Episode 215
“The Moderates?”
-?
-How are the Moderates here?
-That seems like a lie, Captain.
-Should we just kill them?
-We’ll handle it.
-SNS address.
Viewers poured out suspicion at Pingpong’s claim of being part of the Moderates.
Of course, they had no intention of simply believing him, but it was difficult to be certain it was entirely a lie.
This was because this Cube of Hell did not belong to any specific faction.
“Tell me how you got in here.”
“I don’t know either! The Investigation Team examiner just sent me here without any explanation…”
“The examiner?”
“Yes! It was a man named Yak!”
“…Ah.”
Upon hearing the examiner’s name, Hanbit finally grasped the situation.
Yak, who had risen to the position of the Investigation Team with nothing but his bare hands.
His closest comrade was the examiner, Hylen.
'He’s not a child.'
The revenge Hylen, who had been disregarded by Ibella, might have thought of was simple.
To add even greater chaos to the test involving each other’s candidates.
I could roughly picture the scene of contacting the moderates—or more precisely, Yak, who was in charge of the candidate for the allied nation of Bastia—without even seeing it.
What was surprising was the fact that the main quests of other factions could be affected in this way.
Was it due to the update, or was it because of the exceptional existence known as the Black Dragon?
“How many players from your side have shown up?”
“Uh… roughly 30.”
“Really?”
If that is the case, the number of remaining players is about 70.
There may be some who have already died, but it wouldn't change much.
Hanbit moved his hand and checked the character information.
[Black Dragon-Lv.261]
[Title: None]
[Faction: Hardliners]
[Ranking:-]
Strength: 500(+100)
Agility: 500(+100
) Intelligence: 500(+100)
Stamina: 495(+99)
Remaining Stat Points: 0
Faction Points: 451
The result visible at a glance was even more surprising than expected.
This was because it was certainly known that leveling up was quite difficult from this point onward.
What particularly stood out was the item at the very bottom.
'They gave quite a lot.'
Alberto of the moderate faction, whom they had killed in front of the royal capital.
The faction points obtained from him, a member of the lower-ranking advance party, were 24.
However, scrolling through the logs, they had obtained an average of nearly 40 points from the players who had just died.
Assuming they were all members of the Adult Faction, they could conclude that the amount of points awarded varied by faction.
'It feels a bit iffy to kill them all.'
A simple choice that allowed them to discard trivial worries.
It wasn't so bad considering the faction points, but time was precious.
“Why, why are you looking at me like that?”
When they stared blankly, Pingpong stepped back with a flustered look. Watching
this, Hanbit lowered his sword and turned his gaze to the twins.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes!”
“Huh? Are we going?”
Noeul quickly followed, while Haneul, sensing the situation, moved accordingly.
Just as the three were about to leave, Pingpong hurriedly blocked their path.
“Wait a minute!”
Standing with his arms fully outstretched, his face looked quite desperate.
Hanbit aimed his sword and said,
“Move aside.”
“No! If I die right now, it’ll be a real accident!”
—?
—Then die.
—Blocking the path is the accident.
—Black Dragon, let’s sort this out before we go.
It was a back-and-forth of pleading, now even involving kneeling.
Hanbit sheathed his sword, sighed, and asked,
“What is it?”
“I have an item in my inventory that I spent my entire fortune on, but this isn’t treated as a quest field! I might drop it if I die! Please, take me with you! Anything will be of help!”
There was no trace of deceit in the way he approached, looking as if he were about to grab onto his pants leg.
Since mailboxes couldn't be used in combat zones, finding another way would have been difficult. It
really was just someone else’s business, but the fact that this place wasn't treated as a quest field was a variable.
'I had forgotten this.'
The gold and ring Hiyori dropped upon dying.
Since it was stated that enhanced PK penalties do not apply in quest fields, this Cube of Hell could be regarded as a regular field.
In other words, there was also a possibility that external players who had not taken the candidate test could intervene.
[Time Limit: 24 Hours]
The goal of the quest was to survive for 24 hours.
Looking at the time consumption, it flowed exactly like reality.
In other words, it meant that if things continued like this, they would have to endure another 23 hours and 20 minutes.
Considering the common debuff, the name "Cube of Hell" truly suited it.
However, they had absolutely no intention of holding out for that entire long time.
Hanbit turned off the broadcast microphone and said,
"What help can you offer?"
"I am a pure tank! I will stand at the front of your ranks and hold out as long as possible! Oh, and I also have a skill that allows for searching…"
Pingpong diligently packaged and listed his strengths.
Although Hanbit hadn't expected much, the content was better than he thought.
"Are you still suspicious? Shall I give you my personal details? I will reveal my name, age, home address, and company affiliation!"
"I don't need that. Cheonho, would you like to go over there?"
Grrr—!
Cheonho, who had been perched on Pingpong's shoulder, growled and headed toward Pingpong.
Then, he landed on the crown of Pingpong's head and nonchalantly held his head up.
"Uh…?"
"It's my summoned beast. If it shows any signs of trouble, it will be bitten, so you better behave yourself."
"Ah, understood!"
Pingpong nodded with a grim expression.
Hanbit headed to the next area with the twins.
They were able to collect as much gold and items as possible that appeared to belong to the deceased players. *
Crunch*—as
Hanbit's party advanced along the pitch-blackened forest path, they reached a slightly darker space.
Just then, a message popped up along with an alarm.
[Area Effect: Disappearance removed.]
[Area Effect: Taunt applied.]
[Strongly attracts the attention of monsters within this area.]
-Huh?
-Shit;
-But this place is pretty burned too?
-Can't you see how damn wide it is?
The chat window buzzed with noise at the appearance of a new debuff.
While the area near the boundary was certainly burned by the explosion, the real damage was inside anyway.
“Oh, I can hear!”
Just then, Haneul, who had been rubbing his ears, brightened up.
Both of his lost ears had returned to normal.
Noeul had regained his lost sight, and Hanbit had regained his right arm.
And.
“Oh!”
Pingpong, too, raised his voice while stroking his head.
It seemed that the empty space on his head was indeed the realm of vanishing.
“C-could you please step out for a moment…?”
Grrr!
Despite that plea, Cheonho bared his teeth and refused to move.
Hanbit turned his gaze to the twins and spoke.
“You could die instantly. Be especially careful, Haneul.”
“Yes!”
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to use Mr. Takgu as a proper shield.” He clearly understood the reason for bringing Pingpong along,
recalling the situation from earlier that had been conveyed via message during the journey. “Mr. Takgu…” Pingpong helplessly lowered his head. Seeing that Noeul also showed no particular wariness, it seemed unlikely that any unnecessary clash would occur. Swoosh— Hanbit took out the summoning stone imbued with madness from his inventory again. As soon as he used it, ten elite members of the Madness Legion appeared. “Protect us from the surroundings.” Ta-ta! With the command, the scattered legion took positions while maintaining a certain distance. Watching this, Haneul surveyed the surroundings and asked, “Lord Black Dragon, did you come here because this area is the closest?” It was a question asked as if he had sensed the danger of the place. Certainly, voluntarily coming to a place like this, which swarms monsters, was not a normal choice. However, the reason Hanbit had deliberately come to this area was to increase the ‘possibility.’ Checking the broadcast microphone, which was still off, he spoke his plan. “Listen up, everyone. We are going to find a key fragment.” “A key fragment?” Everyone’s eyes turned to the somewhat unexpected word. Hanbit continued speaking while drawing a simple diagram on the ground. “It is impossible to hold out here for 24 hours. Towards the very end, even a slight touch will kill you. So, we are going to find another way to escape.” “An other way to escape?” “Oh…!” Haneul looked puzzled, while Pingpong’s face lit up. Noeul, who had been looking at the drawing of the key fragment on the ground, looked up and asked, “If we collect the fragments, will a key leading to the exit appear?” “No, think of it as the key to open the artifact room. If you get your hands on that artifact, the cube will collapse, so you will ultimately be able to escape.” “An artifact?” An artifact existing in the Cube of Hell. It was an item with such strict acquisition conditions that even the investigation team had not been able to find it.
“The first piece of the key will come out of this area. For now, let’s try to take out as many as possible.”
Ddddddd—!
Just then, a fierce vibration began to shake the ground.
The sound came from the dark forest that had not been ablaze.
It was the masters of this area.
“I will defend!”
Pingpong took a shield from his inventory and stood at the front.
The surface glittered with traces of white ore.
Hanbit knew the true identity of that object.
'It’s no wonder they looted their entire fortune for it.'
The Guardian’s Shield.
It was equipment with the effect of reducing damage to allies within the area, while the shield user absorbed that damage instead.
It felt a bit strange that one could buy that with money.
Swoosh—
A thin, spherical white curtain spread outward.
Pingpong verbally conveyed the effect.
“If you stay inside here, I will take the damage instead! I have a personal shield, so feel free to fight!”
Crunch—!
As that voice spread, the tree in front collapsed.
There, a swarm of monsters, swarming pitch black, revealed itself.
[Evil-infused Hound (Lv. 236)]
[Evil-infused Kobold (Lv. 237)]
[Evil-infused Venomous Mantis (Lv. 251)]
[Evil-infused Red Boar (Lv. 253)]
-Ugh;
-Damn, there are so many;
-Is that level for real?
-Are we going to fight those later too?
-Us?
-We'll make a high-class run.
-Aren't all the other players already dead?
Stronger than the monsters seen in the Realm of Loss.
Hanbit, having turned on the broadcast microphone, gripped his sword and stepped forward.
“You guys fight within the shield's range. Don't worry about HP and MP. I'll take care of it later.”
“Yes!”
“Oh, understood!”
The morale of the three soared at the welcome news.
Whoosh—!
In the meantime, a storm of fire erupted from Hanbit's sword blade as well.
Since using Elemental Awakening consumes half of one's HP and MP, it wasn't a skill worth using in this situation.
However, as I had informed everyone just moments ago, there was a way to obtain the 'healing' effect.
Ta-da!
Hanbit kicked off his leg and stopped as he passed Pingpong, who was holding a shield.
Then, he swung his sword widely horizontally forward.
Whoosh!
A storm of flames erupted along the long trajectory.
It engulfed the horde of monsters swarming low to the ground.
Whoosh!
Screech!
Dozens of them colliding head-on met their demise in a single blow.
However, those behind him did not suffer instant death.
Ta-da!
Hanbit kicked off his leg again and plunged into the horde of monsters.
Whoosh!
Slash!
His sword was swung at high speed, accompanied by the activated Sword Dance of the Gale.
This time, magic was involved as well.
Ddddd!
Crunch!
Shadows rose up and bound the monsters' limbs, while spheres of gravity crushed them.
[Experience points increased by 230,000.]
[Experience points increased by 250,000.]
[Experience points increased by 290,000.]
[Experience points increased by 300,000.]
… … .
Experience points were piling up at an incredible speed.
Despite engaging in such a vast battle, not a few monsters had escaped.
Swish—!
Bang—!
As instructed, the twins were fighting within the shield's area.
Slice—!
The Renfa Ring obtained from Hiyori was proving to be excellent.
In any case, it seemed they could handle the situation sufficiently without needing any help.
Swish—!
Hanbit advanced forward as if dancing like a madman, even while grasping the situation.
From hounds seeking his life from every direction to mantises swinging sharp, venomous arms, there was no room for complacency.
Just as that chaotic battle was well underway.
Thud—!
Something caught Hanbit's eye as he pierced the heart of a kobold.
Ssss—
A massive snake approached from the top of the hill, twisting its body gracefully.
It was the target he had been searching for.
[Elite: Evil-possessed Giant Snake (Lv.???)]
-A snake? -Isn't that a mythical serpent? -Do you think just adding "Giant" makes it
okay ? -Why is there no level? -You're saying that isn't the boss? Having confirmed the name, Hanbit immediately kicked off and returned to where his party was. They, too, had mostly finished clearing the area.
“I found it. Let’s go that way.”
Hanbit led everyone toward where the Giant Snake was.
“Wow.”
“It’s really big.”
“Oh…”
The three people reacted in surprise at the sight of the snake slowly gliding toward them.
Hanbit sheathed his sword and walked forward.
“I’ll just go get eaten for a moment. Attack my eyes when I signal.”
“…Huh?”
“Huh?”
The group’s reaction was delayed as they momentarily failed to understand.
In the meantime, Hanbit had already kicked off.
“No, wait! Lord Black Dragon!”
*Crack*—the
voice rang out as the snake’s maw opened wide.
Before anyone could take action, Hanbit threw himself into it.
*Thump*—the
snake’s jaw closed tightly without any surprise.
Haneul froze, his hand still outstretched.
