Aunt Marie’s corpse, crumbled into tiny squares, scattered in every direction on the night wind.
‘They look like flower petals.’
I rubbed the corner of my eye with the back of my hand, vividly feeling the rough texture of my skin. Even then, the night air was pleasantly cool.
However, the metallic scent of blood carried on the wind and the musty stench of poison were far less pleasant.
Frowning, I surveyed the clearing, where not even a single weed remained.
The male player had been ground into a pulp like herbs in a mortar, while the female player resembled a burst fruit.
A short distance away, the pack of wild dogs lay sprawled across the ground. Bone fragments protruded from their bodies, which had gone stiff like discarded dolls.
‘Annihilated.’
Even the monsters were all dead.
It was not enough that the players had taken the old man from me. They had also stolen the hatred I had carried for five years.
Was I feeling hollow?
Was I bitter?
I could not even distinguish between the two.
【Patch in progress. 73%】
……That bastard Guide would not even allow me to sink quietly into my thoughts. I clicked my tongue and glared at its screen, which had turned red.
“What the hell happens when the patch is finished that has you making such a fuss?”
【The official server will open!】
Server.
Open.
Neither word meant anything to me.
However, I understood what it said next.
【It means even more players will be able to log into the improved and perfected world of Amuse Online!】
The end of the patch signified the beginning of true hell.
【Patch in progress. 74%】
Hell had drawn one percent closer.
There was no time to take things easy.
‘Let us quickly figure out only what matters.’
First,
【Mental Stability Correction】
【Emotional instability is a major cause of reduced behavioral efficiency. Unnecessary emotional variables are removed to maintain an efficient state.】
At some point, I had acquired something called Mental Stability Correction.
It appeared to be a mechanism that neutered my emotions so I would not do anything stupid, such as despairing or raging beyond what was necessary.
I did not know why it had suddenly appeared, but my mind now felt clear without my having to pretend that everything was fine.
The proof was that even with two corpses before me, all I thought was:
Disgusting.
Sticky.
I killed people.
I am a murderer now.
Nothing beyond that came to mind.
I felt no guilt, nor did I feel nauseated.
This was the first change that had occurred within me.
To examine the others, I gave a bitter smile and opened the Character Codex I had been given.
【Lv 25. Akkun ル▚▚. ㅂ▞ㅋ?】
【The appren者 of Arki’s be▒▒ apothecary…you身 are a ▷plaㄹyer-killer▚▚…despite his foul mouth, a craven coward.d.d.d.d.d.d.d.d.】
The text was broken, just like the screen I had seen at the moment of my awakening.
Before long, the screen began trembling.
【Rebooting the system.】
【…….】
【…….】
A seemingly normal message suddenly appeared.
Silence followed for some time.
【Character Codex : AK//N_HEL-10_∨∅?_R▚B:C】
【He is the apprentice of Golden, Arki’s greatest apothecary. He is also the second-most skilled apothecary in αρχή! Oh, and the fact that Arki has only twotwotwo apothecaries is a secret between you, Player, and us…… Incidentally, AkkunルB is a craven coward despite his foul mouth. Please do not frighten him too muche!】
“……What a fucking mess.”
It was roughly similar to the original description.
However, something had become mixed together.
A broken name, strange characters, and a description desperately pretending to be normal had all been forced into one place.
To understand the reason, I first had to examine BONBIN’s death.
I recalled the red screen that had filled my vision earlier.
To summarize what it had said:
The male player had died.
The cause of death was 【Lv 55. Poisoning】.
It claimed that he had died in the clearing outside the workshop.
‘He must have drunk it inside the workshop.’
Our workshop had not handled poison for the past five years.
That meant there had been only one poison inside.
The infused liquor I had brewed.
Even the old man or I would probably die if we drank it.
BONBIN must have helped himself to it.
‘Even the old man or I would have had a high chance of dying. There is no way anyone else could have endured it.’
Anyone else would die for certain.
This taught me that BONBIN had been a monumental idiot.
It also taught me that the Guide was an even greater idiot.
According to it, I was both BONBIN’s killer and the one responsible for his death.
There was only one reason.
I was the one who had brewed the liquor.
‘……What kind of bullshit is that?’
However, it was not entirely wrong.
I had not expected BONBIN to drink the poison.
I had not been waiting for that moment.
Nevertheless, I had wanted him dead.
Whether he was torn apart by wild dogs.
Whether he drank poison and rotted to death.
Whether the Guard caught him and hanged him by the neck.
Anything would have sufficed.
From the moment he severed the old man’s head, murderous intent had burned itself into my heart.
‘The Guide can control my emotions.’
Then it should also be capable of reading them.
‘The moment BONBIN drank the poison, it realized that I harbored murderous intent toward him.’
That was why I had become his poisoner.
And why I had ultimately become a Red Player.
I could force myself to understand that much.
However…….
“What is a Red Player?”
Was it different from an ordinary player?
【A Red Play-】
“Just tell me the important part.”
【A player who hunts other players. That is the path you walk.】
A player who hunted other players?
Did they even kill their own kind?
I asked several more questions.
The Guide answered in an unnecessarily cheerful voice.
Half of its answers missed the point, while the other half were nearly impossible to understand.
Even so, I managed to form one hypothesis.
‘The setting of a player who kills other players must have become mixed into my character settings.’
Perhaps I had become both an NPC and a player who killed other players.
That would also explain why I had been able to mutilate the man’s corpse and kill the woman.
The Guide and the system favored players over NPCs. Judging by the way they spoke, they practically worshipped players as gods.
It would not be strange for the rules governing a Red Player to override an NPC’s character settings.
‘Of course, it is only a hypothesis.’
I did not have enough information to go any further.
I would have to meet another player to confirm it.
Was I closer to an NPC?
Or was I closer to a Red Player?
I needed to know.
I began walking toward the village.
There were only two roads near the workshop: the path leading up the mountain behind it and a single road heading elsewhere. Following the latter for a short distance would bring me to the village, so there was no possibility of getting lost.
Even a five-year-old child could find their way from the workshop to the village.
Yet I could not accomplish something that simple.
The closer I came to the village, the heavier my steps became.
It felt as though my body would spring backward if I relaxed my legs even slightly.
The Activity Zone still applied to me.
“Hey.”
I looked at the small note floating in the air to my right.
“How do I get out of my Activity Zone?”
【An Activity Zone is part of your character settings!】
The note unfolded, displaying a screen.
Its contents were exactly what I had expected.
‘The system will not allow it.’
However, there was no reason to despair.
I had once been an existence incapable of killing players, yet I had blown the woman apart in open defiance of that rule.
‘There must be a loophole.’
Not merely must there be one.
There had to be one.
Just imagining what might be happening inside the village right now…….
“…….”
……For now, I should focus only on finding a way to modify my Activity Zone.
Without hesitation, I returned to the front of the workshop and stared at the woman’s burst-open head.
I had a feeling that corpse held the answer.
At that moment, the folded note opened by itself and displayed another screen.
【Yes, I’m a Necromancer.】
【I’m a player with a necromancer theme~ Feel free to talk to me anytime about trades involving poison or black magic!】
A message with a tone markedly different from the Guide’s floated above the woman’s corpse.
Perhaps it was a self-introduction she had written herself.
‘That is not what I need right now.’
I was not interested in what kind of person she had been.
I stared intently at the corpse.
Another screen soon appeared.
【Absorbing the existential value of ‘Yes, I’m a Necromancer’…… Plundering will begin in proportion to the share carved out by your blade…… Contribution: 74.2%. You have earned the right to claim victory!】
【Calculating kill experience.】
【EXP +14,580】
【Lv UP!】
【Lv UP!】
【You have reached Lv 25!】
【HP and MP have been fully restored.】
DING! DING!
Cheerful sounds rang out as the screens appeared, and my Lv increased twice, just as it had earlier.
The ragged wounds on my fists and shoulder regenerated completely. The mana I had consumed while destroying the corpse was also restored.
I now understood exactly what HP and MP were.
HP represented my life force, while MP represented the total amount of mana remaining within me.
However, I still did not understand Lv or EXP.
‘Perhaps those two terms contain the answer that will allow me to reach the village.’
I glared at the screen.
First was EXP.
When it rose beyond a certain amount, Lv increased. It could be acquired by killing players.
‘It is a number related to death.’
Once I thought of it that way, EXP resembled the face of a person lying sideways on the ground with their tongue sticking out.
‘Are they some kind of murder points?’
I moved on.
Next was Lv.
‘I am certain…… the pack of wild dogs had an Lv of 17.’
The pack of wild dogs had been Lv 17.
The pups had been Lv 14.
BONBIN and Yes, I’m a Necromancer had both been Lv 23.
‘The higher it is, the stronger they are.’
That much was simple.
However, I did not understand anything beyond that.
I examined the two letters one at a time.
First, L resembled a scythe.
But why was it facing backward?
Inversion?
Opposition?
Falling?
Paradox?
Ruin?
Betrayal?
As I listed every word that came to mind, I arrived at the most plausible answer.
‘An inverted scythe. The Reaper.’
That had to be it.
The v was easier to understand than the Reaper.
I had known the moment I saw it.
When I struck birds with stones as a child, they would fall while forming the exact shape of a v.
I now knew what Lv meant.
‘Death.’
In other words, it represented lethality.
Considering that the woman had clearly been stronger than the wild dogs, there could be no disagreement.
The higher an individual’s Lv was, the more terrifying they were.
At the same time, I had also found the answer regarding EXP.
It was the material needed to raise one’s Lv.
In other words, it was an accumulation used to increase lethality, much like adding more herbs to a cauldron and boiling them down to produce a stronger medicine.
‘Total toxicity.’
It was somewhat forced, but this explanation was sufficient.
‘The problem is…….’
I still did not know how to reach the village.
Was my intuition wrong?
Was there something more I needed to examine?
‘Do I have to mutilate another corpse?’
There was no reason not to.
I walked toward BONBIN’s corpse.
I intended to gather both corpses in one place and inspect them more thoroughly.
At that moment.
FSSSS…….
His body began breaking apart into vivid red squares.
“Where are you going?”
I hurriedly reached out.
“Wait.”
I swung my dagger.
However, BONBIN’s body collapsed like a sandcastle wherever the blade passed through it. My actions only hastened its disintegration.
‘I am screwed.’
No. I still had the woman’s corpse.
I only needed to use it to uncover the truth.
I turned around.
Yes, I’m a Necromancer’s corpse was already breaking into red squares and scattering…… Damn it, what am I supposed to do if they all disappear?”
I dropped to the ground before the woman’s corpse and shouted.
“If you are going to leave, at least drop something behind!”
I reached out.
The corpse crumbled wherever my fingers touched it.
“Information. A notebook. A map. Anything useful. Leave something behind.”
Red fragments slipped between my fingers.
“……After everything you did.”
Even then, the corpse did not stop disappearing.
“You sons of bitches, why are you running away……?”
【Do not worry! All acquired items are automatically bound to your Inventory.】
The red Guide chattered away.
“What…… What is that supposed to mean? Inventory?”
【Opening the Inventory.】
WHOOSH-
The red screen vanished without a trace.
In its place, a black line appeared across the surface of the empty air where the screen had been.
Slowly.
Like a seed beginning to germinate, space itself split open.
The grotesque sight made me swallow involuntarily.
‘……What is that?’
There was darkness inside.
A darkness as deep as the abyss, with no end in sight.
It was the maw known as the Inventory.
And inside that maw were:
※Weapon List※
【Lv 20. Well-Forged Steel Greatsword】
【Lv 18. Skeleton Staff】
※Armor List※
【Lv 20. Veteran Soldier’s Steel Armor】
【Lv 20. Veteran Soldier’s Steel Helmet】
【Lv 20. Veteran Soldier’s Steel Greaves】
【Lv 20. Veteran Soldier’s Steel Boots】
【Lv 20. Leather Gauntlets】
【Lv 18. Traveler’s Worn Cloak】
【Lv 20. Robe of Darkness】
【Lv 20. Embroidered Cloth Gloves】
【Lv 19. Supple Leather Boots】
※Accessory List※
【Lv 15. Necklace of Strength】
【Lv 18. Ring of Protection】
【Lv 19. Ring of Intelligence】
【Lv 18. Pendant of Magic Power】
【Lv 20. Golden’s Wedding Ring】
※Skill Book List※
【Defensive Stance】
【Power Strike】
【Warrior’s Cry】
【Limit Break】
【Necromancy】
【Raise the Dead】
【Poison Drench】
【Corpse Explosion】
※Consumable List※
【Lv 10. Health Potion (33)】
【Lv 15. Health Potion (9)】
【Lv 20. Health Potion (11)】
【Lv 10. Mana Potion (28)】
【Lv 15. Mana Potion (29)】
【Lv 19. Mana Potion (26)】
【Lv 10. Antidote Potion (2)】
【Lv 25. Antidote Potion (5)】
【Lv 23. Deadly Poison Potion (5)】
【Lv 20. Lesser Enhancement Potion (3)】
※Material and Token List※
【Goblin Hide Scrap (17)】
【Sticky Slime (5)】
【Broken Arrow (8)】
【Cursed Soil (25)】
【Skeleton Fragment (12)】
【Goblin Ear (31)】
【Jet-Black Tooth (14)】
【Tough Black Hide (9)】
【Sharp Black Fang (1)】
※Currency※
【10 Silver 79 Bronze】
A mountain of every imaginable kind of junk was piled inside.
I stared blankly across the labels.
A sword.
Armor.
A staff.
Potions.
Skill books.
Miscellaneous items and money.
And then.
“A ring.”
The old man’s wedding ring.