episode_0096

Cain, now captured, thought to himself:

‘Well… I won’t die, at least.’

Sure, he’d been struck on the back of the head and knocked out in one hit, but his belongings were still intact.

If he wanted, he could escape anytime.

‘The problem is this.’

“Wh-where am I?!”

“Ropes?! Who—who tied me up?!”

“Guards! Guards!!”

“Goddess of Light, Selena, please have mercy on me…”

He wasn’t the only one captured.

Dozens of others had been taken too.

They were all bound together in a prison that looked like an underground cave.

‘Hmm…’

A quick glance told him these were all D- to E-rank individuals—practically ordinary people.

‘There might be one or two C-ranks, but…’

This was the kind of operation where they just grabbed random people off the street.

‘Which means…’

They hadn’t been kidnapped because they were the hero’s party.

They’d been taken because they looked like beggars rummaging through trash.

No guard would bother investigating if a single beggar went missing.

The safest target.

…At least, that’s what their captors must’ve thought.

‘They stepped in shit the moment they took me.’

For all intents and purposes, the kidnappers were already dead.

The Goddess of Light, Selena, could track the location of every one of her devotees.

Finding where I’d been taken would be child’s play.

‘If demons had kidnapped me, she might not have been able to, but…’

It was obvious humans were behind this.

So, easy.

…Lost in thought, Cain closed his eyes and pondered.

‘Escaping is simple.’

He could use an escape item,

or just wait for the others to rescue him.

But.

If he escaped or got rescued like that, he’d die of embarrassment.

‘I confidently said the chance of an attack was 0%! I said I didn’t need an escort!…’

And yet, he’d been ambushed,

proving he did need an escort.

So then?

What would happen from now on?

‘The embarrassment is one thing, but…’

He might get banned from going out alone.

‘That’d be a problem.’

This time, he’d wandered off alone just to quietly enjoy the world of Prophecy RPG,

but next time, he had a clear goal.

Marianne.

He needed alone time to secretly meet his favorite character.

If this incident got him grounded?

Big problem.

So.

He needed something to smoothly justify this situation.

‘I didn’t get caught by accident.’

He let himself be captured on purpose.

He became bait to lure out a group as dangerous as the demons.

…That kind of story would work best.

‘But are there even enemies that dangerous?’

The main villains of Prophecy RPG were, of course, the Demon King’s army,

and the final boss was the Demon King.

But.

There were other villains.

Cultist groups,

dark mage factions,

some bandit king or whatever,

and even a guy trying to overthrow the kingdom and crown himself.

‘They exist, but…’

They’re all mediocre.

Sure, they’d need to be dealt with eventually,

but none were dangerous enough to justify using himself as bait.

…That aside.

‘What are the odds one of them just happened to kidnap me?’

Statistically, some no-name bandits were the most likely culprits.

‘Sigh… This isn’t good…’

…Or so he thought, when—

THUD! THUD! THUD!

“Excellent! We’ve captured plenty this time!”

“This lowly mage has worked hard for the sake of Great Warrior Valosk!”

“Well done.”

“Thank you.”

A massive, muscular man and a scrawny middle-aged mage descended while conversing.

Wait, Great Warrior Valosk?

‘Hmm… That name sounds familiar, but who was he again?…’

If he couldn’t recall immediately, Valosk probably wasn’t important.

Still, being called a Great Warrior suggested he was strong.

Who was he?

‘Hmm…’

Sure, Cain was a veteran of Prophecy RPG,

but the game had so many characters that remembering every single one was near impossible.

However.

He had heard the name Valosk before.

So he racked his brain—

‘Ah!’

It came to him.

‘Test Subject No. 30!’

One of the failed experiments created by the fanatics who made Test Subject No. 32 (Alice).

They’d tried to create an artificial god,

but he was a failure.

Physically, his body was sturdy enough to withstand divine power,

but his mana was too weak to be considered godlike.

He was supposed to be disposed of,

but somehow survived and became a criminal.

Depending on the route, he could be a bandit,

a cultist,

or a warrior in a dark mage faction—essentially a random boss.

Unpredictable in where and how he’d appear.

‘And he’s pretty strong.’

Alice was Test Subject No. 32,

and this guy was No. 30.

The closer to 32, the closer to success,

meaning his specs were impressive.

His stats alone put him at A-rank.

…That said,

Prophecy RPG players treated him like a toy.

Huh?

Not actually strong?

Oh, he was strong.

Stat-wise, he was on par with hero party candidates.

But.

His intelligence was painfully low.

Easy to trick with lies,

easy to bait into attacks,

and since he just mindlessly charged, you could just dodge and counter.

Basically, a punching bag.

‘Still…’

Depending on his faction, his allies varied,

and sometimes he had very strong companions.

That’s when things got annoying.

So Cain checked.

‘That mage… who was he again?…’

He racked his brain again and remembered.

‘Ah! The Shadow Mage!’

Shadow Magic.

A versatile art that could launch physical attacks using shadows

or warp through them like portals.

At its peak, it was top-tier magic.

But.

Its glaring weakness—being severely weakened by light—made its floor abysmal.

Incredibly powerful at night,

but pathetically weak during the day.

Strong in dark places like caves,

but useless in bright areas.

Just a few fire or light spells could make the user shriek “Kyaaak!” and die—trash-tier magic.

‘If you don’t know its gimmick, it seems brokenly OP, but…’

Once you do, it’s a one-sided beatdown.

‘So then…’

If his memory was right, these guys were the Descendants of the Shadow Clan.

A group that amassed wealth through dirty deeds,

built their influence, and aimed for the throne.

They wanted to install a puppet king

and control the nation from the shadows—basically a mafia.

But the gods found out and exterminated them.

With demons already being a headache,

letting these guys take over would’ve doomed humanity.

So they were wiped out.

However.

A few escaped.

‘Those survivors formed the Descendants of the Shadow Clan.’

Their traits were simple:

A criminal group of assassins,

with a few members who could use Shadow Magic.

That’s it.

Their only A-rank was the idiot over there,

and they only had two B-ranks—small fry.

‘Sure, having an A-rank makes them troublesome, but…’

To the hero’s party?

Cannon fodder.

The kind you could wipe out in a day if you stumbled upon them.

…That said,

they were somewhat important in Prophecy RPG.

Why?

‘Because the Shadow Arts Manual they possess is a pretty crucial item.’

The Shadow Arts Manual.

A treasure of the Shadow Clan,

and a high-tier skill book for learning Shadow Magic and assassination techniques.

If given to their future final party member—their catgirl loli assassin—it would trigger an awakening event.

…But.

Obtaining it in Prophecy RPG was near impossible.

Why?

Because the gods had personally exterminated the clan.

These guys had spent their lives evading divine eyes.

Their stealth was so perfected they could fool even the gods.

Detection magic was useless.

Still.

A few players had managed to capture the Descendants and get the manual.

‘In-game, it was like, “I bombed a random forest, and these guys popped out—turned out to be the Descendants.”’

Yep.

Pure luck.

With no reliable way to find them, the manual’s acquisition difficulty was hellish.

‘And I just found them?’

This was perfect.

He could now claim he’d let himself get captured.

By using himself as bait,

he’d secured an awakening item for their precious hero party.

Plus, the Descendants were dangerous enough to even trouble Selena.

Right now, they were just remnants,

but left unchecked, they could seize a kingdom and rebel against the gods.

So the sooner they were dealt with, the better.

Wiping them out today?

Perfect.

An ideal situation.

…Just as he grinned at the thought—

“You there. What’s so funny? You wanna die?”

One of the Descendants approached, sword in hand, threatening to kill him.

Good.

Time to move.

‘This must be their hideout.’

The Descendants never operated alone.

They moved as a group,

acted as a group.

So if this looked like a base,

it was their base—leader to grunts, all here.

Time to clean house.

“Summon!”

He immediately summoned Hayang (Selena).

“Cain?! You’re okay?!”

“I’m fine. I let myself get caught to locate their base. Let’s wipe them out and go.”

“On purpose? Why?”

“They’re the Descendants of the Shadow Clan.”

“The Descendants?”

“Yeah.”

“Ah… I see… Okay.”

Selena understood instantly upon hearing the name.

“We’re killing them all?”

“Obviously.”

Selena smiled, as if to say ‘Classic Cain,’ and glared at the Descendants.

Perfect.

Smoothly handled.