IDWGT 9

Chapter 9

Just a middle-aged man standing up from his seat made the room seem cramped—that said it all.

The aura he gave off was far from ordinary as well.

He stared down at me piercingly without a word, and the pressure was no joke—so murderous that he looked ready to snap my neck in two at any moment.

‘So it’s come to this, has it?’

I didn’t avoid his gaze. Bowing my head just wasn’t something my pride would allow.

So I glared right back.

Before long, the middle-aged man relaxed his eyes and smirked.

“Your eyes are more useful than I thought. You go sit over there too.”

I won. The staring contest.

Rubbing my bloodshot eyes, I followed the direction the middle-aged man pointed—and then I nearly jumped out of my skin.

I was certain only the middle-aged man was in the room, yet a stranger I’d never seen before was sitting on the sofa.

‘When on earth did they get here?’

It was a woman, and her impression was exceedingly cold.

More than anything, the moment I first laid eyes on her, I felt a chill at my throat. Instinctively, I stroked my neck as I observed her.

‘I’ve felt this sensation a few times from assassins before. But now that I look, she’s a user?’

The woman was a user, not an NPC. She was a great beauty, but with a frigid atmosphere about her—the type that seemed hard to approach.

Honestly, from the moment I first spotted her, she’d been staring holes into me, and it didn’t sit well with me.

A preview of the second round of the staring contest.

‘So what if you stare at me?’

Having already dealt with the middle-aged man, my eyeballs felt like they were about to pop out.

Hey, sneaking in a hit at a time like this is cowardly, isn’t it?

‘So this counts as self-defense.’

I lightly ignored her gaze and walked over to sit on the sofa across from the woman.

I could still feel her eyes on me, but I paid it no mind and addressed the middle-aged man seated in the place of honor.

“If it’s not too rude of me, might I ask why I’m sitting here?”

Maintain the basics, but with confidence.

Whether he liked my attitude or not, the middle-aged man nodded.

“Let me introduce myself first. I am Delt, commander of the First Royal Knight Order of Cryde.”

I flinched for a moment at his words.

I’d figured he held some high position, but I never expected he’d be an NPC on the level of a royal knight order commander.

Needless to say, an NPC of knight commander rank would be at least 5th class advancement or higher. The odds were very high he was one of the strongest NPCs around.

I spun my head quickly. Why would such a high-ranking NPC seek me out?

There was only one thing I could suspect.

I pulled Maximus’s token from my inventory and placed it on the table.

“It’s because of this that you called me here, isn’t it.”

At my action, I could see Delt frown slightly.

“You’re more impatient than you look.”

“Better than dragging things out.”

When I retorted without backing down, Delt’s expression hardened a bit more.

But I accepted his reaction calmly. Through the hardships of the past few months, I’d come to realize one thing clearly.

That knowing about them while keeping an appropriate distance was best.

‘No need to avoid NPCs, but no need to get close either.’

Honestly, I just wanted to go hunting.

But knowing that in any game, hunting alone has limits to character growth, I had no choice but to find a compromise.

And that compromise was keeping an appropriate distance.

If I’d been exceptionally sociable or silver-tongued, I might have used NPCs to my advantage, but unfortunately I had no such talent.

If I had, I wouldn’t have been pushed around so much.

‘I hear internet lectures on NPC strategy are popping up these days—should I look into those?’

I was smacking my lips, momentarily lost in thought, when—

Something was set down in front of me with a sound.

Tak!

Checking with my eyes, it was a token similar in shape to the one I’d obtained after dealing with Maximus.

The woman who had placed it on the table spoke to Delt.

“I’d also like to decline dragging things out like this gentleman here. Killing even one more bastard is more profitable than wasting time like this.”

At the woman’s bold remark, Delt’s expression—which had been about to return to normal—crumpled back up like scrap paper. He shook his head, let out a sigh, and muttered something, but I let it go in one ear and out the other.

The woman’s reaction was more interesting than that.

‘She sure knows how to talk to that fearsome-looking fellow.’

Delt’s appearance was fearsome enough to openly intimidate even grown men.

Yet the woman not only said her piece but didn’t even avoid his gaze.

I suppose I felt a bit of fondness for her.

It’s absolutely not because she’s pretty. Absolutely not.

When the two people gathered there came at him with the same attitude, it was Delt who raised the white flag.

He left instructions to reach level 150—the 3rd class advancement level—within a month and come find him, then shooed us out like swatting flies.

‘What was that? Making it seem like something big was coming.’

Fortunately, a notification window popped up right away, letting me grasp the general situation.

[Delt’s Interest

Delt, commander of the First Royal Knight Order of Cryde, has taken interest upon hearing that individuals who eliminated the rebel leadership—something even they had been unable to handle—have appeared.

He will likely entrust important matters in the future.

Quest activation condition: Reach 3rd class advancement and find Delt.]

[Visit the Administrative Office to receive the bounty for dealing with Maximus.]

As I stepped out the door, I subtly turned back.

The woman following behind stopped and gave me a look asking what I wanted, and I extended my hand toward her.

“Looks like we’ll be walking the same path, so let’s introduce ourselves. I’m twenty-seven, game ID Yak.”

“……”

But the woman just stared blankly at my outstretched hand without a word. Then a cold wind whooshed past my side.

Feeling awkward, I shrugged my shoulders as I watched her walk away.

“She’s got quite the personality, just like she looks.”

Soon I forgot about the woman and leisurely passed through the training grounds.

And then I went sightseeing.

It wasn’t a place just anyone could enter.

When else would I get to look around if not now?

Even though it was a game, the interior of the royal palace was beautiful enough to draw involuntary admiration.

Walking and sightseeing like that, I found myself in front of the Administrative Office before I knew it.

I went inside, handed over Maximus’s token, and received my reward.

I’d roughly expected it, but the reward was richer than any other time.

[You have obtained 5,000 gold as bounty.]

[Royal merit points +2,000.]

[You have obtained the title ‘Slayer of Rebels’.]

[Access to the office of Delt, Commander of the First Royal Knight Order, is permitted.]

“Check title, Slayer of Rebels.”

Slayer of Rebels

A title obtainable for dealing with leadership in rebel territory.

Options: Attack Power +20

Earns the trust of the royal palace.

10% discount when using shops affiliated with the Cryde Royal Trading Company.

It was a sum clearly different from the roughly 1 gold bounty that ordinary rebel soldiers’ tokens gave.

The royal merit points also rose incomparably more than when killing rebel soldiers. Plus a title that looked very useful.

It was no wonder users went crazy over named monsters.

I left the palace with a satisfied smile.

“How do I handle this one?”

Though I’d gained unexpected benefits thanks to Dark, Dark’s existence was still my biggest source of anxiety.

Because of the shared experience, if I couldn’t hunt faster than before to compensate, I’d naturally be weeded out.

And it wasn’t easy to speed up when I was already hunting near my limits.

Of course, it would depend on how far Dark could contribute.

I headed to the plaza to buy a few items. And without much thought, I took Dark out of my inventory.

The moment Dark came out, it suddenly looked around as if searching for something.

I kept watching to see what was going on, but apparently it couldn’t find it—the little one stared blankly at me and held out its hand.

[Kuu-]

“What’s wrong with you?”

[Kuu kuu!]

“Yeah, kuu kuu.”

[Kuu!]

“How am I supposed to understand that?”

As if frustrated by my confusion, Dark bounced up and down in place.

What on earth is it doing?

In the end, I had to argue with Dark for quite a while.

While we were locked in that battle of nerves, a man approached me. And he greeted me out of the blue.

“Hello. My name is MoneyMoney.”

“Ah, I’m Yak.”

I returned the greeting with a bemused expression. A stranger striking up conversation was odd enough, but the man’s eyes were full of reproach directed at me.

‘What’s with this person? Why is he giving a stranger that kind of look?’

I was grumbling inwardly when the man suddenly dropped a bombshell.

“Sir Yak, you’re the father of the little one next to you, aren’t you?”

Cough!

“Excuse me?”

“Aren’t you the guardian?”

“Yes, but……?”

Since I’m Dark’s owner, calling me the guardian wasn’t wrong. When I acknowledged it, Money suddenly started scolding me.

“How can you be so irresponsible! A virtual reality game for such a young child! Isn’t this far too irresponsible a thing for a father to do?”

What kind of nonsense was this? I was so dumbfounded I actually argued back.

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about. Acting like this to someone you’ve just met is actually more rude—”

“Hmph!”

‘A—a snort? What is this guy!’

It was beyond unpleasant—I was starting to get angry.

Just as I was about to say something, he turned his head sharply.

The direction was toward Dark.

“It’s been a while. Have you been well?”

Nod nod.

“Did you listen to Daddy well?”

Nod nod.

[Kuu!]

You brat, why am I your daddy!

But were those two acquainted?

My question was easily answered by his next words. Along with the reason Dark had been acting like that earlier.

“By the way, where did you put the shield I gave you last time? I don’t see it…”

[Kuu kuu!]

At his question, Dark hopped up and down and pointed at me. Then the man subtly looked my way, immediately furrowed his brow, and spoke to me.

“Did you perhaps take the shield I gave this little one?”

“Shield? Ah!”

After dealing with the rebel rangers, the shield’s durability had been running low, so I’d had it repaired at the smithy and put it in my inventory.

I took the shield from my inventory, handed it to Dark, and spoke to Money.

“I was wondering where the shield came from—so it was from you, Sir Money. Thank you.”

“I didn’t give it to you, Sir Yak, so there’s no need to thank me.”

Money kept giving me that sour look.

‘Sigh… patience, patience.’

If it weren’t for the shield he gave me, I wouldn’t have been able to catch Maximus, so we probably would’ve had a fight. Either way, I had received help.

‘But to suddenly be treated as a kid’s dad.’

It felt really strange. And of all things, Dark’s dad.

I looked at Dark.

Whether it was happy to get the shield back, it was swinging it around with both hands.

That sight was exactly like a little kid. A little kid in full-body armor in a game, that is.

I could somewhat understand why Money made that misunderstanding.

‘Well, look at that—where’s the Gigantes in that?’

Generally, all the Gigantes known so far were huge. There were ones as big as houses, and even the smallest ones were about twice the size of a normal adult.

On top of that size and their powerful destructive force, Gigantes could be said to be the symbol of strength in *Legend World*, in a sense.

But this one…

[Kuu!]

Was the symbol of sighs. Haah.