NOVEL WEB Chapter 67
Chapter 67 – Position (7)
“—!”
‘Have I gotten used to this now?’
After spending several hours mindlessly enjoying the game alongside Dune and Naru, who had bizarrely transformed into monster hunters hunting down the mutated beings from the grassland, we repeated the cycle of hunting, gathering by-products, and resting. Their high adaptability from their rough lifestyle helped them get accustomed quickly.
Once they became a little more skilled, I thought I could train new recruits to replace me quite well.
The game also offered a multiplayer feature where players could form parties with others. However, due to the influence of the Master Program, instead of teaming up with actual players, it was possible to gather residents from outside to form a party.
“Are they experienced folks? They completed the mission faster than expected.”
Brant, a staff member of the association, chuckled and handed over the reward as we certified the defeat of all the titans we targeted and gathered the by-products.
We didn’t even bother selling the by-products. I planned to use them once they learned the crafting skills later.
“As promised, here’s the next mission. If you succeed in this as well, I’ll upgrade your rank. But you should avoid pushing too hard.”
Brant then gave us the new quest. There were also potions for recovering stamina, so I thought I’d wrap up the hunters’ schedule after finishing this quest today.
“Hmm?”
But then, just in case of an unexpected incident, I noticed a change in the document that classified the names and statuses of those inside the game.
Surprised at the unexpected event, I quickly put down the creature hunting I was doing and opened the game window I had separated on the taskbar.
It was precisely where the hunters were trying to collect the essence of the monster.
[Warrior Shura]
[Trait: Dagger Skill (Growth Rate 66%), Shadow (Potential)]
[Placement: Sandbox Crafting]
[Overall Fatigue: 100% (Injured)]
[Mana: 12%]
[Condition: Pain]
Currently, my character, stationary above the bomb shelter, was in a place I couldn’t see. It was evident that something had gone wrong with those fighting down there.
I hurriedly moved my character toward the underground dungeon. Indeed, there were swarming monsters blocking my way, and I dashed forward, consuming titanium blades and food that replenished my HP, hacking them down recklessly.
Finally, I saw them; Rakeun and Rasen were trying to protect her, who lay bleeding amidst the oncoming enemies, but they had already been cornered.
‘Why? Ah.’
[Banshee]
Given their skills, there’s no way they should be losing here like this. Of course, they were people, not characters, so they might make mistakes, but it certainly wasn’t because of a mistake right now.
Somehow, the walls of the underground dungeon, which could only be smashed with a pickaxe above titanium grade, had been damaged. Looking at the jagged state they were in with no defined shape, it was clear it hadn’t been extracted with a pickaxe.
It seemed highly likely that they had continuously taken damage due to their attacks. Having learned skills, they had learned to shatter even rocks with their blades.
And from the smashed wall, a boss monster from deeper within crawled out. It was a mad monster draped in tattered cloth, flying through the air unleashing powerful debuffs.
They wouldn’t have been able to withstand that debuff. Without delay, I rushed to insert my character between the banshee and them.
“—!!”
Rakeun, sweating coldly, looked at me with wide eyes. However, it was impossible to ask them to fight alongside me when it seemed like they were struggling just to move.
Currently, my character was also losing health due to the debuff, and my movements were slowed down. To remove this, a special potion was needed, but right now, I lacked both the materials and tools to make it.
Moreover, even if I had that potion, capturing the banshee with my current item status was impossible. Until now, I had focused more on other tasks for the residents rather than farming or growth in typical gameplay.
“Get lost, you bastard.”
So, I simply stacked blocks to block the path.
The horrific screams of the extremely enraged banshee echoed, but to me, sitting outside the screen, the debuff that froze even the strongest warriors was merely annoying noise.
Soon, a thick wall made of stone blocks stood before us, and the enemies, unable to destroy the blocks, could do nothing but shriek in despair.
‘I need a countermeasure.’
In a hurry, I healed Shura and then gave Rakeun, who was still caught in the debuff, a light smack to lift Shura up.
Then, I took them along and climbed the stairs to escape the underground dungeon.
In this game, countering the banshee could be resolved by creating potions resistant to the debuff and equipping higher-tier equipment, but I wondered if simply following that conventional path was truly efficient. No, was it even possible in the first place?
After all, this was a game, but it wasn’t really a game. The banshee’s debuff was not a fixed number defined for the residents but rather a curse that gnaws at their minds. Even if I made a potion that could remove the debuff, whether they could consume it in time was a variable.
If Riena were here, she wouldn’t have struggled against the banshee. Her celestial blessing’s protective light ignores all mental debuffs.
So Riena would have easily slashed the banshee in half. That would have used the power gained from another game.
Now, both I and the residents had become accustomed to using the powers gained from the game, and it seemed essential to combine them appropriately.
This was something I, who could often decipher games like reading a palm from looking at guides, found myself struggling to grasp, a true headache requiring a heads-up dive into the ground.
‘The clear reward for Chapter 2 was divine talismans, right?’
Right after I returned the injured from the underground dungeon to the village, I decided to execute something I had just recalled.
Currently, the reward for Riena, who was about to clear Dark Blood Chapter 2, was a kind of talisman that could protect against the attacks of demons.
These were essential useful items for progressing in the game, but Riena already possessed a higher-level buff, the celestial blessing.
So I thought about taking those out to give to those who hadn’t been able to overcome the banshee today. If my guess was correct, it would definitely block the banshee’s debuff.
‘Since it’s something I need to do anyway.’
I promptly turned on another game to rush a bit, summoning Riena into it a little earlier.
The world inside the game was as we left it yesterday. It was broad daylight now, but it was still dim at night, and the mangled corpses of the enemies lay scattered as they were.
“—.”
Looking at Shura, who had been injured and escorted back to the village, Riena nodded resolutely, as if understanding why I had called her.
Though it was impossible to explain in detail, it seemed she had realized my intentions in calling her at this time weren’t unrelated to the freshly brought-in Shura.
‘Isn’t it difficult since I already have two celestial blessings?’
Once I confirmed her thoughts, I led the way to the underground area of the temple where the boss was located. When we cleared Chapter 1, I had more anxiety than now.
The anxiety had diminished, and my trust in her had grown.
“You lousy bastards…!”
Soon, we laid eyes on the boss. That kindly-looking dude was, in fact, the boss of Chapter 2 who had fallen to corruption, colluding with demons.
‘It’s unfortunate that it can’t be skipped.’
Thanks to the Master Program activating from the very beginning, skipping dialogues was impossible. Thus, no matter how nonsensical the enemies rambled on, it was unavoidable to listen.
“Shut up! The gods only deceive us! With a hint of hope, they try to tame us all. What do you know about the gods?!”
The problem was that the bishop and Riena had started arguing.
Though he had once been a gentle and warm-hearted person according to game settings, the bishop, who had gradually become disappointed and enraged by the god he had believed in and followed, was now entirely negative about the gods and all their teachings.
“Have they ever watched over us, aided us?! Is it right to talk about the god now!?”
Though he kept speaking without interruption, it seemed Riena wouldn’t let him have the last word. I found it shocking that she could even have a retort, wondering why she was so angry.
The clash between an old, once-reputable bishop who had fallen into turmoil with his struggles over faith and proof and a young warrior from the barbarian tribe living in the grassland fighting equally highlighted how solid her conviction was.
‘She has grown stronger.’
This moment proved she hadn’t just gained flashy skills from her experiences.
“Y-you bastards dare!”
Seizing the moment when the two, who could not yield to each other, briefly paused, I lifted my staff to unleash a scorching fireball in a surprise attack.
Caught off-guard, the bishop’s eyes widened. Riena also turned to look at me in surprise.
However, not wanting to hear more of that author’s rubbish, I unleashed a series of skills.
‘It has begun.’
Simultaneously, a HP bar appeared for the boss, signaling the start of the boss battle. The enraged bishop pulled out the demon’s spellbook, drawing forth the power of the demons while Riena grit her teeth and swung her drawn sword.
A battle was unfolding entirely unlike any planned strategy.
“Go ahead, prove it. I assure you, that esteemed being won’t assist you even if you die.”
The giant and grotesque tentacles summoned by the bishop burst out from the walls, floor, and ceiling to engulf us. I swiftly rolled to dodge the tentacles. Honestly, simply avoiding these without a pattern was exhausting.
‘As expected.’
But Riena was different. No matter how erratic the attacks were, she displayed remarkable agility, evading and slashing through them as she charged toward the flabbergasted bishop.
The radiant divine golden light emanating from her body, a result of her proven strength in the previous battle, soon became the blade of judgment, slicing through the summoned power of the demons.
“This is…”
The bishop couldn’t finish his sentence.
Without taking a step back, she jumped forward, using her golden strike to cleave all the tentacles in half before spinning through the air to slice him in two.
[Chapter 2 Clear]
Simultaneously, the game cleared. It was comparably easy compared to the strenuous efforts Riena and I had poured into clearing Chapter 1.
[Stage 2 Hunting Ground Unlocked]
[Available Placement Capacity 3/6]
[Achievement Unlocked: Initial Faith (3)]
Prove it, and rewards are given. That is the rule of the game.
I quietly observed Riena looking down at the bishop’s corpse while checking the rewards floating on the screen.