Login Psychopath - Chapter 196



Only Krnovel

Episode 196.

[Arrived at the in the western part of the Kingdom of Eton.]

[This is the first area you enter. All stats increase by 5% for 30 days.]

[However, the buff effect disappears the moment you leave this area.]

[Arrived at destination.]

[End of directions.]

“Are you here?”

“uh.”

Isin, who had stopped in place, looked around.

In the distance I could see a volcano spewing ash, and below it a small village.

It was a place that made me question whether people could really live there… .

Lee Shin nodded.

‘You came to the right place.’

“Where is this place?”

Gilaim, who was looking around following Isin, asked.

Yishin looked back and asked.

“I don’t know?”

“I’m sorry. I’ve rarely been here before… … .”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying. It could be.”

As you said, it could very well be so.

In reality, this area was not well known to users or NPCs.

‘It’s not that bad.’

Because it was an area that was barely developed, there were many things missing.

A blacksmith shop to maintain equipment, a general store to dispose of leftover items after a hunt…

Naturally, it is bound to lose the interest of users.

To begin with, the recommended level for this hunting ground was relatively high, so it was difficult for users of average levels to even set foot there.

So, it was a place known only to those in the know.

Just like the orc haunts that Lee Shin used to frequent during his low-level days.

“But why did we come?”

“That’s why I came.”

“… … ?”

You have to go where others don’t go to find things.

If you go to a place that you think is ‘okay, isn’t it?’, chances are that large guilds have already moved in and finished developing it.

I haven’t seen it myself, but it’s obvious even without looking.

Because that was the best way for the big guilds to widen the gap with other small and medium guilds.

‘There’s no need to go to a place that’s already been developed.’

At this time, there were few ways for users who were not part of a large guild to shake them off.

Like now, going to places that others never go or being one step ahead of others.

Or just steal what others have found.

Lee Shin originally preferred the latter, but now it was a bit burdensome.

The level was high and I had to go to church with Ian soon, so I didn’t have much free time.

“let’s go.”

“Isn’t that adventurer waiting?”

“Jeras? They say you’re a little late.”

As Gilaim said, Jeras has not arrived yet.

It’s not like he broke his promise.

He said he would come right away, but… .

Because I was in another kingdom when the whisper arrived, it was bound to take some time to arrive.

“I don’t know exactly when they’ll be here, so I can’t just wait around. Let’s go first. We’ll have to do some research first anyway, so it’d be good to find out what kind of place it is in advance.”

“All right.”

Isin went down to the village.

* * *

“… … .”

“… … .”

[The townspeople are watching you.]

[The town’s vigilante soldiers are watching you.]

[You have a bad reputation. Townspeople and vigilante soldiers will be wary of you.]

‘It’s been a while.’

Isin scratched his head.

Recently, the fame stat has risen to the point where it follows the fixed value of the infamy stat, so there are almost no cases of residents being wary… .

It seems that this result was caused by the original high notoriety stat, plus the wariness towards outsiders.

For the residents living in such places, it would have been unusual for other people to visit the village.

‘Should I at least try talking to her?’

In order to do anything, you first have to talk to the residents.

Isin slowly walked to the nearest resident and spoke to him.

“excuse me.”

“omg!?”

“If you have any questions… … .”

Hurry up!

“……hmm.”

The villager whom Isin spoke to immediately ran away.

Perhaps because they are armed, they seem to be more wary of outsiders than expected.

I felt like I needed to force some space to have a proper conversation.

Isin glanced at Gilaim.

“… … ?”

“… … .”

“ah.”

Gilaim quickly understood this gaze and nodded in return.

As Gilaim quietly disappeared, Isin walked into a deserted alley.

While waiting for Gilaim to return, he soon appeared carrying one of the villagers on his back.

It was the person who ran away just now.

[I kidnapped a villager!]

[Please note.]

[If this fact becomes known to the Coast Guard…]

“You came quickly?”

“Yes, it didn’t run as far as I thought, so it was easy to find.”

“I’ll do it from here on out, so you two just keep an eye out.”

“Okay, I’ll let you know out loud if anyone comes near.”

Jeong Yu-ra and Gil Ra-im disappeared.

In that space where only the two were left, Isin removed the gag from the resident’s mouth.

“Ugh-”

“If you scream, I’ll kill you.”

“… … Gasp! Gasp!”

“Now, listen carefully. I’m going to ask you a few questions. Depending on your answers, I may kill you, or I may kill you painfully.”

“What!? … … No, doesn’t that mean you’re going to kill them both in the end?”

Instead of answering, Lee Shin asked a question.

First, let’s start with what you’re most curious about.

“Are there any other adventurers here besides us?”

“… … As expected, you’re an adventurer. Why did an adventurer suddenly come to this insignificant town?”

“answer.”

Yishin slyly showed the sword on his waist.

It means to stop talking nonsense and just answer the questions.

The effect was clear.

“Yeah, there is. But it’s a little different from you guys.”

“…? Different?”

“Usually it’s merchants or blacksmiths who come. There are very few adventurers like you who come armed. Even if there are, they usually leave quickly.”

“What? Why?”

“Why? Of course, it’s because merchants and blacksmiths come here to obtain minerals that can only be found here… I’m not sure about the latter.”

“hmm.”

‘They came to mine minerals.’

It wasn’t strange, considering the area was a volcanic zone.

Because originally, various minerals used to come out in this special area.

It goes without saying that special minerals are important to blacksmiths, and since these minerals are often sold at high prices, it is understandable that merchants would seek them out in large numbers.

but.

‘Then there is no reason for adventurers not to come?’

Hunting and mining.

In Lee Shin’s opinion, there was no reason to hesitate.

Yet the fact that these adventurers were so rare usually meant that one of two things happened:

The levels of the monsters are very high, making hunting difficult, or the number of monsters is too small, making hunting inefficient.

Or both.

‘… … I have to see this for myself.’

Isin’s expression frowned slightly.

If the above case were true, it might have been better to just move to a different area depending on the severity.

Lee Shin asked the next question.

“Where should I go if I want to go hunting nearby?”

“Hunting grounds…? Anywhere is fine.”

“hmm?”

“There’s no place around here where monsters don’t appear… … Ah! But you absolutely must not go near the volcano.”

“why?”

“Because no one has ever gone there and returned safely.”

They say that this is because something extremely powerful is sleeping inside the volcano.

If you go there rashly, you’ll come back dead without even knowing what happened.

Isin understood this to mean that there was a boss monster.

‘I guess I should go then.’

Because where danger lurks is the best place to discover something.

The only problem was that, as the townspeople said, it was dangerous… .

This didn’t matter now either.

‘I guess I should send Jeras first.’

Because soon someone will come to take your place and go first.

* * *

“First, let’s go nearby first.”

“All right.”

After releasing the villagers.

Lee Shin immediately walked towards the volcano.

I could have waited for Jeras, but I was curious about the unfamiliar environment.

thud…!

The sound of heavy footsteps coming from far away.

Isin turned his head.

‘Golem?’

There was a giant rock golem twice the size of Isin wandering around.

The numbers were also quite large.

The villagers’ words that there were monsters to hunt wherever you went were not a lie, because wherever you looked, there were at least one or two golems wandering around.

‘… … It doesn’t seem so bad?’

Isin tilted his head.

There are a lot of them, and Golems are relatively slow, so they aren’t that difficult of a monster for top-tier users… .

It’s not a bad hunting ground, but it’s strange that there are so few users.

But as soon as I caught one myself, I knew why.

“Kurur!”

“… … !”

I thought it would be dull, but the golem was more agile than I thought.

And since they were born in a volcanic zone, they would spew volcanic ash and flames in all directions whenever they died.

[Enemy defeated.]

[Caution!]

[The flaming rock golem that lost its core explodes!]

“… … !”

Boom!

[Caught in the explosion.]

[I suffered minor burns.]

[Exposed to volcanic ash.]

[Shall experience mild breathing difficulties.]

… … something like this.

Although the damage was minimal compared to the sound of the explosion, it was quite annoying to have this happen all the time while hunting.

This whetted his appetite.

‘… … Now I know why you’re not coming.’

It wasn’t difficult.

Instead, it was a typical ‘dirty’ difficulty hunting ground.

The golem was faster than expected, and explosions would occur every time it was killed, so it was inevitable that fatigue would accumulate significantly during the hunting process.

‘It’ll be hard to hunt for a long time.’

How short is the travel distance between the hunting grounds and the village.

How much effort and time goes into hunting a single monster.

How low is the probability that your hunting ground will overlap with other users, etc.

In order to hunt earnestly in one place, it was very important to consider all of these factors and manage fatigue.

And it was no different for Isin.

No, rather, this was even worse.

If Lee Shin felt even the slightest bit of annoyance or difficulty, he would immediately quit instead of persistently confronting it.

So the conclusion is the same as before.

‘Hunting is hard here… I need to find the boss first.’

The villagers said that we should go to the volcano.

He scared me a little bit though….

Here, it would be better to think about it after killing the boss cleanly rather than hunting golems that explode every time you kill them.

At least, that was the opinion of Isin.

-Almost there.

It was around this time that Jeras arrived.

Lee Shin answered.

“Where.”

-I see a village ahead… Where should I go from here?

“Don’t go to the village, come to the hunting grounds in front of it and look for me.”

-How do I find you?

“Since there’s no one else but me anyway, just come and find anyone.”

Jeras appeared soon after.

He spots Isin from afar and waves his hand.

But there was another person next to him.

It seemed like the explorer user that was supposed to be brought along… .

“hmm?”

Isin narrowed his eyes.

Because the face of the approaching explorer seemed somehow familiar.

No, it wasn’t just someone I was familiar with, he was someone that Ishin had personally uploaded to his channel.

And it’s a very meaningful first video.

‘… … Kim Hyun-seong!?’

That’s right, Kim Hyun-seong.

Yishin shouted inwardly.

no….

Didn’t you say you were bringing explorers?!