Chapter 64 - Rookie’s Battlefield (2) (1/2)
Rookie’s Battlefield (2)
[Upon entering, you will be able to leave after twelve hours.]
[If you don’t enter within three days, you will be automatically sent to the Rookie’s Battlefield.]
I looked over to Lee Chan-yu, surrounded by three hellhounds, and currently in the middle of crushing a ghoul’s head with his claws. No more enemies were in our immediate area.
“Did you level up? Congrats. Level 100 is mid-level for some of the large guilds out there.”
“Who is the strongest?”
“What are you, a chairman? They don’t tell people their skills, so there’s no real way to know. Purely level wise, though, I want to say it’s around 200.” My eyes felt like they would pop right out of my skull. ‘200?’ I had invested a whole week into going just from 99 to 100, fighting and devouring all sorts of monsters to do so. Lee Chan-yu could easily read my frustration.
“They’ve been that strong since the Great Fusion. Their levels haven’t changed much since then.”
“…I started at level 1….”
“I was 45…” He spoke inadvertently, looking away. He didn’t intend to get on my case, no point kicking me while I was down.
“They’ve had to pay the price too.”
“This is nothing new.” From the moment the Great Fusion happened until now, even if you put it all in a book, it wouldn’t be more than maybe two books. Not such a great stretch of time. But what had these people done? ‘Did they really pay the price, enough of one to be able to look down upon me from such a lofty perch?’ I didn’t know. I couldn’t judge it. ‘So don’t. Hold back from making a judgment call for now.’ I just had to do what I could.
“Do you know what the Rookie’s Battlefield is?”
“Hm…no.”
“Alright.” No information related to the Battlefield was available in my quest. The quest was about evolution, so I suppose it probably had nothing to do with this Rookie’s Battlefield. The danger of Jinma’s Tower and Nak’s Garden couldn’t be ignored, but at least they were being kept under control by my so-called helpers. However, Rookie’s Battlefield was different. I had no information on it, and neither did Lee Chan-yu. It all had a weird, unusual feeling to it. I didn’t have time to wait for him to reach level 100.
“Captain, is it a new place?”
“I think I need to do some scouting first. I’m going to go hunt alone for a bit.”
“Alright. Be careful, boss.” He smiled and nodded at me, waving for the hellhounds to spread out.
‘Alright, so I have one option.’ I went ahead and opened the door to the dedicated store.
“You’re back, Fate.” Rain greeted me with a comforting look as always; however, the interior of the store was not the same. An empty glass stood in front of him, and the chair was pulled back a little. Someone else was here recently.
“Are there other customers here?”
“Haha, no. The only customer of this exclusive store is you, Fate. One of my old acquaintances recently wanted to stop by for a drink.” An acquaintance of Rain. ‘Is it someone other than A and L?’ I was curious but decided it wasn’t that important. I went ahead and sat in the chair that was pulled back. Out of nowhere, a reverberation filled my body for a brief moment. L had been here.
“In the garden of Nak, it must have been a soul there…”
“It was the same for Fate, no? Like you, she also has a proper body.”
“I thought there must be some special circumstances; that’s why she was in that form.”
“That was just to help with your training.” Rain’s explanation relieved me quite a bit, although I kicked myself once it occurred to me why I was relieved. ‘I keep getting too distracted.’ I needed not to be so shaken.
“It was depressing.”
“Yes?”
“She was, L.” Rain said, picking up the empty cup and began to clean it.
“I did not doubt in my mind because I believed that Fate would come to see me a couple of times a day.”
“You need 100 gold to enter the Garden of Nak. I can’t spend that much money just to meet with her, and time is short.” My voice was terse and hardened, but Rain simply smiled cheerfully.
“It’s probably because she wasn’t waiting for you here.”
“She left this here for me?”
“Cute, isn’t it?” I had to admit it was. A bitter smile crossed my lips as her face came to mind. L. A woman who was so beautiful it hurt and, for some reason, likes me. It felt wrong. I couldn’t help but question if it was right for her to like me. But that feeling, like she understood me… it scares me sometimes, but it also felt kind of good. I tried to shake off these thoughts and looked back at Rain.
“Rain, I have something to ask of you.”
“Is it about L?”
“I’ll meet with her and talk to her in person. What I need to ask you about is… the Rookie’s Battlefield.”
“…Hmm…” Rain’s expression immediately hardened as he put down the glass. “Alright, so you’ve evolved into an elf.”
“A Crimson Elf to be specific. Does this Battlefield have something to do with elves?”