Chapter 30: Main Scenario 5
In 10 years, even rivers and mountains change, and after a decade in the world of adventurers, I've developed a keen eye.
I don't know formal swordsmanship, but by watching someone's blade work, I can get a rough idea of what they've been doing.
There are farmers who hold the sword like a farm tool, hunters more accustomed to using short knives for dismantling prey, soldiers and knights with precise but identical stances.
And then there are mercenaries and bandits who've killed more people than monsters.
"Ah, I should have just blocked it with my hand. Now there's a hole in my clothes."
"Ugh, aaaah, my, my hand..."
"But are there bounties on you guys?"
The other three, unable to even think of escaping seeing the speed I arrived with, stared blankly and stumbled back.
The two female victims were barely sitting up, sobbing. The scene was almost comical, with people sitting side by side, gawking at the guy with broken arms.
"Hey, are there bounties on you?"
"Ah, no, there aren't!"
"Then I can just bury you here."
"We have bounties! If you catch us alive, there's a reward in the southeastern mountains of the kingdom!"
One scruffy guy, looking nervously at the torn-up ground, yelled loudly to refute his comrade's words.
Perhaps imagining himself being buried alive, his filthy beard was trembling as he chattered away in fear.
At least there was a quick response.
I considered breaking their arms since I didn't have any rope.
Then, belatedly, Grace and Han Se-ah joined me. They followed the path of the grasslands that were ripped apart from my running.
"What's going on here?"
The crying women and terrified men were all sitting together, making the situation difficult to grasp.
Or perhaps it was the grotesque sight of the completely shattered arms that made it hard to look.
Unlike Han Se-ah, who tried to avert her gaze, Grace seemed to understand everything.
"Hanna, do you have any rope in your inventory?"
"Yes, sister. It's the one recommended by the guild."
"Then take it out."
Taking out the long rope from her inventory, Han Se-ah handed it to Grace, who tied up the men.
A mid-level adventurer could probably untie the sturdy knots, but they didn't have the desire.
The rope was a sign that I intended to spare these bandits and take them with us.
They all knew that if they tried to cut the rope and escape, their bones would be crushed like their comrade's arms.
With their arms hanging by their necks, they stood in a line, making me feel like a slave trader.
I watched the four bandits while a pitiful sobbing sound came from the rustling bushes.
"Huuk, huuuk."
"... We need to take what's important, Bel."
While one woman clung to the corpse, sobbing, the other gathered their belongings.
She collected the money and sword from the body and even the metal breastplate from the armor.
They had invested in armor to reach the 10th floor.
Leaving the shattered helmet and corpse behind, the woman with an unknown name helped the one called Bel to her feet.
She had climbed up to the 10th floor: she wasn't an ignorant girl who lived in her dreams.
Even as tears streamed down her face, she joined in gathering the belongings from the corpse.
Han Se-ah saw the two women picking up items from the body and quietly approached Grace.
"Um, what are they doing?"
"We're on the 10th floor, and they don't have the confidence to carry the corpse back down to the first floor, so they're just collecting valuable equipment and items."
"What about burying it?"
"Not everyone has an inventory like you."
Her dilemma stemmed from the newly introduced game system.
-WarriorWarriorWarrior
-Why doesn't a Paladin have a holy skill?
-What's there to think about? Obviously pick Taunt.
-Why are skills gacha?
-This feels like a deck-building game.
It wasn't that the unfriendly game didn't show the skills of party NPC's; the players had to choose them themselves.
She could only see Roland's skill window after the system window announced that their affinity had increased.
Roland had only one skill at the moment, a passive called "Indomitable Knight."
Of course, its performance was as impressive as its grandiose name.
Damage reduction without any conditions and damage reflection proportional to Roland's health and defense for melee attacks.
'Reflected damage is usually not a raid-specific skill. Is this a skill tree made with PvP in mind?'
Roland was strong.
He had high stats, personal combat skills, and incredible physical abilities that could be further enhanced with magic.
His immense strength, capable of tearing apart the 10th floor boss with his bare hands, couldn't be explained by high stats alone.
And that was what made Han Se-ah so troubled.
"No, listen to me guys. With a damage reduction passive like Roland's, isn't his tanking ability already more than enough? If a boss that can't be tanked with those stats appears in the tower, other gamers won't be able to get through, right?"
A buff that makes him so solid it's almost disgusting?
Maybe an attack skill that's proportional to health to support damage dealing?
Various debuffs to protect allies and increase utility?
A healing technique to create an all-around tanker?
-Just looking at the passive, he's a PvP powerhouse.
-He's a powerhouse just looking at the stats.
-I didn't know being a broken character created this kind of dilemma.
-I know I'll get banned for swearing, but I really want to.
-Without a 6.. I want to quit.
A riot broke out in the chat because she still hadn't made a decision.
She believed that with Roland by her side, she could genuinely become the world's top-ranked player and the owner of BB Games.
"Wait, haven't you all played mobile gacha games? Looking at those passives, I think they're for PvP. So we should build our concept around that. Honestly, remember that earth-shattering dash earlier, if there's a boss that can overcome that, then the game is broken."
The more she pondered, the more her gamer instincts leaned toward a PvP-oriented setup.
Just looking at her party, there was no one skilled in PvP, and just a while ago, she had encountered adventurers that turned into bandits.
'No, if the tank has damage reduction, that's enough. I'm going to recruit a priest for the party later anyway.'
Viewers criticized her rather than agreeing with her opinion, but it didn't matter.
If she were to be discouraged by that, she would have given up on streaming looking at the inappropriate comments on her workout videos.
Grace would max out her pathfinding skills, she would learn a bunch of debuff spells, and they would recruit a cleric to learn protective and healing spells.
Then, the 6 Paladin Roland would solve everything else.
With that in mind, Han Se-ah pressed the button on the hologram, ignoring the protest of the viewers.
Click.
***
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