Chapter 5 – Encounter with a Troll

For a few months, I’ve played the game as if it’s single player. But, right now, it feels like I’m finally experiencing the excitement of the game as it’s intended.

In a twist of fate, I encountered a raid announcement in Asparagan and managed to join their raid party.

If you had no connections in online communities like <Circuit Master> or <Circuit Gallery>, it was nearly impossible for a newbie to join a raid party.

But, the raid party I’ve encountered just happened to have a few spots open, and I’ve managed to join them!

And now, the mix of 120 Users and NPCs marched towards our location.

With the ranker Silborun in front, Silver guild members were at the front of the march. Behind them were the party members that the guild recruited.

I was part of the latter.

Located in the middle of the march, I was walking with 3 other users that I had partied with.

“Mose-ssi, try some of this.”

With the nickname of Swordsman, a member of my party approached me. He handed me bread that had engraved runes, which were the ancient letters of <Circuit>.

This appeared to be the specialty of Asparagan, the “Rune bread”.

“Thank you.”

After accepting his offering, I took a big bite. The bread harmonized with the sweet and sour taste of apple sauce that exploded in my mouth.

Inside this game, which has a fantasy genre, the possibility to feel all 5 senses were marvelous.

“Sharan-ssi, try this too.”

“Thank you.”

The man nicknamed Swordsman seemed to be very open with others he met for the first time. But, the friendliness he radiated did not seem off-putting.

“Anyways, I’m very nervous about this raid.”

The user nicknamed Gaeil caressed his mustache.

“Is this your first raid party?”

After the user nicknamed Sharan asked, Gaeil nodded frantically. Upon seeing him, I also nodded.

“What about you, Miss Sharan…?”

After Gaeil asked, Sharan fixed her posture and began to speak.

“I’ve been to exactly one other raid to hunt the White fangs.”

“White fangs? They looked extremely hostile…”

Gaeil responded with a surprised expression. White fang, it’s a term for the white wolf monsters in this game. But, unlike wolves in real life, White fangs were humongous as well as fierce.

I too heard that magic items drop often from White fangs. But, I was too scared to hunt them after searching up their images on the web.

And she managed to hunt the White fangs. Sharan-ssi must have the most experience in hunting out of our party.

Right before we began to converse, the party that was in front of us halted.

“Why did we stop?”

Soon after Gaeil asked, a man carrying a flag that had the Silver guild emblem passed by us on a horse.

“We’ll take a quick 5-minute break before moving!”

I assumed this was to check on us right before entering the Bass mountain range. At this point in time, I felt nervous like a toddler before his vaccine shot.

“Anyways, if the troll raid is a success, how much money could we earn? I wish I can get at least a drop of the Troll’s blood.”

Gaeil started the conversation. Soon after, Swordsman continued,

“I heard there’s nothing to waste from a Troll.”

Sharan leaned on the rock behind her and smiled.

“ Leather to the tanner, bones to the blacksmith, and blood to the alchemist. It’s a material that there’s not enough of. For a better quality material, you could easily earn tens to hundreds of gold.”

Listening attentively to her words, everyone’s eyes sparkled. I’ve also heard of their value.

I still remember what some NPC told me.

It’s better to search for a Troll than search for gold.

The value of their drops were that valuable.

“I could only ask for a single magic item. Then my worries regarding tuition would disappear.”

Gaeil scratched his head seemingly embarrassed. Following that, party members including me stared at him. It was due to his appearance as a middle-aged man with a bushy mustache.

“Umm… Gaeil-nim? May I ask what your age is…?”

After my question, Gaeil spoke as he caressed his mustache.

“I’m 22.”

He answered shyly. Subsequently, Sharan showed a small smile.

“What about you Sharan-nim?”

“Well, I’m just a normal office employee. I play this game to relieve stress, and who knows, if you’re lucky you can earn a lot of cash. What about Mose-nim…?”

Upon her question, I answered awkwardly.

“Same with me. Well in order to study you need money…”

Consequently, Gaeil stared at me with empathy. Almost naturally, we all turned our heads towards the “swordsman”.

Having a surprised expression, Swordsman smiled as he spoke.

“I’m just a father to daughters in high school and middle school. By some twist of fate, I’m here now.”

To his sheepish laugh, I responded.

“That’s awesome.”

Gaeil quickly agreed with me. Swordsman bowed his head.

“In truth, this <Circuit> game was a big and precious opportunity for me.”

Simultaneously, all of us agreed.

“To a person without much experience, such an opportunity is rare.”

Everyone fell into a solemn silence. It’s clear that any users or even NPCs have a story for being here. It’s obvious they were looking for an opportunity.

I too was here due to insane luck, I fully heartily agreed with what Swordsman had said.

“Okay, let’s start moving! Soon after arriving at the Bass mountain range, let’s first organize the parties. We’ll issue orders after that!”

A fully-equipped Silver guild member shouted as he passed by. Around me, users start to pack up their stuff.

It’s finally starting.

It was the first major event after joining this game. It was also the opportunity to experience the insane effects of my rare grade item.

“Parties without an assigned party leader should form one themselves!”

After the new information, whispers can be heard all around me. But, since this 13th party already had a party leader, we did not have the need for such discussion.

Instead, I quietly spoke.

“I believe Sharan-nim should be the party leader, instead of me.”

“Is this your first party quest?

“Yes.”

After I responded, Sharan nodded her head.

And soon after that, she accepted my suggestion. Since she had the most hunting experience in this party. Soon, Sharan went up to the front to accept the paperwork about the raid.

“Hmm… This operation is a bit weird?”

“Sharan-nim? What’s wrong?”

In response to her odd expression, Gaeil quickly asked.

“There’s already traps laid out by the members from the Silver guild. We’re in charge of luring them to the location.”

“So that’s why they confidently accepted the quests with just 40 guild members.”

The swordsman nodded as if he understood. Soon, I could verify the contents of what the papers stated. It read,

< Subjugation of a group of Trolls from the Bass mountain range. >

< Each party in their given position should lure the Trolls on their way down. >

< At the located area, once the Trolls have been caught in the traps, attack all at once. >

< Rewards will be distributed automatically. Therefore, try your best to obtain the most. >

< Signed, Guild master of <Silver> guild, Silborun. I wish you the best.>

“Guild members from the Silver guild aren’t part of the decoy squad.”

To Sharan’s query, Gaeil spoke up.

“Maybe in between the parties Silver guild members will join in?”

Sharan did not seem content with Gaeil’s proposal. I also questioned the positions of the parties, but I didn’t have time to spare to speculate.

I was more worried about the group of Trolls that I was about to face!

Eventually, we arrived at our individual locations at the Bass mountain range. The sour smell of grass, the sweat accumulated by the march, and the mix of emotions due to nervousness pressured me.

Next to me stood Gaeil with a nervous expression, on the other side Sharan silently stood with her bow, and in front of us, Swordsman stood his ground along with his shield.

Lastly, me with a lousy steel sword.

The stillness of the forest, however, was intervened by sounds of arrows from afar,

Along with the heavy vibration from the ground, the silence was quickly broken.

Thump!

With the heavy vibrations that rumbled the ground, the twigs in front of us started to shake.

Soon after,

The huge tree in front of us was picked up along with its roots, and thrown away. After focusing my attention back in front of me,

There stood a giant figure with somewhat black skin color.

At the Bass mountain range entrance, where all the traps were laid, Silver guild members were seen forming a single line.

Amongst them, there was a person smoking a strange-looking cigarette.

Next to him, a teenager who covered his face with a steel helmet started to shout at the small device flying next to his shoulder.

“Oh my gosh~! Brother Charles~! Thanks for the 50 stars, no a whopping 5 million stars! Thank you! Livestream of the Troll Subjugation is about to start! Like! Follow! And subscribe!”

T/N: Stars are like bits on twitch that are donations to Korean live streams.

He faced the small device next to him towards Silborun at the front of the line.

“You guys already know Silborun, right? His staff alone costs a whopping 2 hundred thousand!”

With a provocative accent, the teenager carried on with excitement.

“Brother Silborun is about to display a fire show worth 2 hundred thousand dollars, aren’t these donations a bit cheap? I’m gonna get upset? I might even end the stream?”

After the teenager bargained with his viewers, he laughed with a burst of distinctive laughter.

“The 80 people over there are going to die without knowing what happened to them? This is gonna be the funniest clip in the history of <Circuit> live streams, where are the donations?”

Soon after he finished speaking, Silborun got off his horse after noticing the disturbance in the forest, along with his staff.

“Kyahh~ Brother Silborun’s ready to go~ Brother JulJul, thanks for the 10 million stars! Please accept my bow of gratitude!”

The streamer carried on,

“Automatic distribution, isn’t this an item? Everyone? How much profit are we gaining in one raid?”

And he did not seem to stop any time soon.

Silborun noticed the many players running down the mountain.

Behind them, were the trolls that destroyed the forest along the way.

With ash grey leather, the trolls splattered their saliva as they chased the users in front of them.

They were about to arrive at the trap point. But even from afar, you could notice their expressions of despair.

Faced with the thick and sticky layer of oil, all users around the entrance couldn’t move forward.

On top of that, the trolls that chased them down caught up, resulting in being crushed to death, or panicking upon catching a glimpse of others’ death.

Silborun, who was quietly witnessing the spectacle, waved his staff above him and spoke.

In response to his grand and shuddering voice, the staff glowed a bright red light. And, soon after, Silborun finished his chant.

“Fireball.”