by Park Saenal
*Apostle of Justice: The ‘Courage’ stat will be opened. All stats +10. The skill ‘Unbreakable Justice’ will be generated.
Quest Failure: Level -2. The title ‘Coward’ will be generated.
* Coward: Affinity with NPCs will decline. The probability of acquiring quests will decline.
You will be despised by NPCs with a positive inclination.
‘The contents of the reward are familiar? Ah!’
This was the same compensation when Huroi shared the information of the ‘For the Residents of Winston’ with me. A linked quest with Huroi was generated.
‘I am greedy for a new title.’
B.U.T.
‘I have no intention of accepting the quest!’
I was going to be stuck in solitary confinement, yet I was expected to rescue Huroi? In addition, it had to be within seven hours! It was an unconditional quest failure. ‘What fool would be stupid enough to accept this quest?
‘The penalty if I fail the quest… I have goosebumps. My level would drop and I would receive the Coward title? It is a junk title.
The ‘Coward’ title was just as bad as ‘Noble Killer.’ I could never accept this quest. But…
[You can’t refuse this quest. Quest is in progress.]
Why? Why me?
“Oof! Ohh! Ohhhhhh! Ohhhh!”
I was going nuts. I couldn’t help cursing despite the gag in my mouth, almost choking me. I drooled and coughed through the gag in my mouth, causing the soldiers escorting me to hit me on the back.
“This bastard! Can’t you be quiet?”
“Bah! Solitary confinement is scary. Stupid guy, you should’ve talked when the knights gave you a chance. Why are you pretending to be cool when you’re just afraid?”
“Oof! Ooof!”
I thought it wasn’t fair. It was frustrating to see the soldiers misunderstand and talk so arbitrarily.
“Ouch!”
I was brought deep underground and pushed by the soldiers into the solitary confinement cell. But they didn’t release my gag. The soldiers talked amongst themselves.
“Hey, should we release the gag?”
“Leo told me to only release it at meals. Apparently he has quite a mouth, so Leo will be tempted to kill him if his mouth is free.”
“I see.”
What was this?
“Oof! Ooof!”
Release the gag! Eh? The soldiers looked at me with terrified expressions.
“Wow, he is so desperate to talk that saliva is dripping down. If we keep him gagged all day, his blood pressure might rise.”
“This is really a punishment for him.”
“Ooof! Ooooof!”
Then release this rope! The rope was pressing against my body, making it difficult to move my fingers.
Kwang!
The soldiers ignored me and walked away.
‘They really are leaving.’
My body was tied up and my was mouth gagged. Would I be trapped in this smelly place forever? Furthermore, time was running out. The Huroi rescue quest would fail even if I just stood still.
‘What about my level?’
And why did I have to get the ‘Coward’ title? I had to be called a coward because I couldn’t rescue Huroi?
“Ooof! Ooooof!”
I started shouting again. Please help me. But there was no answer. My moaning echoed in the deep and dismal basement.
Time passed with nothing happening. At the top of the screen, there was a window showing that I had four hours left in my quest time limit. I had been trapped in jail for three hours already.
‘Shit.. this rotten…’
Somehow, both good luck and bad luck followed me recently. All that luck was a precursor to my misfortune today.
‘I forgot how unlucky I am and wasn’t vigilant…’
I was someone who had never found a 10 won coin on the side of the road in my 26 years of life! Then I managed to obtain a legendary class!
‘I want to hit Lady Luck…’
Just as I was cursing at Lady Luck,
“Grid! Grid!”
I heard a woman’s voice from upstairs.
‘This voice?’
It was familiar? Where had I heard it recently?
‘Ah!’
Erina. Her voice was as pretty as her face. This damn unfair world! Why was one person born with so many advantages? No, now wasn’t the time to lament at the world.
‘Why is that kid here? No, it doesn’t even need questioning.’
A very surprising person had come but she was my only hope. I had to accept her help. I started shouting.
“Ooof! Ooooof! Oof! Oof!”
Here! I am here! No matter how I shouted, it was hard to make a loud noise with the gag.
Erina was still looking for me upstairs. “Grid! Where are you? Where is this man?”
“Ooooof!”
A hoarse cry emerged from my mouth. But Erina couldn’t find me easily. At the top of the screen, the quest display window was pointed at two hours. In the next two hours, I had to escape and rescue Huroi.
What could I do? Dammit, I don’t know! I had to do something!
“Ooof! Oof!”
“Grid!”
Ah, finally…
Erina, who came downstairs, barely heard my voice and ran. Ahh! That unlucky girl seemed like an angel at this moment. My appreciation towards Erina rose significantly as she confirmed the situation through the bars and said.
“I’ll save you. Not just that. I’ll give you this dagger.”
“Oof! Ooof!”
Erina held a sheath made of a minotaur horn. It was the dagger I made when I competed with her.
Chapter 44
Chapter 44
Erina’s personality was as angelic as her looks.
‘A really good girl.’
As I was feeling thrilled, she spoke. “I have a condition instead.”
Indeed, it was rare for a girl to be pretty and have a good heart.
“Oof! Oooof!”
This damn girl! Setting a condition in a situation like this? If she came to rescue me, shouldn’t she rescue me? Erina interpreted my expression and laughed.
“You will listen to any conditions, so talk quickly? It’s good that you are so straightforward. You will make an orb for me that contains as much magic as possible. At a minimum, the orb should have the same performance as this dagger. You can do it with your blacksmith skills, right?”
Orb? I had never created one before. Was an orb a magic item? Why is she asking me, not a magician…? No, now wasn’t the time to think about that.
I nodded.
Erina made a satisfied expression. “Okay. The other condition is that you can never call me ‘kid’ in the future. My name is Euphemina. Just call me Euphemina. Understood?”
Did she drink alcohol during the day? Earlier she was Erina and now she was Euphemina? Did she forget her name? … Or was it a pseudonym in the first place?
Anyway, this was good. I nodded again and Erina, no Euphemina took out a key and opened the prison door. Then she released the gag in my mouth.
“Puak!”
I finally felt alive again. I wiped the saliva around my mouth and asked Euphemina to release my tied up body.
“What is happening? Why did you come here to save me?”
Euphemina threw the dagger towards me.
“Isn’t it better to talk once we escape?”
As she finished talking, there was the sound of dozens of soldiers rushing down the stairs. I was dismayed.
“Hey, Kid…no, Euphemina, what is this? Didn’t you manage to come here because you took care of the soldiers?”
“There are a lot of soldiers. I took care of over 100 soldiers, but there are still people remaining. You’ll have a hard time escaping.”
“Pfff!”
I let out a laugh at Euphemina’s ridiculous words. Euphemina glared at me.
“Why are you laughing?”
“I’m laughing be
cause you said you took care of over 100 soldiers. How can a blacksmith fight so well? Yes? You should bluff more moderately…”
“I’m not a blacksmith.”
“Eh?”
Euphemina faced me. Her deep blue eyes were as beautiful as any jewel. Although, she was still a kid. Well, if she ate a lot of rice and her breasts grew bigger, then I might be attracted.
“Where are you looking?” Euphemina covered her breasts and asked with a frown.
“I’m not interested in small breasts, so don’t worry about it. You aren’t a blacksmith? What do you mean?”
“I really dislike people like you.” Euphemina grumbled, but still explained. “I have a special class. My class is a Duplicator. I was able to pretend to be a blacksmith by duplicating Khan’s blacksmith skill. You are like me, right? You’re not an ordinary blacksmith?”
Duplicator? It was the first time I’d heard of this class. Perhaps…
“A rare class?”
Euphemina cried out indignantly. “It isn’t a rare class! It’s an epic class!”
“Heok!”
One of Satisfy’s three epic classes belonged to this kid? There was no reason for her to bluff in this situation, so if this was true…
“Didn’t you thoroughly hide your identity? Then why bother revealing it to me? And why in this situation?”
“I am saying it now because of this situation. Don’t you have a hidden class as well? I know everything. So don’t pretend to be an ordinary blacksmith, and fight with all your abilities. Otherwise you’ll be killed here.”
“I was already planning on that.”
I nodded with a convinced expression and held the dagger.
[Due to your class characteristics, you have equipped the Ideal Dagger.]
[This is an item you created. Your understanding is 100%.]
[In the case of items made by you, a penalty will be applied if you don’t meet the item usage requirements, even if you have full understanding.]
[Attack power of the Ideal Dagger will decrease by 20%. Only half of the option effects will be applied.]
[Ideal Dagger]
Rating: Unique
Durability: 168/168 Attack Power: 242~264 Attack Speed: +11%
* There is a rare chance of instantaneously killing the target.
* Agility +20
* The skill ‘Wind Blast’ is generated.
* The skill ‘Quick Movements’ is generated.
A dagger created by a craftsman with great skills and potential, but lacks experience and reputation. It was made with the renowned blacksmith Khan.
There is nothing special about the materials or method used, but the craftsman’s skill and the co-operation with Khan has created an ideal dagger.
User Restriction: Level 180 or higher. More than 450 agility. Advanced Dagger Mastery.
The penalties would be applied even if I had the maximum understanding of the items I created!? Dammit! This was truly deplorable.
‘But the penalty of a unique item is only 20%? Still, this is nice.’
Euphemina was astonished as she saw me equip the dagger.
“Is your real class part of the assassin series? It requires 450 agility and Advanced Dagger Mastery… But isn’t it strange? How do you have the blacksmith’s craftsmanship technique?”
I noticed when she told me to produce the orb, but Euphemina must’ve seen the information about this dagger. However, she wasn’t greedy and returned it to me. When I looked at her, she was a pretty good person.
‘If it was me, I wouldn’t taken it… She’s stupid. Truly a little kid who doesn’t know the truth of the world. No, she wants me to make an orb that is as good as this dagger? Wait… Will she support the cost of the materials needed to make the orb? S-Surely she isn’t expecting me to make it for free? W-Wicked girl…’
No, it was still too early to know. I had time to make a decision about Euphemina.
“Wind Blast.”
I used the skill in the direction of the rushing soldiers. A sharp wind emerged from the dagger, causing blood to pour from the soldiers. Euphemina confirmed that 10 soldiers were seriously wounded and whistled.
“A skill attached to an item manages to display this much destructive power, how incredible.”
Originally, the destructive power wasn’t at this level. If I met the conditions to use this dagger, the power of Wind Blast would’ve been two times stronger.
‘It is a pity that only half of the option’s effect is applied.’
I lamented again before speaking to Euphemina.
“Hey Euphemina, I have to go rescue a person.”
“Eh? A person? Ah, are you talking about Khan? I already rescued Khan before coming here…”
“Khan was also captured? I’m glad he’s safe. But the person I’m talking about isn’t Khan. It’s Huroi.”
“…Who is that?”
I briefly explained to Euphemina, who made an annoyed expression.
“I don’t know the name.”
“…”
I could read Euphemina’s feelings. She seemed to think she had stepped in shit. Well, it didn’t matter how she felt. There was only 1 hour and 50 minutes remaining. I had to rescue Huroi during that time period!
‘After I save that bastard, I will tell him off.’
He was the cause of all of this. I was furious.
“Wahhhhh!”
The soldiers jumped in unison. There seemed to be around 30 soldiers. I was nervous, but Euphemina didn’t show any signs of agitation at all. She didn’t change her expression and reached out a hand.
“Spear of Destruction.”
Pachichik!
A dark red spark jumped from Euphemina’s fingertip. A spear was created and the soldiers were hit.
Bam bam bam! Kwang!
The spear pierced the bodies of the soldiers and exploded, causing the 30 soldiers to turn into a grey light. It was an incredibly powerful spell that was used lightly. Maybe Euphemina was comparable to that witch Yura? How could she cast it so easily?
“Hiccup!”
I hiccuped from the surprise.
‘What did I say to her before? Didn’t I say a lot? Is she angry with me?’
As I froze with fear, Euphemina said to me.
“What? Don’t you have to go and rescue Huroi?”
“…Y-Ye…s.”
I was going to speak casually, but suddenly thought that it would be awkward not to use honorifics.
‘Let’s never call her a kid again. I will make her orb. She has endured it so far. I won’t offend her anymore.’
I made a decision and headed deeper underground.
Chapter 45
Chapter 45
Winston Castle’s dungeon.
I was trapped in a solitary room on the third underground floor, but was rescued by Euphemina and was now looking for Huroi.
“Damn! I’ve looked everywhere, but I can’t find him. Where is that bastard Huroi trapped?”
“I don’t think he is on this floor. Maybe we should go down further?”
“What? The third floor isn’t the end?
“According to information I received, there are four floors.”
“I have to go down to the fourth floor…”
The time limit for rescuing Huroi was 1 hour and 10 minutes. I was becoming more and more irritated. If I exceeded the time limit and failed to rescue Huroi, I would receive a really big penalty. I had to find and rescue Huroi as quickly as possible.
But Winston Castle’s dungeon was very large and the corridors were as complex as a maze, making it difficult to find the way. I decided to follow Euphemina’s opinion, but it wasn’t easy to find the stairs heading down to the fourth floor.
“Hey, you! Are you sure that the fourth floor really exists? The third floor isn’t the end? Maybe Huroi is on the second or first floor…”
“I swept through the first and second floors while looking for you, but I didn’t see a prisoner called Huroi. And the fourt
h floor really does exist. I received the information from a trustworthy person.”
“Uhh… But I can’t see the way down to the fourth floor…”
“Stop whining. I’m annoyed.”
“…Yes, sorry.”
Time continued to pass while we wandered around. Before I knew it, there were only 50 minutes remaining. Meanwhile, the pursuit of the soldiers didn’t stop and there were traps installed in the corridors.
‘But I’m glad. The traps are so obvious that I don’t need to worry about falling for them.’
This prison was made of rocks. The floors, the walls and the ceiling, everything was made of rocks. In addition, it was underground, so sunlight couldn’t reach it. In other words, it was a space where blades of grass couldn’t grow.
But funnily enough, I saw places on the floor where flowers and grass were growing. In addition, there was fruit and bread hanging from the ceiling. There were also high-quality items that didn’t match the prison space hanging on the walls.
It was clearly an unnatural sight!
‘They are all traps.’
Even a person with the intelligence of an elementary school student would be able to notice such ridiculous traps.
“I think you should bow. Otherwise you might die.”
“Eh?”
I listened to Euphemina’s voice and hurriedly bowed down. At the same time, sharp arrows flew over my back. I checked the arrows stuck in the wall and cried out.
“H-Heok…! W-What is this all of a sudden? I was almost hit.”
As I was wiping at my sweat and sighing with relief, Euphemina pushed me in the back. Due to that, I lost my balance and fell down, while a spear shot up where I was just standing. If Euphemina hadn’t pushed me, I would’ve been skewered by that spear.
I got goose bumps.
“Hik! Hiyaaack! What the hell is this?”
“I’m sorry. I accidentally activated a trap.”
Euphemina giggled while walking. There were several colorful flowers in her hands.
…This was crazy.
“Isn’t it strange for flowers to grow in this place? It’s obviously a trap! So why did you pick the flowers? Eh?! How can you fall for the trap, you dumb girl!? I almost didn’t make it! And why would you pick flowers in this situation in the first place? Dammit! Useless person. If I died because of you, I would make you take responsibility. Don’t do anything unnecessary and just find the way!”