Berfort was empty unlike usual. Remembering that it was a village always crowded with users, Leeha was in a bit of a hurry.
“Director-nim!”
“Leeha-kun.”
“You’re late, you idiot.”
Browless and Luger greeted Leeha with friendly expressions.
Leeha wanted to raise his middle finger toward Luger but held it in because the user next to Browless caught his eye.
“Fernand-nim?”
“Ha Leeha-nim. Long time no see.”
“Oh, how did you get-”
“I met Browless-nim at the Ezwen Vatican. I came because of the Pope’s request.”
It was only then that Leeha remembered Fernand’s country. He belonged to Ezwen and had the confidence of the Pope through discovering various ruins and unexplored lands, would have known quite a bit of information related to Bluebeard.
“I’m afraid we’ll have to talk later. Can you prepare right away?”
“Yes, I understand.”
Leeha inserted a magazine into Black Bass. Click-! At the same time, a fanfare rang, and a quest window appeared in front of his eyes.
[The Ghost Clan Leader ‘Bluebeard’ Count Le – 1]
Explanation: “You have seen him before when you dealt with ‘Crolang’. He has the ability to strengthen large monsters. What you have to do now is to repel the monsters in Sentinel Mountain. And you have to find the traces of Bluebeard.”
The large monsters in Sentinel Mountains are very active. Because they have been touched by Bluebeard’s magic, the damage would be severe once they come down to the village. You have to kill them before they come down.
Description: Kill all the demons in the Sentinel Mountains
Reward: The Ghost Clan Leader ‘Bluebeard’ Count Le-2
Failure conditions: If the ghost clan arrives at Berfort, the death of Browless
Penalty for failure: Achievement – ‘The Beginning of the Fall’
– Do you accept?
‘Waaa, what is this?’
It wasn’t just Leeha. Kidd let out a groan and Luger frowned. The content of the quest itself seemed largely unremarkable. Judging from the description and condition for failure, it was clear that Browless would go together with them to the Sentinel Mountains.
‘But why is the achievement for failure ‘The Beginning of the Fall’! Wasn’t this over?’
Just with the name, it was an ominous penalty for failure. Compared to the high penalty for failure, the reward was only a progression through the chain quest. Blaming Middle Earth’s reward system, which still made users gasp, Leeha pressed the accept button.
“Kidd! Luger! Do you still remember the last achievement?”
“The Enemy of the Northern Trolls?”
“Don’t drag me down, you idiots.”
The only possibility was the achievement they received when they defeated Crolang.
The three of them have additional attack power against large monsters. There was also some additional damage from the Three Musketeers’ achievement, but Browless was with them. What kind of monsters would dare to approach?
“Let’s go, Director-nim.”
“Okay. Fernand-nim will come as well.”
“Yes. I will carefully follow behind.”
Fernand also took out his whip and held it. For the first time, they formed a five-person party on a quest with an NPC.
‘But if the party is like this, it feels like I am losing out because I am the one with the lowest level and I can’t share the experience. Can the quest be completed with the Three Musketeers’ achievement? I need an explanation to figure it out.’
Even in the midst of that, Leeha grumbled. The party of 5 left Berfort and slowly headed toward the base of the Sentinel Mountains.
“Is this the Sentinel Mountains?”
“Did Bluebeard change the terrain when he appeared…?”
“Wow, it looks like an unexplored land.”
Walking forward cautiously, Leeha, Kidd, and Fernand spoke one at a time.
Originally, the mountain did not have thick foliage, but now it felt completely different. Like the cursed land of the Marching Plains, the land darkened, with twisted trees revealing only thin and bizarre branches that made the atmosphere bleak, and the frightening roars of monsters could be heard. The Sentinel Mountains were no longer a hunting ground for Low-to-Mid-level users. The terrain was in such a state that the word cursed fit it perfectly.
“It’s not just about changing the terrain. Bluebeard’s energy must have changed all the monsters into demon nobles.”
“Demon nobles? What the hell is that?”
“It is bullshit that Bluebeard spat out. If normal monsters are commoners, the monsters touched by his energy are like nobles. That guy calls himself a count, so what can we say?”
“Huh, it seems like a joke concept. What kind of joke-”
“Everyone thought it was a joke. However, you wouldn’t be able to laugh if you knew how many large monsters were touched by Bluebeard’s energy, and how many humans were slaughtered by those demon nobles during the 2nd Human-Demon war. Even if the name is funny, the threat is real.”
Leeha tried to lighten the mood. But Browless was rather nervous about the title noble demons.
‘We have to concentrate. What will happen if we don’t pay attention to Browless?’
It was only then that Leeha was able to clear his mind. It was true that he had caught Crolang, and knew the skills of his outstanding colleagues, Kidd and Luger, so he thought it was a little easy because they were on a quest with Browless. However, the fact that he noticed early on that it was a trap meant that he was quite adapted to Middle Earth.
‘The first failure condition was when the noble demons reach Berfort. In other words, not a single one should be left alive. We have to find the hidden ones and kill them, not just the visible ones.’
And the second condition was Browless’ death. This was Browless, an NPC and director of the Musket Academy. It meant that he would be much stronger than most users. However, how much stronger?
‘He was able to do rapid fire using the Black Bass before. However, it is different when catching monsters. It is not possible to give the penalty of death to someone who is not at risk of dying.’
What did it mean when the condition for failure is his death? It meant that Browless could die during the quest. Leeha focused on that point. After crossing the base and reaching the middle of the mountain, they encountered the first monster.
“Gwaru- Cha-!”
“Troll? Do trolls appear here? Oh, besides, isn’t the color strange? Why did you sell your green skin to have gray skin?”
Fernand made rabbit eyes and pointed at the troll. The others did not open their mouths.
“Can it be treated as a new species of monster? Then I can get a little bit of discovery experience-”
Baaaaang—- Ba一Baaa一aang Boom——-!
Instead of their mouths, what opened was their muzzles.
“-Uwaaaaaa?!”
Fernand covered his ears and took a step back. He was about to trip over a rock but Browless grabbed and stopped him.
“Are you okay?”
“Oh, ah, yes. Ahh, these two what?”
“Ah…… no.”
Browless smiled benevolently. Fernand knew the skills of the three people, but the Three Musketeers then and now were different.
“Ah, Fernand-nim, what did you say about discovery experience?”
“Ah, yes.”
“About that……. Not a single piece of the corpse is left, is it still possible to find something with that?”
Leeha pointed at the troll with an apologetic expression. No, he pointed at where the troll was.
There were only traces of there being a monster in the place where Leeha, Kidd, and Luger’s bullets passed.
“Ho…… Ho……”
A piece of gray skin and the monster’s blood splattered like paint. The unrealistic cruelty, like a B-grade movie, did not even make them think it was gross.
“Let’s go.”
Yes, Sir!
At Browless’ words, the Three Musketeers reloaded and climbed the mountain again.
Fernand looked at the three people alternately, unable to escape from the culture shock.
‘What is with these people……!’
Another spark of hope was kindled in his heart. It was the moment when he thought that the promise to meet Leeha became firmer.
“The corpse…”
“Looking at the items, it seems that they are level 120 or higher.”
“It is natural that idiots who attack without knowing their enemy’s strength would die.”
Human corpses were lined up in front of Leeha, Kidd, and Luger. The corpses of users who had been hunting in Berfort were scattered all over the place.
“Did you say Bluebeard? There’s no trace of such a monster yet.”
“Hmmm, we must go higher. Be careful.”
“Yes, I will stay behind you.”
At Browless’ words, Fernand closed his magnifying glass and stood behind him. They were not far from where the first troll came out. Everyone knew that monsters would appear from time to time sooner or later.
“I will lead the way.”
“Either way. Kidd will go second, right?”
“Wouldn’t [Crimson Gecko] cry if it fell behind [Black Bass]?”
The Three Musketeers naturally took their positions.
[Pierce] Luger took the lead, [Rapid fire] Kidd right behind him, and [Bullseye] Leeha from a short distance away.
After some time had passed before Browless and Fernand moved to the formation behind them, a group of trolls finally began to appear.
The spot where the orc settlement should have been has already been occupied by the gray trolls. There were over a hundred of them. Leeha gulped and asked Browless.
“Director-nim, are those noble demons as well?”
Did they have to catch that many? Leeha hope that there would only be a few monsters considered demon nobles, but Browless nodded against Leeha’s expectations.
“That’s right. Normally, we would have to take a detour and go undetected but-”
“There’s no need for that. I’ll take care of everything.” Click-!
“Oh boy? At times like this-”
“Gwaruruk?! ”
“Aru- Cha-！”
The trolls who were playing kick with a human corpse raised their heads. Leeha tried to plan a thorough operation because he didn’t know what else would be there, besides the concentrated pressure of thousands of troll eyes, but Luger didn’t.
“This is my strategy. [Panzer Shrek]!
Baaaaaaang——!
An ironclad grenade bullet, which Leeha had experienced before, was fired first. A huge shell ripped through the troll’s stomach and exploded. Trolls began to run wild with the huge attack that not only had penetration but also explosive power.
(To be continued…)
