Chapter 46

by lion

Solving Geden’s request left only one task remaining besides the main quest: burning the poisonous herbs. Jun-sang, guided by Ilmaren, headed towards the swamp’s outskirts where the poisonous plants grew.

“Stop!”

Jun-sang was running hard when Ilmaren suddenly shrieked, making him halt.

“What’s wrong?”

“If you go any further, you’ll get poisoned.”

“…”

Jun-sang looked around but felt no discomfort. However, he couldn’t ignore Ilmaren’s words, so he decided to climb to a slightly higher spot to survey the surroundings. Jun-sang found a rock on a small mound nearby and climbed onto it. Immediately, Ilmaren pointed with her finger.

“There, it’s over there.”

“…”

As Jun-sang looked, indeed, a slightly darker substance, different from the usual mist, caught his eye in a corner of the swamp.

“That’s the poisonous mist.”

Hearing Ilmaren’s words, Jun-sang frowned. Although not vast in scale, poisonous plants capable of generating such mist were surely not ordinary. Furthermore, with such poisonous mist covering the area, it would be difficult to start a fire, as approaching unknowingly could lead to poisoning. Of course, this was only from the perspective of ordinary people.

“Open Will-o’-the-Wisp.”

As Jun-sang summoned the Will-o’-the-Wisp, Ilmaren gasped in surprise.

“Wow!”

But Jun-sang, ignoring Ilmaren’s meaningless exclamations and fussing, immediately pointed to the area where the poisonous mist had spread and commanded the Will-o’-the-Wisp, “Go and burn all the grass and trees there.”

As Jun-sang’s command was given, the Will-o’-the-Wisp immediately flew through the air, burning the trees and grass indiscriminately where the poisonous mist had risen. Although the fire didn’t spread as widely as expected in the damp, misty area, a new message soon arrived on Jun-sang’s phone.

(Hidden) Burn the poisonous herb colony growing around the swamp. (Solo) -> Complete!

Having completed all the hidden missions in this quest, Jun-sang instructed the Will-o’-the-Wisp to thoroughly clear away the remaining poisonous mist, then began to move to complete the last remaining main quest.

Meanwhile, the four travelers, who had entered the village unaware that almost all quests had been resolved, met the village elder and heard about the swamp monsters. The elder, delighted by the arrival of four new travelers, spent over ten minutes describing the monsters that appeared in the swamp and their approximate locations.

“Thank you for your help. We will definitely take care of those monsters thoroughly.”

“Oh my, thank you so much! I don’t know how I can repay this kindness.”

They were formal words, but the travelers smiled meaningfully upon hearing them.

“Excuse me, we actually have something to say.”

“Yes? Please speak.”

“The truth is, we’ve come a long way and are a bit tired. So, we thought we’d wash up and rest briefly before starting work. What do you think?”

The elder, pleased with their polite attitude, unlike the previous traveler, readily nodded. “It’s a small village, so there’s no other inn here, but if that’s the case, I’ll invite you to my home. Please follow me.”

“Ah, thank you so much!”

The four travelers rejoiced and headed to the elder’s house. Like other houses in the village, the elder’s house was a thatched hut with a grass roof, but it still had a small annex for travelers and merchants who occasionally visited the village. The elder led the four travelers to the annex and busied himself heating bathwater and preparing a meal. The four travelers enjoyed the elder’s hospitality, eating comfortably and luxuriating in a hot bath.

Jung Da-bin, the only woman in the group, entered the wooden bathtub filled with freshly heated water only after the men had finished their turns bathing.

“Ah… this is nice.”

Having suffered from the compulsion of not knowing when she might be summoned after the nightmare-like tutorial and two quests, she was even more grateful for this brief moment of leisure.

“Open Gentle Breeze.”

With her soft voice, a refreshing breeze flowed into the space, which could have been a bathroom or a shed.

“Please keep a close watch around, just in case.”

The Gentle Breeze circled around her, beginning to search for any potential uninvited guests. As the Gentle Breeze began its task, Da-bin took out a zip-lock bag containing toiletries from her waist bag, which she had removed, and began to shampoo her hair.

“La-la-la…”

Perhaps because it was her first relaxing bath in a long time, she found herself humming.

However, Da-bin’s unusually leisurely bath was suddenly shattered by a message notification on her phone.

“Huh? Huh?”

Even with shampoo foam stinging her eyes, Da-bin reacted immediately to the phone’s message notification. Braving the stinging in her eyes, she quickly reached out and picked up her phone, which displayed this message:

Subdue the Swamp Monsters.

The villagers are suffering due to the monsters that suddenly appeared in the swamp. Eliminate the dangers lurking in the swamp. (Remaining monsters: 0)
[This quest involves multiple participants simultaneously.]
Status: Complete!
Your actions and achievements in this quest are being tallied.
This process will take a short while. Please wait a moment.

“What?”

In her panic, Da-bin didn’t even think to rinse the shampoo foam from her hair and hurriedly began to put on her underwear. But as she barely managed to put on her underwear and reached for her pants, a new message arrived.

Congratulations!

Your Rank is F.
You contributed not even a speck to the completion of this quest.
This won’t do. Please try harder.
Reward: None.

Da-bin couldn’t help but let out a scream-like cry at the content of the new message, which she glimpsed as she slipped her legs into her pants.

“What is this nonsense!”

She had just arrived, planning to wash and rest, but the quest was already complete? What in the world happened… But at that very moment, Da-bin remembered one person. A man who had ignored her and the other players’ calls and ran towards the village. The man she had definitively thought was a troll!

Surely, surely… he couldn’t have completed this quest alone, and so quickly!

But even as she was so surprised, the messages continued.

Quest Complete.

You have completed all assigned quests.
It is now time to return to your original location.
We wish you good fortune on your journey. (Remaining time: 10 seconds)

And as the countdown began, Da-bin first clutched her discarded clothes and belongings in both hands. The unrinsed shampoo foam streamed down, stinging her eyes, and her underwear was already soaked without even being dried, but she had no time to think of anything else.

And finally, the transfer occurred.

“…”

Da-bin realized she was back in the alley near her house and simply slumped to the ground. With shampoo foam still in her hair and wearing only soaked underwear, clutching her clothes and belongings, she looked exactly like a woman who had fled from a fire while bathing.

It was already dark as the sun had set, and only the CCTV camera mounted on the streetlamp watched Da-bin. Even in her dazed state, Da-bin first put on her clothes, then ran towards her house as if fleeing.

“If I had known this, I would’ve washed first!”

The quest aside, the fact that she missed a chance to take a leisurely bath seemed to be Da-bin’s biggest regret.

Meanwhile, the very person who caused all this chaos appeared in Odaesan Mountain around that time. Odaesan, which had been bathed in a beautiful sunset when he left, was now shrouded in darkness so deep it was hard to see even a foot in front of him.

Jun-sang leisurely sat on a rock, briefly recalling Ilmaren’s wistful expression when he left, then took out his phone from his pocket to check his messages.

Subdue the Swamp Monsters.

The villagers are suffering due to the monsters that suddenly appeared in the swamp. Eliminate the dangers lurking in the swamp. (Remaining monsters: 0)
[This quest involves multiple participants simultaneously.]
Status: Complete!
(Sub) Jesse’s Request. -> Complete!
(Sub) Ilmaren’s Request. -> Complete!
(Sub) Geden’s Request. -> Complete!
(Hidden) Subdue the monster wild boar appearing around the swamp. (Solo) -> Complete!
(Hidden) Burn the poisonous herb colony growing around the swamp. (Solo) -> Complete!
Your actions and achievements in this quest are being tallied.
This process will take a short while. Please wait a moment.

Jun-sang confirmed that all quests showed “Complete!” and then checked the next message.

Congratulations!

Your Rank is SSS.
You performed the objectives of this quest with unimaginable perfection.
Additional rewards will be granted in addition to basic rewards.
Reward: A lot of experience, Additional Reward Box (Solo) x2, Additional Reward Box (SSS Rank) -> Would you like to claim your rewards now? (Y/n) _(Warning) Unclaimed rewards will be automatically deleted after 7 days.

Since the sub-quest rewards had already been received separately, there were only two additional reward boxes. There were pros and cons, but since rewards like gold coins or a Fairy’s Kiss couldn’t be obtained from additional reward boxes, Jun-sang had no major complaints.

Jun-sang first opened an additional reward box.

Card Information

Name: Spirit of the Reckless Wild Boar
Level: 1Lv
Experience: 0
Grade: Uncommon
Category: Item
Growth: Precocious (Medium)
Attribute: None
Effect: When equipped, the spirit of the reckless wild boar possesses the user, greatly increasing attack and defense when using charge-type skills.
Cost: 20
Seed: 3 slots

“Hmm…”

Recalling when he defeated the monster bear before, Jun-sang thought it might be possible to obtain corresponding skill cards by defeating such beasts in hidden quests. He didn’t know what other charge-type skills existed besides Shoulder Charge, but if he obtained a charge-type combo card later, this card would be of great help. For now, its fitting use would be to summon it in place of Bear’s Spirit when using Shoulder Charge while the Martial Artist Combo is equipped.

Jun-sang opened the next box.

Card Information

Name: Leap
Level: 1Lv
Experience: 0
Grade: Common
Category: Skill
Growth: Late Bloomer (Medium)
Attribute: None
Effect: When equipped, leap power increases by 20%.
Cost: 10
Seed: 1 slot

While not as good as Sprint, this was also not a bad skill. So far, the difficulty of dungeons hadn’t been high enough to necessitate it, but for navigating complex and dangerous terrains, the help of such a skill would definitely be required.

Jun-sang opened the last remaining Triple S Rank box. As expected, something poured out.

Congratulations!

You have obtained ‘5 minutes’ of waiting time.
The transfer waiting time at the start and end of quests will increase to ‘5 minutes’.
You can now prepare for new missions with more leisure.

“5 minutes…”

It was certainly a longer time than 10 seconds, but it felt somewhat lacking for an SSS-grade reward. However, looking at it differently, it could be understood to mean that if he continued to maintain this level of quest completion, this time could continuously increase. 5 minutes is short, but if it becomes 10 minutes or an hour, he won’t have to worry about when the next quest will appear. Of course, this is assuming that waiting time will continue to be a reward.

Jun-sang checked the next message.

Congratulations!

You have obtained Skill Card ‘Bloodbath (SR)’.
Skill cards can be equipped in card slots to use their abilities.
-Would you like to equip the Skill Card in a card slot? (Y/n) _
[Click here for detailed card information.]

“…”

He was about to say, “Bloodbath again?” but seeing the (SR) attached, he first checked the card information.

Card Information

Name: Bloodbath (SR)
Level: 1Lv
Experience: 0
Grade: Super Rare
Category: Skill
Growth: Late Bloomer (Large)
Attribute: Fire
Effects:
1. 35% chance to cause fear in enemy on successful attack
2. Regeneration rate increased by 15%
3. Attack power increased by 10%
4. 5% life steal on successful attack
Cost: 25
Seed: 5 slots

“Oh!”

Basically, the types of effects were largely the same as the existing Bloodbath Rare, but all existing effects increased by 5%, and 5% life steal was added. The cost increased by 5, but this level of performance improvement was entirely acceptable.

But that wasn’t the end of it. As Jun-sang finished reviewing Bloodbath (SR), a new message arrived.

Congratulations!

You have obtained four grades of one type of card.
-In praise of your accomplishment, the title ‘Card Collector’ is bestowed upon you.
[Click here for detailed title information.]

“Hmm?”

Wondering what this was, he quickly opened the title information.

[Card Collector]

Title bestowed upon one who has obtained four grades of one type of card.
Effect: Special function ‘Card Combination’ is unlocked.
-Titles automatically apply their effects upon acquisition.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

Congratulations!

You are the first to obtain the title ‘Card Collector’.
-In praise of your accomplishment, the title ‘First Card Collector’ is bestowed upon you.
[Click here for detailed title information.]

It was a bit overwhelming, but Jun-sang checked this information as well.

[First Card Collector]

Title bestowed upon the first person to obtain the title ‘Card Collector’.
Effect: When a card you already own appears from a random card or reward box, you can re-attempt.
-Titles automatically apply their effects upon acquisition.

“Oh!”

This time, Jun-sang couldn’t help but exclaim.

= Author’s Note =

I feel like I’m getting cancer from the internet these days.
Is it time to switch providers…