Ark the Legend 1-12

by Yoo Seong

  As expected, the probability of being detected quickly rose as the Katz neared.

  ‘Damn, should I attack before I’m detected?’

  Stealth would be maintained until Force was consumed. However, if he cancelled it to use a skill then it would take some time before he could use it again. If he released Stealth then the cave infiltration would become even more difficult. Even if he took the Katz by surprise, there was no guarantee he could defeat him without being detected.

  ‘If I’m found then I won’t get any rice. I have to find another way……’

  Then an ‘!’ popped into Ark’s head.

  ‘Yes, this is great!’

  Ark’s hands moved like lightning!

  “Heok! T-this scent! There!”

  The Katz narrowed his eyes and crossed towards a rock. His sharp claws swung out as he grabbed something.

  “Ohh! This smell! Why? Why does this smell like that? Where….hat! As expected, the taste is fish! Ohh, to be able to taste fish in a place like this! Hehehehe! Why did I only find it now? Ah, no! If I make too much noise then the others might notice. Huhuhuhu, this is mine! I’m going to eat it!”

  He ran into a corner and crouched down. The object the Katz was ravenously shoving into his mouth was space food. Of course it wasn’t plain space food. It was the fish paste bar that he obtained from Jay and the octopuses after the incident in Charem! Ark had come up with the fish paste bar in his moment of crisis. A cat loved fish! The Katz would also be the same. Fortunately Ark could safely enter the cave thanks to the Katz munching on the fish paste bar.

  ‘Phew, it is a success. I’m glad I remember the tendencies of the Meow. I was able to use the fish paste bar in this way.’

  However there wasn’t just 1 Katz. Katz posted as sentries caught his eye after entering the cave. But the nature of a cat was all the same. The sentries were stretched out and sleeping. He could understand why the robed man was frustrated. However it was fortunate for Ark. He only had to kill his footsteps and walk past. Of course some were awake but they were taken care of when he threw the fish paste bar. There were some people in the cave impervious to the fish paste bars. Aliens with small physiques were gathered in groups around the cave. Wearing tattered rags and resembling frogs, they were the Kero clan who attacked Mt. Fargo.

  ‘As expected, the one who destroyed Mt. Fargo’s shield energy generator belongs to the same group as the person I just saw.’

  However the Kero’s sense of smell wasn’t as developed as the Katz. Furthermore, they were mostly grouped in one place so he could easily avoid them. After crossing through the cats and frogs without a hitch, Ark was able to find a door at the end of the cave. It was crude like it was made in a rush but a large lock was attacked to the handle. It was impossible for this door to originally belong to the mine. This meant the door was placed there. Then there could only be one reason why!

  ‘Here! Irina and the other members of the pursuing team are in here!’

  Ark immediately used a wire to connect his Nymphe to the lock.

  -This device is protected by a security device.

  Enter the security code or use Invaders to hack and release the lock.

  This lock has a security rating of level 8. Your hacking skill is currently only Lv. 2 and you can only release level 4~6 locks.

 

  ‘Dammit, when I need hacking…..!’

  He cursed as he saw the message. He had needed at least Hacking Lv. 6 in order to release the lock of Marquis Martin’s bag that he gave for a secret order. However his hacking was only at Lv. 2 and the lock was level 8. He had no intention of just leaving. However he couldn’t stay here to raise his skill.

  ‘What now?’

  Ark struggled while hiding his body in a suitable place. Stealth lasted until his Force ran out. Ark hid his body and released Stealth. He mediated for a while to recover his Force. How much time had passed? He suddenly heard footsteps crossing the cave.

  ‘…..That’s it!’

  Ark’s eyes flashed and he raised his head. He then glanced at the password being entered into the iron doors. This was the moment Ark had been waiting for. Irina had been intentionally captured alive. This meant they would be fed unless the captor wanted them to die of starvation.

  ‘And it is the Kero clan! This is it!’

  Cheolkeok.

  The door opened and Ark who had used Stealth flew in like a bullet. Then the Kero entered the cell and closed the door. Ark rolled before getting to his feet and the Kero shouted as it noticed him.

  –Keeck! A person!

  No questions asked!

  Wiing! Buong! Buong!

  The trajectory of light spread across the space like crazy. The frightened Kero pulled out a sword but the battle on Mt. Fargo already demonstrated that it wasn’t a match for him. It had low combat power like a regular NPC. It was no use against a level 95 user! The Kero died in less than 30 seconds after pulling out his lightsaber. Ark turned around after slicing the frog to jelly and noticed some people. The first person he saw was a woman with long, straight hair! They locked eyes.

  “Irina-nim!”

  “You….Ark-nim? How did Ark-nim……?”

  Irina stuttered as she looked at Ark with surprised eyes.

  “Ark? Did you say Ark? Oh my god! Ark?”

  Someone suddenly got up violently from the corner. They shrieked and ran up to Ark.

  “Dammit! This bastard! This is all because of you! It is because of you that I look like this!”

  Space 9

  Light that calls the Darkness

  Bakak-!

  The sound of something splitting! Someone quickly ran up to Ark and thumped him on the head. Ark who had been staring at Irina looked around with a confused look.

  “W-What is it? This guy? Why all of a sudden?”

  “He is……”

  Irina tried to answer with a confused expression. The guy who hit him flinched and retreated.

  “Yes! It’s me! I dared hit you!”

  Bakak-!

  He hit Ark once again! He hit the same spot and lumps formed a tower on his head. But this time he didn’t back away. He ran up and grabbed Ark’s collar with cuffed hands while shouting.

  “Me! Say you know me! Say it!”

  “What the, you? Who are you?”

  “This bastard! Look closely! You know who I am!”

  Ark looked closely at the person. But he still didn’t know. The only obvious thing was that he was an alien. But he had never seen an alien with skin that colour before. Furthermore, the large horns on the head…..ah, that was a lump that matched the one just given to Ark. Anyway, the face was sharp like a weasel. The alien gave off an intense expression so Ark would’ve remembered meeting him before.

  …..That’s what he thought…..

  Although he certainly gave off a familiar feeling. Ark searched through his memories despite his aching head and managed to remember someone who gave off a similar impression. If the ugly alien holding his collar had fur covering his skin…..

  “……Tori?”

  “This brat! What’s with the question mark? Don’t attach a question mark to my name!”

  “Eek? You, you really are Tori? But you……”

  Ark murmured with a confused expression before a ‘!’ flashed in his head. Which reminded him, the jailbreak occurred on Stael. Tori had been imprisoned in Stael. But Ark thought that Tori was still imprisoned there. For Tori to be in a place like this……

  “What? Did you escape from jail?”

  “E-escape from jail? I was caught!”

  “Caught? By who?”

  “Who else! Those damn Katz!”

  Tori had experienced a lot in the meantime. His life had been miserable since being picked up by the Katz on Stael! He received a terrible beating from the Katz every day!

  Tori cursed the Katz with a voice full of resentment and dripp
ing with tears.

  “Hrmm, you must’ve gone through a lot of suffering.”

  “Ah? I must’ve gone through a lot of suffering? Is that all? Don’t you have a conscience? I went through all this trouble because of you!”

  “Because of who? Are you trying to blame me?”

  “Of course! You bastard! If only you hadn’t set off the alarm!”

  “Ha! Stop playing around. You’re the one who caused the incident by trying to deceive me! Yet you’re blaming me? What kind of bullshit are you saying? And are you the only one who suffered? Do you know how much I suffered on Beltana? To be honest, my mind……”

  “What about your mind? Are you going to hit me? Huh? Yes, go and hit me! This bastard! I’m not scared of beatings anymore. No, haven’t I been hit already? Look at me! Are you a human?”

  “You’re the one who suddenly ran up to me!”

  Ark shouted angrily before suddenly asking.

  “No, wait a minute. Why aren’t you with the escaped Katz?”

  “He is the traitor who gave us information.”

  Irina was the one who answered.

  “After being kidnapped by the Katz, he left information for any pursuers on the hive called Kwai. But the Katz knew about it.”

  That’s how the pursuers were caught. The Katz were aware the Tori left information and laid a trap for the pursuers. In the process Irina lost most of her crew members. Camel was seriously injured and 4 other members captured. And Tori was locked up with them as well.

  “Can I ask why you’re here?”

  “Of course it is to rescue Irina-nim.”

  “Ah, yes…..”

  Irina nodded indifferently.

  “Then can you release us from the shackles and handcuffs?”

  “Ah, yes…..”

  Ark also nodded indifferently. This wasn’t how Ark pictured it. He heard that she was in danger and flew thousands of light years to rescue her. And he had finally reunited with her while she was in captivity. Something! It didn’t have to be much but it should be a more plausible scene! He had even directed such a scene when he jumped into the jail.

  ‘Because of that damn hamster……’

  Tori had broken the good atmosphere between them. It was like the impressive video was skipped thanks to someone pressing the Del button.

  “I don’t know what the situation is between the two of you but we should escape first.”

  “……Yes.”

  Ark answered while glaring at Tori. Ark swung his lightsaber that he wanted to cut Tori with and removed Irina’s handcuffs and shackles. Irina rubbed her wrist and asked.

  “Did you come alone?”

  “Yes.”

  “This will be hard.”

  Irina sighed and said. Ark also had to admit there was an error in his plan. Originally Ark planned to rescue Irina’s group and subdue the criminals together. It was possible when he thought there were still 10 people. But the escaped prisoners weren’t the only ones alone here. There was the robed man and the Kero clan! Apart from the robed man, Ark had identified at least 200 Kero. Other than Irina, there was an additional 6 people in the jail. At least 2 people including Camel had suffered injuries so their combat power was significantly down. If an NPC didn’t treat the injury in a timely matter than a penalty will be applied. Anyway……

  The group wasn’t strong enough to deal with all the enemies. He had to give up on capturing the criminals and concentrate on escaping.

  “My opinion is the same as Ark-nim. But there are a significant number of Katz and Kero gathered. It isn’t possible to reach the cave entrance with our power.”

  “I have an idea.”

  Ark smiled and replied.

  “Wait here a moment. I’ll be back soon.”

  Ark headed out and returned after 10 minutes with a pile of rags.

  -Filthy Rags

  Item Type: Cloak Wearer Restriction: –

  Defense: 1 Durability: 13/20

  Dirty pieces of cloth found in dumpsters. An awful odour is emitting from it. A person with a sinus problem might be able to stomach it but don’t expect high defense.

  They were the rags the Kero was wearing. Ark hid his body in a dark place and attacked a Kero patrol! He hid the corpses and looked for more Kero! He soon collected the rags that had a high possibility of falling. The Kero were only level 40~50. The cloak only had 1 defense so they had no choice but to die easily. However the cloak wasn’t simply to defend the Kero. The surprising function not recorded in the information window……

  Weng- weng- weng- weng.

  A group of people wearing smelly rags! There was a reason Ark had been able to pass through 200 Kero undetected even when using Stealth. The Kero were frogs. They were distracted eating flies. The loss of vigilance when eating made them no different from the Katz. Of course, not all of the frogs were looking for flies.

  “This is for camouflage.”

  “Camouflage?”

  “The Kero clan all wear these rags. If we disguise as the Kero clan then we can walk around.”

  Ark set an example and wore the rags. The face was hidden so anyone would think he was the Kero clan! After a while……

  The jail door opened and 8 people wearing rags emerged. They were Ark, Tori, Irina and 5 of her team.

  ‘Huhuhu, I think this is a brilliant plan.’

  A horrible odour was coming from the rags! They also imitated the way the Kero were walking! Ark’s strategy seemed to be working. The Kero clan gathered here weren’t interested in Ark’s group. It wasn’t a situation where their hearts could be calm. They became anxious when a group of Kero suddenly headed towards them.

  ‘Damn, did we get caught?’

  Ark held onto the beam sword underneath his rags.

  Nallum! Nallum! Nallum! Nallum!

  The Kero flicked their tongues as they wound around Ark’s group.

  -Ugh, I’m hungry. You should eat. Because you can be called at any time. I’m still hungry.

  And they headed somewhere else. The rags were covered with saliva and felt even dirtier but they moved ahead again. The group was able to safely reach the cave entrance where the Katz were gathered. In fact, Ark hadn’t been able to understand the considerable difference between the Katz and the Kero when he first arrived. But he understood the moment he saw the rags. The Katz were a species sensitive to smell. And the Kero wore stinky rags. The Katz and Kero were species destined to never be close!

  “Kyak! It stinks!”

  “Uhh! Why did you guys come all the way here? Go away!”

  “Ah! T-this is? Isn’t this food that tastes like fish?”

  When Ark’s group arrived at the cave entrance, he threw the fish paste bars and the Katz didn’t care about them anymore. Thankfully they finally escaped the cave! They just needed to follow the spiral upwards to leave the mine.

  ‘That’s it! We should climb up before those guys notice……’

  “Hey! You over there!”

  Then he heard a rough voice from behind him. Ark flinched and turned his head. The robed man was angrily arriving!

  “You guys, why are you standing in a place like this? Didn’t I tell you to wait inside? Answer now. Why did you come here? The punishment will depend on your answer.”

  ‘Dammit, we’ve already reached this point……’

  “Why are you answering me?”

  Ark’s lips dried at the robed man’s words. Ark could understand the language of the Kero. But that was due to the Nymphe’s translator function and he couldn’t actually understand their language. Of course the robed man expected the answer to be in the Kero’s language. Ark tried to mimic what he heard the Kero say as closely as possible.

  “K-Kaegul?”

  A vocal mimicry!

  “You…..who are you guys?”

  ……It didn’t work.

  “Disclose your true identity! Punishment Lightning!”

  The robed man shouted as lightning formed between his hands.


  “Damn! They found us!”

  Ark tossed off his rags and grabbed the beam sword. At the same time, blue light emerged from the end of the beam sword and it changed into a lightsaber.

  Kwa kwa kwa kwa! Pajijiji! Pajijiji!

  The lightsaber collided with the lightning. There was a burst of white light and the lightning scattered in many directions. The sparks flew into the dirt. The crew members at the back were reeling from the aftermath of the shock. Ark’s hand holding the sword started tingling. The immense power of an Esper!

  ‘Dammit, this guy will be tough……’

  Ark bit his lip until it became bloody.

  “Ah! I’m not! They dragged me out by force!”

  Tori shouted as he threw himself to the ground. What the hell…..this hamster bastard…..there was nothing he could say to a subservient action like that.

  “Ark-nim!”

  “Run! I will follow you soon!”

  Ark was already rushing towards the robed man. Ark tried to strike downwards with his lightsaber and the robed man spread his hands towards Ark.

  “Your soul was caught by me! Soul Chain!”

  At the same time Ark’s body stiffened. But a message flashed after a moment.

  -The power of the ‘Elim’s Helmet’ made you resistant to psychic energy!

 

  The Elim’s Helmet increased immunity to mental energy by 50%! The stopped sword struck downwards and hit the robed man.

  “Cough! Unbelievable!”

  The robed man grabbed his cut chest and retreated. Then he stretched out his arms and tried to use another technique.

  “Shield Break!”

  Ark cut the robed man’s arm with his sword. Shield Break was the skill to destroy an opponent’s defense stance. However this time he took advantage of the timing to block the enemy’s attacks. Ark blocked the robed man’s arm and pushed his left wrist towards the face.

  “Shield activated! Shield Emission!”

  Pajik! Pepeng! Papapapapa!

  “Kuaaaaak!”

  The robed man screamed and flew backwards. Glass fragments from the shield had hit the robed man’s face. The face was torn from the number of fragments and blood poured down. The robed man shouted as he held his dripping face.