Chapter 3: Tutorial (3)
“You know as well as I do, to get out of here, you need proper equipnt. The gear I lent you is only good for temporary use.”
Indeed, the equipnt I was wearing gave minimal stat boosts but ca with penalties.
“There’s a fairly skilled blacksmith in the northern shopping district. Go there.”
This is a new developnt.
I tilted my head. This storyline didn’t exist in the original ga.
“I doubt a blacksmith would be forging weapons in the middle of this chaos.”
“Of course not. I’m not telling you to et the blacksmith.”
“Then what?”
Gerard responded with a calm expression.
“Since this castle’s going to be destroyed anyway, taking a sword shouldn’t be an issue, right?”
[Quest Generated.]
…Calm wasn’t the right word. He was brazen.
With a serious face, he was telling to steal.
“Is that okay?”
“No witnesses, and if you make use of stuff that’s going to be rubble anyway, the blacksmith would probably be happy.”
As Gerard said, if I wasn’t caught, I could get so good items.
Not a bad idea.
For a gar, item farming was essential.
In , the number of items you had could even determine the endings you could achieve.
“I’ll be back.”
“Good. Contact if anything happens.”
Gerard mid putting a finger to his ear and disappeared toward the northern gate.
***
Slash!
“Kieek!”
A white, dog-shaped monster collapsed, spewing bodily fluids.
[You have leveled up.]
“Phew…”
Lv.3 Artier
Title: Low-Tier rcenary
Class: None
Strength: 8
Agility: 8
Intelligence: 5
Available Skills: None
I wiped the sweat from my forehead and sheathed my sword.
These guys were ant to be avoided.
But there was no reason to skip the experience points.
So, I took down every Hellmorph that ca at as I moved forward.
“This must be the shopping district.”
I looked around.
The rchants had long fled, and the bodies of travelers and residents who hadn’t grasped the situation were scattered everywhere.
Clatter.
Entering a general store and a blacksmith’s shop, I opened crates and checked display cases.
Most were empty, but there were still a few items left.
[Low-Grade Healing Potion (Common)]
Recovery: 1%
Duration: 20 seconds
[Tori Spear (Common)]
Attack: 4~7
Option: Defense 1
I was expecting a sword, but I got a spear.
It wasn’t surprising. Random item farming was a hallmark of .
“How do you use this again?”
A spear was different from a sword.
It had a longer reach but was less effective at close range, so I needed to maintain distance.
“Sothing like this, right?”
Switching from a sword to a spear felt awkward.
But after spinning the spear a few tis, I swung it with familiar ease.
It was only natural.
Would the ga’s protagonist fumble with unfamiliar equipnt?
This is pretty convenient.
As I stepped out of the blacksmith’s shop, “Aaah!”
A scream echoed.
A survivor?
I moved reflexively, but it was a situation I couldn’t handle.
“S-Save !”
Crunch!
“Aaagh!”
A soldier reached out, screaming, but a Hellmorph bit into his shoulder from behind.
“Damn it!”
I quickly dispatched the Hellmorph, but the soldier on the ground didn’t get up.
“Guh…”
“Stay with !”
The bleeding was severe.
The mont I saw the dying soldier, I knew.
There’s no hope.
I knew this pattern all too well.
This damned ga always set up events like this to toy with the player’s conscience and shake their resolve.
“S-Save…”
The soldier stretched a trembling arm toward .
The strength in his grip was unnervingly strong for a dying man.
Pop!
A quest appeared before my eyes.
[Quest Generated.]
Even if you use the potion, this soldier will die. Will you still use your only potion to ease the soldier’s passing?
Use: Reward: Bonus Point 1
Don’t Use: Reward: Karma Point -1
Damn it…
I gritted my teeth without realizing it.
This wasn’t just about giving up a potion for a permanent stat boost.
If they’re baiting to use the potion with a stat reward, it ans a situation where I’ll need one is coming soon.
Combat in changed every ti.
The scale of monsters, their positions, even their strategies varied. These quests were hints for upcoming battles.
But I can’t afford to lose Karma Points.
Karma Points determined the player’s alignnt.
High Karma Points made you a saint, while low ones turned you into a villain.
The issue was that tied endings to your alignnt.
The closer to good, the harder the ga but the better the ending. The closer to evil, the easier the ga but the closer the world ca to destruction.
To reach the true ending, I had to avoid losing Karma Points as much as possible.
“Please…”
The soldier was looking at .
His focus was fading, but he was definitely looking at .
His ragged breaths yearned for life.
His tense muscles rejected death.
He’s still alive.
The system declared he’d die soon, but the soldier was desperately denying his end.
“…”
Clink.
My hand moved. The potion from my inventory shook as my trembling hand held it.
I can’t lose Karma Points already.
“Guh…”
The soldier’s expression eased after drinking the potion, but his eyes gradually lost their light.
As his eyes fully closed, a small status window appeared before .
[The soldier t his end without pain. In the final land, the departed will express gratitude to you.]
Reward: Bonus Point 1
“…”
I looked down at the soldier.
Would I have used the potion even without the penalty?
I couldn’t save you. I couldn’t help you out of pure goodwill.
My thoughts carried multiple anings.
Pondering this, knowing it ant nothing to the departed, was just a way to find excuses for myself.
[Standard Chainmail Armor (Common)]
Defense: 12
Option: Movent Speed -4
I stripped the soldier’s chainmail and put it on, then left the shopping district.
Artier.
At that mont, Gerard’s voice rang in my head. I placed a finger to my ear.
“Captain?”
Yeah. What did you get from the shopping district?
I explained that I got a spear from the blacksmith and armor from the soldier’s body.
I didn’t ntion the potion or using it on the dying soldier. Talking about a used potion would be pointless.
Armor and a spear, huh? You achieved the goal.
“Yes.”
Return to the inner castle. The east is almost completely overrun. We’ll likely evacuate to the western port.
I looked up at the sky.
It’s already that ti?
It was the dead of night, with no visibility.
The first story would likely begin then.
“I’ll be there soon.”
I glanced at the soldier one last ti.
Unlike the other bodies frozen in terror, his expression was uniquely serene, as if asleep.
Rest in peace.
Was there really no other way?
Swallowing my doubts, I moved forward.
***
Wooong!
A massive horn blared through the inner castle, and countless soldiers began gathering in one place.
“Listen! We must break through the encirclent!”
The man shouting powerfully from horseback was Viscount Jestion, the lord of this castle.
“Head to the port through the western gate and board the ships!”
As the strongest knight here, he wielded a massive lance and shield that other knights didn’t have.
“Protect the residents as much as possible, but don’t fall behind!”
Behind the soldiers, countless refugees were gathered.
So were praying, while others, dazed, clung to their families.
“Jeina, are you okay?”
“Of course. The dic over there was incredible.”
When I returned, Jeina was awake, chatting with Gerard.
That wasn’t a minor injury.
To recover from being slamd into a rock in just a few hours?
Either the dic was exceptional, or she was ridiculously tough.
Can I check? Status check.
Lv.4 Jeina
Title: Mid-Tier rcenary
Class: Barbarian Warrior
Strength: 13
Agility: 9
Intelligence: 5
Available Skills: Wild Roar (Lv.1), Battle Healing (Lv.1)
As I thought about Jeina, a translucent status window appeared.
While casually checking her stats, my eyes stopped at her skills.
Battle Healing! That’s why she recovered so fast.
Battle Healing was a passive skill that accelerated recovery for injuries sustained in combat.
Since most injuries happened in battle, this skill, which constantly boosted recovery, was a top-tier tank skill.
“I know you’re tough, but be careful. You’re not fully healed.”
“Hey, I’m not an idiot. Probably.”
“Every ti you say that, I age ten years.”
Can I check the others?
While they shared a warm mont, I checked Gerard and Dina’s stats the sa way.
Lv.5 Gerard
Title: High-Tier rcenary
Class: Swordsman
Strength: 7
Agility: 12
Intelligence: 8
Available Skills: Wind Slash (Lv.2), Shield (Lv.1), Tactical Command (Lv.1)
Lv.3 Dina
Title: Mid-Tier rcenary
Class: Archer
Strength: 6
Agility: 10
Intelligence: 5
Available Skills: Mana Arrow (Lv.1)
What kind of rcenary corps is this?
I barely swallowed my gasp as I reviewed their stats.
Typically, you’d get one skill past level 5 and a notable skill past level 10.
But this absurd corps had even Dina, a re level 3, with a skill.
Gerard might be stronger than Viscount Jestion.
Why were people like this working as rcenaries?
“All forces! Advance!”
At that mont, the viscount’s booming shout rang out, drowning out the castle and cutting off our conversation.
“Alright, let’s go.”
“Yes.”
As Gerard started running, the rcenaries followed.
Reviews
All reviews (0)