NOVPUBOn the road to the capital of the Mariette Kingdom.
Traveling on foot was more comfortable than expected.
The cool breeze blew in, cooling off their sweat.
And the occasional encounters on the road helped ease their loneliness.
Just like now.
“Hand over everything you’ve got and we’ll spare your life!”
“Wait! That woman beside him, she’s quite a beauty!?”
“Ooh! The boss would love her!”
Choi Hyun-seok sighed as he looked at the men blocking the road.
“This is getting tedious.”
How many groups of bandits had they encountered now?
At first, these encounters weren’t so bad.
It gave them a sense of adventure, and there was some satisfaction in serving justice.
But even fun things get old after a while.
Meeting a new group every other day had become nothing but annoying.
‘Why do these flies keep swarming around us?’
Choi Hyun-seok was worried.
Just how bad had public safety become in the human world?
Maybe it was even worse than the demon realm.
While that was somewhat true, there was actually a reason why so many bandits were drawn to their group.
They looked like such an appetizing target.
Villains aren’t stupid.
If anything, these types live by the motto of preying on the weak and avoiding the strong, practicing it more diligently than anyone else.
They strike first if they think they can win.
And if the enemy seems even slightly stronger, they don’t show their faces at all.
This is their way of life and survival strategy.
The fact that these cunning villains kept targeting them was entirely the group’s fault.
The group always kept their magical power, demonic energy, and holy power concealed.
Even Bobo didn’t leak any demonic energy normally.
As a result, to ordinary people’s eyes, Choi Hyun-seok and Abelson looked like a crazy couple hiking without any guards.
From a bandit’s perspective, they were such perfect prey that it was ‘first come, first served’ and ‘we’d be fools not to attack them!’.
“Hey you. What are you thinking about? Don’t you understand the situation!? If you want to live, hand over everything you’ve got!” 𝑛𝘰𝑣𝘱𝑢𝑏.𝘤𝑜𝘮
“Forget it. Let’s just kill them and take everything.”
Choi Hyun-seok shook his head at their words.
“Even the script is always the same. You’re not mass-produced products, you know.”
What annoyed Choi Hyun-seok most was this predictable development.
Even if they appeared frequently, it wouldn’t have been this boring if there was some variety.
Whether they were robbers, mountain bandits, or thieves, they all acted like they came from the same factory, making them uninteresting to deal with.
“This bastard. What’s he saying? Are you looking down on us!?”
“Hey, don’t think you’re all that just because you’re big. You’ll die just the same when stabbed! Got it!?”
He’d heard similar lines two or three times already.
Choi Hyun-seok frowned while scratching the back of his head.
“What should I do…”
He had two main options.
One. Beat these guys up and leave.
Two. Storm their hideout and destroy everything.
He wanted to go with the first option to avoid escalating things, but there was a problem.
They might end up with pursuers on their tail.
There had been times when they had to turn back and destroy a bandit hideout because the bandits kept pursuing them for revenge.
“Hmm, this is quite the dilemma.”
Choi Hyun-seok closed his eyes completely, lost in thought.
The mountain bandits couldn’t help but get angry at being ignored right in front of them.
“You bastard!”
“Just kill him!”
As the enemies charged forward with their weapons…
Choi Hyun-seok didn’t move.
▫Level: 697
▫ Hero Points: 5200
▫ Abilities: Pickaxe Usage(C), Leadership(C), Cooking(D), Magical Power Control(B), Demonic Energy Control(B), Magic Explosion Formula(E)
▫ Skills: Reidrun-style Fighting Technique, Modified Reidrun-style Fighting Technique, Plomot, Nobilrace, Fulminium Mode, Crepitus Mode
His level had approached nearly 700.
Hero Points had also reached 5200.
It was originally 5700, but he spent 500 on buying a magic backpack before leaving Kiton.
“Let’s see…”
Rachel looked at the meter with a serious expression.
Curious about the results, Abelson also poked her head out to focus on it.
Beep!
Finally, the measurement was complete.
Rachel jumped up.
“Whoo-hoo! This is amazing!?”
“Where did you learn that weird exclamation?”
“That’s not what’s important right now! The combat power!”
“Why? How high is it?”
Rachel checked the number on the meter again.
[Combat Power: 100,062]
“It’s over a hundred thousand!”
“Really!?”
Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes grew so wide they looked like they might pop out.
Combat power of a hundred thousand!
Although he had expected to achieve it soon, actually reaching it felt surreal.
It felt like they should hang a banner in the neighborhood to widely promote it!
To use a cliché expression, he was truly overwhelmed with emotion.
“I can’t believe this day has come for me…”
“Hero! Congratulations!”
“Thanks.”
“Should we have a party!?”
“Party? What party?”
“Hmm~ We should grill some meat!”
Choi Hyun-seok frowned at the suggestion of grilling meat.
“I’ll have to do all the grilling, at a party that’s supposed to be for me, I’ll end up doing the most work.”
“Aw~ Don’t worry about such minor details. The party and meat are what’s important!”
“What nonsense! Are you just using my celebration as an excuse because you want to have fun!?”
“I suppose you could see it that way!”
Rachel put her hands on her hips and struck a confident pose.
“Is it a crime to want to have fun!?”
“This is really…”
Why was she acting like this?
Did she hit her head somewhere on the way here?
Choi Hyun-seok stopped talking to Rachel.
Instead, he decided to grill the meat.
“Bring the firewood!”
“Yay!”
Actually, Choi Hyun-seok wanted to eat meat too.
***
“We’re running low on supplies. Shouldn’t we stop somewhere to restock?”
Abelson nodded at Choi Hyun-seok’s question.
“It’s about time we took a break to recover from fatigue too.”
They had been traveling and camping out for nearly a week.
Not only had they not been able to properly wash, but most of the food they brought had spoiled, so they needed to resupply.
The ‘Superior Magic Backpack’ bought from the hero shop could hold many items, but unlike an inventory, it didn’t have preservation capabilities.
Therefore, food items needed to be regularly replaced with fresh ones.
They couldn’t just eat preserved foods like dried meat throughout their journey.
“According to the map, there’s a village in this direction. However, it’s a bit of a detour from our destination, is that okay?”
“Yes. We’re not in any particular hurry anyway.”
Abelson readily agreed.
Going to the capital of the Mariette Kingdom wasn’t urgent to begin with.
They were only heading there because they needed a place to hide from the Holy Empire and seek refuge.
There was no reason for concern if their journey was slightly delayed.
“Let’s go right away!”
After walking for several hours, the group arrived at a small village.
It was a modest village that could be taken in at a glance from a slightly elevated hill.
It seemed there weren’t even 500 households in total.
“Even though Kiton wasn’t that big, this place is really the countryside.”
“Hero, do you think we’ll find anything to eat here?”
“Hmm, there should be something.”
Abelson cut in on Choi Hyun-seok and Rachel’s complaints.
“Actually, a small village like this is better. Cities might have Deusis faith temples.”
“Temples?”
“Yes. If there’s a temple, the chances of our identities being discovered are higher.”
“Ah…”
“The Kingdom of Domis has relatively little influence from the Deusis faith, so there was no temple in Kiton. But usually, cities of that size almost always have temples.”
“I see.”
Choi Hyun-seok nodded and thought.
“Maybe Hemis leaving us in Kiton was considerate of this.”
There are almost no cities that are near the Demon Boundary, maintaining a decent size, without having temples.
Rather than the group being lucky to end up in Kiton, it’s more likely that Hemis had found such a city in advance and sent them there.
“But Abelson.”
“Yes?”
“Do you have something on your mind? Your expression doesn’t look good.”
Choi Hyun-seok stared at her face.
Although Abelson was usually expressionless, she seemed particularly gloomy today.
“It’s nothing…”
“Hmm, is that so?”
Although it seemed like something was bothering her, if she didn’t want to talk about it, there was no need to pry.
If she says it’s nothing, it should be fine.
Choi Hyun-seok cleared his mind and moved his body.
“Well, shall we go in!?”
“Hero! Let’s eat something delicious!”
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s wash up first.”
He was already smiling at the thought of washing up after so long and lying down in a bed.
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