2 Ch. 2
「 Status Window 」
Name: Kim Taehyung
Age: 25
Species: Human
Level: 4
Job: Swordsman
Title(s): [-]
Sponsor: [-]
HP: 100
MP: 12
Strength: 23
Agility: 17
Vitality: 11
Intelligence: 28
Skill(s): Stigma [LV 1], Holmes intuition[Growth type], basic weapon mastery [LV 1].
-
~Back to the story~
「 3rd Main scenario is commencing! 」
["Fufufu, Let the 3rd scenario begin~!"] The rabbit hopped in excitement.
「 1 minute remaining until the start of the scenario. 」
「 0:59... 」
Then all sorts of notifications flooded in my system.
{Notification limited to constellations.}
「 The guide, Jojo is opening their stream. 」
「 0:43... 」
「Jojo, who is managing the area "Jongno-gul, Seoul" is streaming on their server #JJ-098135. 」
「 Constellations have joined the stream. 」
「 System analysis: 4 constellations are present in the stream.」
["Hello, respected constellations~! It's been awhile since the 2nd scenario, remember to vote if the stream is to your liking~!"]
「 0:26... 」
The ground then shook and everyone was panicking.
{Constellations-only stream notifications}
["The 3rd main scenario will start shortly~! Dear constellations, don't forget to subscribe and leave a good review on my channel~"]
I wonder the people I threw are still alive or not.
There was roughly around 50 people occupying this area but although it's a whole campus, people are scattered everywhere in this vicinity. And Taehyung stood beside me the whole time.
I whispered to him, "Taehyung, I think we can't find your friends just yet. But can you somehow communicate with them to meet with us here after this is over?"
"Yeah, I will tell them through our party chat."
"Again, I don't know what that is, but you gotta teach me later. We have bigger things to worry about." I glanced at the rabbit as he was busy talking in his stream.
["We got quite the amount of survivors last time, I wonder how they do against a horde of beasts~"] The rabbit talked to himself but purposely let the players listen.
"W-What? We have to kill monsters that are coming right at us??" A random guy said as he panicked.
「 0:12... 」
Another person spoke. "B-But we're at the safe zone, so there's nothing to worry about-"
Then the rabbit spoke. ["Oh, I forgot to tell you."]
「 0:10. 」
Another window emerged in front of everyone.
「 The barrier of the safe zone will temporary collapse until the the scenario is fulfilled within the given period. 」
「 0:04. 」
The rabbit's eyes crimsoned as he smirked.
["The safe zone can no longer protect you."]
「 0:01. 」
「 0:00 」
["Then, I hope you all can survive until then~"]
["Have fun~ Don't die too soon~!"]
The rabbit disappeared into thin air along with the camouflaged broadcasting camera.
I sense him from above.
So players aren't allowed to know that they are being watched in a live stream?
「 "The phantom ghost" says it's nice to see you again. 」
Oh? It's him again.
Then a ringing sound was heard as the barrier collapsed. Everyone panicked and picked up their weapons.
The horde of monsters was running towards us from a distance.
"EVERYONE SET UP YOUR DEFENCE LINE!!" A guy shouted from the front.
Everyone on our side got ready and settled into their positions, including Taehyung.
"Y/n, stay behind me-"
"How many times are you gonna say 'stay behind me', Taehyung." I looked at him.
He flinched.
Then, I remembered that I don't have a weapon with me. Since the system is like a game, it should have an inventory.. I have nothing in it though.
I looked at the random dude beside me that was holding a spear.
"Bro, can you lend me your spear for a second? Thank you~" I took it without letting him have a chance to speak.
"Hey wait-"
「 Philosopher's eye [MAX] is activating. 」
"You have another weapon in your inventory, right?" I smiled at him.
I stride pass the crowd of players and stood my ground. I was at least a few good meters away from them as the horde of monsters were gaining closer by the second.
Then all sorts of chattering were heard although they were far away.
"What the- Is she crazy??"
"Does she think she's some kind of superheroine just because she thinks she has a few skills?? That's a whole horde of monsters! She'll DIE!"
"Whatever, she'll most likely die before us. It's not my problem."
"She's a goner."
Then Taehyung shouted from that very distance.
"Y/N!!"
I tilted my head and glanced back at Taehyung.
"..Be careful." He wistfully smiled.
I chuckled and mouthed 'thanks'.
Then, the monsters were just a few meters away from me.
And when they were just a few centimeters away from me, in that very second, I swiftly swung the spear in a clockwise movement.
In that mere second, all the monsters that came my way, were halved.
I didn't even think of using the shaft as I reinforced the whole spear with mana.
「 In total, Host have gained 612 exp[+6120]. 」
「 Exp required to next level: [??] 」「 Exp in possession: 17732 」
「 New skill acquired, system successfully read one of Host's unreadable skill! 」
「 Due to the Host's great understanding of the skill, the level of skill is determined. 」
「 Host have gained the skill, Reinforcement [MAX]{New} 」
I'm glad people are unable to read my windows, I'll draw even more attention if that happened.
I could hear the uncontrolled and confused chattering behind me. The monsters then came from all sides, attacking the players.
「 "The phantom ghost" is astonished at your fighting prowess. 」
「 "Jester" is amazed at your performance on the battlefield. 」
「 "The headless nobody" is shocked. 」
「 The constellations are jumping in excitement. 」
There are a lot of constellations observing me right now..
「 "The phantom ghost" is at his peak of curiosity. 」
Hmm?
「 "The phantom ghost" donated 500 coins. 」
「 "Jester" donated 500 coins to you. 」
「 "The headless nobody" donated 200 coins. 」
「 "The phantom ghost" is confused on why he can't access your status window. 」
「 "The phantom ghost" offers you to be his avatar. 」
「 Due to the Host's undercover constellation status, invitation automatically declined. 」
That was sudden.. But now's not the time to be curious.
I turned back and my eyes searched for Taehyung.
The players were struggling with a few mere goblins. I guess all the small fry went to them when I was dealing with the orcs.
Well, I guess I can't blame them, They're still at the level of a beginner.. Their physique is only slightly better than an average human. And I shouldn't stand out too much.
I stabbed the orc beside me without batting an eye. Then I saw Taehyung, struggling with an orc all by himself.
「 Host used Khan's footwork [MAX]. 」
In a blink of an eye, I appeared behind Taehyung.
I jumped into mid-air and used the spear to slash the orc extending a mana blade at the shaft, in front of him.
「 Host have gained 100exp[+1000]. 」
"Y/n!" He smiled brightly.
"I see you were doing fine without me, Taehyung." I glanced at the pile of goblin corpses on the ground.
"I still couldn't deal with the orc just now, you were the one who killed it." He chuckled.
"But you dealt with the goblins just fine." I smiled.
「 "The phantom ghost" says most of the monsters were dealt by you. 」
I never knew constellations can have these kind of conversations with players.
"A-ANOTHER WAVE OF MONSTERS?!!!?" Another random guy shouted.
"N-No way..! They're bigger this time!!" The guy's companion panicked as everyone felt the same, panicked, worried.
"Taehyung, hold on for a second." Then I tightly gripped onto the pole of the spear, threw it with all my might and with mana reinforcing it.
The spear headed straight towards the wave of high grade monsters and pierced through their hard iron body. The spear was able to push them back and knock the rest down.
Everyone was looking at me.
I reached out my hand, the spear flew back and returned to my palms but there was something else I should worry about.
I glanced at the nothingness of the sky.
「 Host is using the skill Mysterious player [MAX] and which is being applied on the constellations. 」
「 Host is now being concealed from constellations surveillances. 」
"Y/n?" Taehyung looked at me innocently.
Of course, he can't see it. ;-;
Once again, I took the spear in my hands and thrust it into the ground. The sound produced was a loud 'CLANG!'
"Uh.. Y/n?"
"Give me a sec."
I held onto the spear with both hands and imbued my mana into it.
"Ignite."
A glare of bright light glowed from the spearhead and a second later, it released a full blown laser into the sky as it shoots up.
It hit the camouflaged camera near where the rabbit was, and also killed a flying wyvern that was about to slaughter the players, including the rabbit apparently.
「 Host used a mana technique. 」
Everyone was busy fending off the monsters to even notice.
In anger, the rabbit revealed himself and descended from above. ["What the hell did you just do."]
"Saving your ass from being roasted."
["Do you know how grave your situation is?"] He seemed really mad.
"Do you know who you're talking to Mr. guide?"
"How's the life of a streamer, Jojo?"
["...Wha, What? How did you-!"]
"You don't have to be wary, the constellations won't be able to listen to this conversation."
["How can I trust you, a mere player?? And is this information even reliable?"]
"A mere player, you say.."
"Why don't you check your stream to see whether I'm lying or not." I smiled.
Taehyung whispered. "Y/n, what are you doing?"
I whispered back. "Just watch."
The rabbit hesitated, but soon after, he checked his stream.
He then looked shocked at his screen.
"The constellations are only able to observe the other players,"
"and the weird looking cameras are not working on us either, right?"
["..."]
["Who are you..?"]
"Before that, would you like to add me to your chat list?" I smiled mischievously.
["..And why would I do that?"]
"I would say that, it'll just be your lost~"
["Hah! A mere human asking to add a guide to their chat list. That's the first time I've heard of this ridiculous idea."]
"So you won't?" I looked at him, smiling.
He showed a disgusted face. ["You have a weird habit of smiling at the wrong timing."]
"I'll take that as a compliment." I smiled once again, annoying the rabbit.
["This is why humans are an annoying species."]
"But you're getting along with me just fine~"
["Fufufu, a guide and a human, on friendly terms. I guess there's a first for everything."] He crossed his arms.
"Just say you acknowledge me as your equal~ Don't beat around the bush~"
["Hmph, yeah right."]
"Oh, and are you using concealment right now?"
["Of course, I'm not dumb enough to not cast one around us while you, a player, is talking to a guide without a care of the world."]
The rabbit gave me his ID and while I was adding him into my chat, I spoke.
"..And to answer your previous question," I looked at him with a stoic expression. "The system calls me the 'first mortal constellation', apparently."
Taehyung and the rabbit had their jaw hanging.
["..N-No way, there's no way."]
"Believe what you want to believe, I've said what you wanted to know."
["But even if you are, what are you doing here? Constellations are forbidden to interfere with the scenarios on Earth."]
"Who said I'm interfering? I'm just freelancing."
"The system somehow made it that way, maybe because I'm still considered a mortal."
["Still, aren't you afraid I would expose you to the other constellations?"] He raised an eyebrow.
"You wouldn't do that~"
["How are you sure?"]
His eyes crimsoned, showing that he's not fazed by my existence. It was as if he erased the fear he had of me being a constellation, despite me being a lower tier one.
"Because you wouldn't be able to."
I would never back down and cower to someone who dares threaten me.
The rabbit slightly flinched at my response.
My eyes had changed to a vertical slit of the pupil, showing the existence of a dragon within me.
"Let's not forget that I'm still a constellation, Jojo. Even lower tier constellations have higher authority than any other guide, am I right?"
"So I suggest to refrain from threatening me if you're not able to in the first place."
My eyes turned back to normal.
"Don't feel pressured. Just handle that killing intent of yours, I was able to sense it and you didn't even try to hide it."
The rabbit was speechless.
"Taehyung, by chance, did I scare you..?" I looked at him as I was worried. My taunts can paralyze a person who is not trained to do so.
"Ah, no no~ I was just surprised, but I guess we're even." He chuckled.
"I guess so." I smiled.
I looked at Jojo, "so you've decided?"
The rabbit didn't utter a single word as he was avoiding eye contact with me, but suddenly..
["You have my word."]
Then, a window appeared in front of everyone, surprising me and Taehyung.
「 10 minutes remaining, generating "Gargalhan". 」
"Hmm? What's this?" I asked Jojo.
["That's the boss for this scenario."]
Then the ground shook.
"E-Earthquake??" A random guy shouted.
The rabbit lifted the concealment barrier around the three of us and disappeared into the background.
"You dumb rabbit, I can still see you even with your concealment."
["..."]
["So that's how you knew I was hovering above."]
"I'll deal with you later." I said as the rabbit gulped.
"But before that."
「 Host added 'Jojo' to their chat list. 」
"You said that the chat works by my thoughts right?"
["Yes."]
"Taehyung,"
I smiled. "Stay behind me."
「 Host has gained a believer. 」
「 Host's existential power increased by 5. 」
「 Current existential power: 880 」
Hmm..? No way, Taehyung?
I looked at him, he was just innocently smiling. So he doesn't even know..?
「 System note: Once a player fully trusts the host, they will be your follower even without knowing. 」
Ah.. so it's like that.
「 Host is accessing the VIP system shop. 」
「 Host purchased 'The Twin Daggers of Faith'. 」
「 Deducted 300 coins. 」
-
Item: The Twin Daggers of Faith.
Class: B [growth type]
Critical chance +30%, Paralysis effect [lasts 3 minutes]
-
It's not that expensive, although it's somewhat lacking, but this will do for now.
I can't keep using a worn out spear that looks like it's about to break any second.
Then, a giant ogre with a huge bat roared its battle cry a mile away.
The players were shaking in fear and some had already given up.
"W-We can't beat that t-thing!"
"Y-Yeah no shit!"
「 Host is using private system chat with 'Jojo' ★. 」
★Y/n : "Hey rabbit, what type of monster is it?"
★Jojo : ["It's a colossal ogre."]
★Y/n : "I know it's an ogre, what type of monster is it?"
★Jojo : ["...The barbaric type."]
★Y/n : "Elaborate. Height, strength and agility."
★Jojo : ["Since it's only a C rank scenario, the boss should be around 30 feet tall. As for strength and agility, you wouldn't have to worry."]
★Y/n : "I see. And why is it only appearing on our side of the zone?"
★Jojo : ["I don't know how you figured out that there are other parts of this zone, but to answer your question, it's because this is the main area."]
★Y/n : "Alright, I can't keep blocking the constellation's view, so I'll end the scenario now."
★Jojo : ["What-"]
I held the daggers one on each hand and placed my right leg back as I positioned myself in the nick of the time.
Then, the pressure of both of the soles of my feet cracked the cement covered ground and I leaped onto the colossal.
With one invisible swing, its head flew the opposite direction.
「 Host gained 300exp[+3000]. 」
That was... way easier than I thought it would be.
「 Host has slain the boss, Gargalhan. Additional awards will be given. 」
「 Host has contributed the most of the scenario, additional awards will be accumulated. 」
I immediately warped behind Taehyung and put my daggers inside my inventory.
「 Host lifted the skill "Mysterious player [MAX]". 」
「 The phantom ghost wonders what happened. 」
「 Jester wonders what happened. 」
「 The constellations are all wondering what happened. 」
The players were confused by the headless corpse of the colossal ogre.
Taehyung glance at me and whispered, "you sure had tons of fun back there."
We both chuckled.
I bumped my head onto his back. "I still prefer to hide behind your back though, it's cozy."
I could feel his heart beating.
「 The phantom ghost says aww. 」
「 The phantom ghost gifted 500 coins to you. 」
「 The constellations admire the bubbly scene. 」
「 The loving piece donated 500 coins to you. 」
They sure have a lot of money if they donated to me like that.
Then I removed my head from his back and looked at him.
"By the way, where are your friends? Are they coming?"
"O-Oh yeah, they said that they're on their way."
I chuckled at his reaction.
"They must be quite strong if they survived the wave of monsters."
"They are, but still not as strong as you though." He chuckled.
["Ahem. I'm still here you know."]
"I know." I glanced at the direction the rabbit camouflaged himself at.
"TAEHYUNG-SSIIIIIIIIIIII~~~!!!" A group of boys came running towards him.
All of them pounced on him.
"You're still alive!!!! Good lord, thank you for looking after our Taehyung..!" One of them started praying to the non-existent god.
"Who's this?" One of them looked at me and drawing the other's attention on me.
"Ah, guys, meet my savior, Y/n." He giggled.
"Nice to meet you all~" I smiled.
"Savior?" They all looked confused.
Then, an unexpected rumble of the ground caught all of us off guard.
「 Jojo is using private system chat with Host ★. 」
★Jojo : ["Oi. I think a hidden quest is generating."]
★Y/n : "What? Why?"
★Jojo : ["I think it's because you ended the scenario earlier than the given time, I guess it triggered by itself.]
★Jojo : ["It seems like it's a private one too."]
★Jojo : ["Morever, the constellations are loving the plot twist, the view count is increasing~!"]
★Y/n : "...You benefit-plundering bastard."
Then, a hole appeared on the ground me, Taehyung and his friends stood.
Well all fell into the hole and landed with a 'thud'. The hole closed afterwards.
"..The hell?" My voice echoed as I dusted my clothes. I landed on my feet as I hovered a few centimeters above ground. My eyes wandered and looked at my surroundings, it was dark and chilly.
"You guys okay?" I looked at the guys that was piled against each other when they fell together.
They groan and Taehyung said, "Yep, never been better."
["Oi, you okay constellation-nim?"]
The rabbit appeared on the whim and scared the hell out of Taehyung's friends.
"Since when you used honorifics?" I looked at him.
["Since just now."]
A notification window then opened in front of everyone.
「 Hidden quest adjusted to 1 member in the group. 」
Then, the torches on the underground hallway lit one by one.
-
[Hidden Quest #1 - Demon General Greed]
Category: Private quest
Difficulty: S+
Clear conditions: Kill the Demon general Greed and his army!
Time duration: 3 hours.
Reward(s): Random reward box, high grade weapon, 2000 coins, all stats+5.
Failure: Death
-
