Chapter 303
“Have the Ashiath bastards gone mad or something?”
An urgent quest appeared. A quest that could be done right now, no, that had to be done.
A quest that hinged on the nation’s destruction.
If started late, there’s no knowing how the snowball would roll.
“Atura suddenly… why…? Those Ashiath bastards, really.”
After the early phase, quests related to Atura hardly appear.
So there’s no reason to push the Atura front.
Both sides lose.
One side lacks quests, the other side gets a quest to stop it but with no reward.
Meaning, during this anomalous history book period, the resources to be taken from Atura have already run dry.
“If there was something special, we would have gotten a reward for stopping it too.”
“Then the other side is really attacking without a reason.”
“No way, isn’t it ‘that person’ coming back? From the train? Didn’t they say he was up to something?”
“…….”
The two Daran noble participants wore grave expressions.
A chill running down their spines froze their expressions.
It’s unusual.
“If that person really came, his aim might really be to destroy Daran. We must be careful.”
“…….”
“First, to Atura.”
“Let’s both go.”
“Okay.”
Through the information in the quest, they inferred the situation.
Given Atura’s nature where any change in the front line triggers a council quest that very day, since there was no quest in the previous round, it’s almost certain that Ashiath initiated the attack in this round.
The time elapsed so far is 3 out of 4 hours.
So, in just 3 hours, Atura’s front line has been pushed severely.
“Weren’t there three heroes on Ashiath’s side?”
“We Daran have five, Ashiath three. But ‘that person’ killed one from Ashiath’s side and one from Daran’s side.”
“Really….”
Impressive. Just a brute.
It’s not for nothing they felt a chill.
That person’s existence makes even the two pros of Daran freeze up, naturally.
It makes one afraid to even utter his name.
“Then that means Ashiath has two, and there’s a very high chance that person is involved in this Atura.”
“Not only that. He wouldn’t be able to push the front line alone to the point where a quest pops up like this….”
“…….”
“He might have incited and brought participants from the train.”
“Incited?”
“Yes. Perhaps we might have to face dozens now. Those numerous participants on the train.”
How he brought them isn’t important.
Isn’t luring people a piece of cake for a devil?
There wasn’t another reason for them to be excessively wary of Seojun.
In Daran, there are four noble hero participants and one participant from a guild based in Daran.
And this guild side participant shared train information with them, where they heard that the Divine Sword warehouse had been looted.
Truly devil-like, isn’t it?
No matter how justifiable it might have been before.
Since they’ve seen it before….
“Is it possible to stop?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why is that?”
“We’ll have to go and ask now.”
“Can we survive?”
“Uh. We’ll have to try. But first. Let’s stop Daran’s destruction. Somehow.”
“If it’s defense… haha. I’ll have to prepare to die.”
Their heroes are nobles of Daran.
And nobles of Daran never flee to save themselves alone.
Thus.
Even if they don’t want to die, even if they couldn’t contribute much, they must scatter and die here.
They have no choice but to show such a sight, wouldn’t you say?
“Let’s brace ourselves.”
“Let’s at least trip him up.”
“What if we at least behead that person?”
They arrived at Atura with their minds already prepared for the worst outcome of being eliminated from the history book.
“Hello, noble sirs.”
They met the participant from the Thief Guild who had arrived first.
Along with shocking news.
“Do you know that there is only one hero in Atura right now?”
***
Seojun had been diligently slaying soldiers for the past two hours.
Because it seemed unlikely that the NPCs would summon the Daran participants over a minor crisis.
The participant pushing the front line was alone. There was neither enemy nor ally.
But that was rather comfortable.
There was no reason to hide his damage. The same went for managing his stamina.
He now had an item that boosted pure damage by 30%.
Since the dark master buff didn’t increase his damage much, it was the most efficient.
The second item was lifesteal.
Without worrying about getting hit, he could just deal with the soldiers as quickly as possible.
The third item was armor that granted temporary invincibility.
This is insurance. It allows him to rampage even more freely.
Since the two items excluding the weapon also included special stats like movement speed, it was possible for Seojun alone to push the front line absurdly.
And the result is them.
“Brothers? Let’s have a chat.”
Finally, they came. From a slight distance.
Two of them.
‘I thought all four would come? Well, it doesn’t matter.’
Though he spent the last two hours pushing the front line to save 100 points, it wasn’t bad.
After all, he had learned through his conversation with Pahyeoni that the quest’s proper start would happen on day 9.
Seojun just needed to enter Daran before then. At least, that was the end of today’s task.
Two pros approached Seojun.
They didn’t come close. Just like when they met before.
With Seojun’s current movement speed, even this slight distance was dangerous, but they didn’t know that.
Information is this important.
“Hello, Seojun-nim. Haha. We met last time, right?”
“That’s right, brother.”
“Your tone is a bit like an Ashiath NPC. Ugh… my head.”
It was a playful atmosphere.
And Seojun noticed that they were trying to deliberately hide their extreme tension by creating that atmosphere.
‘It’s understandable to be tense, but they’re too tense, aren’t they?’
Seojun is alone. So from their perspective, he should indeed be more threatening. Because he pushed the front line that much.
But is that something to make them so tense that even Seojun could notice at a glance?
They could think, if things go south, they could just run away, couldn’t they?
‘There must be something more.’
Those two could be the ones related to Daran’s passage.
“Brothers. Are you here to fight?”
“Haha, no.”
“If the front line goes just a bit further, the gorge ends. What appears after the gorge is a vast plain that can go anywhere and is Daran’s territory. An invasion war will break out. And you’re saying you didn’t come to stop that?”
“It’s not like we must fight to stop our Kael brother’s advance, is it.”
Ho-oh.
“What do you mean by that?”
Seojun thought things were going well, but he didn’t lower his guard.
Rather, because it was going well, it was dangerous.
“Do you perhaps want something? Kael brother?”
‘Are they testing me?’
No matter how strange Seojun’s behavior, it’s rational to consider that there’s another reason for pushing Atura rather than because he wants something from them.
In the history book, you never know what can happen.
Information is scarce and there’s no community.
Yet they pinpoint what he wants like this.
‘Information. Ah.’
A strange light flickered in Seojun’s eyes.
‘There is a guild-affiliated participant in Daran.’
What if that participant is related to this quest?
If they’re a participant related to a quest that has about grasped the situation, they would be wary of anyone suddenly coming to Daran.
In that sense, Seojun considered it a given that his identity would be exposed.
It would definitely be revealed on day 9, and could be revealed on day 8 as well.
Anyway, like during the Divine Sword incident, a situation where all participants unite would not happen.
So the AI probably prevented outright killings because it wanted a few people to slowly learn Seojun’s identity.
‘Did the guild-affiliated participant move? Or are those two participants doing a quest related to the passage?’
Getting an ID card might become a bit of a hassle.
“If it’s something you want?”
“Weren’t you pushing the front line to demand something from us? Alone.”
“Why do you think so?”
Seojun sheathed his sword.
And without stepping back or approaching them, he smiled and asked from where he stood.
Nevertheless, the enemies grew more tense.
Their Adam’s apples bobbed and their eyes avoided his gaze.
They glanced at their escape route and their center of gravity shifted slightly backward.
This made it certain.
‘They suspect I’m the dark master.’
So they’re checking whether he’s looking for a way into Daran or not.
Has it become bothersome?
No. Being discovered now is within expectations.
‘Rather….’
It’s convenient if they know.
***
At Kael’s face, where hostility was completely hidden, the two pros prepared to flee at any moment.
‘If he’s trying to enter Daran, if he asks us for an ID card, it confirms he’s the dark master?’
They hadn’t heard a detailed explanation of the quest, but they were told the overall reason.
They were also told the basis.
And all of that pointed to one fact.
If an ID card of Daran came out of that innocent face, he’s confirmed as the dark master.
‘Team leader, you crazy bastards. What are we supposed to do if someone like that is the dark master!’
It wasn’t for nothing that he’d been slashing people whenever he was bored from the beginning.
“Haha, if not, then never mind.”
And now.
Seojun’s mouth opened.
“No.”
“Yes?”
“That’s right. I do want something.”
The two pros swallowed hard.
If he’s the dark master, should we kill him?
One of them was preparing a surprise attack just in case, but it was still mid-history book.
The probability of defeating the dark master in an all-out battle was near zero.
They lacked numbers. The most important factor, skill, was far superior on his side.
“Before I say what I want, I have something to say.”
“What is it?”
Seojun’s demeanor changed suddenly.
His smiling face didn’t change. His gaze was calm too.
But Seojun’s gaze, breathing, gestures – everything turned threatening.
Maybe it’s just my imagination.
“Yes. I am the dark master.”
“……!”
“And I’d like to enter Daran.”
The conversation continued slowly. But the surrounding air instantly turned frigid.
“Will you give me a forged ID card?”
“How can we give that? We heard our side’s hero is progressing a quest to block you. In such a situation, there’s no way we can give it…”
“Then will you let it be destroyed like this? I don’t mind entering that way.”
“…….”
Seojun was saying this.
Even if he received a forged ID now and moved, or pushed the remaining front line to start an invasion and enter Daran in that chaotic situation, it didn’t matter much.
If an invasion war breaks out, airships will be able to float over Daran, and he could ride one to move.
The latter is just.
“It’s just a bit more bothersome.”
“…….”
If the opponent pushes Atura further using the dark master’s special abilities or items, could they stop it?
Probably not.
Then the entire nation would fall into chaos, and the probability of facing greater interference and failing the quest is much higher.
“Ah. I was joking. There’s no way I’m the dark master, right?”
Seojun saw through them. It was a lost battle from the start.
Seojun spoke. With his mouth, and with his eyes.
“I also came to help with that quest. So, will you give it? A forged ID card?”
What else could you do besides giving me a forged ID card, he was saying.
Since it was already a predetermined outcome, the deliberation wasn’t long.
“Yes, we’ll give it.”