Chapter 21 Deal (2) (2/2)
Yeon-woo swept his hair back with his hands. A fresh crisp breeze came blowing towards him. He felt extremely refreshed.
“Ugh! It was getting stuffy in there!”
“I’m a little sad to leave. It was the perfect place for a nap.”
Kahn stretched himself, and Doyle rubbed his sleepy eyes.
The tutorial could be roughly categorized into two areas. The ‘Inner Area’ and ‘Outer Area’.
The Inner Area referred to the first areas ranging from Section A to Section D, which were designed to help new players realize their level of skill and to train for what they lacked. The Outer Area referred to the later areas ranging from Section E to Section G, which tested the skills that players’ had trained in the Inner Area and had them attest to their qualifications.
Usually, players would easily accumulate stress because the trials in the Inner Area were conducted in narrow caves and passageways with bad lighting and poor ventilation. But there was nothing like that in the Outer Area.
Seeing the outside world after so long, Yeon-woo also felt the stuffiness going away. But he couldn’t relax because he knew that The Outer Area would be even more dangerous than the Inner Area.
“Until Section D the space was limited by walls, so I only had to watch out within a certain range. There’s nothing like that from Section E onward.’
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Being in an open area also meant exposing himself to the enemy.
Different messages started popping up while Yeon-woo was focused on his thoughts.
[The challenge of Section E will begin.]
At that moment, Yeon-woo saw a flash of light on his palm.
A small bead about the size of half a finger appeared where the light had just flashed.
[You have been given one ‘Token’. Multiple Tokens are hidden throughout Section E, they can also be transferred or traded between players. Collect 99 Tokens to ascertain your qualifications]
Yeon-woo fidgeted with the bead-shaped Token. Next to him, Kahn watched with nauseated look.
“It pisses me off whenever I see that.”
Yeon-woo looked at the Token quietly.
Section E was more of a deathmatch. There were Tokens hidden all over the section, but it was much easier to rob someone else of what they had collected than to collect it for yourself.
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So players in Section E often got paranoid. They didn’t know when they would get hit by something unexpected, but also didn’t know if the teammates they had been laughing with until now would stab them in the back.
What’s more disgusting, is that …
Yeon-woo focused on the message about the Token being able to be transferred or traded between players. This meant that it was possible to threaten or even kill others to take their Tokens.
To find Tokens hidden throughout the whole Section E was a difficult task. Rather than that, it was easier to stay hidden and ambush other players and kill them to steal their Tokens.
It was as plain as day which option players would choose.
His brother had a hard time dealing with such problems. But what made Arthia distinguish itself from the others was that despite all the temptations, they managed to pass Section E solely by collecting hidden Tokens without resorting to betrayal.
‘Those Hyenas will surely come for me.’
The scavengers, also known as Hyenas. Section E was infested with Hyenas using the forest as their cloak. He had to watch out for them.
Then, Yeon-woo suddenly recalled the nefarious team he saw in the diary. The ones who captured players alive and used them to farm Tokens.
His brother and Arthia stepped up and wreaked havoc on their team, but what if the remnants or other copycats made a resurgence?
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Then Yeon-woo shook his head at the idea. Unlike his righteous and altruistic brother, he was a completely self-centered person. Even if he witnessed such crimes, he would most likely ignore it. His hands were already full with his own business. He had to stay out of trouble.
Then Yeon-woo glanced toward the two standing next to him.
To his relief, Kahn and Doyle only stared at Yeon-woo’s Token, and they didn’t look interested in taking it. It seemed like they had already collected quite a lot of Tokens before going back to Section B.
‘Or they could’ve already collected all 99 Tokens.’
Yeon-woo then put his Token in his mouth and swallowed it.
Kahn and Doyle looked at him with a newfound interest. By swallowing Token, Yeon-woo showed his will of not yielding to other players until dead. They got a glimpse of Yeon-woo’s conviction.
“I’m done reading messages, so let’s get a move on. You said you’re looking for a hidden piece in Section E, correct? Then let’s get it done now. I have to go find Tokens afterward”
Kahn nodded.
“Yeah, but there’s quite a distance from here. It’s gonna take us a while until we get there.”
“Then we’ll gather Tokens on our way.”
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“Fine by me.”
Kahn took the lead and set off on their way.
Yeon-woo and Doyle followed behind.
* * *
Section E boasts a much larger and wider area than all four of the preceding sections combined.
Thanks to this, each area has its own geographic feature within a different environment, forming a unique ecosystem.
Small hills are spread out to the south, a vast forest is covering the northern region, and at the end of the forest lies a muddy swamp. Black rocky mountains are lined up behind a barren desert along the east side, and a river flowing through a prairie stretches westward.
And each area is also inhabited by a wide variety of monsters.
Small monsters like Goblins and Kobolds form villages around the forest, but larger monsters such as Trolls and Ogres live deep in the forest. Lizardmen, Sandworms, and settlements of Orcs were each seen in the northern swamp, eastern desert, and western prairie.
The ordeal is about finding Tokens while dealing with the monsters and guarding their Tokens against players who may be even more dangerous than these monsters. Both are important.
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And now,
Yeon-woo’s party was heading towards the swamp at the north.