Chapter 12: Player Killer (1)
Stella questioned Yi-An, “What was that? How did that work?”
“Let’s see… I just became an orc vegetable seller.”
“It doesn’t make any sense…”
What just happened seemed like a comedy skit. It was like a fully staged act that would immediately become a viral hit if she were to upload it on the internet.
Yi-An said carefully, “I didn’t do it out of rational thinking.”
“Then?”
“I asked myself this. If I were not Jung Yi-An but an actual orc who sold vegetables… What would I do as an honorable orc seller?”
Yi-An had simply done what he would do if he were an actual orc in the world of Elder Lord and not just a human on earth.
He concluded, “I just did what felt natural to me.”
“Like role-players…?”
“Rather than a player… it’s becoming the character itself.” Yi-An laughed.
Stella became lost in thought. It was common knowledge among players, especially those who aspired to become high-rankers, that one must put their heart and soul into Elder Lord to succeed. The system followed players’ assimilation rates and responded differently based on how much a player treated Elder Lord like reality and immersed themselves in it.
Stella felt an unusual vibe from Yi-An. This man was truly enjoying the world of Elder Lord. She nodded, “I see. I feel like I had a realization. Your real name is Jung Yi-An? Are you Korean?”
“Yes.”
“I thought you were a foreigner ‘cause you initially introduced yourself as just Yi-An, and I thought you meant Ian.”
“Haha.”
Players from all over the world gathered in Elder Lord, but thanks to a cutting-edge translation system, everyone communicated in a universal Elder Lord language. Communication had been so smooth and natural that he totally forgot the possibility that even Grom or Stella could be foreigners.
Stella laughed as Yi-An gave her a look.
“I’m also Korean,” she said.
“Ah, I see.”
“Let’s add each other as friends. Let’s meet up sometimes when we are online.”
Currently, Grom was the only one registered as Yi-An’s friend. Yi-An accepted Stella’s friend request so they could exchange messages too.
“How long have you been doing Elder Lord?”
“In real time, for two weeks…?”
“Really?”
Stella’s eyes widened as she nodded. “I see. I think you will become big in Elder Lord soon.”
“Me? No, it’s just a hobby.”
Yi-An had begun playing Elder Lord for his sister, but looking back on it, he was enjoying playing Elder Lord more and more.
“I have good intuition. Your assimilation rate is really high, right?”
“Assimilation rate?”
“The one in your status window.”
“Give me a moment.”
It had been a while since the last time Yi-An had checked his status window.
He opened it to check.
[Status Window
Yi-An, Orc Apprentice Warrior
Title: Friend of Farmers
Level: 4
Achievement Points: 80
Assimilation: 56%
Skills
Orc’s Strength (Common)
Orc’s Recovery (Common)
Orc’s Greatsword Technique (Uncommon)
Warrior’s Fighting Spirit (Uncommon)]
His assimilation rate had risen. It had been 50% when he first started, and now it had risen to 56%.
“It’s 56%.”
“Oh, really?”
“Is that high?”
“Yeah, it’s high, especially since it hasn’t been that long since you started. I’m at around 30–40%.”
“Aha…”
“But the catch is that the higher the assimilation rate, the more realistic the pain is, so a lot of people set limits on their assimilation rates and keep them low.”
Yi-An inwardly wondered if that was why it was so painful whenever he engaged in battle. He nodded while in thought.
Previously, he hadn’t paid attention, but there was actually an option to click for more details in the status window. In the ‘more details’ section, a player was able to set a limit on their assimilation rate, change their title, and check their skills’ proficiency levels.
His Common-level skills such as Orc’s Strength and Orc’s Recovery were close to being upgraded to Uncommon. Yi-An decided not to set a limit on his assimilation rate and left his title of Friend of Farmers unchanged.
After exchanging more information, he learned Stella was of a much higher level than him. However, because levels were determined by achievement scores and skills, a player’s level didn’t indicate how strong they were. Thus, players with various occupations, not just fighting ones, were able to enjoy Elder Lord.
Stella taught Yi-An the special grade skill, Negotiating Eloquence (Special).
“Let me know if you need to buy something next time. This skill is good for negotiating prices.”
“You couldn’t even sell vegetables.”
“That’s… um… I can’t speak to that… but you are the weird one.” Stella checked the time. “Ah, I have an appointment, so I need to log out. It was fun today. I’m grateful. I was really impressed by you. See you again.”
“Yeah, let’s meet again next time.”
“Ah, I almost forgot. Take this.” She handed a bandana to Yi-An. There was a Blacksmith Company logo embroidered on one of its corners.
“Wear this.”
“...?”
“It’s not good if others find out that you are a player in Anail, especially if you are an orc.”
“But only other players can see the star.”
“That’s the problem.” Stella shrugged. “Players are scarier than NPCs.”
“...?”
“Ah, I’m gonna be late. I’m leaving for real. Good luck!” She went inside her store and logged out there to avoid drawing attention.
Yi-An had made another friend in Elder Lord. He finally understood why people were so immersed in Elder Lord.
Yi-An laughed contentedly to himself.
Then he realized, “Wait, what about compensation for the quest…?”
Yi-An had totally forgotten about compensation while conversing with her. Was this an effect of her Negotiating Eloquence skill? He should question her the next time she’s on.
He put on the bandana and liked what he saw. Others would see him as a trendy orc with a good fashion sense.
With light footsteps, Yi-An headed back to Thompson’s house where Hoyt was. Unbeknownst to Yi-An, there were shadows lurking behind him and spying on him.
“That orc… he’s a player, right?”
“Yeah, he had a star on his forehead.”
“Hehe, there was another crazy dude out there?”
“This guy is perfect for us.”
“Good. Shall we go orc hunting today…?”
Bright stars like Yi-An’s shone on the heads of those who were whispering in the alley.
***
It was already dark. Nights in Elder Lord were beautiful. The stars that had been put to sleep in the real world were able to stretch and let out their light in virtual reality.
Yi-An saw the Milky Way. It looked like a river in the sky, formed with clusters of stars.
He looked up at it and hummed a song to himself. If stars were compared to the twinkling eyes of kids, the calm moon was like a mother who softly illuminated the world. As the cold and clean air filled Yi-An’s body, he felt a sense of clarity course through him.
So when the three men appeared in the alley, Yi-An was not surprised.
He had already been aware of their presence, but he didn’t lower his head to look as he was busy looking up at the stars.
The knives in their hands glistened palely in the moonlight.
Yi-An said the first name that popped into his head, “Derek?”
The men looked at each other and shrugged.
“We don’t know who you are talking about, but just die. Don’t try to resist.”
They didn’t seem to be Derek’s servants. Yi-An surveyed his surroundings. There were no signs of humans nearby. It was the ideal place to ambush someone.
“Orcs are a great source of achievement points.”
“They are easy to catch when they are players. It’s an easy way to improve your proficiency.”
“Hehehe.”
The three men surrounded Yi-An.
Yi-An took a step back and scanned them down. Although it was an unexpected situation, Yi-An immediately went into fight mode. It was as natural as breathing for him.
He quickly assessed the enemy. The first opponent was a tall man with a spear. He seemed to be the surveying type and kept everyone at arm’s length. The second was a man with a staff. He seemed to be a wizard who offered support from the perimeter. The third was an agile looking woman holding two daggers. She was the type of fighter who drew attention with her flamboyant movements.
“What are you looking at?”
Yi-An didn’t respond. He focused on predicting the trajectory of the fight and mapping out his method. This split second determined the outcome of the battle. The man with the spear would try to block him, the woman near him would try to distract him, and the wizard in the back would bombard him with spells. It was a formation designed for ambush. He had to break the enemy’s rhythm.
His first assignment was to bait the defenseless wizard.
Yi-An pretended to hesitate in fear. “Why are you doing this to me…?”
The woman erupted in laughter. “Look at his scared face. Cute.”
“It reminds me of when you were getting screwed over by the knights…”
They let their guard down and snickered among themselves, creating an opening for Yi-An to attack. Yi-An charged forth immediately.
The enemy scrambled for their weapons, unable to get into formation. “Huh…?”
Yi-An’s goal was to exert all of his power during the short moment his opponents were distracted.
He rushed in and blocked the spear that was headed toward him with his greatsword. The group took a step back and assumed their fighting stances, but Yi-An ignored them and charged. The wizard was fully exposed without the protection of the two fighters. His startled pupils dilated. They looked tangible as if one could grab and pull them out.
Yi-An grinned. Before the wizard could raise his staff and chant his spells, Yi-An chopped off the wizard’s head with his sword, and the head flew into the air.
“Ahhhh!” the woman screamed at the sight of the blood spraying everywhere.
Yi-An kicked away the wizard’s body, which seemed stunned after losing its head. The wizard had died without having the chance to use his magic.
[Congratulations! You have made the ambusher pay the price with blood.]
[You have gained 50 achievement points.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have displayed explosive power. Orc’s Strength (Common) will evolve.]
[Orc’s Strength (Common) has been upgraded to Orc’s Superhuman Strength (Uncommon).]
“What? I thought th-that guy was definitely a player…”
“What kind of player…”
The man and woman retreated. This wasn’t what they had expected. Players were weak. It wasn’t just their fighting skills; they also had weak minds. Modern-day people could not immerse themselves in realistic battles that had splattered blood and oozing intestines. Thus, they were usually timid in fights, which caused player killers like them to have the full advantage.
However, Yi-An was different. He had lived a reality as harsh as what was experienced in Elder Lord. A severed head could not stop him. It actually had the effect of heightening his violence.
Yi-An grinned while recalling Hoyt’s teaching. The enemy’s fear strengthened him.
The two ambushers retreated in fear at the sight of the smiling orc covered in blood.
“Dude, we must have been mistaken. He’s not a player. He can’t be.”
“You told me you saw the star!”
“Ah, I don’t know. He’s wearing a bandana. I was mistaken. There’s no way he could be a player.”
They fell into confusion.
Yi-An was still a beginner. When he experienced the force of their attacks, he could feel that their attacks were being enhanced by their skill levels. It wasn’t an advantageous fight for Yi-An, but Yi-An was able to gain the upper hand because his opponents were already consumed by their fears.
Yi-An approached them.
They began retreating but raised their weapons again.
“Ah, shit, whatever. Let’s fight! Even if we die, it won’t be the first time.”
“Ahhhhh!” The man thrust his spear at Yi-An.
Yi-An was able to easily dodge the attack. He was planning to use this opening to counterattack the man, but the woman was already going for him with her dagger. The man and the woman inflicted wounds all over Yi-An’s body with their joint attack.
“I think we can handle him.”
“We leveled up a lot. We can do it!”
It wasn’t an easy fight. The movements of the man and the woman implied they were accustomed to joint attacks. They must have killed numerous players to be so in tune with one another.
Yi-An scowled. Then, he remembered his skill—Orc’s Recovery. It was an orc-like skill that healed most wounds, although it took some time. This was good.
He no longer wanted to see the confident faces of his enemies. He wanted to crush them. Yi-An dodged the man’s spear and focused on the trajectory of the woman who was watching for an opening in Yi-An’s defenses. He purposely exposed his abdomen, and the woman immediately went for it. She tried to plunge her dagger into him. However, instead of opting for defense, Yi-An pivoted and slashed the woman’s body.
Their attacks crossed. The dagger pierced Yi-An’s stomach, and the greatsword cut the woman’s torso in half.
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