Chapter 13 - Crown Game 3 (1/2)

Woohyuk stepped out of the cave after taking only what was valuable. He now had a tier 7 Bronze Crown above his head.

‘I got lucky this time.’

He had arrived just as they were having a meeting, This made it very convenient for him as he was able to take them all out at once. Also, since he knew he was in a bandit’s lair, he didn’t need to ask himself whether the person before him truly deserved it, and could just go ahead and kill.

‘I should get back soon.’

Although he hadn’t received any special communication from Lee Jaesung, but now he figured that Ma Gwangpil would have already fallen into trouble.

That guy had been making too much noise recently and he was sure to have attracted the attention of some bandits.

Whoohyuk headed back to camp as he whistled a light hearted tune.

‘It’s been a long time since I have handled these kinds of cleaning operations.’

Ever since he had become a Monarch, most of these tasks would have been handled by his subordinates. After all, there were just too many things that required his attention.

Of course that was still the case to a certain extent, but at least for the time being, it would be best if he handled these situations.

It was still a bit early to send Lee Jaesung to kill other humans. It wasn’t a question of ability, but rather if his heart could handle it.

‘Taking care of it myself should be fine.’

By equipping the Berserker’s Plate armor, he was confident even if he were to face off against hundred people.

Due to it’s penalty however, he usually wore a different armor, but he could quickly replace it by keeping it in his Gladiator’s Belt. Of course that kind of replacing only applied for equipment from the same category. There was a large downside however, in that using that function to replace his armor during battle, the system replaced anything that was categorized as an armor, for example his helmet and gloves.

“The captain has arrived, inform Lee Jaesung immediately.”

“Do you even need to send someone? You can just send a message you know.”

“ Oh right….”

His mind occupied with his many future plans, he arrived at the camp.

Woohyuk tossed the corpse of a goat he had been carrying at the feet of his party members. Put that away in the tent, it’ll be tonight’s dinner.”

It was a goat which had recently been hunted by the Crimson Crows, and was still fresh.

“Have you already taken out six leaders?”

Lee Jaesung asked in surprise, to which Woohyuk simply nodded back.

“And the members that followed them….”

“I killed them all.”

“There is no one we can currently trust right now, even within our own camp.”

He was referring to Ma Gwangpil who has secretly been pressuring the other two leaders to ostracize those from Woohyuk’s party, causing the atmosphere at the camp to become rather tense.

“We can just keep to ourselves, no need to worry about the others.”

It was the time to build a strong internal core. To this end, Woohyuk sent Lee Jaesung a message as to how they should proceed.

“Okay, but that Ma Gwangpil is rather late. It’s been quite some time since he left with his party.”

“That guys in trouble for sure..”

“Really? How do you….”

“I just happen to know.”

A vivid recollection of what had happened back then appeared in his mind. Those opportunistic bandits would circle camps, taking hostages and as a result many had been injured or even died.

Woohyuk gathered his party together because he wasn't willing to lose any of his precious members. Now was the time to prepare for the battle between camps.

* * *

“Save me, please….”

A woman in leather armor fell down to the ground and begged for her life. The male adventurers around did seem rather down, because she was quite pretty.

‘Do we really need to kill her? Even if she tried to steal from us, we are still in need of members.’

‘Maybe I’ll be able to convince her to join us.’

She was one of the members that had joined recently , but under false pretenses since she had been caught trying to steal from them. Although she was now captured, many were willing to give her a second chance.

People resort to all kinds of things when their survival is on the line, was the rationale many in the camp were considering.

However Woohyuk appeared and mercilessly ran Grandia through her heart.

Puaak!

“Kuluk”

The woman puked out a large amount of blood as she gave Woohyuk a venomous look. Above her head appeared a two tiered crown along with a red marker.

Ma Gwangpil, who had been watching the ordeal, clicked his tongue in disappointment.

‘Tch… what a pity.’

He had wanted to prevent Woohyuk from killing her, but lacked any proper justification to do so.

He was in the wrong, keeping her alive simply because she had a pretty face, putting the rest of the camp in danger, so he definitely couldn’t bring it up.

“You were very fast, it hasn’t even been half a day.”

Eve said as she stepped out of the black portal.

She looked around for a bit and then came back to Woohyuk with a puzzled expression.

“Did you not increase your numbers? How bold of you. Well, it isn’t any of my concern. Since you’ve reached the qualification, I have to ask, are you ready to undergo the examination for your promotion?”

“Yes”

Above Woohyuk's head there was a tenth tier Bronze crown.

Eve let out a bright smile as she handed him a map.

“The task is rather simple, you need to carry these crates to the marked area on the map. There isn’t any time limit, but if any crates are lost, you need to return here to pick up a new one.”

The destination was simply an empty clearing on the way to the Central Lake.

The number of crates matched the amount of members in your party, so there wasn’t any need for return trips.

“Got it.”

“Then I’ll wish you good fortune in your battles to come! See you next time!”

As Eve disappeared, Woohyuk instructed every member of his party to pick up a wooden crate and carry it on their backs.

They were all rather heavy, as if they had been filled to the brim with stones, but at least it was manageable enough that everyone was able to carry one.

Even the smallest among them had to bear the burden.

“Are you fine? It’s a bit unreasonable to ask this of you….”

“This is something we have to do.”

Song Anna gave Yoo Kayoung a smile.

Although she appeared small and feeble, her Strength stat was such that she wasn’t inferior to any of the men in the camp.

“Once you are all ready we can get started.”

Woohyuk said as he took the lead. Lee Jaesung who followed right behind him smirked and mentioned.