episode_0012

Episode 12. A Bitch With No Manners.

The manager of the Adventurer’s Guild House, “Mimeori,” found the current situation amusing. He could tell at a glance that he was a country bumpkin who had just come to the city.

He probably ran away from some remote countryside, whining about not wanting to continue the family business. Most of those guys think the same thing.

Becoming a successful adventurer and returning to their village in triumph. His brain was so pure that he could be mistaken for a temple priest.

‘He’s a terrible guy, but he’s not at a level to lose to a newbie who’s just becoming an adventurer.’

The guy who picked a fight with the country bumpkin was also someone who hadn’t been an adventurer for long. Still, he was a guy who had survived the “Devil’s First Month.” He showed some promise.

What about that country bumpkin in comparison? His face was pale as if he only studied at home, and his hands were as beautiful as a noblewoman’s.

If it weren’t for the clothes he was wearing and his level of common sense, he could be mistaken for a young master.

‘He must have had some money at home. But it was probably only enough to eat one more loaf of bread.’

Anyway, the battle between the terrible guy and the country bumpkin was on. He wasn’t a very nice guy, so the country bumpkin would probably die. Mimeori shook his head.

‘Consider this your fate.’

It wasn’t his business to interfere. After all, everyone is the master of their own life. Still, if there was one thing bothering him…

‘His eyes are decent enough.’

Most adventurers are missing a few screws.

They kill monsters, buy equipment to kill stronger monsters, and instead of retiring with that money, they go to find even stronger monsters.

It’s an impossible profession to survive in unless you’re completely insane.

In that respect, the white country bumpkin’s eyes and spirit were good enough to pass. He must have been someone who could hold his head high in his own town.

‘It’s starting.’

Soon, the duel began. Mimeori watched the scene with a bored look.

***

‘Longsword, shield. Leather armor and leather boots. My equipment is inferior.’

He didn’t seem to be a veteran. The scars on his body were too few. That bald guy earlier had scars all over the place, but compared to him, this guy was a newborn. Above all, he looked too young.

‘Early 20s? No, maybe even younger.’

I continued my thoughts for a moment, and then the man rushed at me.

“Dieeee! You bastard!”

Savagery with no starting signal for the duel. I lightly stepped back, creating distance between me and him. As a mage, maintaining distance is important.

But you can’t backpedal faster than you can move forward. The man caught up right away. In response, the man thrust his longsword near my heart.

I immediately struck the longsword with the shield attached to my left forearm. Since it was a better quality sword than my shield, it could be pierced if I wasn’t careful. I was saddened by the gap in wealth felt in the equipment difference.

I didn’t have money, but I had strength. The strength stat of 14 had a significant effect.

Thud!

“Ugh!”

The man was right-handed. Thanks to me hitting him from left to right, the man’s center of gravity shifted sharply to the right.

As if I had been waiting, I extended the dagger in my other hand towards the man. The target was the nape of his neck.

“Hieeek!”

Whoosh!

Unfortunately, it didn’t hit. The man screamed pathetically and rolled on the ground.

It was a pathetic sight, but it wasn’t funny. That was a feat possible only because of his excellent reaction speed.

‘Too bad.’

I should have killed him this time. I clicked my tongue and turned my head towards the man.

I saw the man trying to get up in a flustered manner. It’s too late to regain his stance and attack. It was quite a big swing.

But it’s not like there’s no way. I immediately opened my mouth wide and chanted strongly.

‘Magic Missile.’

Whooong─

Blue grains instantly form a cluster in my mouth. There was no big reason why I usually used magic with my hands.

It was because my hands were more convenient for targeting. But there will be times when you can’t use your hands. Now was that time.

Phew─

It soon left a blue afterimage and rushed towards the man.

The man’s eyes widened to the size of lanterns. Did he sense his death? He formed a shape with his mouth. I wasn’t really curious.

Crack!

Soon, the man with a severe injury to his forehead collapsed to the ground.

It didn’t penetrate. The skull was stronger than a skeleton. Still, it was enough to bring him to death.

“……”

Immediately after, a quiet silence filled the training ground. I used that silence as a stage and approached the dead man.

“……”

I examined the man’s corpse for a moment. I opened my mouth calmly towards the manager.

“Can I take the corpse? And the belongings?”

“……”

Strangely, the answer didn’t come right away. Instead, an indifferent message tickled my eardrums. I widened my eyes.

[Acquired 1 Karma.]

‘Huh?’

***

Fortunately, the belongings became my property. It’s not okay to kill others recklessly, but the spoils obtained from a fair duel belong to the victor.

Maybe it’s because I’ve seen people die countless times in the tutorial stage. I was surprised at how indifferent I was. I felt a little nauseous, but it was bearable.

Clang!

“I bet 2,000 gold, but when I looked through his belongings, there were only 1,500 gold. He’s a really bad guy.”

“……Well, didn’t you take all of that man’s equipment? That would be worth a lot more……”

“Yes? That’s loot obtained from a fair duel. Of course, that’s separate.”

“……’

The first meeting was a bit awkward, but he was a good adventurer. He didn’t spare any support for beginner adventurers, even sacrificing himself.

Sword, shield, 1,500 gold, leather armor, leather boots… even Karma points. I was about to shed tears of emotion.

“I didn’t know the skeleton’s big toe had any commercial value. What a waste.”

“I’m glad you know now.”

The price wasn’t that high. 10 gold per toe. In other words, you get 20 gold for catching one skeleton. But it was a very special number for us.

’40 percent… tsk.’

The number of skeletons roughly crammed into one inventory slot was usually about 5. We filled 4 slots and only filled the remaining slot a little. A total of 23 skeletons were sleeping in the inventory.

I immediately left the guild and started disassembling the skeletons in a quiet place. Then I headed back to the guild and sold them all. I earned 460 gold that way. It was quite lucrative.

“We’re here.”

“Yes.”

Before we knew it, we arrived at the outskirts of the city. We were trying to pass through the checkpoint familiarly. But we had no choice but to stop at the same time.

“……They look like modern people, right?”

“Yes. I think you’re probably right.”

“There are people trying to go outside.”

It was unexpected. We had witnessed quite a few modern people while wandering around the city.

She and I recognized them, and of course, they recognized us too. There wasn’t any particular connection. Most of them just passed by each other without acknowledging each other.

Occasionally, there were people who came up to us, showing off their superior sociability, but when she quietly pulled out a knife and threatened them, they quickly backed down.

I asked her absentmindedly. If we couldn’t even have a light small talk.

Her answer was truly concise.

‘No. We can’t.’

‘……Yes.’

I swallowed the question, ‘How did someone like that become my colleague?’ I had some sense of awareness.

We took our eyes off them and approached the soldier. At that moment, one of the modern people turned around.

“……!”

Soon, his pupils widened. Then he busily moved his lips to his colleagues. I ignored that and got through the checkpoint.

“……Confirmed.”

“Yes.”

We passed the guard and went outside. As expected, we saw a group of modern people waiting for us. Their eyes didn’t look good, and as expected, it didn’t deviate from my expectations.

The man who found us walked forward and extended his hand.

“Hello?”

“Yes. Nice to meet you.”

“You’re Korean, right?”

“That’s right. You too?”

I said that, rolling my eyes to size them up.

‘5 people. All men. Swordsman, archer, boxer, shield warrior, swordsman.’

Of course, I didn’t guess their jobs correctly. Even I was dressed like a swordsman, but I was a mage.

I couldn’t judge just by their appearance. I was just matching the information based on the weapons they were holding.

“What’s your job, by any chance? I’m a swordsman.”

“I’m a swordsman too.”

I lied appropriately. In fact, my outfit suited a swordsman well. Leather armor, leather boots, longsword, shield.

The longsword and shield were from a good meeting with a senior adventurer at the guild house, but the clothes weren’t.

‘It’s a shame the size is different.’

The senior’s height was about 5cm shorter than mine, and when I took the armor to the blacksmith, they exchanged it for armor that fit my size. Of course, I paid a small amount of gold.

“Oh! What a coincidence! Then you must have swordsmanship skills too?”

“Yes. But the level is still 1.”

“Haha, you’ll raise it soon. It’s instant if you use Karma.”

Judging by what he’s saying, is he level 2? I don’t know. I predicted what would come next at this point.

“Wow, it’s so nice to see a fellow countryman in this strange land. Is that woman your companion?”

“Yes.”

He’s probably going to say, ‘Would you like to join us?’

“You came to catch monsters, right? Since it’s such a coincidence, how about we······.”

How should I refuse? Not too rudely. But not too gently either…

“No. Go your own way.”

Hmm, that’s too rude, isn’t it?