Chapter 121

Humans can be so cunning.

“Sigh. Let’s just charge…” I charged all of the remaining 240 million won after deducting the 60 million won fee.

[For unknown reasons, strength has increased by 171 points!]

[For unknown reasons, health has increased by 85 points!]

[For unknown reasons…]

My base stats and level-up bonuses were almost completely restored. The bonus stats were still small but this was enough to function as a superhuman. Above all else, I had chakra abilities that worked regardless of my stats.

“Hmm. This should be good enough for competitions again.”

Due to his negative purchasing power, he had to cancel both martial arts and gladiator matches. Originally, jae-yeon should have been competing professionally by now, but since everything was canceled once, he’d have to start from amateur tournaments again.

“Cheeda, reschedule the canceled matches. Preferably on weekdays.”

“There’s the Hanmyeongilbo Sacred Sword Tournament and Battle Angel Magic Tower Unlimited Psychic Energy Competition. Would you like to apply?”

“Not a martial arts tournament but unlimited psychic energy competition… Well, it doesn’t matter. Sign me up.”

With that, after scheduling competitions and clearing dungeons with his auto-hunting character, it was time to empty its inventory.

[Madozhion has acquired Dark Great Sacred Sword (Legendary)!]

[Madozhion has acquired Shadow Twice (Legendary)!]

The chat window at the top of the screen was in chaos.

->PayCashWoman: No way, after getting a legendary sword, they also obtained a complete legendary skill book?

->NewbieHater: What did they capture to get two legendary items? Could it be…a mythical raid?

->Chanoah: Ugh. It seems like the successful completion of the much-discussed demon raid… This happens as more mythical-grade raids emerge.

->HotBody: Will Heavenly Origin be conquered soon?

I whistled amidst the flood of chats.

“Oh, a mythical raid. Come to think of it, wasn’t the raid against that Count or something one part of it?”

It was speculated that the Ares Guild might have participated in this raid as well. As the fifth-ranked guild, it was natural for them to be involved.

“Ah.”

At that moment, I realized something.

“The recent secret plans in reality…must’ve been related to this mythical raid.”

I wasn’t even mentioned about it. While there were bloody information wars and large-scale conflicts between guilds over the mythical raid, my characters were hunting wild boars on Windbreak Highland.

Of course, someone might wonder why. Currently, my character Killian’s power was among the strongest in Revenge. Since we belonged to the same guild, isn’t it common sense to include me in a mythical-grade raid?

I could answer that question.

‘Yes.’

Indeed, there was a reason. No, conversely speaking, there wasn’t any reason to bring me along. Even if I joined Ares Guild, it didn’t mean I entered their boundaries. My character might be strong but within the guild, I was just a peripheral figure. If it were some insignificant guild with overwhelming power, then maybe things would’ve been different, but Ares was one of the top five large guilds in Revenge.

‘I need to pay more attention to human relationships.’

Revenge was a social game. It was also a political game. It wasn’t impossible to wage war trusting someone you had never met before, but it was very burdensome. In the virtual world, shallow connections could easily be discarded whenever desired. Of course, this was how most gaming communities operated, but Revenge was different. In ordinary games, such relationships couldn’t even be imagined…

In virtual worlds, superficial connections could be easily discarded whenever desired. Of course, this was typical behavior within gaming communities, but Revenge differed from other games due to the significant capital involved.

It happened approximately six years ago. A guild had been preparing for a siege to take over a flower shop. They spent vast amounts of money crafting siege weapons and recruiting guild members. The new recruits paid for premium features, leveled up, and farmed resources diligently.

At that time, there was a new member who joined their ranks. Typically, newcomers tended to stick out, but surprisingly, with his affable personality and quick wit, he instantly bonded with everyone like they were brothers. He even invited guildmates over for meals at his home or drinks outside the game world. As he was also a high-level ranker, he quickly became a central figure in the guild.

On the much-awaited day of the siege…

In just half a year, he became one of the guild executives and was assigned to pilot Giga Lincoln, a siege-class object developed with all the resources of the guild. However, he then proceeded to massacre his own allies, allowing another guild to capture their castle.

He had infiltrated as a spy for six months solely for that moment.

People might wonder what kind of game would allow something like this, but…that’s exactly what Revenge is about.

The amount of capital invested in Revenge far exceeded other games. Six months may seem long, but if someone offered you two or three hundred million won, it wouldn’t be hard to commit such treachery. One could consider it a temporary assignment, right? Moreover, accounts could be bought, sold, and even rented out, making it easier than ever.

No one can hold me accountable either.

The guild master went crazy searching for him, but he had already vanished without a trace. His contact information was fake, and the house where they met turned out to be rented under someone else’s name.

Many people questioned how this could happen with the God of Truth present, but Bugilma never lied. Besides, no one had asked if he’d been planted as a spy during the siege battle. Of course, such speculation might have arisen among players due to frequent in-game conversations.

At the end of the day, it’s just a game.

Truth and justice were applied differently within the game compared to reality, which made sense.

To put it bluntly, player versus killer (PK) couldn’t be equated with murder. Even labeling it as assault would be nonsensical. A game is a game, and everything occurring within it is part of its process.

There were ample reasons to consider deception, betrayal, theft, and even murder as part of gameplay mechanics.

“Hmm. I guess I should check it out myself.”

It was essential. With spies infiltrating guilds under false pretenses, how could one trust anyone encountered solely within the game? In the world where journalists, detectives, and even intelligence operatives were involved among guilds, playing recklessly like before wouldn’t suffice for proper guild management. It necessitated building relationships with people on a human-to-human level.

“Ah, meeting people through games isn’t really my thing…” He grumbled but knew he had no choice. Having discovered that his purchasing power decreased when buying items directly, he couldn’t afford to miss out on mythical-grade raids offering high-level drops.

“Well, I need to stop needing wild boar meat now. Login.”

I transitioned directly into Ardenia.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

As before, I put down the meat. The surroundings were quite noisy. There were dwarves packing luggage, water people smoking food, and elves preparing equipment—all of them were moving busily.

“By the way.” As I finished unloading the meat, I opened my mouth. Despite our relationship being based on meat, we had become close enough that I thought it was okay to ask this question: “Why are the monsters letting you live?”

“As expected…you guessed it.”

“Yes. Even for me, 100,000 is too many.”

The titanium mine was truly massive. It was so large that even the landworm, which was digging at a depth of 100 meters underground, encountered it by chance.

Even if it were built to house only ten thousand people, given its underground location, the entrance would have been well-constructed and maintained. If they had prepared beforehand, hiding inside quickly wouldn’t be impossible.

However…

It doesn’t make sense. Monsters aren’t blind.

Regardless of the circumstances, it’s implausible that monsters wouldn’t notice a crowd of one hundred thousand people seeking refuge underground. Even the orcs from Bronze Sword Manor chased us for tens of kilometers as we fled. While orc behavior might differ from these creatures here, there’s no way they could remain oblivious to such a large group hidden just beneath them.

Hyrin explained with resignation, “It happened over a year ago…”

The day the gate opened…

The mysterious elves emerging from gates had decimated the Crystal Alliance. Unlike the orcs that indiscriminately killed all humans except for one young woman, these elves didn’t actively harm members of the Ahin tribe.

“In fact, they went out of their way not to kill us.”

They incapacitated those who resisted fiercely and kidnapped them while herding the terrified ones like sheep. Some were isolated outside the city away from the vein, but most ended up imprisoned somewhere even more secluded. The titanium mines held the largest concentration of captives.

“We…were trapped here. We tried several times to band together and escape, but no matter how many we killed…their numbers never decreased. Only our ranks dwindled as more people got captured…”

Her words helped organize his thoughts.

I see. The monsters are absorbing crystals from the Crystal Alliance.

The most common way for monsters to increase their power was by claiming other spawn points, but that wasn’t the only method available to them. For example, orcs tamed wolf-type magic beasts as mounts, and Edward had raised elephant-type magic beasts. In particular, he’d been quite adept at utilizing human captives, which jae-yeon found out after interrogating some prisoners following the raid on the Cult of the Heavenly God’s flower shop. It was rather shocking information.

It’s not complicated.

Edward made use of human captives to kill high-rank warriors of the Cult of the Heavenly God with short respawn times, securing all the loot drops.

As he wasn’t a Player and lacked Favor from the Goddess, his drop rate was abysmal. However, that could be overcome by sheer volume. Killing enemies who surrendered rather than fighting back would allow for mass production of items like on an assembly line. He even fed the slain warriors of the Cult to magic beasts. While monster corpses eventually disappeared over time, it took only seconds to consume their brains, which were essential for the process of transforming them into magic beasts.

‘Ha, what kind of monster runs an item factory? This is truly mind-boggling…’

Likely, Edward spared the lives of the special boss World Tree and its elf minions to harness the power of the Crystal Alliance.

“Then we must rescue them first,” Han proposed.

Hyrin was at a loss for words due to this unexpected response, hesitating like a middle school student being scolded by their teacher.

“It doesn’t make sense…”

“Those monsters are so numerous and terrifying…”

“But look. He gave us meat to feed 100,000 people! Who knows what miracles he might perform!”

“No matter what, those elf hand cannons…”

The Ahjin tribe murmured amongst themselves. I couldn’t help but smile.

‘Yes. This is enough time wasted. I’ve spent too much time on my way.’

I didn’t want to persuade them further. After all, they didn’t necessarily need my help.

“Come out.” Therefore, I spoke these words, “Landworm.”

Grrrumble…

As the earth trembled with a heavy sound, the bustling underground city fell silent instantly. There was no time for them to question what was happening.

Krrraaang!

The land worm emerged as it collapsed the wall behind where food had been distributed. The debris and dust that should’ve scattered were held back by its immense control over earth elements, forming a solid path.

“Ahhh…!”

“Eeeek…!”

“What is that?! What the hell is that?!”

Despite my clear warning about the land worm, they couldn’t comprehend the situation immediately. Indeed, there’s a vast difference between hearing about something and witnessing it firsthand.

‘One would think they’d get used to this by now… But it truly is massive.’

The size of the land worm defied ordinary comprehension. It resembled a moving skyscraper.

It was like a winding hillside path. The overwhelming presence made it seem more like terrain or scenery rather than a living creature. One might casually describe its appearance as simply ‘revealing itself’, but this monster’s emergence transcended mere visibility. It felt akin to a natural phenomenon altering the landscape. Even I, who had seen it frequently, couldn’t help but feel awestruck; imagine the shock for those witnessing it unexpectedly.

Thud.

With a gentle push off the ground, the land worm soared tens of meters into the air. Its head moved to grasp me effortlessly.

Kooooo!

The mere movement of its head generated fierce gusts throughout the underground city. Observing the Ahins either rolling on the ground or crouching low, I instructed them:

“Go ahead first. Follow slowly.”

With these final words…

Kukwakwa-kwakwa-boom!

The land worm started moving towards the surface.