Episode 5. The Unknown Man X (1)
Bang—!
A massive balloon burst as if deflating.
Of course, it wasn't a balloon, but humans. They were streamers broadcasting toxic content.
"Huh?"
"What? Those guys just popped!"
"Is that content too?"
They had suddenly popped and shriveled up dead.
'Since they're dead, they won't be able to log in for a while.'
Death penalty.
One hour and twelve minutes per level.
The toxic streamers, who looked well over Level 150 at a glance, probably wouldn't be able to log in for over a week.
'Well, I can just kill them again when they come back.'
So there was no problem.
From that day on, Ted continued hunting in the plains for a week, exactly 17 hours a day.
He had been quite skilled during that time.
On Day 3, when he reached Level 60, a Vision stat was created.
—Additional Stat: [Vision] is being created.
Create it?
'Oh.'
It came out faster than he thought.
All users of Face Chronicle start the game with four stats: Strength, Agility, Vitality, and Intelligence.
However, depending on one's efforts, additional stat categories could be obtained. Like
Because Ted had been focusing and using his eyes, he met certain criteria and created the Vision stat.
Indeed, once the Vision stat was created, he gradually began to see enemies that were further away.
After that, Ted poured most of the stat points he earned over the next few days into Vision.
'The farther I see, the more I level up.'
If Ted's field of vision had been roughly 100 meters at most until then, after investing about 150 points into the Vision stat, he could see up to 180 meters.
Given that his gun was Black and White, his vision was his range.
'I'll pick off only Minotaurs.'
Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang!
So Ted became able to selectively hunt only the monsters he wanted to catch over a wider area.
Entering Area 2 of the Ssauron Plains, when his Vision stat exceeded 250, he could see roughly up to 250 meters.
'Well, look at that? Do you see those guys?'
He could even see men and women practicing headbutts in the forest on the other side of Area 2.
Bang—!
Ted took out his anger by reducing a nearby tree to splinters!
Squelch.
Perhaps moisture had formed on the scope; his vision rippled.
By Day 6, Ted's level had finally surpassed 80. In addition, his Musket Mastery proficiency had risen considerably.
< Musket Mastery > Passive
Proficiency increases when using musket weapons.
Attack power increases by 2% for every 1% increase in proficiency.
Around then, Ted's attack power had exceeded 6,649.
In his previous playthrough, the Ted at Level 637 had possessed an attack power of 7,425.
In just five days, he had roughly caught up to the attack power he had previously built up over ten years of play.
Now, the bullets Ted fired were by no means weak.
They were enough to pierce through a monster and fly on to pierce another.
'Ugh... Sorry...'
As it turned out, he was unintentionally killing more and more people. Bullets that pierced through monsters ended up shooting people too.
By Day 7, the number had grown quite a bit.
He had 700 crime points from the seven streamers he killed first, but now he had killed 40 more.
'I'm not originally a bad guy......'
He would probably have to move around carefully for the time being. Avoid running into guards or getting close to the Holy Order.
However, Ted was gradually becoming a bad guy without even realizing it.
On Day 8, when he reached 99% experience at Level 89.
"Huh? What! Who killed my mob!"
Ted had accidentally shot and killed the last hit on a monster another user was hunting.
'Huh?'
That was the beginning of his evil deeds(惡行).
Come to think of it, there was no reason he had to refrain from taking last hits.
'More exp. More level ups. To become a ranked player, it's best to take everything I can eat.'
Eat anything and you'll surely get sick.
Conversely, if eating something wouldn't make you sick, you had to eat everything. Last hits happened to be soft cream puffs.
Not only was there no one in such a beginner hunting ground who could take revenge on him, but last hits also didn't affect crime points.
'Oops. Sorry.'
'Ah, I'm so sorry... Huh? Sorry again. I really have no shame.'
Ted, deliberately repeating things he should apologize for!
From then on, if there was nothing to hunt, Ted stole last hits too.
Fueled by his will to level up, he was truly learning bad habits.
"A bullet definitely flew from around here and last-hit mine!"
"Are you sure? There's nothing there."
"You're right... But looking at the angle the monster's head was pierced, it seemed like it came from here...."
Users occasionally came nearby, but Ted wasn't caught. Ted camouflaged his entire body with leaves on a branchy tree.
In Face Chronicle, there existed something called
It wasn't a stealth-type magic used as a skill, but a value created by the user hiding themselves. The higher this was, the less monsters and users could find the user.
A high-level user with keen senses would have seen through it instantly.
But the users in Area 2 of the Ssauron Plains, around Level 100, couldn't find Ted even when he was right above their heads.
Like that, Ted hunted monsters tirelessly for another two days.
And. Finally. Day 10.
Title: [Trigger-Happy Sniper] acquired!>
—Bonus HP: 10%
—Active Skill created! < Trigger-Happy Mosquito Bullet >
'A title?'
Something unexpected popped up. An achievement that even Ted, who had played the game for 10 years, was hearing for the first time.
'Well, who would shoot 10,000 in 10 days.'
Around then, Ted was seriously contemplating whether he should go to a psychiatrist. Because after lying prone and shooting guns for 10 days, he was starting to see Orcs in real life.
Goblins walking on his breakfast... Orcs bathing in his doenjang jjigae to that extent.
'Still. My level. Went up a lot.'
The results were extremely satisfying. Level 99 in 10 days.
It was a leveling speed nearly 30 times faster than his previous playthrough. It was probably unprecedented even within Face Chronicle.
Fwip—! Thwack!
Just then, an Orc archer's arrow from the plains happened to embed itself right in the middle of Ted's head.
Ted's HP instantly dropped by 20%. In the chaos of the plains, a few more arrows flew at Ted.
'So I can still get hit even here. Then... shall I try using this once?
Bang—!
Ted cast the skill and fired his gun.
But from Black and White, instead of a bullet, a bizarre-looking mosquito popped out.
Bzzzzzzz————
The mosquito flew slowly into the distance and landed on the back of the neck of... not an Orc, but a user.
"Kurk!"
Soon the user let out a death scream and collapsed dead. He had taken damage in the 800s.
Although... the desired target had missed, Ted's HP surged up.
'This is it!'
< Trigger-Happy Mosquito Bullet [C-Grade Exclusive] > Active / Cooldown: 10 minutes / Mana Cost: 100
Fires a
Mosquito Damage: 10% of user's damage
Mosquito HP Absorption Rate: 50% of attack damage
—Rapport with the mosquito increases every time proficiency rises by 1%.
The exclusive skill
The mosquito was so stupid that it couldn't distinguish between friend and foe, but once it landed somewhere, it dealt devastating damage.
Originally, the Trigger-Happy Mosquito Bullet was an extremely mediocre skill.
When a priest's heal raised HP by 25% or 35%, this at best allowed for about 5% HP absorption.
But when that skill met Black and White at +19, its efficiency was flipped upside down.
Currently, Level 99 Ted had an attack power of 8,276.
5% was in the 400s, and this was half of Ted's HP.
Every 10 minutes, Ted could recover half of his HP.
Thus, Ted steadily grinded his way to Level 99.
'Alright! Now I need to catch a boss.'
In Face Chronicle, every time the hundred-digit changed, you had to defeat a boss monster to raise the level cap.
The reason Ted had reached Level 600 by defeating the Three Sea Dragon Gods in the past was the same.
'There are no boss monsters in the Ssauron Plains... I'll have to go somewhere else for a moment.'
Just as Ted was trying to clear away the branches and leaves stuck all over his body.
—Kruaaaack!
A hideous monstrous cry made every being on the plains stop in an instant.
"Gasp! It's a monster!"
"Huhuh? What is that?"
"Kyaaack! It's a boss monster!"
A being descending upon Area 2 from the sky, flapping massive bat wings with thick horns.
A Level 300-range boss monster had appeared in the skies above Area 2 of the Ssauron Plains.
It was a strange occurrence. Junior Balrogs were not monsters you could find just anywhere, as they only appeared through Demon Realm summons.
'Don't tell me someone opened a Demon Realm Bundle?'
Suddenly, something came to mind regarding its appearance.
A consumable item that could summon a Junior Balrog anywhere. If not for that, there was no reason for it to suddenly appear here.
"Uwaaack!"
"Save me!"
Then Junior Balrog raised its hand and fired
Soon, Area 2 became a mess. Monsters and humans alike chose to flee.
Balrog fired Demon Light Bullets at every being that turned its back. Users or monsters hit by the Demon Light Bullets vanished without a trace.
'The fact that someone opened a Demon Realm Bundle... means they have a purpose. Who around here would have such a thing?'
Then Ted spotted some guys on the other side of Area 2 holding cams and filming the scene.
'Found them.'
Those bastards filming the destruction of the beginner hunting ground by Junior Balrog. They were Paprika streamers.
'A week has passed, so they're back.'
At a glance, the symbol on their armor shoulders looked familiar. They were those attention-seekers Ted had punished ten days ago.
'Well, that's perfect timing.'
It was an unexpected gain. There was no need to go far to catch a boss.
Ted pulled the trigger.
* * *
Paprika TV had grown rapidly after meeting Face Chronicle.
Accordingly, countless people began applying to become streamers to earn money and attention. In that red ocean, differentiation of content was necessary for them to survive.
In such a situation, a very bizarre group had recently begun to emerge....
That streamer team's name was Pateuk, the
They needed attention and money, so they began filming broadcasts with incredible concepts:
Swapping monsters' body parts, eating monsters' private parts raw, using female streamers to frame male NPCs as sex offenders. Such bizarre content.
Perhaps because it was certainly distinctive, they quickly became a popular streamer team and rapidly rose in value.
The CEO and guild master of the Paprika Special Forces,
'Now if I just get a fief, I'll make a fortune!'
He had even been preparing for a siege recently.
To devour the Countdom of Ssauron, where Ted was currently staying!
So Chalsu used a few underhanded tricks to occupy the castle.
First, he made the guild-affiliated streamers cause havoc in the Countdom of Ssauron.
Additionally, he carried out sabotage in the Ssauron Plains, a beginner hunting ground.
'That plain is too wide... If all those users jump into the siege, it becomes difficult.'
The havoc was effective. In fact, they had reduced the number of users in the Ssauron Plains by nearly half in just a week.
The Paprika Special Forces made videos with toxic content to earn profit while also reducing the number of users belonging to the Countdom of Ssauron.
It had been a two-birds-one-stone business.
However. Chalsu, the master of Pateuk who should have been delighted, had been in a very bad mood lately.
"What? Our guys died?"
The Pateuk-affiliated streamers who had been causing havoc in Area 1 of the Ssauron Plains with last-hit content.
Such streamers had all died.
He called the dead ones and asked them. How they died. But their answers were all the same: 'I was just dead at some point.'
From that, Chalsu sensed something was off.
'Shit... The Countdom of Ssauron must have recruited a decent user.'
Chalsu named the bastard X.
The streamers' levels were each in the 200s.
They were personnel deployed to harass users around Level 50 in Plains Area 1.
But Level 200 users who had undergone their second class advancement were dying in one hit? And so quickly that they didn't even know the cause?
'X must be at least a Level 400 user.'
So he obtained the item
By chance, videos of novice users being wiped out by the Demon Realm Bundle were popular content. Even if they couldn't kill a Level 400 user, it was perfect for uncovering their identity and raising content revenue!
But....
"Junior Balrog died in three minutes?"
"Yes, Master..."
"You crazy bastard! If it died in three minutes, we took a huge loss! Don't you know one
"I'm sorry."
"Ha......"
A whopping thirty million won had vanished into thin air.
Chalsu let out a deep sigh.
'X, who the hell is this bastard? I need to kill him quickly. The siege is coming up soon, and it'll be a problem if people keep thinning out like this. But I can't just leave the Ssauron Plains alone either.'
At this rate, unless he took personal action, causing havoc would be difficult for the time being.
Besides, there was one more reason he had to take matters into his own hands.
'Surely X hasn't discovered
There, Chalsu had invested his entire fortune of 50,000 gold in preparation.
With
But what if X went to Area 4 and unearthed it?
'I'm ruined in one shot.'
The opponent's estimated level was 500.
In other words, the Count of Ssauron had likely hired a Level 500 ranked player to stop Pateuk's havoc. An expert who would rank within the nation's top 600 domestically!
Then all he had to do was send a Level 550.
"Yunho."
Chalsu, who had returned to reality, called someone.
— Yes, hyung.
"Go kill one person for me."
Nam Yunho. Level 551. Domestic ranking: 231st.
His username was
He was a user with such monstrous physical specs that he could take on three Level 500s alone. Moreover, he was a skilled player who had placed as runner-up in some kingdom's martial arts tournament two years ago.
Chalsu decided to send him.
'Whew, this will put my mind at ease.'
Now the havoc could return to normal.
Furthermore, there would be no chance of
Because Roan would definitely catch and kill X.