Chapter 115 – Elf Merchant Caravan
[Escort the Dwarf Merchant Caravan has ended.]
[Current Headcount Status]
└Participants: 190
└Traitors: 5
The escort of the dwarf merchant caravan ended with a relatively small number of deaths—forty.
Though twenty-four of them were traitors who died not to monsters, but to the hands of other humans.
‘I survived.’
Ryu Min, along with four others, managed to live to the end without being exposed.
Of course, calling it “surviving” was questionable, considering the harsher ordeal waiting ahead. <Traitor Group Quest Failure>
[Because you failed to obstruct the caravan before it reached the destination, all stats will decrease by 20% until the end of the round.]
[You will be moved to the Traitor Group waiting area shortly.]
Not getting caught during the exposing operation was something to be happy about, but failing the group mission was a bleak outcome.
For the other traitors, that was.
‘Level 70 from the dwarf caravan. The EXP was richer than I expected.’
He even thought he might be able to surpass level 80 in this round.
“It’s over now, Black Scythe-nim.”
“Good work.”
Min Juri and Seo Arin approached to say goodbye.
For some reason, they looked reluctant to part.
“Good work. See you next round.”
As soon as Ryu Min finished speaking, the background changed.
When he came to his senses, he was already standing in a gray space.
[Kya-ha-hat, you’re back? Traitors? Huh?]
The angel Ariel furrowed her pretty brows.
[Only five left? Haaah. That’s far fewer than I expected.]
“Expected? Angel-nim, you expected us to die like this?”
[Of course. With the dwarf caravan having so few people, I expected the traitors would be filtered out quickly through an exposing operation. Don’t tell me you relaxed because you thought it was ‘low difficulty’?]
“……”
The traitor who had spoken fell silent, as if he’d been hit right on the mark.
[Kya-ha-ha, then you’re truly naïve. Or are you just stupid? If there are fewer people, it’s only natural that it becomes harder to hide your identity, isn’t it?]
In truth, for the traitor group, the dwarf caravan was the hardest difficulty.
Calling it “easy” was purely from the general group’s perspective.
[Still, the good news is you still have hope. You have two chances left.]
If they could stop either the elf caravan or the human caravan from reaching the destination, the traitor group could survive.
If they could stop it, that is.
[Cheer up. The elf caravan you’ll do next won’t be as hard as this one. There are about 700 people, after all.]
At a number more than triple, the traitors other than Ryu Min were startled.
Sure enough, beautiful elves were more popular than ugly dwarves.
[This time, the five of you should bunch together and clear it properly. Though you’ll have to carry the stat penalty with you. Kihihih.]
The five traitors looked at one another.
They had no desire to shake hands in a situation like this.
They simply took each other in, thinking they should at least remember who their “allies” were by face.
“Only five left, so let’s do well this time.”
“Yeah. If we want to live, we have to stick together at least.”
“Should we come up with some kind of plan, Black Scythe-nim?”
Four pairs of eyes turned to Ryu Min.
It was a mood that naturally enthroned him as leader, as if they were asking for permission.
“Do it yourselves.”
Ryu Min had no intention of mixing with them.
Even if they shared a goal, solo was solo.
He couldn’t trust people who weren’t even in the same party.
“Black Scythe-nim, you don’t intend to clear it together?”
“Yeah. Back then too, when the dwarves were attacked, I never once saw you step in—”
One traitor trailed off mid-sentence and shut his mouth.
Ryu Min’s killing intent-filled gaze made him close his lips without thinking.
“What am I supposed to trust about you? You’re not even my party members.”
“But we’re in the same group—”
“We only share the same objective. Individually, we’re no different from strangers. That’s why EXP comes in separately, too.”
After rejecting them coldly, Ryu Min turned his back.
“Stop thinking useless thoughts and just hunt. That’d be better for you.”
The moment he declared solo play, the traitors’ expressions darkened as if they’d been betrayed.
It looked like they had no confidence they could “hit” the caravan without Black Scythe.
Watching them, Ariel snickered.
[Well, well. Looks like you can’t even agree within the group. But that’s none of my concern. Do what you like. All I have to do is move you to the elf caravan.]
“By the way, Angel-nim. If we go to the elf caravan, does that mean the players who were already there had to wait five hours because of us?”
[Ah, didn’t I tell you? While you traitors are progressing your mission, time is stopped for the humans at the other caravans. The same goes for the humans who just finished clearing the dwarf caravan.]
It meant only the caravan the traitor group participated in had time flowing, while the others were frozen.
[If I didn’t do that, the other caravans would have to endure boring time while you interacted with all three caravans. They might develop pointless suspicions, too. So don’t worry about other humans. Right now, more than anything, you matter, don’t you? Kya-ha-hat.]
Hearing the most obnoxious voice yet, the traitors waited to be moved.
[Then shall we go to the elf caravan? Please, this time, I hope you succeed.]
Changing places helped refresh your mood.
The ones who felt that most keenly were none other than the traitor group.
‘This is…’
‘The elf caravan quest location?’
Unlike the gloomy rocky terrain where the dwarf caravan had been, this place was full of lush green trees and rich fragrance.
And the biggest difference, no matter what, was the players.
“Ohhh, so we start the escort here?”
“Did I pick the elf caravan, and we start in some kind of elf village?”
“But why are there so many people?”
“They picked it because they wanted to see elves, obviously.”
Just as the angel had mentioned, around 700 people packed the forest.
‘With this many people…’
‘It won’t be easy to test by stabbing like last time.’
On the other hand, the traitors felt relieved that the risk of being exposed ahead of time was lower.
But—
[As a failure penalty for the traitor group, all stats decrease by 20%.]
The message floating at one side only made them feel despair.
Ryu Min didn’t care about the message at all, though.
‘It’ll start the same way again. They’ll be shocked by the missing nicknames, then shocked by the traitor count.’
Just as Ryu Min expected, the players reacted with surprise at the lack of nicknames above one another’s heads, then were shocked again by the message that appeared.
[Escort the Elf Merchant Caravan]
└Escort the elf caravan safely to the destination.
└Upon successful escort, all participants will receive an EXP reward.
└One person who contributed highly to punishing traitors will receive a sub-quest reward.
└If you punish all traitors without exception, all participants will receive an additional reward.
[Current Headcount Status]
└Participants: 740
└Traitors: 5
“Look at this! There are five traitors among us!”
“How do we find these bastards?”
“How about this? We attack each other to check!”
The players, worrying, decided right from the start to stab one another to verify.
But before long, they realized it was impossible to stab all 700-plus people one by one, and they stopped.
“Haa… we have to catch those traitor bastards.”
“How do we find those five?”
“It feels disgusting, like there’s a bug in my mouth. Seriously.”
As people let out irritated sighs—and the traitor group let out sighs of relief—
Clatter-clatter—
A wagon procession appeared, as if on cue.
It was a long line that seemed to have no end.
“Ohhh, elves. Elves.”
“It’s real. They’re exactly like the elves in games.”
“Seriously, they’re a carbon copy of the female elf character I used to raise.”
The sharp-eared elves, regardless of gender, were characterized by pure-white skin and beautiful features.
Completely different from those dwarves who were all old men and grandpas.
More than anything, the wheel-less wagons floating by magic caught the eye.
Not to mention the aristocratic air the elves carried.
“Greetings, warriors of the Otherworld. As promised, you have been waiting here.”
A tall, handsome male elf stepped forward and bowed politely.
“I am Ugrito, who runs the magic merchant caravan under Elsorium. With the temple’s warriors coming out to greet us, we cannot help but feel reassured.”
The grin he gave was more than enough to shake the hearts of the female players.
For the men, it was an unbearably greasy smile.
‘As expected, they call us ‘warriors of the Otherworld’ again.’
Otherworlders always addressed players that way.
It was familiar to Ryu Min, but for players speaking to Otherworlders for the first time, it was fascinating that the translation worked at all.
“Wow, elves really exist?”
“Or are they artificially created lifeforms?”
“Just ask. You—are you really an elf?”
“Pardon? What do you mean by that?”
Ugrito tilted his head.
He asked back as if there were a hidden meaning, but to Ryu Min, it was nothing but a stupid question.
It was like asking a human, “Are you really human?”
‘What matters isn’t whether elves truly exist. It’s how much profit I can squeeze out by using elves.’
Just as he had raised his reputation with the dwarf race and obtained the Rune of Durability, there was also something to gain from elves.
‘An elixir the elves claim they serve only to truly important guests. That’s what I need to obtain in this escort mission.’
Then how could he be treated like an important guest?
The answer was simple.
‘Just like with the dwarves last time—save their life.’
But for that, the traitors would need to make a move, and they didn’t seem to have the guts.
‘Even if they attack, the elf knights disguised as merchants, and the earth spirits and wind spirits surrounding the wagons, will protect them, so it’ll end up meaningless anyway.’
In that case, the only method was to wait for the monsters’ assault and save them in a crisis.
But even if he saved the elf merchants, he’d probably receive nothing but thanks.
‘Like I said, they’re elf knights of Elsorium disguised as merchants.’
He didn’t need to read thoughts to know why knights were disguising themselves as merchants.
‘Because there’s something they must protect.’
If he barely protected that precious thing?
Then they would surely treat Ryu Min not only as an honored guest, but as a lifelong benefactor.
‘And the place where that precious thing is…’
Ryu Min’s gaze swept across the procession of wagons.
Out of thirty wagons, only the fifteenth wagon in the middle had distinctly different design and patterns.
‘There. In there, an elf princess is hidden.’
The elves’ princess—Eupinelsia.
If he protected her from the monsters’ assault, Ryu Min would be able to get what he wanted from the elves.
Just then, someone spoke to Ryu Min as if they knew him.
“Huh? Black Scythe-nim?”
It was none other than Heo Tae-seok.
“NopeinNo-gei. So you were here.”
“Black Scythe-nim, how did you end up here…?”
“How? Obviously because I chose the elf caravan and came here.”
After speaking, he read the man’s thoughts and realized Heo Tae-seok hadn’t meant it that way.
He was asking how Ryu Min knew to choose the same place Heo Tae-seok was.
‘This guy thinks I followed him.’
It was a ridiculous misunderstanding, but there was no need to correct him.
Heo Tae-seok shook his head and corrected himself in his own mind.
-Black Scythe-nim couldn’t possibly know that I chose the elf caravan. Then… is this fate? A fated meeting to party with Black Scythe-nim again?
Heo Tae-seok was trying, somehow, to connect himself to Black Scythe.
“…Why are you staring like that?”
“N-no. It’s nothing. Hehe…”
Heo Tae-seok, who had been gazing at Ryu Min, suddenly got shy and turned his head as if nothing had happened.
‘Now that I know his intention, his eyes feel really burdensome.’
Ryu Min clicked his tongue inwardly, but Heo Tae-seok wasn’t the only one making him uncomfortable.
“Black Scythe-nim?”
“Hm? You are…?”
An unexpected person approached Ryu Min.