Chapter 26 - Respect

"Invisibility, huh?" Zack thought while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "This isn't something I can directly use for combat, but it will have many other uses outside combat. Now I can leave the city without being bothered."

Zack wondered if people with good senses of tracking skills would still be able to locate him; that was something he would have to confirm eventually. In any case, it was another useful skill that put a smile on his face.

"I guess I am not as straight-laced as I imagined that I would be… some questionable ideas are coming to my head," Zack said while rubbing his eyebrows.

Zack (Cheater) - Lv 40 (3320/9000)

HP: 1190/1190

MP: 140/140

SP: 540/540

Strength: 92 + 20

Intelligence: 07

Dexterity: 47 + 20

Constitution: 27 + 20

Spirit: 07

Focus: 07

Unallocated Points: 50

Skill List: Auto Aim Lv 10, Instantaneous Movement Lv 10, Speed Hack Lv 10, Inventory 10, Fire Lance Lv 01, Invisibility 05

Unallocated Skill Points: 0

Zack immediately made the skill reach level five to become unable, and soon, he began to move in the snow to check what it could do. As one would expect, he was still there. His footsteps left marks on the snow, and since that was the case, he could still be hit and still could be felt. His smell, the sound of his movements, and even his feelings might reveal his position.

When he approached the dire wolves, they could feel his presence, but disposing of them still was easy. They charged at him without knowing his position completely, so avoiding them was easy. After that, he just had to pierce their necks with his sword.

While he was hunting, Zack couldn't help but think that his skills granted him at least a boost on the same level as his skills. So, he was supposed to be at level eighty in terms of overall strength. Maybe that was why he didn't feel that intrigued by hunting there anymore. Still, that much was fine; this expedition would be the last normal expedition that he would go on, after all.

When the area started to get dark, Zack decided to return. He got three more levels in the afternoon, and his inventory was full, too, so it was time to do his final checking. When he was teleported back to the guild, Zack brought back around fifty sets of pelts of the dire wolves. It was a lot, but he still had ten times more in his inventory. In any case, the mages in the room soon called the receptionist guy, and he told him the prices.

"We buy each one of them for three hundred credits," The man declared.

Zack let out a sigh. That was a clear rip-off. The pelts were perfect, with no signs of damage, and they were pretty hard, too. They could be used to create protective gear and even casual clothes. Those were supposed to be worth at least five hundred credits each.

"... All right," Zack declared. 

In the end, those guys were the ones who would be lost the most. That would be the last time Zack would do business with them, after all. Once Zack was done receiving the credits, he turned around and then left, but the buffed receptionist called for him.

"Our guild master wants to talk with you."

"I don't want to talk with him, and I am busy," Zack said without turning around.

In the end, Zack saw a bunch of guild members moving to block his path. Still, playtime was over for him, so he used Instantaneous Movement and then Invisibility. Thanks to that, he completely left their field of vision and headed to the guild entrance without being bothered.

To make his point, Zack appeared one hundred meters away from the guild and kept walking as usual. If they wanted to try to stop him, it was their time, but they didn't. That being said, it was obvious that they wouldn't let things end there.

"That felt really refreshing. I should do this more, at least against these guys here," Zack thought.

The next steps that Zack was planning involved the guilds to some extent, so he had to keep his interaction with them at decent levels. Being friendly wasn't necessary, but it was for his own future, so that it couldn't be helped… Zack was planning to recover the territories from the monsters and sell them to the guilds that pay the most.

After cleaning himself and having dinner, Zack went to his apartment and considered what he should do now. Information about the places that guilds were trying to conquer was extremely limited since they were competing. Still, it shouldn't be hard to find them.

"I will have to contact them directly, and I will have to wipe out most of the monsters in the area, including the bosses, but this should be easy," Zack thought. "The part about negotiating will be the difficult part."

As a novice hunter, Zack understood that earning the respect of his peers wouldn't be that easy. In a world where strength and skill were revered above all else, he knew that he needed to prove himself as the real deal.

That realization was one of the reasons why Zack decided to stop holding back. He knew he had potential, but potential alone wouldn't earn him respect. He needed to demonstrate his abilities in a way that left no room for doubt.