Voice Communication Talismans

The next day.

I offered a [Prayer].

I made a [Wish].

[Consumes 1 Wish Stone.]

[Acquired ‘Bless’.]

I obtained [Bless].

[Bless] was a Divinity that granted divine power to equipment, including swords.

Mew had given me the [Ring of Contract] equipped with the Demon King Stone, and I had finished imbuing the Mithril Cuirass with magic yesterday.

That concluded my business in the village.

I left the village.

Heading towards the hunting grounds.

It was time to receive the main Quest.

Northern hunting grounds.

Orcs.

“Oh, an Orc.”

“Orc…”

“….”

I encountered Orcs.

It was anticlimactic.

I expected them to attack.

But the Orcs, upon seeing Americano, held their breath and tensed up.

I had come for a light hunt, but they reacted as if they had encountered a Dragon.

But that reaction was possible because,

‘They recognize me?’

They recognized Americano.

Even though they had never met me.

Still, there were some witnesses, so they must have heard about me from the survivors.

That my hair is black.

That my chest is large.

That I only wear a Cuirass.

“….”

Americano released her grip on the sword and let it fall from her hand.

They seemed relieved that I had no intention of fighting, but they didn’t let their guard down.

I wasn’t going to bother them anyway.

[Orc Chieftain] Obram.

I had made a promise with that Orc, so I wouldn’t be the one to provoke them first.

I turned away from the Orcs and was about to leave when,

“…Huh?”

There were at least 30 Orcs.

That was a lot.

It was a number that made me suspect they were plotting something.

Considering the size of the Orc Village, it was almost a military-scale operation.

‘Something’s up.’

I stopped and looked back.

I was slightly curious, but,

“Hmm…”

I had already passed them.

I didn’t care enough to turn back, so I ignored them and headed towards my destination.

Americano had made an appointment to meet with [Orc Chieftain] Obram.

Yesterday, even though it was time to come to the hunting grounds, I didn’t show up, and the reason I came today was because today was the day I was supposed to meet Obram.

[Orc Chieftain Obram]

Orange text.

He was there.

A shack in the mountains.

Even calling it a shack was generous; it was a dilapidated house with holes in the ceiling and walls.

Obram’s information window was different from before.

It had changed from red to orange.

‘The color changed.’

It was a weaker color than red.

It was a visual indication that the gap in power between Obram and me had gotten closer.

I shook my head at the sight of him.

‘Obram, you’re more lazy than I thought.’

Well, he’s a monster, so I guess it’s to be expected.

If the monsters in the beginner area grew, would this place still remain a beginner area?

Suppressing my disappointment,

I raised my hand in greeting.

“Hello?”

“You’ve come.”

“I promised I would.”

She had made a promise with Obram.

To form an alliance.

The reason was because she was in a good mood.

The flood that Obram had caused by using himself as bait had almost killed Americano.

She liked that.

She thought he was too good to kill.

“So, how’s it g,going?”

Ugh. My words were slurred.

Americano had become even more of an [Outsider].

[Outsider: Enhancement]

I stuttered when talking to a monster.

It wasn’t severe.

It was just that I hadn’t adapted to the changes of being an [Outsider].

I could fix it quickly.

The problem was,

‘If I’m like this with monsters, what will happen when I talk to humans?’

I hadn’t talked to a human yet.

…Ugh, my head.

What am I doing thinking about this now?

‘Let’s think about it later.’

Anyway, I asked about his recent activities.

I had proposed an alliance in [???] Village before, but that was only a conversation I had with Obram.

Obram was the Chieftain, but he needed to persuade the Orcs in the Village.

Before getting to the main point, we exchanged a few brief pleasantries.

Mostly because I wanted to adapt to [Outsider: Enhancement]…

What have you been up to?

I’ve been doing this.

…It became a formal greeting.

Even if it was formal, Americano had experienced quite a few eventful things.

There was a commotion in the village,

I was misunderstood and fought,

I won,

I climbed the Tower,

I won without dying.

‘Ooh.’

Looking back, it was quite a fulfilling few days.

It would have been better if I had overcome it alone, though.

Obram also acknowledged her fulfillment.

“You are indeed a Hero.”

“Hehe, do I look like one?”

A Hero, he says.

I was happy with Obram’s pure compliment.

He seemed to have learned to speak human language more fluently; his words were a little more natural.

“What about you?”

“I…”

Obram stood up from his seat with a somber expression.

“There is something I wish to show you regarding that. Follow me.”

I followed him.

Following him, I glanced around.

Black cat.

‘I don’t see it.’

Meeting Obram was today’s goal, but the black cat was a more important matter.

The black cat would guide me to the main Quest.

‘I’m not going back until I meet the cat.’

I resolved.

Orc Village.

It was in ruins.

Huh?

It was ruined.

This wasn’t an Orc Village.

The Orcs had abandoned the Village and were on a refugee journey to find a new settlement.

Of course, there were no ramparts.

There were no wooden fences either.

Orc females… that’s a strange way to put it, and Orc women… that’s a bit weird too. Anyway, mostly female Orcs and young Orcs.

An Orc woman with only one bundle of belongings, nursing her child.

Many of the Orcs who appeared to be warriors were covered in blood from deep wounds or were missing arms.

An Orc Warrior without legs was taking care of the injured Orcs and treating them.

“What happened?”

“There was an attack while I was away.”

“Ah… um… I see.”

That was when Obram was using himself as bait to try to take Americano down with him.

“Who?”

“Humans.”

“Humans?”

“That is correct.”

Obram recited the characteristics of the humans.

They wore black clothes.

They used their fists.

He mentioned several other characteristics as well.

But just hearing the characteristic of ‘wearing the same black clothes,’ I immediately knew who it was.

“Ah… those guys.”

“Do you know them? If you cannot lend us your strength, our relationship ends here.”

“Say that after hearing my opinion first.”

The Demonic Cult attacked the Orcs.

Obram led her to a hut,

[Demonic Cult]

The sentence with the information window appeared, and the black uniform was shown, providing irrefutable evidence.

“Those Demonic Cultist bastards.”

“What do you think?”

Obram asked.

“I have a very bad relationship with those guys. There’s no reason not to fight… I might even ask you for a favor? Where are they?”

I’m going to go smash them right now.

I had kept the events at Gospel in mind.

Back then, Skilla and Nabi were there, so I couldn’t go all out, but it was different now.

Those guys are all enemies.

I’m going to tear them to shreds.

But did I have a personal grudge against them?

I think I did, but I forgot.

‘What does it matter in the first place?’

Even if I didn’t, they had debts to pay for making my acquaintances, like Gusta, Mudborn, and Mew, unhappy and causing them economic and mental damage.

This was an opportunity to settle those debts.

‘More than anything.’

I also wanted to try proper PvP.

Americano had reached level 30.

The [Duel Arena] is unlocked at level 30.

I wanted to fight a player and test my skills before going to the [Duel Arena].

I’ve fought a lot of monsters, but I’ve never fought a person sword-to-sword yet.

Remembering the case of Pacheon-gun, anticipation flickered at the corners of my lips.

I heard the location from Obram.

Orc Village.

It was the Village where Obram’s tribe lived.

Currently, they were establishing a base there, and as I listened, rational judgment pushed aside [Berserk] and intervened.

“Why are they there?”

“Do we need to know that?”

Is that even a question?

“We need to know in order to send them away. What’s the point of chasing them out if they just come back? They’re Heroes too. You know they don’t die even if you kill them, right?”

So we needed to know their purpose even more.

“Got it?”

“….”

The Heroes of this world are cowardly.

They don’t die even if you kill them; how cowardly.

‘But that’s a good thing.’

It might be a disaster from the perspective of the monsters being targeted.

“Wait here.”

Obram left the hut.

He was probably going to ask his subordinates.

Americano rummaged through the [Loot] that the Orcs had obtained from the Demonic Cultists.

Only Heroes can open [Loot].

But anyone can carry it.

[Loot]

It was completely empty.

Even the Gold inside was meager.

‘They probably took it out in preparation for dying.’

Unlike the horny middle schooler, there was almost nothing to gain from the [Loot].

Still, I opened them all.

As I opened them,

<Loot>

[Voice Communication Amulet]

“Communication Amulet?”

There was one particularly common item.

An amulet called [Voice Communication Amulet].

The name itself suggested its purpose.

Why would they need this?

Americano was a newbie.

I wondered if an item for voice communication was really necessary.

I searched in the [Community].

It was a substitute for the strategy site.

After the internet was cut off, the [Community] became active, and a large number of posts were pouring in.

The amount of information was still much less than the strategy site, but it was quite useful for a newbie who didn’t know much.

I found it.

It wasn’t about the [Voice Communication Amulet], but,

I found a post about the necessity of the ‘voice communication’ effect.

[Letters and notes are still text. You have to read them with your eyes. How can you read them one by one in a desperate situation? That’s why you need a way to communicate verbally.]

That’s how the voice communication effect was born.

It’s mainly used in party play.

‘It’s a trash item.’

There seemed to be no need to read further.

Still, I endured and read more.

[It’s also very useful in strategy battles like Dungeons and Raids, not just team battles.]

Dungeon.

Raid.

At that moment,

“I know their purpose,”

Obram returned.

He stated definitively.

“It’s a Dungeon.”

The Demonic Cultists were targeting a Dungeon and had attacked the Orc Village.

I took out the [Voice Communication Amulet].

But I couldn’t use it.

I didn’t know how to use it.

At Obram’s request, I headed towards the vagrants who had occupied their Village.

As I headed there, I examined the [Voice Communication Amulet] that I had obtained from the Demonic Cultists’ [Loot].

It’s a kind of walkie-talkie, right?

Can’t I eavesdrop?

With that simple thought, I took out the [Voice Communication Amulet] and fiddled with it.

But,

‘I don’t know.’

I gave up.

I opened the Inventory.

In the Inventory,

<Inventory>

[Pet House]

I summoned the [Pet House].

The characteristic of Full Dive’s Inventory is that it counts as one item no matter what’s inside when it’s packaged.

And you can only store one item in one space.

The flow of time inside continues, so you can put your Pet inside and carry it around.

Of course, you needed an item called [Pet House], but Mew gave it to me for free.

The [Pet House] was a square box.

It was big enough for Americano to curl up and fit inside.

When I opened the lid, I met the eyes of a frog looking up like a frog in a well.

‘Ribbit. Why?’

“Help me out.”

When I put my hand in, the frog jumped up and climbed onto my hand.

‘Is it magical?’

“This.”

I showed it the [Voice Communication Amulet].

“It’s from the Demonic Cultists; can you eavesdrop?”

‘It says it can.’

The [Ring of Contract] equipped with the [Soulstone of the Witch Win] had an unidentified function.

Function ‘Unknown.’

Mew didn’t seem to know what the function was, but I only found out after equipping the frog.

The identity of the function was,

‘Win, it’s your turn.’

The voice of the soul.

I could talk to Witch Win.

Only with the frog.

Because the frog was the one equipped with the [Ring of Contract].

Witch Win said that she had originally planned to be sealed in the Demon King Stone.

She wanted to leave because she was receiving too much unwanted attention in the field of Witchcraft.

I didn’t care about that.

Still, I had to admit it.

‘She found it!’

“You’re a genius after all.”

Witch Win was competent.

There was a crackling sound from the [Voice Communication Amulet].

“[…This is crackle…Leader…found…smartphone crackle…]”

Crackle.

The voice of a Demonic Cultist rang out.