IDWGT 8

Chapter 8

“You fool! Dodge!”

I shouted urgently.

Dark’s level was 1, just like when I first obtained him. Meanwhile, the rebel ranger before my eyes was estimated to be at least level 160.

So there was no way Dark, who struggled even against level 10 monsters, could handle them.

Was I worrying about Dark, you ask?

That’s not it. If Dark died here, and then I died as well, I’d have to suffer a 2-level penalty.

In a situation where I was already barely gaining any experience because of Dark, to make up that much experience I’d have to die over and over again going forward.

I absolutely wanted to avoid that.

But betraying my expectations, Dark charged forward, and the rangers’ arrows flew toward him.

‘Well, if it’s come to this, to hell with it.’

It had truly become a do-or-die situation.

While the rangers’ attacks were all focused on Dark, I forced my body—which hadn’t yet fully completed the petrification process—to stand and lunged at Maximus.

“Bloodstain Mark!”

As the buff took effect, my running speed increased even slightly. But because of the Sea Dragon’s Roar, the time it took to close in on Maximus felt agonizingly slow.

“You’re going to face me in that condition?”

Maximus, who had been watching Dark and then spotted me approaching, flashed that obnoxious sneer at me once again.

Yeah, let’s see how long that smile lasts.

“Mad Berserker!”

[You have activated the skill ‘Mad Berserker.’]

[The energy of Mad Berserker rampages throughout your entire body.]

[HP and MP are reduced to one-tenth.]

[The durability of equipped items decreases drastically.]

The skill sharing the same name as the class—Mad Berserker—activated!

The energy that had been binding my body vanished as if it were a lie.

And that wasn’t the only change.

My eyebrows and hair turned red, and my hair grew long enough to reach below my waist. And fangs—cruel and chilling, the symbol of Mad Berserker—grew out.

I leaped into the air the moment I activated Mad Berserker. The restraint that the Sea Dragon’s Roar had placed on me had long since disappeared thanks to Mad Berserker.

Maximus, who had let his guard down and given up distance, noticed my transformation and hastily tried to retreat, but it was already too late.

I brought the greatsword I had raised above my head straight down toward Maximus’s head.

It was a simple attack, but a downward strike imbued with the skill’s power.

Soon Maximus’s startled face came into view as he drew his sword, and I thoroughly mocked him.

‘You fool! Got you!’

Clang!

Sword met sword, and the sound of collision rang out.

And Maximus’s panicked expression was plain to see. His arm must have broken from the single blow, bending backward.

Then the panicked fool shouted something.

“What are you all doing! Shoot him!”

Damn it, already too late.

My body under Mad Berserker completely ignored even the recoil from the sword collision.

Enough to let me bring the greatsword down once more, just like the first time.

Crash!

[Critical damage has been triggered!]

The sound of a watermelon splitting rang out.

And that was the end.

No user could survive with a greatsword embedded in their head. The same went for monsters.

Maximus, headless, collapsed just like that. So easily that it was almost embarrassing to call him a named monster.

I picked up the item Maximus dropped without even having time to examine it.

Fortunately, no attacks had flown toward me up to that point.

I hastily turned around and stood ready, expecting arrows to come flying.

I intended to kill as many as I could before dying, while the skill’s duration remained.

Though I’d barely managed to kill the named Maximus and grab the item, a 2-level decrease—what a joke.

Curses welled up to my throat.

But the rangers’ attacks I’d expected didn’t come. Rather, I had to swallow a cough at the unexpected situation.

“Huh!”

I was startled. Dark was still standing, holding out without collapsing.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Countless arrows flew toward Dark. But not a single one reached his body.

Dark was flat on the ground with something draped over him, and that something looked familiar.

I soon remembered what it was.

“The shield I saw in the plaza!”

What was covering Dark’s entire body was a massive shield. The very shield Dark had shown interest in during the day!

I couldn’t tell how it had ended up in Dark’s hands, but Dark with the shield was performing far better than I’d known him to.

When arrows flew, he’d flatten himself and raise the shield to block them, just as I’d first seen; when the arrow barrage ended, he’d charge with the shield for another body slam.

Though he was still flailing on the offensive side, his defensive side showed remarkable improvement.

I pulled the arrows stuck in my body out. And without hesitation, I leaped into the battle Dark was waging.

“Hah… hah…”

It wasn’t as bad as when I completed the Pantz quest, but it was a situation that could only be called a miracle.

Not only had I survived a situation where I should have suffered at least a 2-level decrease, but I’d also killed a named monster and obtained items.

Above all, Dark’s new discovery was nothing but welcome news to me.

‘This guy—if I look into him properly, he might be useful.’

Something I’d learned while hunting the rebel rangers: Dark’s body slam didn’t seem to be a simple physical charge attack.

From what I could guess, the body slam itself seemed to be a kind of taunt skill.

Its effect must not have been weak, because the rebel rangers were strangely fixated on Dark. To the point of paying no attention to me as I cut them down!

Thanks to that, I was able to deal with the rebel rangers during the remaining duration of Mad Berserker. If not for that, I wouldn’t have survived—even gasping for breath like now.

Dark’s new discovery made my previously frustrated chest feel like it had been cleared out.

Catching my breath, I praised Dark, who was staring blankly at me with the shield on his back.

“Whew… It’s still too early to call you a lucky charm, but you’re quite a useful guy after all.”

[Kuu!]

A chuckle escaped me at the sight of him nodding as if to say that was right.

A short while later, I moved to a safe place with Dark and checked the item Maximus had dropped from my inventory.

Armor of the Sea Dragon

Armor said to be made from the shell of a sea dragon; the scales covering the armor boast powerful defense.

Grade: Rare

Category: Set Item

Defense: 400

Durability: 12,000/12,000

Options: All stats +40

Physical strike power +10%

Nullifies fire-type magic of circle 4 or below

HP recovery speed +100%

MP recovery speed +60%

Skill ‘Sea Dragon’s Roar’ usable once per day

Equip restriction: Only equippable by those who have undergone 3rd class advancement or higher

Orb of Blazing Flame

A magic bomb said to have been made by the great mage Merlin. A single use turns an entire area into scorched earth. Due to its firepower, it is treated as a strategic weapon.

Attack power: Unmeasurable

Token of Rebel General Maximus

A token proving one is a rebel general; bringing this token to the royal palace will earn a generous reward.

Looking at the Armor of the Sea Dragon, a smile naturally spread across my lips.

Though I didn’t have the complete set, the hardest piece of the Sea Dragon set to obtain was precisely this Armor of the Sea Dragon. Accordingly, its options were superior to other Sea Dragon set items as well.

I gazed at the Armor of the Sea Dragon with a satisfied expression and carefully placed it in my inventory.

Then I thought about the remaining Orb of Blazing Flame.

“This is probably better for me to use, right?”

The pouch contained a total of three Orbs of Blazing Flame.

The fact that its attack power was unmeasurable surely meant its power was considerable.

After a brief deliberation, I decided to hold off on selling them and keep them for now.

A hum escaped me at the repeated lucky item drops.

But that wasn’t the end.

“Hu hu.”

Looking at my inventory, I laughed like a madman. My eyes were filled with the items the rebel rangers had dropped.

The items obtained from the rebel rangers seemed like they could be sold at high prices to archer-class users.

Most of the items were bows and bowstrings, and each one had excellent performance and were items not yet circulating in “Legend World.”

In the end, though there had been a brief crisis, I’d unexpectedly reaped enormous profits.

Returning to Talant Castle, I set up a street stall on the spot to sell them, while registering the items that looked particularly good in the auction house.

I considered cashing them out immediately, but I thought I should retain some gold in preparation for when the advancement level approached.

When that time came, I’d need to equip new gear, which would certainly cost a lot of money.

And I deliberately didn’t sell the Armor of the Sea Dragon either, placing it in the shared storage. I intended to try to obtain the other Sea Dragon set items if possible.

To do that, I needed to live the shut-in life a bit longer. To sum it up in one word: I’d have to spend another few hungry months.

“When will I ever escape this poverty…”

Grumbling like that, I began walking toward the royal palace. I needed to hand over the tokens obtained from dealing with the rebels along with the token Maximus had dropped, and receive my reward.

While walking, I paused my grumbling and looked at Dark, who was trotting along behind me.

‘Whether I fall behind or not depends on how I use this guy.’

For a Dark gamer, the greatest competitive edge was undoubtedly level.

My current level was 139.

With only 11 levels left until 150, where 3rd class advancement was possible, it was a level slightly short of being called top-tier but enough to be in the top 1 percent. I knew that a user who had completed the 3rd advancement quest had appeared about ten days ago.

Honestly, I felt a bit wronged.

If I hadn’t taken those two quests I’d cleared earlier, I would have had more than enough time to receive the 3rd advancement quest by now.

In fact, my level had been in the top 0.1 percent—not just upper tier—before I played those two quests.

If it were the old me, I wouldn’t have worried much about this kind of gap and would have caught up, but now, honestly, I was a little—no, very—anxious.

Could I really catch up to the so-called rankers in the top 0.1 percent with Dark in tow?

‘That probably depends on how I do things.’

What was certain was that a gap had opened up to some degree.

While thinking about how to raise and utilize Dark, I found myself arrived at the royal palace.

But the atmosphere of the royal palace was different from usual.

The first moment I confirmed that was in the gatekeeper’s reaction as he greeted me.

“Yark-nim, you’ve come! He is waiting inside.”

“Huh? Ah, yes.”

I responded with a bewildered look at the gatekeeper’s sudden reaction—he who normally didn’t even know my name, let alone greet me. The gatekeeper led me inside.

But the path wasn’t toward the administrative office as usual.

The place he took me to was a large training ground. NPCs who looked like knights were training there, and they looked so strong that their levels couldn’t be estimated.

‘Even one of them stepping forward could easily handle three or four rankers.’

While I was thinking this, the gatekeeper passed through the training ground and stopped in front of a building that appeared.

“Please go inside.”

I was about to say something but just followed the gatekeeper’s instructions.

Inside, a middle-aged man with a magnificent beard reminiscent of Guan Yu from Romance of the Three Kingdoms was sitting at a desk, busily rifling through something.

Soon the middle-aged man saw me, rose from his seat, and approached me.

And his frame was so massive it brought an ogre to mind.

‘Is he even human? How is he this big?’