowing with vigor.

“Don’t lose this and that for nothing; just hand over some usable items.”

Alberto beckoned with his hand as if being generous.

It meant that he, an Advance Party member, would show tolerance, so they should offer up on their own.

Han-bit, who was looking at that pathetically, let his sword hang down and asked.

“Wouldn’t it be better to proceed with the episode at a time like this?”

“That’s not for you to worry about. For now, I should tear open the walking treasure chest. So give me anything quickly before I change my mind. I’m a bit busy.”

He waved his hand lightly toward the city gate.

A group of women were watching this situation from there.

The reason for his tone and actions, which were heavily mixed with bluffing, was roughly visible.

Han-bit, who lowered his evaluation of Alberto even further, asked him.

“You’re in the Moderate faction, right?”

“For now, yes. Though I’ll be changing to the Sacred Body Faction soon.”

“Why? Because of the company?”

“…I guess you had some interest in me? Well, that’s understandable. Both my company and I are quite great.”

A few notes were written in Yeon-woo’s information.

A player who started in Belmora and an Advance Party member belonging to Maravita Enterprise, which had expressed support for the Sacred Body Faction, he fit the profile.

It seemed he was planning to change factions according to the company’s direction.

“Is everyone in that affiliation changing to the Sacred Body Faction?”

“Of course. The Chairman’s decision is absolute. Ah, for your information, you can’t come even if you want to. Our scouter is picky in many ways.”

Alberto sneered while beckoning with his fingers.

Meanwhile, Han-bit finished organizing his thoughts.

‘It’s more clear.’

The clear enemy from Han-bit’s position was the faction on the side of the Goddess of Turbulence.

Since the Moderates were in a somewhat ambiguous position, if they gathered in the Sacred Body Faction on their own, distinction would become easy.

For now, since he picked a fight, there would be no need to judge.

“Black Dragon-nim, the other side is finished.”

“Shall I handle that one?”

The twins, who had finished the rest of the cleanup at some point, approached.

Haneul tried to step forward while spinning her dagger.

“You guys watch from here. Because you’ll be fighting people like that in the future.”

“People like that? Aren’t they just weak Advance Party members?”

“…Did you just say that to me?”

Alberto, who was watching the conversation, showed an absurd expression.

Then, raising the long black scythe he held in his hand, he spoke.

“I don’t go easy even if you’re a kid.”

Slither—

A thick purple haze bloomed along the curved line of the scythe.

That weapon was also a large source of the confidence Alberto possessed.

Han-bit, who stepped forward, calmly recited the explanation.

“That’s something called the Scythe of Hunger. It’s a rare weapon that can be obtained in restricted areas, and it’s troublesome in many ways. If it touches that haze, both people and weapons will have their strength taken away.”

“It’s an unpleasant weapon.”

“It also seems to suit him somehow.”

The twins had expressions as if seeing something unpleasant.

That reaction touched Alberto’s nerves.

“You guys truly won’t do.”

Whish—!

Swinging the scythe grandly, he stepped forward and approached slowly.

At the same time, the haze began to spread widely as if sticking to the air.

“Undine.”

Splash—!

The water spirit that appeared simultaneously with the call covered Han-bit and the twins with a veil.

“It won’t work. This is a weapon that even devours Advance Party members.”

Alberto showed confidence filled with conviction.

However, it was Han-bit who knew about that weapon better than anyone.

He had used it quite a lot in many previous turns.

‘I’ll have to bring that.’

The biggest reason he didn’t kill Alberto immediately was to take away that Scythe of Hunger.

This battle was nothing more or less than a test of that weapon implemented in the game.

Thud—

Han-bit stepped into the area where the haze was shimmering.

Crackle—

Foreign substances hit the water veil along with a strange sound.

The Nebula Sword held in his hand was in a state of being exposed to the haze as it was.

“…Is he a madman?”

Alberto showed an absurd expression at the appearance of Black Dragon, who walked into the haze with his own feet.

However, the flow of this battle was clearly established in his head.

Though temporary, the result would be Black Dragon’s stats and weapon’s ability values falling to the bottom, becoming like an empty can.

What he had to do was leisurely approach and cut the throat with the scythe.

Surely, he thought so.

Thud—

“…?”

Defying the prediction, Black Dragon was moving his steps without even a change in expression.

The water veil didn’t even waver while blocking the haze.

Furthermore, the five-colored sword exposed outside still radiated a brilliant sharpness.

“You don’t understand, do you?”

Han-bit, who approached closely, asked the flustered Alberto.

He, who felt some ominous premonition, stammered and asked.

“What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything. It just became like that.”

“Such wordplay…!”

Thinking it was a joke, Alberto frowned deeply.

But Han-bit’s words were sincere.

The power of the spirit blocked the haze, and the Nebula Sword was free from that influence.

The answer to this phenomenon was simple.

‘The difference in compatibility and stature is hard to know.’

Spirits showed each of their strengths for every attribute.

For debuff-type effects, water and light had significant resistance.

In the case of the Nebula Sword, simply because the stature of the material was too high, it was enough to shake off such effects and still have plenty to spare.

“Now, let’s finish quickly.”

“Don’t talk nonsense!”

Dash—!

Alberto, who kicked off first, rushed while swinging the scythe.

As an Advance Party member, he intended to suppress with combat ability.

Such intention and confidence were visible.

But the opponent was bad.

Whish—!

Han-bit, who read the obvious movement, instead dug inside.

And he thrust the sword toward the center of gravity of the scythe, which hadn’t yet finished its motion.

“Ugh!”

The scythe was strongly repelled along with a massive impact.

His attack, which continued the motion as it was, headed for Alberto’s wrist.

Slice—!

“…!”

Alberto couldn’t even react properly to what happened so instantaneously.

When he turned his gaze again, the five-colored blade had already flown to his neck.

Splash—!

Alberto reached death helplessly.

When the frozen body turned to powder and scattered, a message appeared.

[Experience points have increased by 5,600,000.]

[24 Faction Points are added.]

Whether it was the influence of the update, experience points significantly increased compared to when killing Adventurer A.

And the faction points that came in for the first time caught the eye.

He would be able to know gradually what kind of value this was.

[Scythe of Hunger has been obtained.]

‘It wasn’t a bound item.’

The black scythe was held in hand just in case.

Since there was a possibility it would have disappeared along with Alberto if it were bound, he used the effect of the title.

Just as in the raid by Nesto, it was because Han-bit was free from the usage conditions of items.

As a result, a binding entry did not exist for the Scythe of Hunger.

Slide—

Han-bit, who put the scythe in the inventory, straightened up.

The surroundings were full of remnants left by the dead adventurers.

The twins were already collecting them using magic tools.

‘The harvest isn’t bad?’

[Level has increased by 8.]

[8 Stat Points are paid.]

Upon killing a swarm of players, the level rose by as much as eight.

It was a surprising gain at a time when the required experience had become significant.

It was to the point of thinking that it wouldn’t be so bad if attackers came in swarms.

“Wow…”

“What’s that?”

“I told you. Attacking Black Dragon is an insane thing.”

Onlookers who watched the battle from a distance showed their respective reactions.

Meanwhile, the twins approached.

“Black Dragon-nim, the cleanup is all finished!”

“There wasn’t as much gold as I thought, and it was mostly equipment or magic tools.”

Gold dropped by about five hundred players was 20 million.

It seemed they had stored it in the warehouse in preparation for battle.

The equipment and magic tools they used directly couldn’t be helped, though.

Anyway, there was no more business remaining here.

“Let’s move immediately.”

Han-bit took out the carriage he had received from Kenji.

Boarding with the twins, he immediately set the destination.

Rattle—

The carriage began to advance at a rapid speed.

The destination was the northern frontier.

“Black Dragon-nim, what should we do about those following?”

No-eul spoke while checking the back.

Dozens of carriages were following there as if they had no intention of hiding it.

“You can leave them be. Because the place we’re going now is the same as where Episode 7 proceeds in the guidebook.”

“What changes if we start there immediately? You said we’re going to finish the episode quickly then, right?”

Haneul asked while recalling the story heard at the meeting.

Han-bit, who nodded, showed the map screen again and spoke.

“The guidebook always said to move after receiving instructions from the examiner. As a result, even for just the 7th episode, it became an incredibly long route stepping on dozens of areas one by one.”

“I saw the community a bit, and examiner Heilen’s personality was incredibly strange? If you don’t listen, doesn’t he purposely bully you and such?”

“It’s because they listened too well that he purposely bullied them. As a result, they ended up going around the restricted areas pointlessly. The talent the investigation team wants isn’t something like that.”

The purpose of the investigation team was one.

It lay in finding Erport.

Leaving aside factions and tendencies, the role of the investigation team was to first dig through all the places likely to be tracking clues of this existence.

A passive appearance was not needed in the slightest for individuals who must perform absurd thinking while colliding with irrational situations.

“Then are you going into the restricted area immediately?”

No-eul, who was listening to the explanation, asked about the plan.

Han-bit shook his head and spoke.

“No, we can’t go in for now anyway. Because we can’t leave without the investigation team’s permission. Instead, we’ll solve one of examiner Heilen’s tasks in his place.”

“If it’s the examiner’s task, are we doing the role of the investigation team?”

“Well, it’s something similar. I’ll explain first.”

A situation that other players who proceeded with Episode 7 wouldn’t even be able to know existed.

Originally, it was a problem that should have been solved before examiner Heilen arrived at the Royal Capital.

If an investigation team candidate spiritedly stepped forward and produced results, it could only be a massive bonus point.

Rattle—

While delivering the necessary explanations, the rapidly running carriage arrived at the destination.

It was Barheim, a frontier city in the north of the Raven Kingdom.

Han-bit, who got out of the carriage, immediately approached the city gate.

“Stop.”

The gatekeeper wearing fur-covered armor blocked the front.

As it was a city with few outsiders entering, the guard was not light.

“What is your business?”

“I am an investigation team candidate of the Kingdom.”

“…Yes?”

Han-bit held out the adventurer card to the flustered man.

The investigation team candidate’s name became known throughout the country simultaneously with the King’s proclamation.

Barheim, which bordered the restricted area, could only be most sensitive to that news.

“It is an honor to meet all three of you. However, we haven’t yet received contact from the investigation team’s examiner…”

The gatekeeper who checked the official document immediately showed an inquisitive reaction while showing respect.

As it was a situation where he had arrived before that, it was also a natural doubt.

“I came early to look around in advance. May I see the restricted area?”

“I’m sorry. The path leading to the restricted area cannot be opened unless there is permission from the investigation team.”

“It’s fine from a distance. It’s just because I want to see.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Perplexity dwelled in the expression of the guard who seemed to be firmly refusing.

Han-bit knew well that it wasn’t because of an unreasonable request.

“The passage leading to the restricted area—a problem occurred there, right?”

“Yes? How did you…!”

The guard who reacted in spite of himself quickly covered his own mouth.

Han-bit, who saw that, spoke with a smirk.

“I can solve that. So, let me see the Margrave.”