Episode 7. The Righteous Rogue (4)
Ted had been extremely dissatisfied with the month of his Second Class Change. It was because leveling up had been impossible.
But from the moment he obtained a quest from Raiden, a good idea came to Ted, and he began to draw up a plan.
‘If things go well, I can raise a few levels during these 30 days.’
Non-combat classes could level up through methods other than hunting, and Thief was such a non-combat class.
And so, Ted had spent the week preparing for today.
Right now.
He raised the brush to put the finishing touch on his painting.
‘This time, I'll steal the identity token.’
Having just succeeded in stealing the secret ledger, Ted used the Steal skill again.
‘Huh, a Sauron Coin?’
For a Sauron Coin to appear?
But he had already decided what to steal first.
Ted squeezed his eyes shut and used the
The level difference between Ted and God Juntae was a whopping 200. Furthermore, God Juntae had deep ties with the security force.
Ted's crime value was 6,100. He was a true villain of a criminal who had killed 61 users.
‘So the crisis value must be incredibly high too. The moment I'm caught and seized, I'm done for.’
In Face Chronicle, there existed something called
It was designed to prevent abusing, analyzing users' psychology and situations to assign values to combat and other situations.
PK and theft were influenced in their rewards based on how high that
Ted's theft was happening in a situation where that crisis value was extremely high.
Because Ted succeeded in stealing under extreme circumstances, explosive experience came pouring down.
‘The cooldown for Steal is 10 seconds. But it fills 20% experience in 10 seconds? What kind of windfall is this?’
Upon reaching level 200, Ted had distributed his stats to set his maximum mana at exactly 400.
And before coming here, he had drunk something called a
A potion that increased maximum mana by 200 for 30 minutes. Thus, Ted's maximum mana became 600.
100 mana had drained away via
Remaining mana: 500.
Since each use of Steal consumed 10 mana, 50 steals were possible.
Power-leveling during the Second Class Change period! It had become reality.
But then, another gift came to Ted, who had been so crazed about leveling up that he couldn't think of anything else.
‘I can steal Sauron Coins too!’
It was the Sauron Coin.
Ted had wondered if his luck was unusually good, but soon changed his mind.
‘Come to think of it... this is only natural. He must have scraped up an enormous amount of Sauron Coins in this underground mall, right?’
Something suddenly flashed through Ted's mind.
‘If I steal all the Sauron Coins from this guy, I can buy the D-rank solo skill orb,
The 40-coin skill orb
But whether he could buy it was still uncertain.
The number of Sauron Coins discernible in a single
He had no way of knowing how many Sauron Coins the guy possessed.
‘
From that moment on, Ted spammed the Steal skill without rest every 10 seconds.
It was when Ted had succeeded in stealing five times.
‘It works!’
The level-up window, which he hadn't seen in a long time, popped up.
But this was only the beginning. He had to squeeze out every last drop he could.
‘
Ted clenched his teeth and rapid-fired Steal.
“Phew, what the hell is with today's sales volume.”
God Juntae smacked the back of the undead merchant's head with a thwack! Though the sales volume was no different from any other day, he didn't seem pleased.
And as he slowly yawned, trying to leave the underground mall.
He still had no idea.
How many coins were being sucked out of his inventory at this very moment.
‘
At first, having to constantly touch God Juntae's body had been unpleasant.
But now, looking at it, that body couldn't be more beautiful. So luscious, shining everywhere...!
After dozens of steals, Ted checked the Sauron Coins that had been sucked into his inventory.
A special coin that can only be used in Count Sauron's Territory.
—Coins in possession: 32
Among the things checked with the
‘Why aren't they showing up more often?’
However, Sauron Coins didn't appear every time. When they didn't, Ted had to steal unnecessary money or junk items. Even after nearly 40 attempts, he had only gathered a mere 22.
‘Hmm, I'm still short 8.’
When Ted had gathered 33 coins.
At the same time, Ted's level had reached 206.
‘It can't be helped. Just two more steals and...’
20 mana remained. There were 20 seconds left on his stealth limit.
It was the moment Ted was about to attempt his final two steals.
Steal Chance 95%
‘Huh?’
Ted's eyes trembled as he saw the status window that appeared.
A chance to steal 8 coins at once had appeared in the status window. It seemed proficiency had risen from his repeated steals.
‘This is a chance... but this is pretty dangerous.’
A 50% chance.
In that fleeting instant, Ted began to agonize, rolling dice in his head.
The Great Thief Tisai had given such advice.
And Ted, too, never stole items with less than a 90% chance. Because the probability of getting caught was high.
‘Should I steal this? Or not?’
Originally, Ted had planned to run away the moment he stole
And since the opponent was a user, he had planned to use this as leverage to blackmail him.
Something like, reduce my rent before I report your secret mall usage.
But faced with 40 coins right before his eyes, his mind changed.
‘My luck. 50%. Will I succeed?’
Whenever this happened, Ted hesitated.
As mentioned repeatedly, Ted's luck was usually not that bad.
At rock-paper-scissors, his odds of winning or losing were similar.
Like others, he occasionally obtained rare items from killing monsters.
That was the norm.
But now was not that norm.
At a very important moment, unlike the norm—
his luck had plunged straight through the earth and into the inner core.
‘If I'm caught stealing, things will get complicated...’
All this deliberation ended in one second.
And that was because
‘
At that moment, Ted glanced at the undead merchant he had haggled with over a single coin.
That guy who had sold him goods while taking his 1 coin in the end.
Even if the theft went wrong and the worst situation came, if it was that item....
Soon, the resolved Ted used
A message announcing success appeared.
But in the status window that appeared beside it, there were two crowns.
‘Damn it...’
In other words, the steal had succeeded, but the user had noticed.
The feared event had finally occurred.
‘Hah... damned 50%... so much for an easy ride.’
Ted pressed hard on his temple with his hand. His inner energy was still alive and well, as always....
“Hey? Who is it! Which bastard!”
The Masked Man, that is, God Juntae, flailed his arms around in fright.
Ted reflexively dodged.
But by then, the duration of Ted's
Soon, Ted appeared from the empty space.
“What! You teddy bear-headed bastard... did you steal my stuff?”
God Juntae didn't know Ted.
Even when they were at the Academy, Ted had only hidden and watched when this guy showed up.
From God Juntae's perspective, Ted's body was faintly glowing red. It was the mark of a
“Hah, this is really absurd.”
God Juntae chuckled upon seeing Ted.
“Hey. I used to be a deputy captain of the security force in another territory back in the day. And you thought about stealing from someone like me? You're really dead, you cowardly little thief bastard!”
God Juntae stretched out both hands.
White rope lines shot out from his palms and were caught in his hands.
It was a skill Ted knew well.
‘Isn't that
The skill
A skill used by security guards, a terrifying skill that halved all stats of a bound criminal for a while.
‘He was a deputy captain of the security force in another territory? I had no such information....’
Even Ted, who had gathered information on God Juntae throughout this week, was hearing this for the first time.
‘Huh, the empty past information. So he had been a deputy captain of the security force in the meantime... my luck is really terrible.
With his mind set, Ted escaped the underground mall. And then he began to run through the night streets of the Count's territory with all his might.
“Stop right there! You petty thief bastard!”
God Juntae, whose class was Security Guard, also used footwork skills to chase Ted.
His level was in the 400s.
He was fast, if not faster than Ted, and certainly not slower.
Because Ted knew this, he used
“You run disgustingly well, you little thief... but you won't get away.”
God Juntae clenched his teeth and unleashed his footwork skills.
Having done big and small jobs in the security force for several years, he had caught hundreds of criminals.
Therefore, he knew the psychology and habits of a fleeing person.
‘He'll move according to my plan!’
He poured out skills to make Ted flee where he wanted him to go.
“
Various throwing skills barely missed Ted.
Then, as if he had been waiting, Ted turned and ran in the direction he was lured.
‘That's right, you son of a bitch. That way is a dead end!’
Soon, God Juntae cornered Ted in a dead-end alley.
“Got you! You little thief!
God Juntae's swift skill, despite being in the 400s, stuck to Ted's legs even though he dodged.
And then it hardened stiffly.
The two skills had rendered Ted completely immobile.
“Huff... huff... you're finished, you little thief.”
Catching his breath, God Juntae walked over and continued.
“I checked on the way here, and wow. You really took me for a ride? I nearly got ruined!”
God Juntae had checked while running. Dozens of coins had disappeared from his inventory. And his identity token and secret ledger were gone too.
He almost got robbed blind.
“Hah. This is really absurd. Well, the coins are one thing, but I don't know who put you up to stealing my ledger, you teddy bear. You seem to be a user too, but you probably don't have much game experience, so you think this is just a game? You'll think differently after a taste of prison food.”
God Juntae approached Ted triumphantly.
“Do I look like a beginner?”
Then Ted, who had not opened his mouth once, spoke.
“Oh my, yes, yes. Our friend here, you must not be a beginner. Well, you must have played the game a long time, but you made a little mistake, didn't you? Coming to this deserted corner exactly where I led you? Hahahaha!”
God Juntae was looking down on Ted completely like a cornered rat.
As if he himself had become a cat who cornered him, he was toying with him.
God Juntae had been able to feel it especially during the chase. The opponent was slow for a thief. His evasion sense was good, though.
“What do you mean? I'm exactly the one who dragged you here. If you use a gun inside the territory, it draws attention, doesn't it?”
“This bastard, losing his mind, what is he saying....”
But then something unexpected happened. Ted pulled out the Black and White holstered at his waist and aimed it at him like lightning.
Bang!
Soon, the bullet flew and lodged itself in God Juntae's body.
It happened in an instant.
‘Huk, what!’
God Juntae couldn't believe this situation.
With a single bullet, 40% of his HP had vanished despite his remarkably high Vitality stat from his Security Guard experience.
“I've played this game longer than you, bastard.”
Finished speaking, Ted severed the Binding Rope tying his feet with a bullet.
Soon, his figure began to faintly disappear from God Juntae's sight.