Chapter 86

In front of him, the assassin's corpse disappeared.

The summoned monsters were still on alert.

They were naturally wary of the man who called himself Lambda.

His marker was still gray.

The [Penetration] skill wasn't working on him.

Well, it wasn't completely ineffective, but it was only determining him as gray.

《Your [Penetration] skill has leveled up!》

《The auxiliary skill [Torture] is now available for acquisition.》

Torture?

Scary words appeared before his eyes.

There was no reason to use such a skill in daily life.

"Um, I'm sorry, but—"

Lambda's expression was unusually serious.

Of course, with Black Obsidian behind him, Helix on his shoulder, Crescent and Wolf on either side, all still on alert.

"Can't we do something about this?"

"Can't we talk first?"

"That's difficult."

He called Black Obsidian to his left arm and stopped him.

Wolf was kept in a down position, waiting.

"Can we compromise here?"

"Yes."

"I guess you're a PKK, right?"

"Yes."

"But to me, you look like a Fighter."

"No, it's the gray marker that's showing."

What?

Do you know?

I do have [Penetration].

"I was so impressed by your handling of PKs."

"Flattery won't work. Who are you?"

"Are there any other players around?"

He had the summoned monsters check the surroundings.

There was no one.

"Looks like there's no one."

"Good. My [Danger Sense] is a bit unreliable in this state."

Before his eyes, the marker changed from gray to white.

What is this?

He focused on the marker and tried [Identification] again.

Omega Level 7

Fighter On Standby

"Excuse me, I was wrong."

"Huh?"

"Can you re-identify me?"

Omega Level 7

Avenger On Standby

"This is my real name and profession."

"Avenger? A Vindicator, right?"

"Yes."

"Why were your name and profession different just now?"

"That's the effect of the [Disguise] skill. Depending on the level, even [Penetration] might not work."

"Wow."

"It's a skill that can be acquired unconditionally when you class change to PK or PKK."

"Hmm."

He sat down cross-legged in front of him.

He took out something that looked like cotton from his mouth.

It seemed he had been in disguise.

"Actually, I have a serious request to make."

"A request?"

"I want you to train me."

"Huh?"

"It's absolutely necessary."

I got a glimpse of his true nature during the battle.

Despite his casual demeanor, he cut the assassin's throat without hesitation.

There must be intense anger or resentment behind it.

"Can you hear me out? It's a long story."

"Before that, why me?"

"I saw the arena matches. I thought this was the only way."

Really?

Just from that?

"You might not understand, but I have nothing else to rely on."

"Rely on?"

"I'll tell you everything. My skill setup, my stats, and the reason I became a Vindicator."

It seems like it will be a long story.

What should I do?

I'm naturally curious.

Should I listen to the story?

Indeed, it was a long and tragic tale.

Even if it was only half true.

To summarize, it went like this:

He was betrayed by all the fixed members he had been with since the service started.

The five betrayers used him as a scapegoat to deliberately fall into darkness.

His friend requests were canceled, and he lost all connections with the betrayers.

Just before respawning, they restrained him and took most of his equipment and money.

When he realized, he was back in the inn with almost initial equipment.

And he, too, fell into darkness.

His original profession was a Treasure Hunter and a knife user.

He didn't understand the situation for a while after being PKed.

He didn't know why he could class change to Avenger.

Vindicator.

He read the simple explanation of the profession and class changed to Avenger.

It seems he is cursed.

Yeah.

I'm afraid to ask what he is cursed with.

He also showed his skill setup and stats, so I temporarily formed a union with him.

This is what I saw:

Player Name: Omega

Race: Human Male Race Level 7

Profession: Avenger Level 2

Bonus Points Remaining: 18

Set Skills:

Dagger Level 6, Sword Level 4, Small Shield Level 6, Evasion Level 7, Block Level 6,

Light Magic Level 5, Dark Magic Level 1, Water Magic Level 5,

Coordination Level 4, Appraisal Level 6, Identification Level 6, Penetration Level 5,

Precision Level 5, Dual Wield Level 3, Disassembly Level 5, Throwing Level 5,

Trap Level 3, Protection Level 3,

Disguise Level 3, Disguise Level 3, Concealment Level 3, Tracking Level 2,

Silent Casting Level 3, Danger Sense Level 3

[Acquired by Vow of Vengeance]

Karma Identification Level 3, Setting Manipulation Level 3, Status Manipulation Level 1,

Skill Sealing Level 2, Curse Level 1

Equipment:

Cast Iron Knives x2, Traveler's Clothing, Leather Boots,

Backpack, Item Box

Held Items:

Skinning Knife

Titles:

Proof of Forest Guardian, One Who Seeks Order,

Vow of Vengeance

Stats:

Dexterity 20 (+6)

Agility 22 (+7)

Intelligence 15 (+5)

Strength 16 (+5)

Vitality 16 (+5)

Spirit 15 (+5)

Karma 950, Lower Limit 350, Upper Limit 3,500

Well, the first thing I want to say is:

Are you a monster?

"Do you really need training?"

"What's lacking is my player skills."

"You seem like you could win just by using your stats."

"Yes. Winning too easily is the problem."

"What do you mean?"

"I have five targets for vengeance. I instantly killed one, but that's not enough. It only made them respawn."

"Not enough?"

"To clear the curse, I need to do more than just instantly kill them. And I can't get closure otherwise."

"I see."

This is a dilemma.

I can play the game as I please and have plenty of free time.

I could go along with it, but it's not a request like Adel and Irina's.

I might as well listen to the story.

"What do you mean by lacking player skills?"

"In combat, I hesitate when I need to rely on player actions."

"But I don't think I can help much."

"I saw the arena matches. That's enough for me."

That's it?

What should I say?

"Training, but what exactly do you want?"

"Hand-to-hand combat. I want to learn how to fight at close range."

"Hand-to-hand?"

"Earlier, you restrained the assassin, but I can't do that."

"Huh?"

"Capture them and take full vengeance. I need player skills for that."

Wow.

That's scary.

"Changing the subject, what about the group from earlier?"

"The PK party that was targeting you."

"Targeting me?"

"Yes. As far as I know, there are five parties active in this area."

"Five?"

"They're everywhere near the area portal. They target moments when players are vulnerable, like just before respawning or just after starting out."

"And PKK targets them?"

"Exactly. But PKK parties are fewer, so they're not everywhere."

I see.

It's like a food chain.

General players who hunt monsters.

PKs who prey on general players.

PKKs who target PKs.

There are also counterattacks, so it's not exactly a food chain.

"Your handling of the assassin was impressive. Please help me!"

He bowed deeply from his seated position.

No need to prostrate yourself.

"But—"

"I will definitely show my gratitude."

《You have received a personal request. Do you accept?》

What?

What's a personal request?

Is that possible?

I'm more interested in that.

I'm curious about how it will end.

There might be a reward like with guild requests.

But that's not important.

If it's a new experience, I want to try it.

"But even if I learn, it won't be immediate."

"That's fine."

What should I do?

What do I do when I'm unsure?

In my case, I usually decide.

"Sure, I can help."

"Thank you!"

《You have accepted the personal request!》

The info doesn't have a deadline.

Again.

But I accepted it.

"Let's start with a check, then?"

"A check?"

"Yeah. Is your time okay first?"

"It's fine."

"Okay. Let's start with your equipment."

He had only instant food for three days, a tent, and a blanket.

He even had leather armor.

"Next, let's move to a less crowded place."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, and can I call you Lambda?"

"Yes."

"Got it. I'm Keith. As you can see, I'm a Summoner."

"Yes, but you seem more like a Grappler."

"Is that a profession?"

"It's predicted to be an advanced class for Fighters, according to the bulletin board."

"Hmm."

It exists.

An advanced class.

But my master remained a Summoner.

It might not be available for Summoners.

I waited for Lambda to put on the leather armor and disguise himself.

In a short time, he became a completely different person.

Impressive.

"Is the forest dungeon okay?"

"Yes. I cleared it. I was betrayed right after clearing an event in the forest dungeon."

Oh.

If it's cleared, it's useless.

That's harsh.

"Let's go, then."

"Yes."

The destination was already decided.

I'll go to the S1W1 map.

It should be less crowded there.

Oh.

Before that, I should check the PKs' loot.

The bodies were gone.

There was only a little money left.

Honestly, it's not worth it.

I was a bit unsure whether to form a party or stay in a union.

For now, I decided to act as separate parties.

The experience balance is poor either way.

Supporting each other will be difficult, but it can be managed.

He is more than strong enough.

I added him as a friend just in case.

I wanted to check his usual combat style while moving.

Against mushrooms, there was no problem.

The damage he dealt didn't seem as high as his stats suggested.

His use of knives was limiting him.

He was covering with speed.

Against Branch Golems, the issue was more apparent.

He could defeat them without damage, but it took too long.

This won't do.

But since his targets are players, it might be fine.

It will affect experience grinding, though.

I switched the summoned monsters at the entrance to the goblin cave.

I returned Crescent and summoned War Demon.

I asked various questions while advancing through the goblin cave.

Mainly about skills I hadn't seen before.

I asked about the ones I was interested in.

First, Silent Casting.

It's available to PK and PKK classes.

It allows casting spells silently, but the casting time is more than double.

The casting time gradually decreases with level-ups.

It's predicted that it won't reach the original casting time.

Karma Identification.

It's a mysterious skill.

For Avengers, falling below the lower limit or exceeding the upper limit results in penalties.

It's part of the Avenger's curse, and the tolerance range narrows if they don't regularly hunt PKs.

It can't be ignored.

His current range was 350 to 3,500.

Initially, it was 100 to 1,000.

It has expanded significantly.

For general players like me, there's only an upper limit.

Breaking it results in a fall into darkness.

A result of worse actions.

Truly a cycle of karma.

My karma, sent via message:

Karma 275, Upper Limit 4,500

According to Lambda, karma itself is normal, but the upper limit is very high.

The reason is unknown.

Players who actively complete requests tend to have high karma.

Production classes with more negotiations also tend to have high karma.

The highest example is a merchant with an upper limit of 8,500.

NPCs also have karma, and some fall into darkness.

Setting Manipulation.

Another mysterious skill.

It allows intervention in a player's settings.

It was used to set the assassin's pain sensitivity to 100%.

The effect duration increases with level-ups.

How terrifying.

Status Manipulation.

The name gives a hint, but how it's used is a mystery.

It allows setting one's own stats within the upper limit, down to a minimum of 1.

The lower the setting, the more the karma range improves, but he hasn't used it.

Skill Sealing.

Another terrifying skill.

It seals the skills of a PK when they respawn.

At level 2, it seals two skills for two days.

It's terrifying.

It severely hinders adventuring.

Finally, Curse.

It's limited to vengeance targets.

For him, it's his former five companions.

The effect increases with each respawn.

He has only respawned one target once, and the full effects are unknown.

At level 1, it gives a bonus to [Penetration] against the target's [Disguise] and [Disguise].

The skill name is terrifying.

It's unknown what will happen in the future.

The saving grace is that skills like Setting Manipulation and Skill Sealing are limited to PK targets.

Curses can only be used on vengeance targets.

Even without those, his stats are enhanced by 30% above the base.

The word "cheat" comes to mind.

But there are already several penalties.

One is that the Avenger's pain sensitivity is fixed at 100%.

If he fails to take vengeance and falls outside the karma range, the worst-case scenario is being removed from the game.

The penalties are severe.

"That's why the stats and skills are so vicious."

He calls them vicious.

They are indeed vicious.

In reality, he can handle goblins with ease.

He can easily hunt a group of ten alone.

It's strange that he needs training.

Main Character: Keith

Race: Human Male Race Level 10

Profession: Summoner (Summoner) Level 9

Bonus Points Remaining: 8

Set Skills:

Staff Level 8, Blunt Level 5, Kick Level 5, Joint Lock Level 5, Throw Level 4,

Evasion Level 5, Block Level 4, Summoning Magic Level 10, Space-Time Magic Level 2,

Light Magic Level 5, Wind Magic Level 5, Earth Magic Level 5, Water Magic Level 5,

Fire Magic Level 4, Dark Magic Level 5, Ice Magic Level 3, Lightning Magic Level 3,

Wood Magic Level 3, Dust Magic Level 2, Melt Magic Level 2, Burn Magic Level 2,

Alchemy Level 5, Pharmacist Level 4, Glasswork Level 3, Carpentry Level 4,

Coordination Level 7, Appraisal Level 6, Identification Level 7, Penetration Level 3 (↑1) Cold Resistance Level 3,

Grapple Level 6, Horse Riding Level 6, Precision Level 7, Jump Level 3,

Heat Resistance Level 4, Climbing Level 3, Dual Wield Level 4, Disassembly Level 2,

Body Strengthening Level 2, Mind Strengthening Level 4, Fast Casting Level 4

Equipment:

Kay's Rod x1, Kay's Tonfas x2, Snow Leopard Hidden Claws x3,

Kay's Broken Rod x1, Silver Necklace+,

Wild Horse Leather Armor+, Snow Monkey Arm Guards, Wild Horse Boots+,

Snow Monkey Leather Helmet, Wild Horse Belt+, Backpack, Item Box x2

Held Items:

Skinning Knife, Carpentry Tools

Titles:

Apprentice of the Old Summoner, Proof of Forest Guardian, One Who Seeks Balance,

Spell Catalog

Summoned Monsters:

Wolf, Wolf Level 7

Crescent, Horse Level 5

Helix, Hawk Level 5

Black Obsidian, Owl Level 5

Gene, Bat Level 5

Jerrick, Wood Golem Level 3

Guardian Demon, Demon Level 4

War Demon, Beast Ape Level 4

Rig, Slime Level 3

Bunraku, Wood Puppet Level 2

Companion: Lambda (Real Name: Omega)