Chapter 307
There are many things in this world that cannot be understood.
The Seven Millennium Problems of mathematics.
These Millennium Prize Problems, just solving one earns a million dollars in prize money and a professorship at any top university across the globe.
Even greater fame and authority follow automatically, and one’s name is etched into a page of human history.
Quantum mechanics.
This bizarre field that studies the microscopic world unseen in daily life is famous for Richard Feynman’s line: nobody understands it.
And.
There was a problem more urgent for Shun to resolve right now than humanity understanding all of that.
‘Just what is wrong with this man?’
It was Seo Jun.
“Ah, brother. How goes your training?”
He says if you want to live, let’s have a bizarre sparring match.
He didn’t outright say “if you want to live,” but his expression and face were exactly that.
His actions, his deeds so far, his words—all of it.
Everything was a threat.
A spar using only weapons, no skills.
Of course I lost. Couldn’t even land a single hit.
He could accept that. He’d known from the start that his own skills were lacking.
“Still, that’s too much!”
“What is?”
Maybe not humiliation in front of the whole world’s eyes, but this sure felt like a clear demonstration that he was beneath Seo Jun.
And repeating it over and over.
Better than being killed?
Do you know what social death is?
Still, there was one fortunate thing.
‘Bradley must have gone through this first.’
And it happened in Atura too, so the public saying why were you so useless would be a minority.
Fortunate.
Because that man consistently acts like a lunatic.
“Yes. Truly fortunate.”
“I’m not sure what you mean, but I’m glad too, brother. Rest comfortably. Mustn’t you recover your stamina at once?”
Really, anyone watching would think he’s a cleric from some fantasy world nursery, serving the children of a rural village.
Shun looked around with a sulky face.
A mountain. Beautiful. He liked it.
The mountain is the mountain, the water is the water.
‘Have I attained enlightenment?’
Soon his comrades’ conversation reached his ears.
- But what about our quest? Ava?
- If the two of us scramble hard, we could—
- No, we’re short on numbers. Wow, just like that it’s a fail. In an instant.
- Crazy.
- How on earth did some shadowy mastermind appear like this? They definitely wouldn’t have made a quest you lose this helplessly.
- I know, right.
- Ava, I’m just leaving this mountain now. I don’t even want to meet.
“Wait! Don’t go!”
Shun turned on his radio and conveyed his intent to his comrades.
Seo Jun, sitting quietly beside him, showed interest.
“Is that for your comrades?”
“Yes.”
Why bother denying it.
“What could it mean?”
Indeed.
What could it mean.
By their calculation, to hunt enough hounds to reach the target without interference, four people needed two hours.
Three people needed two hours and forty minutes.
Two people needed four hours.
The quest time limit was three hours and thirty minutes. It was now a lost cause. No matter how well they hunted, impossible.
Hence the talk of running away.
Two hours. Three hours and thirty minutes.
But no matter what, being caught by the mastermind so soon is a figure that shouldn’t be.
If it was this easy to get caught, the time limit should have been around thirty minutes.
‘What is it? What did I miss?’
First possibility: luck.
Simply that Kael was lucky and this result occurred.
Possible, but the probability is very low.
Second: he can know their location.
Here it branches again.
Can he just know outright, or can he know after using resources or completing a specific mission?
If it’s the latter, that would make sense.
For one, it’s common knowledge that Kael has abundant resources from raiding the Holy Sword’s vault.
On top of that, they said he did something suspicious related to hunting.
Even if it was a special mission, with that physical ability he’d ace anything.
‘Could it be that?’
If not.
Then he can just know. In that case, the problem becomes simple.
Though it’s his wishful thinking too.
‘The reason he didn’t kill me, and the reason he didn’t kill Bradley.’
It’s not that he didn’t kill.
He couldn’t kill.
That wasn’t an impossible claim.
“Ha ha ha.”
He laughed heartily.
His stamina was recovering. But he was still in the red. One hit and he’d die.
Yet he waited for the recovery.
Continuously letting his stamina recover and showing off his own physical ability under the pretext of sparring.
Is this really just about showing off physical ability?
About being a jerk?
It was low.
No matter how much that streamer was a talent optimized for streaming, thinking about it, this was too low.
“Why are you laughing? Your stamina hasn’t even filled up yet?”
A serene face.
Now that he looked, it was overly serene, like a poker face.
‘Is that expression management to hide the fact he can’t kill? Ha ha ha. Should I test it?’
If I keep playing along like this, I might live, but if I test it now and learn the truth, I succeed in the quest.
I can corner my opponent.
“Kael.”
“Yes?”
“What is it you want from me?”
“Hmm. Unlike Brother Bradley, you give up quickly. If you see this spar to the end, you could grow stronger.”
“It’s only the third time, but I get it. Even if only I could use skills, I’d still lose.”
“Hmm. Aren’t you being too pessimistic?”
“No. I know myself well.”
“I see.”
“Please tell me what you want. I’ll follow.”
“……”
“Even if that’s abandoning the quest.”
“Hmm?”
There was a reaction.
Ask. If Kael bites, he was ready to put his provocation into action immediately.
Even if I die, it’s worth risking my life.
“How about it?”
“Voluntarily abandoning the quest, you say.”
The fish was taking the bait.
“Brother?”
“Yes. Judge Kael.”
“Do you wish to live?”
He actually asked outright.
“Yes. I want to live.”
He sincerely wanted to live.
He hadn’t gotten to shine yet. He’d been active in a few minor quests, but it wouldn’t be remembered.
So succeed in this gamble here.
And survive.
“Fine.”
Seo Jun chuckled and said.
“Abandon the quest. Then I shall specially let you go.”
He asked!
A perfectly merciful expression, but that made it all the more suspicious.
Behind that expression, the exultation of driving him out was surely hidden.
Shun lifted his chin and hurled a provocation at Seo Jun.
A provocation to confirm whether he could really kill or not.
“Kael. You can’t kill people, can you? Because you can’t kill……”
“Then die.”
But the answer was fast.
Seo Jun’s movement was the same.
Not a shred of hesitation, and the aim was clear.
The tip of his sword began to arc toward his throat.
Swiftly.
Without hesitation.
Syaaak!
The moment the tip approached, Shun didn’t need to think to realize his end was coming.
The opponent meant to truly kill him.
“Wait……!”
Did I die?
He squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them, feeling the sharpness of the sword stopped a mere inch from his neck’s hit-scan point, and moved only his lips, motionless.
“Hah. Hah. I’m sorry.”
“You’re in repentance, brother.”
“Just, I’ll just abandon the quest. Please spare me.”
Terrifying.
Insane.
“Understood, brother. Anyone can make a mistake.”
He almost died.
But upon hearing that split-second cry, the opponent halted his sword.
That too was a feat close to divine skill.
“Ah. How merciful.”
A life saved because it was Seo Jun.
“Not at all, brother.”
Shun felt genuine gratitude toward Seo Jun and abandoned the quest.
***
“They’re all pulling out.”
Seo Jun looked at the map.
The remaining two enemies were leaving the mountain.
After communication with Shun was lost, they gave up.
Did Bradley and Shun meet?
If this keeps going, it’s a quest success.
[Ha ha ha ha! I always see such good sights with you. Enough to give me goosebumps.]
Papyeon reacted.
“Yeah?”
The attack that drove Shun out.
Seo Jun had attacked genuinely thinking it didn’t matter if he killed.
In the end he did stop, but in that brief moment, he deceived even himself.
Because if there had been even an inch of hesitation, suspicion would never be dispelled.
That’s decisiveness.
It’s Seo Jun’s ability.
“Good.”
[This collaborator is excellent indeed. That previous one…… ugh.]
Is he talking about that mastermind?
“He only got played because it was me. Otherwise he’d have done well.”
Feeling a bit sorry, Seo Jun covered for the assailant slightly.
He still didn’t know who it was.
“So now?”
[Not yet. Wait until the passage stabilizes.]
“No. I’ve driven out all enemies.”
[……Do as you will.]
“Alright. I should use time sparingly.”
Seo Jun headed straight for the train.
Now that it was a little late, he wondered if many people would be there, or if everyone had packed up their goods from the shops and left.
News from Daran probably hadn’t spread yet.
‘Would be fun if it did?’
Regrettably, no disaster alert sounded on the train.
***
Kavero Territory.
“Wow, you both were alive. Thank goodness.”
The four members of the suicide squad met inside a building adjacent to the local guild branch in the city.
They were hiding. In case that existence came chasing all the way into the city.
“Ava?”
“Yes.”
“When does the identity get disclosed?”
“It takes about a day for it to spread once all across the region. That’s how the guild system works. And even if it spreads, only people who ask directly will find out.”
It’s not a public announcement. It adds a single fact to the Thieves’ Guild database.
“Will that be enough?”
“That’s why we need to leave Daran, right?”
They must go and meet participants and spread the word.
Only by rallying and resisting can they survive.
This mastermind is on a completely different level compared to the previous ones they knew.
Especially in character.
“We spread it quickly and surely to people. If there’s a quest to destroy the passage like ours, we help out.”
“Even if we might die doing so. We have to. Ha. I don’t think there’s ever been a mastermind this scary.”
Shun mumbled. He’d sat down the moment they met, then got won over by the personality.
Thinking about resisting in the future, it was terrifyingly scary.
It was then.
A soldier keeping the peace entered their building and spoke to Shun.
“Lord.”
“Huh?”
“A message came from Asius. A prophecy has come down that something enormous is approaching Kavero, warning us to quickly gather forces and prepare.”
In that instant, the four faces hardened.
There was naturally a connection between the upper echelons of the two nations, but for Asius to issue a direct warning like this?
The situation unfolding was serious.
Of course the price for the quest failure would follow.
“The council of Daran is also taking this seriously and has already dispatched troops to the territory!”
Moving troops without Shun’s permission was truly unthinkable.
Unless it was a matter of national annihilation.
And.
Before their eyes, a quest window appeared.
Reading it, they let out sighs.
“Looks like we won’t have time to roam and rally participants.”
The beginning of a continental invasion and even a crisis of Daran’s destruction.
Two hours.