The fight ended unexpectedly quickly.
“Ah, no! They’re the mercenaries we saved...!”
The adventurers brought by the otherworlder were merely A-rank.
No, it wasn’t that they were just “merely” A-rank, but...
No matter how it was, there was no way they could handle two A-rank adventurers. Moreover, the otherworlder who brought them was barely a B-rank at best.
As a result, the adventurers lay before me, cold corpses. I had spared one of the otherworlders to extract information.
Since they were the ones who had targeted my life, I showed no mercy.
‘... I was surprised.’
Of course, they didn’t recklessly charge in without confidence. Life is precious after all.
They had to have some kind of trump card.
The trump card they prepared was holy water.
‘Did they really just throw holy water at me out of nowhere...?'
To me, holy water was like the Sword of Yangnam.
When used during a frenzy A, it was a wonderful friend that allowed me to bypass pain.
However, using it casually weakened my strength as a debuff item.
They probably aimed to use the holy water against me.
However, what they overlooked was that the effect of holy water wasn’t that dramatic.
If ingested directly, it might be effective, but throwing it to splatter on skin was nothing more than a slight drain on strength. I could still move without any issues.
And with such a minimal gap in power, they couldn’t close the distance between us. That’s why they ended up dead.
Anyway, since the battle was over, it was time for interrogation.
Without saying a word, I directly stabbed the thigh of the otherworlder.
The sourc𝗲 of this content is freēwēbηovel.c૦m.
Thud-!
“Gah...!”
His expression twisted in pain. No matter how much I adjusted the assimilation rate to the minimum, it didn’t mean that all pain was absent.
I looked at him and said, “So... shall we have a little chat? I heard something about a bounty on my head earlier; what’s that about?”
“Ugh... g-gold is attached to your neck...”
I had stabbed him to get him to spill information first, but he opened his mouth quicker than expected.
With awkward honorifics, he spoke.
He said that he had seen a bounty notice on the adventurer guild bulletin board about my head just yesterday.
It seemed that since the knights couldn’t move on their own, they were offering money to try and capture me.
After hearing that, I was momentarily curious and asked him, “So, you came all the way here for that money? With just these two people?”
“S-sorry! The amount was so large that I guess I was momentarily blinded by greed...”
“How much are we talking about?”
“About 5 million gold...”
“5 million?! Really?!”
I momentarily dropped my jaw. 5 million gold was quite a large sum.
It was enough to cover several years of a long stay at an inn.
Converting it to otherworlder currency, Chae-rin had told me that the ratio was roughly 10 won per 1 gold.
In other words, my neck had become worth about 50 million won to them.
‘Insane...’
Realizing that, I cursed inwardly.
It made sense why they would be crazy enough to try to ambush me. I frowned.
To think this would happen just after I returned home...
Well, it had already been two months since my identity was exposed due to Dantalion. It was surprising that there hadn’t been any repercussions during that time.
As I continued my thoughts, the captured otherworlder spoke up.
“Um... Could you perhaps let me live? I have so many items on me... If I die, it would be a huge loss.”
Upon hearing that, I scrunched my face in disgust.
It was a long-awaited feeling of contempt towards an otherworlder. He had just aimed for my life, and now he was worried about losing his items?
Now that I thought about it, he hadn’t shown a hint of sadness even though the adventurers he brought were dead.
Regardless of how unfamiliar we were, he displayed a rotten attitude toward dealing with people.
Well, for him, this place was merely a game; it wouldn’t matter if someone died or not.
It was clear that he viewed me not as a human but as an NPC.
Thanks to that, I could deal with him without hesitation.
After all, the assimilation rate was low enough that he wouldn’t feel much pain, so I could enjoy tormenting him a little.
“Gah...!”
As he turned into particles of light and disappeared, only the items he dropped remained behind.
It appeared to be a rather expensive hammer. I licked my lips at the sight.
‘If only he had dropped holy water instead...’
I had also asked him about the holy water. How on earth had he procured such a precious item during this drought?
However, the answer I received was utterly disappointing. He had just bought it out of curiosity a long time ago and was only now using it.
“Ugh.”
In the end, I still couldn’t obtain the holy water I so desperately wanted this time either.
At this point, I should have scraped up any holy water that had fallen on the ground with my hands.
‘When the hell will Dantalion die...’
At the very least, he needed to perish for the supply of holy water to be restored.
As I pondered various thoughts alone, I suddenly saw a familiar figure running from the other side of the forest.
“Yor! It’s a big deal! A huge deal...!”
It was Yu Chae-rin. Upon spotting me, she hurriedly approached and said,
“Right now, on your neck... oh?”
However, that moment was brief, as she froze upon seeing the two cold corpses on either side.
I lightly remarked, “You heard about the 5 million gold bounty? I know.”
I didn’t want to learn about it this way.
It didn’t take long to calm her down from her shock.
It was because I was so composed despite having a bounty on my head.
‘It feels like I’ve become a character in a game like One X...’
I was even able to think trivial thoughts like that.
5 million was still a small fry amount. I still had a long way to go.
After all, I was someone who had fled from the empire in my childhood, even having a composite sketch made of me.
I had been expecting something like this would happen.
Of course, it wasn’t that I felt completely devoid of a sense of crisis.
“What are you going to do from now on?” Chae-rin asked after I had cleared away the corpses.
“Well... for now, I’ll just stay put.”
Honestly, my plans hadn’t changed.
I would continue living a normal life and deal with intruders when they came.
I had already prepared enough for that. After all, I had secured a refuge to escape to and dug a side path in the cave.
The only other thing I could do was to set traps near my home...
It was frustrating, but there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t recklessly venture into the depths either.
Still, I was confident. I believed I could handle most intruders with ease.
However, one thing was concerning...
‘There’s too little holy water...’
It wasn’t just because the frenzy was painful.
What if someone invaded the day after a frenzy A occurred?
Or if a pursuer came in response to the scent of blood?
That could really spell disaster. To avoid such a situation, having extra holy water was essential.
Of course, consuming holy water would leave me weak, but at least I could keep my mind sharp.
Yet, thanks to that damned Dantalion, I couldn’t procure any.
“Phew...”
I sighed and said to Chae-rin, “For now, if you see holy water in the market, bring it to me without fail. No matter how expensive it is.”
“Ugh, I want to do that, but I can’t find any at all...”
With those words, she turned back to the forest.
... And fortunately, not long after, I found an opportunity to obtain holy water.
In quite an unexpected manner.
A few days later, another unexpected guest came to my cave.
“Wow, finally met you.”
However, she was a rather peculiar guest.
She was about 170 cm tall for a woman, had extraordinarily long, purple hair, and a slender build that contrasted with her somewhat fierce expression, making her appear slightly intimidating.
Overall, she was a flamboyant woman.
But such traits were merely secondary to her appearance.
What was most interesting was that she had come alone.
Moreover, she was an otherworlder, and she even had her stream on beside her.
I immediately activated my ‘Player’s Eye’ to check the chat.
[Wow, it’s Yor!] [Wow, 50 million won!] [Hanbyeol, do you really have to fight her if it seems like you’re going to lose?] [Just let it go; she’s been getting praise from all over lately, so she’s getting a bit full of herself.] [As expected, a talent thief.] [Noona, be careful not to get hurt!] [My noona will definitely win; take out that demon’s minion quickly!] [Ugh, I really want to beat those talent thieves!]
It seemed she was a rather popular broadcaster, as the chat was quite lively.
Since she was here, her intentions were clear.
First, I had to greet my guest, so I grabbed a spear and said to her,
“Did you come here aiming for my neck too? But for that, your numbers seem a bit lacking.”
“Ha, I never expected to hear so much from an NPC. You should worry about yourself. I’ve prepared plenty.”
Soon, the otherworlder drew her swords. They were two enormous scythes.
With a grin, she continued, “Let’s see... they say holy water is a direct hit against Manifestation Bearers, right? You should be nervous. I have plenty of holy water.”
At those words, I also smiled brightly.
“Is that so?”