Chapter 36 - Battlefield Chaos 2 (1/2)

His name was Ted.

He had been one of the Bronze Crown leaders on the left path that had been under Samuel.

“Just how did this happen?”

He still couldn’t believe it.

As the dry sand struck his face, Ted thought back to what had occurred in the lava area.

“Wasn’t my plan perfect!?”

It was very simple once he thought of it.

Mount sneak attacks on other groups while they were focused on hunting in secluded areas.

It came naturally to him who had spent his whole time in this world betraying those around him, and it was all supposed to have gone off without a hitch.

“Just who were they?”

Without any hesitation they had activated their Barrier, blocking any incoming arrows or spells. They were then able to turn the tables and defeat those red marked sinners.

It was as if they knew in advance that they would betray them.

“... I’ve lost everything.”

His group, with whom he had hunted down other players since the beginning of the Primordial Forest, had been wiped out.

Even his Identity had now been revealed. Although he had used a Pardon card to erase his red mark, it still wouldn’t be a good idea to return to the Fortress.

The Fortress was now under the strict management of the new Commander.

“If I am caught there, I’m done.”

This was the same person who achieved First Blood, killed the Blue Faction’s Commander as well as captured one of their Guard Towers.

It sounded like things only a God could achieve.

There was no way such a guy would leave him alone. Although he might be safe inside of the Fortress, the moment he stepped out his life would be forfeit. Also they obviously wouldn’t hand him any supplies, so he would only be returning to starve inside that Fortress…

“This is the worst.”

He should have been a bit more patient. Regardless of how few the opponents were, there could always be some variables that he hadn’t accounted for.

The penalty for attacking one’s allies was death, but they were just blinded by their greed as they saw all the items they could loot.

“I’ll just go after the smaller teams.”

That had become Ted’s new targets upon arriving at the Canyon. He could use the monsters instead of always doing the killing themselves. That way, they could hide their identity as player killers for as long as possible by not receiving and red markers.

Of course since they were on the same side, he would only personally take action when there was a juicy piece of equipment or item on the line.

That had only been his third time attacking his allies, which was nothing compared to the amount he had pillaged back in the Primordial Forest.

“I have no choice but to think about the future now.”

Sooner or later the battle between the two sides would erupt in full force, and bandits like him will gradually start to emerge.

He just needed to pull them over to his side and somehow find a way to survive.

There was no need to worry about whether or not his faction would come out on top, since they had Chun Woohyuk in their camp.

Ted roamed around the valley, searching for a place to rest, until an Oasis came into view.

“That’s a nice spot.”

He would no longer be able to receive a part of the supplies given by the system, so he had to be self-sufficient from now on.

As he was about to take another step forward, he felt something pressed up against his back.

“Drop your weapon, I’ll give you three seconds.”

A threatening voice commanded from behind him.

Ted began to sweat nervously as he dropped the Kukri dagger down onto the sand.

‘Did they already manage to catch up?’

There was no way that they were part of Samuel’s incompetent bunch, so maybe they were Chun Woohyuk’s subordinates instead.

As Ted raised his hands in surrender, his assailant spoke once more.

“You aren’t Chun Woohyuk, are you here as one of his scouts?”

An unexpected question.

It was only now that Ted realised that his opponent was from the opposite faction.

In this case, he might have a way out of this.

“No, I am simply on the run.”

He would fill his story with half-truths, and sell just the right amount of information to make himself valuable.

“Why is that, did you commit some sort of crime?”

“Nothing like that, just a minor dispute of hunting grounds that escalated needlessly.”

“Explain in greater detail.”

As the newcomer was quite curious, Ted came up with a plausible story. In order to keep his attention, he would include tidbits of valuable intel here and there.

“Interesting”

His plan had worked.

After some time a group of Asians appeared and bound Ted’s hands.

“Mr Inoue, what do we do with this one?”

“Let’s keep him alive for now, he appears to have some use.”

If everything he had told them was true, they just might have an unexpectedly good haul.

Inoue let out a satisfactory laugh as they dragged Ted back to their Oasis.

An interesting strategy was beginning to form in his mind.

* * *

“It’s a big blunder to have let Ted escape.”

Nam Kiryang said with an expression of worry. He and his team were currently taking a break towards the later stages of the lava field.

“It all happened a bit too fast. As soon as things were looking bad for him, he instantly used the Pardon card.”

“While Park Taesoo had been busy competing with their Archers. In that time, his red mark had been erased, causing him to hesitate whether or not to shoot. Although Jung Sanghoon had started to chase after him, the distance between them had already been too great.

“Did you inform the Boss?”

“Yes, he said to only activate the Guard Tower and no longer care about Ted.”

Lee Jaesung replied to Kim Dokyun’s question.

As the atmosphere turned gloomy, it was Huang Donghwan who spoke up.

“At the very least I’m glad none of us got hurt, we could have died back there.”

If it weren’t for Woohyuk’s warning with regards to Ted, they might have all lost their lives.

As everyone nodded in agreement, Lee Jaesung stood up and said.

“Let’s return to the Fortress, we no longer have anything to do here.”

Because they killed so many monsters, the other groups in the area could barely hide their hostility.

If they were lucky enough to pick up a Pardon card like Ted had, they might decide to also attack them.

As the party was preparing to head back, a man’s voice rang out in the distance.

“Hey there yellow monkeys, have you been looking for me?”

It was Ted.

Kim Dokyun's face was filled with anger as he raised his axe.

“Can we kill him this time?”

“The Boss told us to forget about him….”

“But hasn’t he appeared right under our noses? It doesn’t seem to be that dangerous.”

Ted’s teammates had all died, so naturally one would think it was a great opportunity.

Although Lee Jaesung was somewhat worried, he also nodded.

“Let’s take care of him ourselves.”

Even if they would subsequently obtain a red marker, at worst they could ask Woohyuk to summon them to his side and lay low for a while.

There weren’t any from their faction to witness the scene anyways, so Lee Jaesung quickly made the decision to take action.

“Don’t go anywhere and just wait for us, you racist!”

“Ha, do try to keep up this time!”

Nam Kiryang and Kim Dokyun were the first to jump ahead. Jung Sanghoon followed from behind, but he looked quite worried.

‘Something’s off.’

Even if he didn’t have the red mark any longer, it didn’t make sense for him to return.

Why would the guy who ran away, leaving his teammates to die, return to deliver himself to them.

‘It must be a trap.’