Chapter 120 – The Uninvited Guest (1)

“Damn it. Speak. What should I do?”

“Well, nothing special. Just wear this until I leave town.”

Jin-hyuk pulled out a very burdensome-looking costume from his subspace inventory.

Even in Hongdae, the costume would be shocking enough to get reported to the closest police station.

Of course, considering he was a noble and gentle elf, Tetlon couldn’t help but be surprised to the extent that his eyes were almost popping out.

“W-what? Those horrible clothes?!”

“Huh. Disgusting!”

How dare they say such nonsense when looking at these divine clothes?

A wavy golden wig, a red mustache that smelled like male testosterone, and a pink mini skirt alongside a floral magic staff that works in perfect harmony.

This was a look that even the deceased would nod and acknowledge. Again, this was a gem, a luxury.

“D-don’t try to be funny! Do you think I would wear something like this!”

“Um? You said you would with your own mouth. If you lose, you will obey my words without a word.”

“I did but…”

“Then dress modestly. You got pushed out with your skills, and it would be ugly if you lost my trust.”

“…”

Tetlon’s face flushed red.

However, it was impossible to suffer the added disgrace of breaking a promise in the middle of already losing everything.

Finally…

“Please. Please leave our village as soon as possible.”

The elf begged Jin-hyuk.

“I’ll try to relax as much as possible, but seeing what you are doing, I think I can pull a day or two here.”

Well, this disgrace will be talked about among the elves for a long time. If he simply listened, the time he’d need to suffer would be shortened as much as possible.

Of course, that all depended on what Tetlon does.

Jin-hyuk shrugged.

With this, the true education of the sassy elf was completely finished.

Moments later, Tetlon led the elves in that fantastic attire.

“… transport the fig fruits one by one to the village, and you can fill it from the square in the center. You can use the warehouse too if there isn’t enough space.”

He tried to keep his composure as much as possible, but his face clearly showed his utter shame.

Clench!

The other elves forced down their laughter. Who would have imagined that their icy ranger captain would be like this?

“Who is the one laughing now! If you dare to laugh at Mr. Tetlon… puah!”

Even the first-class rangers, considered Tetlon’s personal retinue, couldn’t hold back their laughter.

‘Good.’

Jin-hyuk nodded in satisfaction.

Come to think of it, it would be quite effective if Elise and Chun Yuseon were trained like this later, right?

Jin-hyuk pondered for a moment and then shook his head after realizing it would be too much.

They were the type who’d rather die rather than do this.

“Haha. You have got some pretty funny hobbies. I never expected Tetlon to be this docile.”

Pennheim spoke up from beside Jin-hyuk.

“Are you trying to say the joke went too far?”

From the standpoint of an elder, this probably wasn’t a nice scene. The best ranger who protected the village was dressed like this.

But the answer from Pennheim was unexpectedly the opposite.

“No, because he had to face a wall higher than him one day. Rather, I feel fortunate that he met Mr. Jin-hyuk like this.”

Oh?

He thinks like this?

Still, it was fortunate that the elves had an elder with such a mature mindset. Not all of the 6th floor wasn’t all dirty.

“Then, I guess it is fine to troll him harder.”

“Hahaha. Please go ahead and make a habit of it.”

Pennheim burst into laughter. The two of them then continued to chat.

“E…elder. We…. Have trouble.’

An elf ran from the swamp while shouting.

He was covered in wounds, and red drops of blood dripped from his blood-soaked hair.

The loss of even one arm was a severe injury, but this elf’s condition was extremely dire.

“What happened!?”

Pennheim was shocked while a few elves ran to support the wounded.

“It is Lucion!”

“W-what did you do? The arm is completely…”

“Who did this! Who would do such a terrible thing!”

“Kuak…”

The elf, Lucion, tried to catch his breath.

Even with just a little time left, the elf seemed determined to finish the last mission it needed to do.

“Humans…s are… coming. Cough! Cough! Countless…”

And that was it. Lucion passed before completing his words.

The atmosphere around them sank. Perhaps it was due to grief at the death of a colleague, or maybe it was because of the tragedy awaiting them in the future.

But one thing was sure, someone had entered the forest with hostile intent.

It was clear that they would stop until the enemies had thoroughly swept the place.

Puak!

“Ack!”

With a flash of light, red blood spurted from an elf’s back.

There was no need to check since it was evident that he died instantly.

“Tch. Guys with no power are flying around. This is going to take more work than I thought.”

A man with a tall stature of up to two meters clicked his tongue.

He was Tianqiao, a ranker belonging to a Chinese Guild and one of the only 3 S-rank players assigned to this mission.

“I cannot help it. Was capture the main purpose instead of killing? Even if we kill the rangers with combat skills, we should capture the rest if possible.”

Another ranker, Li Keqiang, also added.

No matter how many times they hunted together, the spear, which was taller than his height, inevitably turned red.

“As we thought, the poison has spread widely in the forest, so nothing should get out. Hunting is my taste, so we can take it easy. Let’s enjoy it slowly from now on.”

Finally, a woman with waist-length black hair approached the two of them.

Xuehua.

Even within the guild, she was one of the best in handling poisons.

She was one of the talented people who didn’t simply appear out of thin air. In addition to the rankers, there were 500 members of the People’s Republic Guild.

It was too much of a force to occupy just one elf village.

Still…

No one there intended to show even the slightest bit of negligence.

‘If we fail, this time we die for sure.’

‘We need to obey the orders.’

‘A dog’s death is what we will get. Even more so, we should consider this his compassion to the elves.’

Namgung Cheon’s patience had reached its limit. Any failure would directly result in death.

Live or die.

The choice was clear if one had to choose between the two conditions.

“Before the sun goes down, we advance to the village of elves.”

Li Keqiang ordered the men.

“Yes.”

“We understand!”

The players drew their weapons altogether. At the same time, they began to narrow their siege toward the forest where the elves resided.

“T-This cannot…”

By the time Pennheim and the elves arrived at the outskirts of the town, the situation had already ended.

Smoke was rising while the houses burned.

If there was hell, was this it?

The bodies of the rangers who had fought until the end were mixed with the bodies of those executed, as an example. Among them were the bodies of unarmed female elves as well as children.

“To do such a terrible thing…”

“God and the spirits will never forgive them. Never!”

“Ugh!”

The elves gritted their teeth in anger. Some were at a loss for how horrific the sight was.

“Siblings… hurry and collect the bodies of the sisters. We cannot leave them on cold ground forever, right? And Tetlon! Lead the rangers to the center of the tower right away. It is protected by a barrier, so it cannot be broken down so easily. We cannot feel relieved in this situation.”

Pennheim gave orders to the elves with a hoarse voice.

“… Yes. I will leave right away.”

Tetlon quickly accepted the order and led the rangers into the woods.

Right.

This was the sad reality.

Right now, there were things they had to prioritize over their feelings. An hour had passed, and the corpses of the elves were being collected.

Rustle.

Several voices could be heard from the grass as 30 people appeared.

“Hmm. What is this? Were there others alive?”

They were players of the People’s Republic Guild.

“Oh my. Look at this? I wondered what to do. They gathered them all here?”

“It saves us the trouble of looking all over.”

“Ugh. I will let the captains know about it. This is the merit of our group!”

The players giggled.

They were excited.

They must be sore from being oppressed, but they liked this due to the blood they could see to their heart’s content. Just this one frantic hunt meant many items that could be scraped together alongside a large number of prisoners.

“…”

“…”

They were accompanied by elves whose eyes had lost focus while bound with chains.

Their trauma seemed so severe that not one of the elf prisoners looked sane.

“Ugh, you bastards. I wish you wouldn’t resist if possible. The chase isn’t bad either, but I got tired from doing it too much.”

“Puahah! Right. Maybe there aren’t many useful elves out here.”

“But they have a responsibility, right? Not sure what he felt trying to stop us from touching his family? That big elf.”

“Ahh. Of course. Even as he died, he asked for something for the sake of his wife and kids. Or course, we killed them all as an example.”

“Because there are too many. The higher-ups won’t say anything if we cut a few down. This is completely our world.”

“This is so fun.”

Their words seemed like they were talking about animals.

And…

Clench!

Silvia, who heard those words, gritted her teeth.

‘I want… to take revenge,’

Even at this very moment.

She wanted to shoot an arrow and pierce the heart of those humans that she hated. She wanted to punish him by drawing her sword.

But…

‘… not possible.’

She couldn’t do anything.

Even the best rangers were now captured or dead. She would inevitably meet the same fate no matter how hard she tried.

The fact that she knew the harsh reality here better than anyone….

It was upsetting.

She felt helpless and unable to do anything. She felt weak at not being able to stand up proudly.

It was so shameful that she couldn’t even speak.

She couldn’t do anything.

“Please… help… me…”

Silvia had to rely on the only one she knew was capable. She raised her head as her eyes trembled.

If this man had the ability to play around with Tetlon…

Then certainly.

She believed this situation could be changed.

Suddenly, Jin-hyuk was standing next to her.

“I was waiting for those words.”

Jin-hyuk answered softly and, at the same time.

[Unique ability…]
His dagger was dyed red.

[… ‘Sword Grave’ is activated]
And a jet black energy gushed out.