Chapter 22: Marie Dunareff (3)
Ju9nAccording to the original plot, after meeting John Doe, the ❰Murderer of the City of Fog❱ – an important character who appeared at the latter stages of the 1st Arc, Marie would attack her roommate and go berserk.eu0J3
ywOIn the previous iteration, we had been waiting underneath Marie and Isabelle’s dormitory immediately after the event so we were able to respond in time, but Park Sihu had intentionally let go of her.Drmurw
XlsUThe members of the previous iteration were Park Sihu, Yuel the Druid, Dorron the Mercenary, the Golem User Kranel and me. It was a 5-man party.4ytp
PnRThanks to having hidden pieces and the game knowledge, Park Sihu and I were fully prepared and could defeat Marie even without the help of Alicia, who was a strong early-game character.i6xeMnT
QwZt4RBut what about now?jxhn
9HvAll the freshmen members were pretty much unable to fight.XJX
wXzsSMYAnd the saddest part was that I was the one who caused everything. But honestly, who could have guessed that an event that was supposed to start 3 weeks later would be happening this early?G089h
LnYiHGThere wasn’t much time. I had to gather people as soon as possible.rugE
Q9lA3Alicia wasn’t an option. Her bones were crushed because of my eight trigram palm strike, so she would have trouble even running.JDSxa3x
GwCkneThe Golem User Kranel was also practically non-existent because the most important golem core had been broken.0Zfgkv
MrXwifThe only ones that could somewhat move were Yuel the Druid and the mercenary, Dorron Warsky.qOhA
nixI did think about Hua Ran for a second, but leaving aside whether it was even possible to persuade her or not, I wasn’t confident in predicting how things would turn out if she was to join the party.Cxz
AIymLIf Hua Ran’s restrictions were to be broken during the fight against the awakened Marie, then that would immediately lead to ‘Game Over’.wuY4
3RqIfUPower too big to control would only be a hindrance.bZV
95WD“Hello.”m1K9z9
oBsR3lDorron, who was training by himself at the very corner of the training rooms, threw me a glance before minding his own business again.cYaN0BS
fP0DXec– Shhiiik…! Booboom!e0KN
9lTBdjWith one glance, he manipulated the swords as they fiercely shredded the target apart. I turned to the flying swords and noticed that the three magic swords that I had destroyed were nowhere to be seen.Ja3Bi
gL2“What is it? Korin Lork.”UORt
Jeg5B“Hmm… I don’t remember telling you my name though.”C6saUE
dwGtc“It is normal to remember the names of every capable person of the Academy.”IB9z
PDEThe fight at the hunting grounds appeared to have left quite an impression. It seemed that Dorron had looked up my name in his own time.DSZ
zjG5hz“I want to hire you as a mercenary.”xZ1on
l85OPU“50% down payment. I can take an item as a mortgage if you don’t have money.”zhoNx
PrC61yMThat was what I was waiting for. I immediately took out the Soul Dust that I got by letting Sebancia Duke ascend in peace at the library.D3TB
PTokU“This…”UkSBgc
p1EWCO“It’s for the mortgage. Unique Grade Soul Dust. Not a single speck of the soul lost due to a fight. A 100% pure and perfect item.”dRCW
0X9“May I ask what you are after, Boss?”R82gr9
RVWDorron changed his attitude in an instant, which was a plus considering how easy it was to talk to him.WDhW
4o4Q“We will be looking for one person. Me, you and the other party members will have to subjugate that person without killing her.”sFhv
n2d“And how difficult would it be?”fFPrpbl
JyK7dw“Unique Grade.”UKpwfl
Brs“Crazy.”UMW
FyJ5He clicked his tongue as if that was absurd, but he didn’t turn the offer down straight away.1sOVW
Lbk“The rule for mercenaries is to not bother with hopeless battles.”DEr
OoHzjj“If you’re scared, you can use only the flying swords at a safe distance.”Ip9DJ
k2T7“You see, I only have two swords left. You should know that better than anyone else.”tjeM1
LL9Yes. I did, because I was the one who broke them. The only remaining magic swords were a normal magic sword that had no special abilities and the heavy iron sword which could only strike down from above.WLpMR
1zg“All you have to do is occasionally draw the eyes of the enemy and act as a sub-dps. I’m not expecting anything more than that from a mercenary.”brSO
oWAiu4It was easy to form a party with Dorron Warsky. All we had to do was give him money.pvQb0rG
oEaYMDSHowever, he was a mercenary. Trying to use him more than the ‘money’s worth’ would always lead to a backlash. A firm line had to be drawn to make use of him.cmV
yki3dV“Good. The price would be 20 gold coins. If you can’t pay the money…”BUrfVuC
HMn2dL“I’ll sell the mortgage if I have to so don’t worry.”urcf
WZcRQ“What a nice employer to have.”KaQ
cYhmfVDorron didn’t ask anything else. He didn’t ask who the Unique Grade was, nor raise any doubt on where I obtained that information.ubddi
CxpKHe was someone who considered following the given commands without bothering about anything else. The code of mercenaries.iJU
6HkwbRAfter deciding to meet at the entrance of the hunting grounds in 2 hours time, I looked for the next target.98cZ6J
GK3o3****YI6385
1iUgYRiMost of the locations of the NPCs in the game were fixed. It was to make sure players didn’t have to go around everywhere when looking for specific NPCs, but there was a particular reason behind them in this real world.nB9dEer
VdmAn example was the Druid of the Avelorn Forest, Yuel. She spent most of her time at the library.Z8qGHZo
aThRIsJ‘Papers are disgusting! Nature is the best!’ Even though that was what the druids screamed out all the time, there was a reason why Yuel was always at the library filled with papers.U3erNcu
JSGwA“You mean you want me to cooperate?”4RRGf
kpY“Please.”bjz2Q
dFKmrL9“…Why should I?”GKR
wy1PThe girl with a light green shade of hair asked an obvious question with a discontent look on her face.RtRnc
cLxH7EKAs someone who could read the aura of nature, she must have realized how pathetic my aura and my mana was. She must have found it laughable for someone as weak as me to suddenly ask for cooperation on defeating a Unique Grade demi-human.i6Qv5hn
RYqjj“Ogham Alphabet.”vcc
yty“!!!”Nf8Hnit
xnA“That’s your traditional alphabet, right? The letters that were lost when Avelorn was burned down by demonic beasts.”6d2
HwBj“You… How did you…?!”lKDo9
Xzc7“I heard of the great fire at the Avelorn Forest a year ago, and why else would a druid from that forest suddenly come to Merkarva Academy?”yzEd2
0QSI told her the rest was easy to deduce, and Yuel was convinced despite the uncomfortable look in her eyes.EkL
OfUBTShe was from the ancient tribe that detested papers for being made by cutting wood, with only one person from the generation allowed to know about the traditional alphabets.vNlXwvV
P8W8During the attack of the demonic beasts, the previous druid in charge had been killed and the alphabets that were carved on the walls were also all lost due to the fire.wyQFyq
Dqc35yJThe reason Yuel, the Druid of the Avelorn Forest, had come to Merkarva Academy was in hopes that its Great Library with so many pieces of information would have some clues about the Ogham letters.NYGwmT
9zh9jl“I’ve read something related to that. I can’t really remember the title of that book but…”B31YCro
FIzI grinned while tapping on my head.llja
xpgQ“It’s all in my head.”6IKua
tHG“What a shrewd person…”a1N
xG3PYuel frowned after understanding my words.qEOt
sBz7lI“ᚑ (Onn). I think that’s enough for the proof. Right?”VUgId7
LltOI said while writing down an Ogham letter as Yuel quickly wrote that down on her notepad with a pale face. Just by looking at how she was using a paper notepad as a druid who befriended nature, it was extremely clear how desperate she was.dth
4NyxFBy the way, the book I read was called 〚Exploring the Wild by the Adventurer, Vorahlmer〛which was written 80 years ago. Due to introducing the culture of pagans, the Old Faith banned it as a taboo and this Great Library was thus the only place that possessed a copy of that book.tvjWr17
6vvEEJHIn the game, it was something that was found by progressing the rapport event with Yuel, so it would take a long time for her to find it by herself.bNNjg
MGJVe“More…”D0jY
iFLpgHer face that was eager for more letters gave off her desperation.3DBz
8j3“You don’t need to be in a hurry. I’ll tell you everything once this is over.”Xt9
EbJit9“It’s… a promise.”GZ6kCJr
7WPeXBy“Yeah. I’m not asking for much either. I’ll do all the dangerous stuff myself so just support me from the back.”efFSHg5
2C4t9Ib“…”DcTfAB
SOPdI left the library after making a promise with Yuel.R4NvpE
L1S3nThe sub-dps and the support were all in place. The only things that now had to be done was fill up the numbers – so we could stand our ground during the 1st phase.ozbWL
iIDfGgg“Can you say that one more time?”gipH
LsXCEqR“Uhh… I think I’m hearing things.”ecKgIv
x29The two people who loved going to the training rooms these days – those owls who were slowly enticing Kranel Luden into their grasp were shocked after hearing my words.cwbu
K8nw3Grade 3 Knight, Jaeger Hinzpeter.eFgYT0m
p3NGrade 5 Mage, Lark Buhgman.o9yWez
BwsRBThese guys that I knew from way back were just side characters and single-time villains whose roles were preassigned by the main scenario back when it was a game, but now they were different.kEeip
OAR“I’m looking for a party. It’s difficult, low reward, extremely dangerous and we might even die against a strong Unique Grade demon, but we can gain tremendous honor and recognition if we succeed.”KuJ
OnSDEk“…”JzFA
oLwm“…”LT2varH
8CSThe boy wearing glasses with unkempt hair and the typical delinquent-looking guy with short hair turned to each other.9XiIk
g3razQPeople that loved efficiency were like this – they would use a calculator to calculate their chance of victory and the efficiency, to see what would be the most beneficial for them.i9D
5onHqHowever, the true alpha men were different.eV1Xk
DGeYb“That sounds super retarded but…”YmQAGN
mPdXul3“Let’s do it.”1DX
uEnxBecause alphas never care.B5vP0VG
edHrThat was why humanity was able to conquer the South Pole.LApt
vqToJ****V6s
fDjoiDWhen we arrived at the forest in time, the sun had already set over the horizon, and the woods with not a single presence of students was as dark and unfathomable as the abyss.k4v
FOSBJ“Is she really in this forest?”YyTE
tOU12uN“Senior Marie, right?”T4Z
9UOY5r1Jaeger, Lark, Dorron and Yuel had each prepared themselves for the upcoming fight.tjICTXJ
FtQWsH“Boss. I know what the goal is, but how are we going to find her?”E7n8DHy
DHYoPgIt would take years for us to search through this whole forest with just the five of us. That obviously wasn’t my plan.ZLzeUO
NJPZU“We don’t need to look for her ourselves. We can just ask. Right?”J6vZ67J
J2LHz“…Seriously. How do you know so much?”eVWw
Z6MfThis was our second conversation. With a puzzled look on her face that showed her befuddlement, the druid lowered the antique staff onto the ground and closed her eyes.Cji
tB3“O spirits.”6viPK1t
HGoTi3Even though the druids were known to use the power of the forest for themselves, this was nothing like magic where they had to spend their own mana. They were the protectors of the forest that grew up together with nature. A single sincere request from them was able to move the forest.RnCQ9
cSYUvSIn the dead of the night, the forest greatly fluctuated. Judging based on the cheerful reactions of Lark and Jaeger, it seemed that many spirits of the forest were responding to Yuel’s call.zFn
vsLbBau“Yes. I beg you. Please find her. Please lead us to her.”CDrNOZj
IipGAlthough this wasn’t a part of the game, we had greatly relied on her in the previous iteration.VXGUT
rdBvDsMost of the spirits of the forest were low-grade elementals. They were useless in battles but when it came to searches, their overwhelming numbers were incredibly overpowered.pZ9UVLW
ZjfAs long as we were in the forest, druids were pretty much almighty. This was why I had taken in Yuel as the support.pySh
RyrTSJNo-one was able to run away from the eyes of a druid in the forest.y9Sa6
vhzgK“I found her. At the depths of the forest… where the demonic beasts are. That’s where she is.”nX7o0
1V1Where the demonic beasts are, huh… I had a rough idea of why she would be there, but Marie’s instincts should be telling her that their blood wasn’t enough.vWD81zI
Kzw2dD9I trusted myself. There was enough evidence to support my hypothesis, and that was why I was shoving my head into such a dangerous matter.vq6bo1
n6GXotr– Kiieeeekk—!quzWso
FfKVhA chilly howl echoed across the woods. The demonic beasts of the hunting grounds were creating a ruckus even though it was rather late at night.qmylvm
Cwm“…”hZq1T
DCPLY5T“Dude. This…”RkZ
U9BHIs0Jaeger seemed to have noticed it as well and glanced at everyone while inquiring with his gaze whether his prediction was correct or not.zFO4r
bLxDTrS“……The spirits are frightened.”ubJug
gzdlbRp“It is not any different for the demonic beasts.”OUu8
2ga“Have you seen anything like this, Dorron?”3XIT5
HFw“A few times. There is only one reason why predators would be terrified.”ogJM
xgW– The appearance of an even bigger predator.GnbRy
kymg1The demonic beasts at the top of the food chain in the forest were so horrified by the appearance of the powerful being that they were wailing in fear.W0MeN23
2pFyLIt was natural for them to be scared and terrified. That wasn’t something as simple as powerlessness and fear towards a stronger being.InXDq4
pNnspLThe demonic aura exuding out of Unique Grade demons – those unfathomable monsters – had something like the fear-inducing aura of the dragon race.6aNrlg
BgMB8– Clomp clomp!IZKmBQy
oeYEy– Clomp clomp!cia8
yMTLYxThose shrieks of the beasts subsided more as we approached the center of the forest. From fear to powerlessness, and from powerlessness to obedience. Such was the way of the ecosystem.PHwz
Il7wZAt one point, the only source of sound became the rustling leaves beneath our feet, and that was when our eyes spotted something different.kGaCL
jSJrq4– Krrghk! Kurrgk!PfXGT
tmXjCIn an open plot of land with dozens of demonic beasts stood a girl that appeared extremely out of place.bbW
SbR9Her water-coloured hair that used to be both neat and tidy was tainted with blood and her everlasting smile was replaced by stiff clots of blood.zAsQ5
JEI– Kuruk, kurrugk…!50Nlym
ceU7An owlbear had its neck bitten by the girl who was less than a quarter of its size, but was staying still without even dreaming of fighting back.nmWSaL
KCSiLvBThe fangs that were digging in through the thick leather around the neck formed a pathway for a one-sided blood transfusion. Despite being aware that it will be sucked dry till death, the owlbear and the demonic beasts surrounding them were unable to dare fight back.qrF
8R4J6zThose beasts had their brutality repressed by the demonic aura of a Unique Grade, and retaliation wasn’t even an option for them.f7xSKa
0L1A scene that was completely outside of his expectation made Lark take a few steps back in horror.8CLgpN
eSbUkN“Hiik…”rHHcIux
Ubgk0“Kurrh…!”h2V199m
9a0sONHis unconscious gasp made the vampire turn its head in a flick. The golden eyes that used to be as bright as the sun were now vertically slit like the pupils of a reptile.fgc
VqNtrVampire.nd9b9z
TcjGMThe King of demons.7zg
Sa3ZOne of the most powerful demi-humans.8LIiK0r
8iAU2a“Get ready. Yuel and Lark – go to the rear. Dorron and Jaeger – take a step back and focus on support. I’ll take the lead.”MjKg8Gd
Lz0nu“…”tBhev
8384hraI felt mana fluctuating behind me. It was probably the spirits and Lark’s ghost knight being summoned.zpoyI
OVfHd6It was none of my business considering my inability to perceive spirits due to the Restriction – the 2nd line of my Precept. However, what was important was—XJC
Xnz2P『3rd Precept』
Marie Dunareff: Relation – CNOi
V0V7H1LBackup: 50% Increase in StatsXBJjB
rca7Aura: { Low (1,480 + 740) }lObCI
kbyOPNVMana: { Very Low (920 + 460) }nOn
g06BStrength: 26 + 13UE4N
eC7eEZZAgility: 26 + 13bW9eKZw
dwr3cVitality: 26 + 131iQf
H1kwXAura: 26 + 13yth4g
baCCRDMana: 26 + 13Yt38D
HV3｢Regeneration of the Tenacious Warrior｣
When your HP falls below a certain level during a fight, your HP Regeneration speed will increase tremendously.vg2FdWE
ZAOfUN+ 50% RegenerationKAeL3R
bTTJ2O❰I will save the world❱
– Either kill or save Marie Dunareff and take the first step in saving the world.lmnAWX
ZqenF｢There is a conflict with the 1st Precept, ❰I will not disregard the misfortune of the good.❱｣cxubj7
tKUOlN9｢Save Marie Dunareff. Wish you all the best, Hero Korin Lork.｣3hU
NpIYyMarie’s fate and the effect she will have on this world.472hV
WIK5jThe backup I received was after a calculation of the ‘effect this would have on the world later on’, instead of considering this as a one-time event of the 1st Arc.SI9uPy
tuIBesides, considering my 50% additional damage to physical existences, my current physique at this moment was pretty much at the level of a Grade 2 Knight.HGJHJ
AAu1“Kuwoooo—!!”C6et
WeK“Kweeekkkkk—!!”gDkZ
DurGezThe demonic beasts sprinted forward while roaring out loud. Starting from owlbears to mat boars and horned rabbits, those monsters began flooding us with their brutal natures which had been suppressed by Marie’s demonic aura.vjLi
f7RXNL“Right. A beast is a beast. Easy for them to know who the weaker one is, I guess.”5Iz5i
D6aA Unique Grade demon behind them and Grade 2 randoms in front. There was no need to even think at that point on who they should attack.B5vISbE
bSIrS1The 1st phase of the boss fight with Vampire Marie Dunareff was the battle against demonic beasts and spirits that were under her control. We had to come out victorious in this little skirmish and pass through the 2nd phase.Mv3uE
9aW3『Main Quest: Marie Dunareff』
※ Difficulty: SQaaqT
pZrtkxjOur current party was about half of what we were in the previous iteration. But even so—08hPT76
mfo“Everyone. Get ready.”YyH
cuJ7We will win.1ZwsH
k0j8We will overcome every adversity and hardship to achieve victory.Zr3JBj
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