100

Title: Episode 100: Transition from Game to Reality

Chapter 26: Changes (2)

Throughout the broadcasts, I've managed to demonstrate that even a mage like me can fight fiercely if they put their mind to it, not to mention taking down numerous articles about Overmaster Vanguard. Thanks to that, I could make a name for myself as a Battle Mage, which was something to be proud of.

"Phew!"

"Oh! Dodged it? Despite being low-level!"

But that's just a story in reality. Outside the game, Overmaster is invaluable, a Grand Mage of the Seventh Circle, but here, this is all just within the game. Among the users enjoying Chronicle Online, now in its tenth year, there were more max-level players than non-max-level, and Lords Wizard (9th Circle), and Lord Masters were overflowing. And this lunatic charging at me is undoubtedly max level.

I managed to evade the first attack somehow, but if a max level decides to come at you, the overwhelming difference in skill power makes it inevitable for you to fall behind. It means that even with real combat senses or battle instincts, there are limits to what you can cover.

"What? Why are you dodging so well for a low-level mage? Your control is unexpectedly good!"

"Just shut up and leave! If I fight back, you'll be screwed!"

"Haha! Big bro's got money! That's why he's throwing his weight around!"

Arsia rushed to support me, and although Black Eagle blurred his vision, it was only temporary.

"Bang!"

With pain coursing through my entire body and the world turning red, my limbs stiffened. 'What? What just happened?' I blankly stared at the sky with a bewildered expression.

"[You have been killed by user Veltor.]"

The moment that message popped up, I burst into a bitter laughter, overwhelmed by absurdity. 'Haha! Haha...'

Of course, laughter didn't escape my lips due to death. I just laughed inwardly. Dying in the game wasn't a first for me. During the last story quest on the 7th stage, facing the boss monster Death Knight, I experienced death nearly twenty times. I've died twice since then due to reckless hunting, but this was the first death due to PK.

If it were due to my mistake or if the opponent monster was excessively strong, I would understand, but this was simply coming and attacking me, leaving me no choice but to die. It's almost like an unavoidable traffic accident.

"Wow! What the heck!? This guy!? How much is he worth!?"

Soon after, Arsia lay down beside me, and the voice of the ecstatic PK criminal echoed around.

"[Resurrecting at the checkpoint.]"

"[Experience points will be partially lost due to resurrection penalty.]"

After a while, having resurrected from death, I used the Supporter Resurrection Scroll to revive Arsia, who had died with me.

"This is frustrating."

As soon as Arsia, now disguised with a different appearance from reality, revived, she said those words to me. I understand. We've wasted time for experience recovery and lost items because of this crazy guy.

"Did you drop any items?"

I asked Arsia while checking my inventory for my own items. To my dismay, I found that several rings and a few spell scrolls I had equipped were missing. But the problem was, among my equipment lavishly spent for easy leveling, there was nothing cheap.

"Oh no, I dropped my bracelet."

Arsia's bracelet was as expensive as my rings. The loss amounted to nearly 5,000. In terms of item stats alone, it was a piece worthy of being a mainstay for a max-level ranker. Seeing such a significant loss, it was evident that the culprit was from the rogue profession. Among the rogue professions, there are skills that increase the acquisition rate of main items of hunted targets and related equipment. I couldn't help but think that he might be someone who specialized in earning money through PK.

It seems like there's a rumor that there's a sucker in the Black Dragon Guild who provides hunting grounds while giving away a fortune.

"Ah, this is annoying."

Should I be grateful that I didn't drop my weapons or armor? Suppressing my annoyance, I immediately opened the auction house and found the same items that I lost.

[Seller: Veltor]

As I browsed through the auction, I could confirm that the name of the PK criminal who killed me was displayed. Suppressing my boiling anger, I spent a bit more gold and purchased items from other sellers. After all, 50 million roots weren't a big deal for a Grand Duke like me; I could just consider it helping out a poor neighbor in distress. Rather than wasting time because of one crazy guy, it was more productive to recover experience points quickly and level up.

"Arsia, come here."

After purchasing the equipment that Arsia had lost, I immediately opened the messaging window and sent a complaint message to Penny, the guild leader of the Black Dragon Guild, who was making a fortune by offering exclusive hunting grounds.

Due to securing a national contract, the Black Dragon Guild, now with financial flexibility, was rapidly climbing the guild rankings within Chronicle Online, enjoying a steady rise in prominence.

["Oops, I apologize. I'll come to see you right away and offer my apologies. Also, may I know the user's nickname? We'll issue an extermination order within our guild."]

Guild Leader Penny's response was swift and filled with regret. It was only natural; to them, I was a VIP among VIPs who must be protected at all costs. While there was no need for them to come and apologize to me, I didn't refuse their offer to issue an extermination order to the PK criminal.

"You're talking about Veltor, right? Understood. And I'll reinforce the security to prevent outsiders from intruding into the hunting grounds."

"Yes, please."

"I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused."

From his humble voice dripping with resentment, I could tell he was thoroughly angry at the PK criminal. With this level of response, I didn't think there was much to worry about in encountering the PK criminal again.

"It feels like the death penalty is increasing as my level goes up."

When facing the 7th stage story quest boss, Death Knight, continuously dying allowed for recovering lost experience points with 1-2 hours of hunting. But now, the loss of experience points upon death required at least 3 hours of hunting to make up for it. And that's even while continuing to hunt in exclusive hunting grounds with high efficiency. All because of one crazy guy, I lost precious 3 hours. If I were to calculate my 3 hours in terms of money, it would be far more valuable than the lost items.

"Let's just think positively. At least I didn't lose any weapons or armor."

Weapons and armor, coated with various spell scrolls, are items that take time to recover if lost. I tried to forget my discomfort and focused on hunting. But...

"Ah, damn."

Tatak! Tatak!

"Hey! I'm back again!"

The reason for my expletive was the sight of logs rushing towards me from a distance. The guy leading the charge with a mad expression was the same one who killed me earlier, and it seemed like he was obsessed with making money from the experience.

"Forgive me, Master Mingi!"

"Master Mingi, please dodge!"

The Black Dragon Guild members chased after them, sweating coldly, but it was difficult to catch up with them in terms of speed. I quickly used a teleport scroll.

"[User Veltor has used a teleport disruption scroll.]"

However, my teleportation was blocked by them. Teleport disruption scrolls are not something ordinary users would use, as each one could fetch tens of millions of roots. It was evident that the PK criminal named Veltor was determined.

"Hand over the items!"

Shouting as if I had entrusted the items to him, the guy swung his sword. I once again avoided his attack and bought time. Luckily, the situation was better than last time, at least because the Black Dragon Guild members were with me.

However, the problem was that this time, Veltor wasn't alone.

"Damn! How can you dodge so well for a low-level character!"

I shouted defiantly, targeting his back.

"Do you think you'll be safe even if you mess with me?"

"What did you say?"

I didn't want to resort to this method, but there was no other choice.

"I'm a noble! Do you think you'll be safe even if you mess with someone like me!?"

"Then I'm the Emperor of Bringum."

Unfortunately, this threat didn't seem to work on them at all. It seems that Chronicle Online's game company is famous for not divulging personal information even upon request from law enforcement agencies.

"It seems like you really want to die."

"Yeah. In this game, the company doesn't intervene in user conflicts."

While some of them seemed taken aback by my response, they pressed on aggressively, seemingly enraged by Veltor's taunts.

Dragging out the time would lead to my victory. Surely reinforcements would come from the Black Dragon Guild. But...

[You have been killed by user Veltor.]

In the end, I fell again, and the moment I was PK'd twice by the same guy, I lost all sense of reason.

User Veltor of Chronicle Online. He was known as a max-level regular user everywhere, confident in his control, but not famous enough to be ranked due to being overshadowed by others in terms of item acquisition.

The fact that he stumbled upon one person's information was truly coincidental.

"Really? He's paying that much money because he wants to enjoy solo play?"

"That's what I heard. He poured tens of billions into just his equipment. It seems like he only uses cash items for potions."

"Just how rich is he?"

"Well, there are people living in that kind of world."

"Could he be a noble?"

"He claims to be, but I don't know the details."

This was a conversation between members of the Black Dragon Guild and members of other guilds at the pub.

The moment Belltor heard their conversation, the thought crossed his mind, "This is it."

"What kind of equipment does a user who spends hundreds of millions just on hunting ground rental fees have?"

Although his level seemed to be in the mid-200s, there were items in the 200-level range with options so rare that they were hard to come by even for a max-level player. Considering that the base price for trading was in tens of millions, it was mind-boggling.

"Just one of those items would be a huge win."

So, with half interest and half amusement, Belltor checked the Black Dragon Guild's exclusive hunting grounds to see if this person was there.

"I found him!"

And it wasn't difficult to find the person.

The moment he saw the person's equipment, Belltor knew the rumors weren't baseless.

"Wow, damn. How much is all that?"

The mention of nobility seemed to be true.

To commoners like themselves, 100 million was a large sum, but to nobility, it wasn't that big of a deal. However, Belltor wasn't too worried about the person being noble.

Nobles who had everything in reality tended to ignore virtual reality games. If they were nobles who enjoyed virtual reality, they were mostly those who were behind in family competitions, so there was no need to be afraid.

So, without any hesitation, Belltor...

"[User Mingi has been killed. Karma score has increased, and upon entering the village, will be arrested by the guards.]"

He took down the user.

And then...

"Gosh, how much is this?"

With just one hunt, he obtained items worth nearly 50 million roots. This was enough money to turn the heads of even a Belltor from an ordinary civilian household.

"If I repeat this?"

If he repeated the same method, how much could he earn?

Just imagining it made him feel like he had become rich.

Excited, he searched for the user again.

But this time, it wasn't easy.

It was because the Black Dragon Guild had increased security at the hunting grounds.

"Well, if they're going to increase the number of people, so will I!"

So he recruited a party, and as Belltor's certification continued, many logs and assassins flocked to him.

And thus began the second round.

The opponent, despite being in the mid-200s level, was a formidable opponent with exceptional control skills. However, it was still impossible to face max-level agile characters as a magician.

"[User Mingi has been killed. Karma score has increased, and upon entering the village, will be arrested by the guards.]"

And this time...

He was able to obtain items worth a staggering 100 million.

Even if he shared them with his comrades, each person could get at least a thousand.

"Do I even need to share?"

The sight of such a huge sum made him gradually lose his rationality.

But...

"What, what is this!?"

His happiness was soon shattered.

It was all because of one post on the community.

"[Obtain real-life information of this user. Will offer a generous reward.]"

User: Belltor (Priority), Aintro, Paint, Rokurow, Aisen...

Reward

If only the real name is provided: 30 million roots (Belltor), 10 million roots (Others)

If the real name and the kingdom they live in are provided: 100 million roots (Belltor), 30 million roots (Others)

If detailed information about their residence is provided: 1 billion roots (Belltor), 300 million roots (Others)

This is not an aggro. I will deposit the amount without any error and make the transaction public. Of course, the information must be accurate, and false information will not be tolerated.

Account verification (photo attached)

Balance: 10 trillion 5,221 billion roots.

First come, first served, so hurry up and provide the information.

Looking at the post with the rapidly increasing views, Belltor rubbed his eyes, wondering if he had seen it wrong.