episode_0023

‘Wha, what······.’

After ending his ten-year career as a knight and being betrayed by the lord, he became a wandering outcast.

However, somehow, as if thievery suited his nature, he found himself increasingly taking on the role of a bandit.

The small band of thieves quickly transformed into a large gang in the blink of an eye, soon gaining notoriety in the region.

‘These damn scoundrels.’

The ten years of real-life combat experience was nothing to scoff at.

Even flying swordsmen or promising wizards would find their throats slit when resisting.

But the type that most perplexed the leader was not those strong opponents.

“This is your final warning!”

“Mijung. Get down.”

“······Okay.”

Even with a blade at their throat, the man and the girl chatted casually as if sharing a joke.

It was insane.

There was hardly anyone nearby who didn’t know the infamous reputation of this band of thieves.

While other passengers raised their hands and hurriedly pulled out their belongings from their pockets, this man and woman still seemed oblivious, displaying a relaxed attitude.

‘That’s why I hate these incompetent fools the most.’

If you resist, there’s a justification for slitting throats, making dealing with them even more challenging.

If warnings are ignored, there’s no room to spare for dignity.

That’s why there’s no satisfaction in slitting throats.

In the moment the leader clicked his tongue while raising his sword, Eugene’s eyes, sensing a faint presence, met the leader’s gaze.

Instantly, chills ran down his spine.

Ten years of various real-life combat experiences.

The honed sensitivity required to face off against wizards.

All of it screamed at him to run.

Sensing this, the leader’s body was already in motion before he could think.

Thinking would be too late.

Instinctively, he had learned to entrust his body to unconscious movements to survive.

‘Huh? But why did my vision suddenly turn around?’

However, the direction his vision turned was peculiar.

If he were to leap out of the carriage, his head should face the entrance.

Yet the leader was turning his head in the opposite direction.

“Oh. This-”

Only then did he realize.

His vision spinning around, only to see his own back within his sight.

In a moment so brief that he couldn’t even recognize it.

During that time, his throat was slit.

“Eek?!”

Thud thud.

As his head rolled inside the carriage, the leader’s headless body was already tumbling out of the carriage and rolling on the ground.

The faces of the subordinates facing the headless corpse of their fallen leader paled.

“Tsk. He seemed the strongest. We won’t even be able to train properly like this.”

Thump. Thump.

A heavy footstep resonated from inside the carriage as Inyoung revealed herself.

As if refusing to show her face, the man stopped in the darkness.

One, two, three, four······.

Counting with a nod of her head, she raised her sword.

There wasn’t a drop of blood on the blade that had once severed a neck.

There hadn’t been time for blood to stain it.

“Le-Leader. What should we do?”

“Damn it, what should we do! We have to run······!”

At that moment, the man’s figure disappeared.

And in the next moment.

The leader’s vision spun around.

.

.

.

Clatter clatter.

The carriage heading towards the village was so quiet that it seemed filled only with silence.

It felt as though it carried nothing but corpses.

······Of course, it was a joke.

Not a single innocent passenger had been killed.

“Huff.”

“······.”

Raising my hat slightly, people turned their heads away from me.

Everyone tried hard not to look at my face, avoiding eye contact with me.

I’m grateful for that.

If my face were exposed, it would cause trouble.

Perhaps even if I were to gain fame later on, it would be much easier to operate without my name and face being known.

‘Oh, it hurts.’

Covering my face with the hat again, I stifled a groan.

I almost made a sound of suffering due to the overwhelming pain.

Perhaps someone touching my leg would make me scream like a woman.

However, since everyone was sitting far away from us, it seemed unlikely to happen.

“I might have overreacted just now.”

Certainly, focusing all my attention on mana control resulted in an incredible speed.

The skilled inspector looked formidable, effortlessly slashing throats without any resistance.

But maintaining that state posed another problem.

About 50 remaining bandits.

Despite bravely leaping off the carriage, I couldn’t even take down ten before succumbing to overload.

At the point of overload, I was practically incapacitated, but the outcome was already decided.

Terrified, they fled into the mountains without looking back.

There was no loot worth farming.

These guys didn’t even carry a single usable weapon.

Seems like they left everything that could hinder mountain traversal, including valuables.

Instead, I took the military insignia hanging around the leader’s neck.

It wasn’t something visually fitting for a fantasy world, so amusingly, my hand reached out involuntarily.

In the end, giving up on looting, I laboriously climbed back onto the carriage.

Due to the passengers needing to board again, the departure was significantly delayed.

[Achievement Unlocked]

[NPC slain!]

[Acquire the attribute ‘Reputation’ as a reward for achievement completion.]

Despite confirming the performance of mana control, I gained something else.

An attribute, ‘Reputation.’

Come to think of it, although I’ve killed several people in previous chapters, this kind of achievement is new.

It seems there’s a distinction between NPCs and regular citizens.

[Attribute: Reputation]

[Check your reputation value.]

[Yujin: 0.01%]

[Known to a few individuals. Very low presence.]

[???: 11%]

[Starting to gain notoriety. Presence is increasing.]

What’s this now?

Seeing it made me almost sigh in disbelief.

There’s ‘Yujin,’ and then there’s another slot labeled ‘???,’ whose identity is unknown.

“Could it be because people don’t know my true identity yet?”

Passengers haven’t seen my face.

They don’t even know my name.

All they know is that I wield a sword and accompany a hooded girl.

The entity represented by ‘???’ seems to be formed by a combination of information.

It appears that reputation is calculated separately from the individual Yujin.

“This could be convenient.”

I initially thought it would be an insignificant skill.

But this seems quite useful.

I can monitor how rumors about me spread in real-time.

Moreover, this attribute has another function.

“This is simply a multi-user exclusive attribute, right?”

It enables Shadow Clone Jutsu.

To be precise, it allows immediate verification of the success of the clone technique.

If introducing myself with a new name results in the addition of a new status in the reputation window, it’s a success.

However, if rumors like ‘Yujin seems to have a slight mental illness’ start circulating in the ‘Yujin’ slot, it’s a failure.

“Hmm. This is somewhat daunting.”

Even in internet anonymous communities, I’ve always been quiet.

Just occasionally using about six accounts to promote my posts on recommendation boards or counteract negative posts.

It’s all for the sake of the community’s well-being.

Being a law-abiding netizen who has never engaged in malicious activities, I feel a bit uneasy.

Nevertheless, what can I do?

Utilizing all available resources is my motto.

Taking a slight break from conscience, I decide to attempt a malicious multi-user act for the first time in my life.

“…Dangerous.”

“Ah!!!”

Thud.

A hand as light as a fern landed on my shoulder, causing me to scream like a woman.

The burden of grief concentrated on my shoulders, making me think I was in unbearable pain.

With tears welling up in my eyes, I turned to the side and saw Mijeong staring at a fly circling in the air above my shoulder.

“You woke me up when it was dangerous. Did you really wake me up because of a fly?”

[???: 11.2%]

[Starting to gain notoriety. Presence is increasing. …Possible tic disorder.]

Damn.

Should I sell the account again?

***

A night as dark as ink.

Unable to sleep, I sat hugging my knees, and a large hand descended onto my head.

As the hand gently stroked my hair, I tried to turn around to see who it was, but a strong arm wrapped around my waist from behind.

Feeling comforted by the right amount of pressure, I leaned back, resting against the broad chest.

I felt like misbehaving right then and there.

Quietly whispering while caressing my stomach, the hand whispered, “Let’s just stay together tomorrow…”

But those words never reached completion.

My throat seemed to stiffen, and no more words came out.

The reassuring body that held me from behind and the strong hand around my waist both disappeared.

A look of despair crossed my face.

“Hah! Hah… Hah…”

At dawn.

I woke up gasping for breath.

My hands were clammy, and cold sweat dotted my forehead.

It was that dream again.

The dream with a man of unknown identity.

For some reason, being with that man made me feel at ease.

Even if he saw the worst parts of me, he seemed accepting.

And most importantly, reliable.

“Phew. What kind of dream is this…”

If it’s a nightmare, then it definitely is one.

Since the dream always ended with the man hiding his face.

When I tried to see his face, he vanished.

Even though I’ve never met this man before.

Yet, this feeling of reality doesn’t seem to fade.

Like any other dream, I thought that as time passed after waking up, the emotional turmoil would subside.

But it didn’t.

As time went on, the dream became more vivid, and every night I started dreaming more elaborate dreams.

“Could he be my destined partner?”

With a sigh, I walked outside slowly.

I’m not someone to be swayed by a mere dream.

It’s unlikely that I would start thinking about a man I’ve never even glanced at, let alone been captivated by such a dream.

Perhaps it’s due to the opposition faction’s magic or sorcery restraining the priestess.

“Huh?”

Jill’s eyes narrowed as she checked the mailbox.

It was an unfamiliar envelope.

Rather than being strange, it was made of low-quality paper, not something a noble would send.

Frowning, Jill pulled out the envelope.

Most likely, it’s predictable.

It must be from a commoner, sending thanks to the priestess.

Although she would soon throw it in the trash, she roughly tore open the envelope to read its contents.

“…”

The moment she tore open the letter, Jill’s brow furrowed.

It contained unpleasant content.

A message akin to a malicious prank, claiming that the opposition faction of the priestess was plotting.

The sender field was left blank.

However, Jill quickly realized that this was no ordinary prank.

“Huh?”

A surge of emotions rushed over her in an instant.

Tears were streaming down Jill’s cheeks before she knew it.

Simultaneously, fragments of memory began to resurface.