Chapter 446 (Side Story): The Auction (3)

The contents of Boyd’s message were simple.

[... That’s why I’m suspecting Carmelo Company might be the mastermind.]

[If my guess isn’t wrong, there’s a high chance an accomplice is still inside the auction house.]

[I know it’s an unreasonable request... but if you happen to find them, do something about it.]

“

Hm.

”

After reading all the messages, Kai rubbed his chin.

“Carmelo Company,

huh

.”

No matter how many spirit herbs he had consumed, his level was still below 100. Meanwhile, Carmelo Company members were all ranked players, each at least over level 300. An average player couldn’t withstand even a single exchange against them.

“To be honest, I’m no different.”

No matter how successful he had once been, games had a clear limit that couldn’t be overcome by skill alone. That limit was level and stats. The one who invested more time became stronger. That was one of the reasons why, unlike in reality, games were fair.

“And yet he just says to do something about it...”

There had to be limits, even to shamelessness.

Kai let out a faint sigh and looked around.

“But I can’t just ignore it now that I know the situation.”

He could make a show of looking around at the very least.

***

One of Carmelo Company’s members, Jane, was hiding inside the auction house warehouse, lined endlessly with storage cabinets, waiting for orders.

At that moment, the sound of a door opening came along with murmured conversation.

“That Milo... We’re already chasing the thieves, so why make us check in here too?”

“He probably meant we should check if anything else was taken.”

As Jane’s eyelids slowly lifted in the dark, the message she had been waiting for arrived.

[Target lured, transport initiated.]

It was a message from Dantel, the company’s master. Her dark vision brightened the instant she read those words.

“What was this cloth again?”

As the black cloth covering her was pulled away, the two employees’ eyes widened.

“P-person...?”

“Thief! There’s still a thief here! We have to report this right awa—”

Jane’s dagger swung like lightning and cut across their throats. She killed the two NPCs without hesitation, tucked a transparent box under her arm, and stepped out the door.

Now I just need to get out.

By system design, teleport scrolls couldn’t be used inside the auction house. For that reason, only by leaving the building could she say she had successfully stolen the Heart of Butifon.

Left here, then right up ahead.

She had already scouted the interior structure of the auction house while pretending to be a guard. Thanks to that, she had memorized her escape route several times over.

There are no variables.

Certain of this, Jane entered the most empty hallway. At that very moment, her eyes met those of a man standing there idly.

“

Oh

...” The man let out a sigh. “I was only planning to pretend to look around...”

But now that they had met, pretending was no longer an option. The man, Kai, clicked his tongue and observed her.

That thing under her arm is definitely the Heart of Butifon...

Her outfit was leather gear with a dagger, clearly of the Rogue class. That meant speed and ambush tactics were her specialty.

“

Tsk

.”

But such analysis was meaningless from the start.

My stats can’t compare to hers in any way.

Even without knowing exactly, the difference in levels alone had to be over 300. In that case, no matter how well he deflected or dodged, he would die the moment their weapons clashed.

Jane also realized this. “You’re... that newbie from the entrance.”

The sharp beginner who had slipped free from Gillian’s grip. She tried to recall if he might be a ranker from another game, but there was no one with that face. Of course, that was only because Kai had altered his face with the Ring of Many Faces.

“Do you plan to block me?”

“I was asked to...” Kai pulled a longsword from his inventory and waved it. “Leave the Heart of Butifon if you don’t want to die.”

“Crazy bastard.”

She had spent a full month preparing for this operation. From winning Milo’s favor to sneaking into the auction house in disguise, she hadn’t been able to do anything else until now.

“Such an obvious provocation won’t shake me.”

“

Oh

, did you notice?”

Indeed, expecting a reversal from such a trivial provocation was foolish when their gap was so big.

Kai muttered as he placed a bitter herb into his mouth, “Well, what else can I do... if you want to leave, you’ll have to pass through me first.”

The bitterness stung his tongue so much that his eyes watered.

[Special title Herb Addict effect has activated.]

[Your mind clears while chewing herbs.]

[All stats increase by 5 while chewing herbs.]

At the same time, he felt every nerve bind tightly around Jane, who stood at the end of the corridor. This was the best and only thing he could muster now.

“If you’re that desperate to die.”

The moment Jane’s head tilted forward, she shot ahead. Her speed was more like a flying arrow than a person.

Damn, I didn’t expect to fight a monster like this without any rehab training.

But it was fun. His blood boiled at the level of a strong enemy he hadn’t faced in so long. Full of exhilaration, Kai’s eyes tracked her.

Even if my stats are far below...

Sight and reflexes were his own, unique abilities. Her body accelerated once more to slip from his vision, but he tracked it to the very end.

He can follow my movements with his eyes?

From the moment she kicked off the floor to the instant she was right in front of him passed in a blink. Feeling uneasy at his ranker-level tracking, Jane drew her dagger.

Kai also swung his sword as though he had been waiting for it.

“Too slow.” Jane easily dodged his charging blade and thrust her dagger. “What a pity.”

“

Kugh

.”

The moment she pulled the dagger from his heart, Kai collapsed. Of course, she didn’t even have a scratch on her body.

“See? It would have been better if you just stepped aside quietly.”

With a single strike, Kai’s HP dropped to 0, and his body slowly scattered into particles.

Did I only imagine that he was relentlessly tracking my movements earlier?

For an instant, the stare had been so persistent it made cold sweat run down her back. Then, she heard dying laughter coming from her opponent.

“

Ahaha

.”

“Laughing...?”

To laugh even as he died in defeat, was he insane? As an unknown unease caused Jane’s brows to furrow, several system messages popped up in front of her.

Ding!

[Item, Heart of Butifon, has received a fatal wound.]

[Item, Heart of Butifon, effects have been reduced to 1/3.]

[Item, Heart of Butifon, will lose all effectiveness in seven hours.]

“W-what?!”

Startled, Jane looked at her side. The Heart of Butifon inside the transparent box was torn and spurting blood.

“If you really don’t want to leave it behind, you’ll just have to carry it broken.”

The moment Kai raised his middle finger at pale Jane, a system window also appeared in front of him.

[You have died.]

[You are a beginner below level 30.]

[You may resurrect after one in-game day.]

Han Jung-Woo exited the game capsule and let out a heavy breath.

“I’d better get well compensated for this.”

***

When the resurrection wait time ended and he logged back in, Boyd was waiting for him on the first floor of the inn.

“You reduced its effect to one-third, and it has to be processed within seven hours,

huh

...” He nodded. “If that’s true, then it’s the best-case scenario.”

A material on the level of the Heart of Butifon would normally require preliminary work to craft an elixir or poison. But if it became useless after seven hours, then they would have no choice but to skip such steps.

“Whatever they wanted, whether an elixir or a poison, it’ll come out pathetic compared to what they originally expected. At most, one-tenth of the effect.”

At Kai’s explanation, Boyd finally let out a sigh of relief. “Then that really is fortunate. Did you aim for that from the start?”

“Of course.”

The moment he realized his opponent’s level was too high, Kai focused only on destroying the Heart of Butifon rather than fighting.

Good thing she was wary of me.

Thanks to that, she had played cautiously, which made the heart that much easier to expose.

“

Oh,

right,” Kai muttered quietly and suddenly put on a gloomy face.

It was an expression as if he carried all the sorrow of the world.

Boyd asked with a very reluctant voice, “Why the face all of a sudden...?”

“I lost XP because I died, and I don’t exactly have much time.”

“Come on, it only takes a few minutes to recover even if you die at your level.”

“So beginners are just free to die, is that it?”

“That’s not what I mean...”

“For the record, I didn’t have to die at all, but someone made an unreasonable request, and that’s why I died.”

“Damn it...” Having nothing to say, Boyd clicked his tongue. “So, what is it you want?”

“Nothing big. I just need a church registration certificate.”

“That’s not such a difficult request I suppose...”

Normally, registering a church required clearing a number of miscellaneous prerequisite quests. On top of that, starting those quests demanded a certain level of reputation and other troublesome requirements.

Boyd glared at Kai. “You were planning to ask me for it anyway, weren’t you?”

“I was planning to just buy it,” Kai replied shamelessly. “But now that I think about it, there’s no need.”

“Damn it, I give up.” Boyd threw up his hands and stood up. “I’ll send the certificate by mail. That’s it, right?”

“

Oh,

one more thing.”

“There’s more!?”

Boyd let out a helpless laugh and crossed his arms as Kai spoke.

“The Carmelo Company guys. No matter how much I think about it, they’re not a normal group. You should be careful.”

“That’s true.”

They lacked the qualifications to participate in The Auction, so they disguised themselves as guards to sneak in and steal. It was something no normal ranker would ever do.

“Wait, when you put it like that, it’s true. I thought they were just a guild with a strong sponsor.”

“But if they had a sponsor, they wouldn’t commit such crimes.”

Guilds backed by corporations couldn’t afford even the slightest blemish. A guild’s reputation and accomplishments directly affected the image of its sponsor, after all.

“Then what are they really?”

“Who knows.”

Whatever they were, their purpose was entirely different from the guilds people knew.

“The Heart of Butifon. We’ll find out when we see how they use that half-ruined material.”

“Then you’d better be careful yourself. If things go wrong, you might not be able to rebuild the Solarian Church at all.”

“I don’t care anymore.”

Once Kai raised his level a bit more, he would head straight for the Yushin Archipelago. No matter what they did on the mainland, he only needed to rebuild the Sun Church at Yushin and then leave.

“Well then, good work today,” Kai lightly patted Boyd on the shoulder and got up.

***

Kai received the church registration certificate through the mail and headed straight for city hall. Even if he planned to evangelize at the Yushin Archipelago, he still needed to have the church itself formally established.

“Next.”

At the strict clerk’s instruction, Kai stepped forward and handed over the certificate.

“

Hm

, an adventurer vouched for by Cheonhwa.”

The clerk looked over the certificate for a moment before lifting his head.

“Alright, what is the name of the church you wish to register, and which god does it serve?”

“The name is the Church of Solaris,” Kai said as he recalled the small god who would be eagerly watching over him. “The god we serve is Helik, the Solarian God.”

On day one of his return, the Solarian Church was officially registered.