Episode 105 PK (1)
The one who opened the crack.
So, who is the mafia?
It’s a question I’ve had ever since I entered the ‘Glacier Cave’.
Because the mafia was a ‘variable’ to me.
It was necessary to figure out in advance whether it would be a positive or negative variable. So, instead of concluding that Mr. Bear was a mafia, I opened up all possibilities and gathered clues.
in result.
‘Yeah, that was him.’
We found someone who is believed to be a mafia member.
But that was all for now.
Should I just say I don’t know what the hell this guy wants?
‘Ugh, I can’t just kill that thing.’
The feeling of unease grows even more because I cannot know what is inside.
That would be the case, because if that guy was a mafia member, there was a high possibility that he would become a negative variable in the future.
but…….
‘I guess I’ll just have to keep watching for now.’
The mafia is one person.
And still he hasn’t done anything.
It means that if you kill them all of a sudden, there will be a problem.
Hwaruruk-
Unless you’re going to ‘silence’ two innocent people.
***
“Michelle, are you feeling okay?”
“… Me? Am I okay?”
Misha answered naturally, but in fact, the fatigue from yesterday must have spread throughout her body.
Unlike Jensen or Mr. Bear, we only got three hours of sleep each night because we had to stand guard.
“Don’t worry. It’s better than the Witch’s Forest, right?”
“That’s… I see.”
I chuckled and shook off my worries.
Well, I don’t think someone who has endured that would be shaken by something like this.
“Stop whining and let’s go now.”
As soon as Mr. Bear said a word, Misha quickly stepped back and returned to her position.
The very back of the formation.
A position where you can immediately notice if someone is doing something stupid. If it weren’t for him, it would probably be burdensome to stand in the front as a tank or anything.
Thump.
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As soon as you take the first step, the group follows at a pace that matches your pace.
‘It’s not 2D graphics, it’s actually like this.’
A dark ice cave.
The ground surrounding the castle is slippery, and the overall terrain structure is more three-dimensional than the crystal cave on the first floor.
There were steep sections, and even places where the road was cut off and we had to use ropes to get across.
but…….
“But I’m glad that there seems to be only one path.”
There was no need to wander without a explorer.
It’s not that there weren’t side roads here and there, but soon enough a dead end appeared.
All you had to do was follow the main passage.
Smashing monsters that appear from the ice wall.
Phew-!
For reference, the monsters that appear here are Wormstone, Sabre Tiger, Frost Wolf, Ice Golem, and Owlbear.
Unlike the Bloody Citadel where the 7th-grade monster ‘Bone Knight’ appeared, most monsters were 8th-grade.
‘But the actual difficulty is higher here.’
Abnormal status [Hypothermia].
A debuff field effect that reduces agility by up to -30 when there is no cold resistance, and increases cold attribute damage taken by 2 times.
“Miss Naifrin, be careful. Maybe it’s because my body is stiff, but these guys’ attacks seem more painful than before.”
“Ah, somehow… …! So that’s why!”
As the journey continued, ‘Jensen’, who was sitting in the second row next to me, started to groan.
Of course, I didn’t slow down or anything to be considerate of them. After all, those two had almost no stake anyway.
puck.
In fact, it was just me, Mr. Bear, and Misha who was protecting Mr. Bear. As the three of us made our way through this, we were slowly reaching the end of the chapter.
Did it take about four hours to get here?
As I walked along the winding passage, going up and down, a wide open space appeared.
“Whew, you’re a minister.”
Three monsters trapped in crystal-clear ice pillars.
“You must be an Ice Orc, judging by your white skin.”
“…Ice Oak?”
“Don’t worry, it’s only level 7.”
The weapons held by the Ice Orcs were all different.
One holds an axe, one a hammer, and one a magic staff.
“… … Do I really have to fight those too?”
“They wouldn’t be here for no reason.”
Mr. Bear responded sarcastically to Jencia’s muttering.
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And at that moment.
Crackle-
The ice pillars that had been imprisoning the Ice Orcs began to crack and shatter simultaneously.
“Hey, you’re not even giving me time to look around?”
Anyway, Mr. Bear’s relaxed reaction.
“Don’t panic and stand in formation!”
I shouted urgently at the fidgeting Jensen. It would be easier for Misha to watch over you if you stand in formation.
“Oh, yes!”
Within moments, Jensen came to my side, and Bear stepped back far enough to take up a sniping position.
Kwak bang, thudding.
As shards of ice fell, the trio of Ice Orcs awoke from their slumber.
He spouts out a ferocious breath, calling him the mid-boss.
[Chwiiiiiik-!]
One sorcerer, two warriors.
It’s a fairly balanced composition, and with [Hypothermia], it’s quite a tricky opponent.
If you don’t know the strategy.
“Phew… … .”
He lets out a deep breath and raises his shield.
I was quite nervous.
Not because of the orcs that can be caught at any time, but because of other parts.
‘If you’re going to do something, now would be the time.’
There is a mafia within the team.
Of course I don’t know what the guy’s purpose is.
Maybe he simply wanted to break the rift and had no intention of harming anyone.
However, we must also prepare for the case where that is not the case.
thus-
Boom!
Focus on defense rather than offense.
It’s better to hide your power just in case.
In that sense, I have given instructions to Misha to just watch and not get involved.
“Why aren’t you running to your lover and are you still here?”
“You never know what might come out of the back. And she’s not your lover.”
“Well, it still looks like that.”
Although Mr. Bear questioned Misha’s positioning, he let it slide because it seemed like a convincing reason.
and…….
“Tsk, those guys are here but they’re not. I guess I’ll have to use my strength this time.”
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He showed off abilities he had never shown before.
“Abman Urikfried summoned the Iron Bear Iradun.”
A giant bear that popped out through a portal created in front of Mr. Bear.
It was a soul.
‘…Iradun, you say?’
Honestly, I was a little surprised.
I thought that since he was a 5th-grade explorer from the Suin tribe, he might have already made a contract with the soul beast… … .
‘I never thought it would be a summoning world.’
I understand why solo play was possible even though it was a bow game.
If you have a tank summoner, there’s no need to stick to a team.
[Gaaaaah!!]
The summoned bear cub quickly ran towards me on all fours, roared, and stood up beside me. Then, as usual, it began to mark one of the warriors.
‘I guess I’ll have to go with Plan B since things have turned out like this.’
I acted completely rationally.
Nothing has changed anyway.
Since he hid his power, didn’t Mr. Bear take out the soul water he had been saving up until now?
[Chwieeeek!]
For that reason, I allowed the Ice Oak to be hammered.
If it hit my body, it would be obvious that I was joking, so I just headed it in like that.
Boom-!
Since he was wearing a helmet and had decent bone strength stats, his head didn’t get smashed.
Just a little dizzy with a shaking brain.
Even that was quickly recovered with the natural regeneration power applied.
but…….
dump.
I picked it up and fell to the floor.
Well, I decided that if I catch the orc Samdol too easily, I won’t be able to see into the mafia’s intentions.
“Are you okay? Ugh!”
Carlson ran towards me in surprise and took the aggro.
And at that moment.
“You defeated the Ice Oak Warrior. EXP +3.”
The arrow fired pierces the Hammer Orc’s head.
Because of that, the shaman’s aggro shifted to Mr. Bear, but… … .
The 5th level explorer was experienced.
Tadah.
Bear, a large man in his early 190s who nimbly evades spells and shoots arrows accurately from his crossbow.
“The Ice Oak Shaman cast [Ice Wall].”
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The sorcerer’s defensive skills were meaningless in the face of those relentless arrows.
How can a 7th-grade monster stop something like that?
Kwaaaaang-!
The arrow that shattered the ice wall exploded after hitting the sorcerer’s head.
“You defeated the Ice Oak Shaman. EXP +3.”
Now there is only one orc left.
‘If this continues, I’ll catch them all with three arrows?’
A feeling of emptiness is creeping in.
My plan to make the battle too easy and difficult was being made to seem so one-sided that it seemed meaningless.
‘Is this a 5th-grade archer?’
Ugh, the floor is cold, so why don’t you just pretend to come to your senses and get up?
At the moment I was thinking about that, someone recited a poem.
“So that was the soul number.”
A cold, chilled voice.
“Now I can do it as planned.”
Mr. Bear, who was loading the next arrow, collapsed, spitting up blood.
dump.
The mafia finally took action.
***
There are several prerequisites that must be met in order to become a mafia member.
You will be knowledgeable enough to know how to open the crack.
Your navigation skills will be so good that you can get to the second floor and back in 19 hours.
You will have the ability to clear it on your own.
This alone gives us a rough idea of the shape.
A explorer with 5th level strength.
This is the true identity of the mafia.
The problem is that all three of them had this possibility in abundance.
1. Mr. Bear.
5th grade explorer.
A similar mindset to that of a player somewhere, etc.
Talking about it just hurts my mouth.
2. Carlson.
The only thing he said during the introduction was his name.
He didn’t even mention the integer he owned.
Additionally, the low-level equipment was well maintained.
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Like new.
I kept watching, wondering if it might have been camouflage equipment, but the Frostwolf Essence also gave a reason and did not eat it.
It was suspicious enough.
Well, not as good as this one though.
3. Jencia Naifrin.
He said he was trained as a explorer and was knowledgeable.
He also said that observation was his specialty.
In my view, it was all insurance.
To make the subsequent dialogue sound natural.
[Seo, should I really be holding on to that and going down?]
Even when I encountered a yeti blocking the cave.
[Oh! It glows when I touch it.]
Also in the second chapter.
[Somehow I feel like my body isn’t moving very well… ···!]
Even when the mid-boss casts [Suppression].
[By the way… Is it all over now?]
Before the final wave begins, when everyone is letting their guard down.
He kept getting to the point and pretending it wasn’t true.
As if he knew the strategy.
Of course, this was nothing compared to Mr. Bear or Carlson.
If only it weren’t for the dirt on my shoes.
The first thing I checked upon entering the crack was my shoes. In order to open the ‘Glacier Cave’, I needed to go to the second floor’s beast den.
Jencia was the only one with dirt on her shoes.
Well, I can understand if you didn’t wipe off what you stepped on in the city······.
[Now that I think about it, there’s one thing that’s strange: Jencia’s smell changed after she fell into the water.]
Misha’s tip made me convinced.
Although not as good as Rotmiller, the sense of smell stat itself is high, as expected of a water man.
[It originally smelled a bit more foul.] [Like a den of beasts?] [Ah! Now that I look at it, that’s what it is. I wondered why it looked familiar!]
Jencia is a mafia.
I judged that it was a malignant variable that had a lot of potential to become a negative variable.
And thanks to that, I was able to prepare in advance.
Phew-!
The moment Jencia’s sword dug into Mr. Bear’s abdomen.
Misha dashed forward as if she had been waiting, and threw a vial, hitting the target.
Clang!
The glass breaks and the contents spill out.
“Thank you, 30 million stones would be— Whew!”
Jencia, who was trying to say something leisurely, spills the solution on herself and steps back in surprise.
“What, what! What the hell are you doing to me… .”
I quickly sat up.
But could it be that my fainting had something to do with that girl choosing this moment as a surprise attack?
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“What, what are you talking about… … .”
Jencia looked even more confused.
Instead of answering, I shouted.
“Behel—raaaa …
What the heck?
From now on, it’s called self-defense.
