Ark

ACT 5 The Carnival (Ⅰ)

Kwaaaaaaah-!

300 km per hour!

The carriage moved on the rail so quickly that the surrounding landscape was distorted.【High Speed Barrel Train】was a ride where the rail structure 8 metres high spread all through Bosaga village. By angling against the guard rail, the carriage was about to be freely controlled like a racing game. It was also safe for carriages to collide because the bumpers had special magic absorption coating. It was quite an interesting ride so many people enjoyed it.  However, there was no time to be enjoying the ride.

Buaaaang, kiiiiik! Buaaaang, kiiiiik!

Ark exerted 120% of the skill seen in TV games and continuously drifted around the corners. Then he saw the carriages containing the thieves in front of him entered a cave.

‘There must be some way to overtake Buksil and reduce the number of thieves!’

Ark handled the carriage with one hand and brandished his sword as he approached the enemy.  The Saw blade stretched out like a whip and reeled around one of the robbers.

“Eh, what, what the? Aaaaack!”

The thief struggled to untie the Saw blade from around the neck. But it was going at 300 meters per hour. The carriage was made with the latest techniques and with the speed it was going at, even one pebble could overturn it. The thief lost control of the steering wheel and the magic carriage ended up smashed against a wall. While the carriage guaranteed 100% safety, the airbag that appeared still did damage to warriors. However, the thief flew into the sky when the carriage was smashed.

‘Okay.  I’ve made one guy retire….. I’ll take care of them one by one!’

Ark laughed and gripped the handle tightly.

“Oh, t-that guy……?”

“He was the one who interfered that time. He’s trying to interfere again!”

“Number 5, number 6, block that fellow!”

The thieves had discovered Ark so two of them regulated their speed and approached him.  They surrounded Ark on both sides and fired random magic. It was a 300 km per hour death race. Isyuram was also mixed in with the group of thieves chasing Buksil. He had no choice but to act like he was with the thieves. While rounding the corner, he caught sight of Ark being surrounding by two carts and bit his lips with a worried expression. Of course, he knew that Ark could handle the thieves. But it was different fighting while riding a magic carriage going 300 km per hour. In that situation, driving skills was more important than actual combat power.

“This is bad, that Ark guy, he has no driving license…..”

With Ark occupied, it was only a matter of time until the bandit group caught up with Buksil. If Buksil was caught then the memory crystal would be gone.

Kiiiiik, kwa kwang, kiiiiik, kwa kwa kwa kwang!

But Isyuram’s worry was needless. Ark used extravagant handling and pedal techniques to drift and avoid the overflowing magic. He used exquisite skill to rotate the carriage and counterattacked with the Saw blade. Isyuram was worried because Ark had been too busy to get his driver’s license.  On the other hand, the thieves all had driving licenses and usually drove a lot. When thinking about it, it was natural for Ark to be pushed back.  But there was something Isyuram didn’t know. Although Ark had never tried to drive, he had played racing games like Grand Turismo and Ridge Racer.  Driving at this speed transcending common sense and just used the acrobatic design of the game. He didn’t understand driving in reality, but Ark was like a fish in water while driving at 300 km per hour in the game. Ark’s cart slid all over the rails and avoided the flying magic. However, it wasn’t easy to counterattack with the Saw blade while going at 300 km per hour.

“Sheesh, that rat bastard! Hey, block the front!”

When the magic didn’t work, the magician grinded his teeth together and shouted. Then a magic carriage accelerated suddenly and stopped in front of Ark. While the car in front slowed down, the one behind accelerated with the intention of trapping Ark in the middle.

“Now! Surround that fellow and break him!”

Buaaang!

The magic engine heated as the surrounding magic carriages narrowed their distance. At that moment, Ark stepped on the brake and instantly jumped up from the driver’s seat.

“Huh? What, what the? Waaahhh!”

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

Ark’s magic carriage stopped and suddenly collided with those of the magicians.  Ark then twisted his Saw blade and it closed around the bumper of the magic carriage in front.

“Radun, shield!”

Ssak ssak ssak, ssak ssak ssak ssak!

Just before Ark’s foot touched the ground! Radun spat out a shield. Ark set his good on the handle of the shield while in mid-air and landed on the ground.  The Saw blade then wrapped around a magic carriage that was still going at 300 km per hour. After it wound around the bump, he used the shield to do something similar to water skiing. Sparks flew from the surface of the shield as it began to slide along the rails.

“Oh, t-that guy……!”

After seeing Ark hanging from his bumper, a thief twisted the steering wheel. The thief’s ulterior motive was to make Ark crash into the guard rail. When the magic carriage veered sharply, Ark flew towards the guard rail thanks to the inertia. The moment it looked like Ark was going to hit the guard rail at 300 km per hour, he once again switched to the sword.

“Razak, transform back into a sword!”

The whip returned to a blade and Ark was drawn forward like an elastic band.

“Take this!”

Ark flew towards the back of the thief sitting in the driver’s seat. The thief screamed and fell down. His shield had slammed into the back of the head and caused ‘Stun.’ When the driver lost consciousness, the magic carriage rotated around. Ark quickly unlocked the thief’s seat belt and kicked him out.

“Y-you bastardddddddd-!”

The thief yelled with distress as he fell from the magic carriage and rolled along the rail. After Ark took over the driver’s seat, he once again started pursuing the bandit group again. Ark took care of three thieves and instantly caught up, making the bandit group murmur.

“What a monster like fellow!”

“Is he making a movie by himself?”

“Who on earth is he?”

“What an annoyance. Number 7, 8, 9, stop him!”

Then the thief at the head of the group chasing Buksil burst out.

“Ah, o-over there!”

The thief pointed to the rail ahead of him. When the cave ended was a 90 degree corner. The magic carriage in front was rotating rapidly and Buksil’s clothes who had been caught was torn to pieces. At the same time, Buksil and Baekgu were thrown towards the guard rail thanks to inertia and centrifugal force.

“Kweeeeeeeek-!”

The pig screamed as he fell over the rail. The rails which connected outside the cave were 30 metres off the ground. At this rate, the falling Buksil and Baekgu would be squashed and turned into a broken set of pork and dog meat. However, Buksil had a very strange luck.

Puong, puong!

There was a lake located in Bosaga village that was underneath the rails where he fell. Thanks to that, Buksil and Baekgu were able to avoid becoming flattened meat.  After being submerged, Buksil and Baekgu finally resurfaced after a while. However, they couldn’t afford to sigh with relief.

“That pig, he fell into the lake!”

“We can’t lose him! Everybody just jump straight down to the lake.

The determined thieves rushed straight at the guardrail, breaking it and falling down to the lake. As dozens of magic carriages fell into the lake, the users riding the duck boat cried out with distress. Buksil and Baekgu also screamed.

“Hik, why do they want to kill me so much?”

“Master, hold on tight!”

Buksil held on to Baekgu who started dog paddling and ran away.

“Damn, those bastards…… Get out of the way!”

The thieves threw away the magic carriage and seized a nearby duck boat.  Thanks to that, the peaceful lake where the duck boats floated suddenly became chaos.

“Get out of the way, get out of the way! Kill everybody who gets in the way!”

Kirik, kirik, quack quack quack! Kirik, kirik, quack quack quack!

The bandit group stepped on the pedal and the duck boat quacked and rushed forward. So dozens of duck boats were chasing after a pig riding on a dog. However, the situation would be very serious if Buksil was caught so Ark couldn’t find it very comedic.

‘Damn, there really are various methods.’

He really didn’t want to do it. But once again, Ark didn’t have a choice. Ark stepped on the accelerator pedal and rushed through the guard rail that the thieves broke. The magic carriage fell over 30 metres into the lake. Ark quickly released his seat belt and climbed into the water. After looking around, he saw dozens of empty duck boats floating freely. Buksil riding Baekgu had escaped from the lake so the bandit group had also exited.

“Buksil, where are you now?”

“I’m not sure. I just passed by a place with a stone gargoyle….. Hiik!”

‘A place with a stone gargoyle?’

Ark quickly scanned around the lake. Then he saw a huge statue slowly moving that was gathering a brilliant light. It seemed like a moving parade where dozens of wagons were holding festival icons. However, there was a large crowd as it was one of the most popular festival activities and he couldn’t see Buksil at all.

“Dammit, trying to find him…… Racard, what are you doing?”

Ark suddenly shouted through the remote communication and Racard petulantly replied.

“Damn, why are you yelling at me? Do you know how much I suffered after Master didn’t save me? Anyway, I’ve been looking for Buksil after leaving the children. Where is Master?”

“At the lake in the centre of the village.  No, can you see a huge statue?”

“Statue? The strange one being carried by carts?”

‘Yes. Buksil is around there so you move there and search for him.”

Ark ran away from the lake while giving the order to Racard. He used Dark Dance to navigate around the crowds and headed towards the parade.

————————————————————————————————

“Oh, good!”

The huge figure lowered his wine cup with a happy expression. Then a Elf female looked at the barbecue with sour eyes and said.

“Hey, this is a festival right? Why does it look like you are enjoying it more?”

“Who wouldn’t like the festival? The alcohol is good. Hey, one more drink over here!”

The huge man shook his wine cup and shouted. The elf female pouted and said bluntly.

“Aren’t you drinking too much?”

“What? I’ve only drank five cups.”

“Isn’t that five servings of alcohol? Does your stomach contain a ghost that drinks alcohol?”

“Well how much barbecue did you eat? You already ate one pig.”

“You fool, don’t you know the difficulties of a woman who seeks beauty? This isn’t food, it is medicine, medicine. I had to diet because of the stress that piled up every day. If I can’t eat as much as I want in New World then I’ll go on a rampage. This is like a stress relieving pill.”

“But isn’t that pig too big? I don’t want to be involved with a woman who can eat one whole pig. You know that I’m a vegetarian.”

“W-who said that we were involved?”

The female elf’s face turned red and she kicked the man’s thick belly.

“Ouch, what the? Aren’t we involved?”

“You must hate living. Talking such nonsense, do you have a suicide note written?”

“Kikiki, you must be shy…… Ouch, got it, I understand. Huh? T-that…..?”

The playful man shouted winced and jumped up.

“What is it? What the?”

The female elf followed his gaze with surprise. But the man just shook his head without looking away. He had seen a dog with silver fur running among the crowd. The man was spellbound by the sight of the dog and muttered.

“To be able to see such a wonderful dog in a place like this! The gloss of that silver fur flying in the wind and the sleek muscles of the dignified body. Who is its owner? I don’t know but it clearly as an excellent pedigree! Is the owner the pig riding it? Ohhh, I’m envious. That is my dream dog. Furthermore, it is a dog that can carry people on its back! Damn, how can I get a dog like that?”

“Hah, you’re being foolish again. Dream dog? Do you wake up dreaming of a dog?  At any rate, it’ll just be a problem for you. What good is such a messy animal? You stupid dog otaku! And why do you want another dog? You’re already raising ten at home.”

The female elf scowled and shot the man a glare. Then the man looked offended.

“What was that? Don’t you also have a cat at your house?”

“Yes, I’m raising one. One cat. This is a normal standard. Raising one or two is normal for a dog otaku. But you’re raising ten. Is that normal?”

“Hah, you really don’t understand. It is a dog. It is a pet which deserves love. For a cat to be compared to it is ridiculous. Have you seen the famous art masterpiece ‘the Homeless Angel? It is a pitiful looking child hugging a big white dog…… Oohhhh, Nero…..no, was it the Flanders’ dog?”

The huge man was moved to tears and exclaimed loudly.

“Apart from the ‘Homeless Angel,’ dogs also appear in various movies and cartoons. Isn’t that proof that it is an existence that is loved worldwide? On the other hand, cats are mainly seen next to gloomy witches. I don’t understand how you can raise such a gloomy animal in your house.”

“W-witch? Are you saying I’m a witch?”

“……I didn’t exactly say that. You’re a magician. Isn’t a female magician a witch?”

“Is that an otaku language that only you know? Stop talking like that!”

“Ah, I’m going crazy.  The dog is fine, the dog! Eh, what the? That pair!”

The man suddenly frowned and cursed. The female elf who was about to throw an angry punch flinched and studied the man’s face.

“What, what the? R-really…..you’re angry?”

“Eh? Ah, I’m sorry. That’s not it…..eh? T-those guys!”

The man’s embarrassed expression once again became angry. The female elf realized the reason why the man was so angry too late. The man wasn’t looking at the silver dog just then. Instead, some fellows wearing masks were surrounding the dog and hitting it. The dog was standing in front of its pig owner and protecting him despite its many wounds.

“Those bastards dare to beat up a cool dog like him……!”

The man ground his teeth together and pulled out his bayonet. The female elf spoke with an annoyed look.

“Wait a minute. We don’t know what the situation is.”

“Why do I need to know? That dog is loyal to its owner. He must be a good person. Anyone who can raise a dog like that is not a bad person. And the ones attacking the dog are the bad guys! I’ve decided!”

Wasn’t that an assertion tied closely to bias? But the man had no doubts that they were villains and ran towards them with his bayonet out.

“Ah, those guys, it’s already over for them.”

The female elf looked at the villains with compassionate eyes. She knew that the man had a severe dog mania. He had never seen anyone who loved dogs so much. No matter how angry he was, he would smile and stroke a dog if he saw it. These days he was also raising dogs so she was sincerely worried. Didn’t he also go to an animal hospital to play with the dogs? Anyway, those dog otaku tendencies were also applied to the game. No, those tendencies were even further expanded because of the game. No matter how rare the item in front of him, he would leave it to chase after rabbits and squirrels.

“That a fool like that is one of the top 5 warriors in Bristania……”

The female elf sighed and mumbled. While the man was indeed skilled, he had a particularly severe love for animals. It’s because of his love for animals that he switched to the druid profession ‘Beast Master.’ Beast Master! Yes, the man and female elf arguing about the cat and dog was Bread and Redian.

“Although is a pretty good guy, he becomes quite strange when it comes to dogs.”

Redian complained with pouted lips. She initially knew Bread from New World’s beta test, where they were the last two remaining from the battle royale. She encountered Bread right before the beta test ended and he was the only opponent she couldn’t win or lose against. After the game was commercialized, the frequently kept in touch and hunted together by chance until they became quite close. In fact, Bread was a pioneer who earned quite a lot of respect from other users. Even though he normally looked quite foolish, he completely changed when battling. As the leader of a party, he showed a surprising ability to take charge and he always took the most dangerous roles. He would also run to help colleagues without any concern about the danger. So word spread among the pioneers that ‘Bread is the one to capture a dungeon with.’ It was natural for Redian who was constantly around him to get a good impression of Bread. She also realized that Bread didn’t hate her. Therefore they rapidly became close……It was around that time. Bread’s weakness was that he was a dog otaku….. Of course, she could understand the feelings of someone who liked dogs. She also didn’t hate dogs. But Bread’s love of dogs has long surpassed common sense and was at an almost psychotic level.

“I really have little luck.  The only decent man I found is strangely obsessed with dogs……”

That was why she didn’t like dogs. If Bread’s head wasn’t so strange about dogs then their relationship would’ve certainly developed more by now. It was because of that rebellious heart that she suddenly mentioned cats to Bread. While Bread seriously loved animals, the only one he showed an adverse reaction to was cats. Anyway, beating a dog in front of Bread….. she didn’t have to see the results to anticipate it.

“I don’t understand. How annoying. I’ll just continue eating the barbecue.”

After a short hesitation, Redian sat back down at the barbecue. Empty plates were already piled up on the table.

————————————————————————————————

“Ah, Baekgu!”

“Ack, M-master!”

Baekgu stumbled as he was cut by the sword again. But Baekgu showed his commitment to his master by stabilizing his balance and showing his fangs.

“Grrrrrr, I’ll protect Master!”

“Damn, this annoying stray dog…..!”

The bandit group surrounding Buksil stared at Baekgu with irritation. After exiting the lake a step ahead of Ark, the thieves managed to catch up with Buksil. But they ran into unexpectedly strong resistance from Baekgu and were unable to capture Buksil yet.

“But he is now in a critical condition. Let’s deal with him before that fellow comes!”

The thieves raised their swords and ran up to Baekgu. The thieves had an average level between 250-300. On the other hand, Baekgu was level 310. In addition, Baekgu was a member of the Wolrang clan.  He was able to endure even when surrounded by 10 thieves. But even if there was a 60 level difference, there were still 10 of them. Even though a number of them had split up to search, there were still 7 thieves surrounding Baekgu. With that many people, it was only a matter of minutes before Baekgu entered a critical condition. When pushed by the thieves, it wasn’t possible to endure.

“Sob sob sob, Baekgu. Somebody help!”

Baekgu looked at the bloody Baekgu and whined pitifully. However, a frenzied parade was occurring outside the alley. Buksil’s voice was buried under all the noise. Also people weren’t very interested in looking in alleys. Even if someone saw it, the situation wouldn’t change. Magical Princess Minky Momo, Ultraman, Taekwon V, etc. Lots of stores in Bosaga sold those types of masks so who could imagine the situation if they came across the thieves masquerading as heroes. If others saw the sword then they would think it was just for show.

“Just hold on a minute. I’m almost there!”

Ark’s voice was heard in Buksil’s ear. But Ark wasn’t in the area. His voice was coming through the eyeball.

“No. Baekgu is already in critical condition!”

Buksil yelled tearfully. Meanwhile, Baekgu had been forced into a corner by the thieves and shouted.

“Master, don’t worry about me and just escape. Keuaaaaang!”

“Ah, no. Baekgu! Even if I die, I can’t just leave you and run away! Ack!”

Buksil screamed and ran towards Baekgu as the sword descended.

Hwiiiing, kwa kwa kwa kwang!

Then there was a sudden tremendous wind and the thieves attacking Baekgu fell down. Buksil and the thieves looked at the entrance of the alley simultaneously.

“Ah, Ark-nim? Eh? Who are you?”

“Huhuhuhu, just a dog lover passing by.”

The person who attacked the thieves wasn’t Ark. He was a huge man wearing leather armour with a bayonet leaning against his shoulder. Despite their confusion, Bread just calmly uttered those shameless words. Yes, the reason Bread did those things was because of Baekgu. Baekgu was a member of the Wolrang clan with a wonderful outer appearance.

‘Huck! This was the person leading the pirate fleet……!’

Buksil flinched after he saw Bread and retreated one step. When the ferry was raided by pirates a while ago, Buksil had seen Ark fighting against Bread. Fortunately, Bread failed to recognize Buksil. At that time, Buksil and Baekgu had been hanging on from the mast.  They didn’t even dare to breathe in case Bread or Redian would attack them. Anyway, Baekgu looked at Bread through bloody eyes. Bread raised the bayonet and showed his teeth before making a threatening posture.

“I deal with them so you two retreat.”

“Huh? H-how come?”

“The dog.”

“Huh?”

“I have no interest in people killing each other. But I can’t allow them to attack a dog!”

Bread answered while staring at the thieves. Then the words Bread said to the thieves popped into Buksil’s mind.

‘What the? Isn’t he just a fool?’

But that thought disappeared after a few minutes. The group of thieves rushed towards Bread with their swords withdrawn.

“I don’t know who you are but I won’t allow you to interfere!”

“You won’t allow me to interfere? You really are bad guys. Then I don’t have to explain. This skill might be a bit excessive for guys like you but I’ll show you the greatness of the dog.  Beast Spirit Possession, power of the dog rise!”

Keuaaaaang!

The shape of a huge dog appearing around Bread and he roared, causing a small earthquake. After being possessed by the soul of a dog, a huge blast of wind appeared whenever he swung his bayonet. It was an alarming momentum! The thieves flinched and took a defensive posture. But when Bread’s weapon collided with them, the thieves’ defensive posture collapsed and the thieves flew to the ground. Thanks to the dog beast spirit possession, his attack increased by 50%! As a dog enthusiast, it was the skill Bread had the most confidence in. Bread was also a level 400 character who invested most of his stats into strength.  It was a reckless strength which cut the mast of a ship in half and freaked Ark out, so the level 250~300 thieves had no chance of defeating him.

“Hik, this monster like fellow!”

“Hahaha, this is the power of the dog that you ignored!”

Bread burst out and started to step on the thieves.

“Hyaaaaa, protect animals! Love dogs!”

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

……The seven thieves lying on the ground cried and babbled as the level 400 Bread continued beating them. Of course, it might’ve been a little bit different if there was a combination of professions such as warrior, archer and healer. However, they were so flustered from chasing after Buksil that there was no time to consider professions when separating. The thieves who found Buksil were 5 thieves, 1 magician and 1 archer. The roughly made party were disorderly and had no proper chance against Bread.

“Huhuhu, how is it? Can you feel the love of animals in your heart?”

Bread raised his bayonet to his shoulder and laughed.

“Huk huk huk, I’ve arrived!”

Someone jumped between the parade wagons and shouted. Bread who was kicking the body of the thieves flinched and looked with surprise.

“Eh? Y-you!”

“Eek? You’re that moron? Why are you here?”

Ark shouted as he looked at Bread with confusion. After exiting the lake and hearing Buksil’s relentless SOS calls, Ark had come running! But when he arrived, the thieves were crumpled up in a corner. And Bread was unexpectedly standing in front of Buksil and Baekgu protecting them? Ark moved his eyes and looked at Buksil.

‘Why is this idiot here?’

‘How should I know? Just pretend you don’t know me.’

Buksil instantly answered with his eyes. Their current position in the narrow alley was Ark, Bread then Buksil and Baekgu all lined up. In addition, Buksil and Baekgu had been so beaten up by the pursuing thieves that they barely had any health left. If Bread learned that Buksil was with Ark and hit them then the game was over. How should this situation be sorted? While Ark was busy thinking, Bread burst out laughing.

“This is good. You really did come to this place.”

“Ah, I’m actually a little busy? Can you wait and look for me again?”

“Uh, really? Well it can’t be helped.”

Bread scratched his head and turned his body before swinging his bayonet. Of course, he had no intention of falling for Ark’s tricks. Ark avoided the bayonet at the last minute and Bread shook his head.

“……Did you think I would fall for that? Only someone stupid would allow you to escape this time.”

“Damn, can’t you just pretend you didn’t see me? I’m really busy!”

“Ha, if you’re busy then just defeat me quickly. Of course, I won’t collapse so easily.  I’ll conclude it this time! Beast Spirit Possession, power of the bear rise!”

Bread once again acted like a space sheriff and brandished his bayonet. Ark retreated and escaped being damaged by the bayonet before biting his lips.

‘Damn, I have to get away from this uncouth guy with Buksil before the next group of thieves come. Am I cursed or something?’

It was enough to make him want to run and curse. In fact, Bread was a level 400 user with a cheat like skill. But who was Ark? Wasn’t he a strong warrior who managed to knock down many users in PVP? Of course, he couldn’t be 100% certain when considering Bread’s capabilities.  However, the situation was so tangled that it didn’t matter if he won or lost. But what kind of curse was this? He didn’t know why but the situation was always tangled after he met Bread.

On the ferry he had to shake the pot to make the immortality pill so he couldn’t fight properly. And this time his mission was to help Buksil escape. Fortunately, he didn’t understand why but Bread had taken care of the thieves attacking Buksil. But according to Isyuram’s information, the bandit group had 30 people so there were still 23 thieves left. If he left Buksil unattended while fighting Bread and he was found by the thieves then it would be a problem.

‘I have no choice. I have to look for a chance to escape from this guy!’

Ark glanced at Buksil and Baekgu and thought fiercely.  It was impossible not to look at Buksil and Baekgu with uneasy eyes. He had no idea where the other thieves were. Even when looking through the eyeball, there were too many people so it wasn’t easy to find the thieves. So he wasn’t able to make a daring move.

“Jerk, where are you looking?”

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

Bread aimed at a gap and brought down his bayonet. Ark had been looking away and couldn’t possible avoid it so he blocked with his sword. The absurd pressure pushed Ark back and his body rolled across the ground.  He had barely got his balance back when the bayonet fell again. Ark rolled his body to avoid the bayonet again and bounced up like a spring before jumping on a platform. After maintaining a proper posture, Ark breathed roughly as he looked at Bread.

‘Huk huk huk, as expected he isn’t an easy opponent!’

“Hahaha, you definitely have skills. I absolutely won’t miss this time. It will be concluded!”

Bread said as he followed him onto the platform. It was at that time. Why could cheering suddenly been heard from around him? Ark’s face distorted as he looked at the strange situation around him. Ark had jumped to avoid the attack without confirming the place, and he belatedly realized that he had jumped onto one of the parade carts. In addition, the one he jumped on was a theatre carriage performing a play. When Ark and Bread had suddenly jumped onto the stage, the NPCs and spectators thought it was part of the production and applauding.

‘I have to get back. Well, in this case…..’

Ark was mortified as he looked around the festival. But there were some people making different expressions. Behind the stage curtain, two actors holding swords stared with stunned expressions. After a while, an old man appeared between the two actors and hit the back of Ark’s head with a frown.

“Who the hell are you? Do you know how long I’ve prepared for this stage? If you wanted to be the actors then you should’ve auditioned. Ah, it can’t be helped. I can’t let guys like you ruin my play. Fortunately the next scene is a fight…..you two on the stage, do something!”

Then Bread looked at Ark and laughed.

“Isn’t this good? Since this is a stage, don’t you have no choice but to see this through to the end? This is the request of that old man so shouldn’t we put on a show? Beast Spirit Possession, power of the cheetah rise!”

Bread chose the soul of a cheetah and ran up to Ark. The cheetah maximized agility and speed so the bayonet fell like lightning! Thanks to the power of the bear, each blow shook the stage and it seemed like it might even collapse. There was no room for mistakes as one hit would be a deadly attack! Ark carefully stepped back. However, the audience cheered and applauded every time.

“Oh, isn’t this directing awesome?”

“Doesn’t it really seem like they’re fighting?”

“It’s true. The production is so radical that the stage is cracking. I can’t even imagine it!”

When the audience exclaimed with admiration, the director interjected.

“Ohhh, good, very good! Isn’t this nicer than I thought? Okay, let’s go with it. But why are they so aggressive? It’s so exciting they might not survive. Hey, the small fellow! Don’t just escape like a squirrel and attack as well!”

‘Damn, I need to do something!’

Ark ground his teeth together and frowned. In fact, there were other reasons aside from Buksil as to why he couldn’t fight properly. While Buksil had been playing tag with the thieves, Ark had continuously used Dark Dance in order to get through the crowds. Although it didn’t consume as much mana as other skills, it still used 300 mana with each use. Even if he had 6000 mana, who wouldn’t run out after using it so much? Even Flash and Dark Blade which didn’t use a lot of mana wasn’t available in this situation. Still, it was imperative to rescue Buksil from the thieves so he blindly used Dark Dance and thought he could deal with being without mana. He wasn’t supposed to meet a monster like this.

‘Dammit, I shouldn’t have summoned my pets……’

Ark had thought about using the Ghost Knight Corps skill.  When considering the level of the skill, they wouldn’t be able to deal any damage to Bread but 30 ghost knights could distract him for 5 seconds. Distracting Bread for 5 seconds would be sufficient for Ark to escape. However, he had summoned his familiars twice so he only had 200 spiritual power left. The Ghost Knight Corps skill required 300 spiritual power.

‘Well, I can do normal attacks……’

But once again, Bread was a level 400 user who could use the spirit of the turtle to raise his defense. His normal attacks would do limited damage. Even if Ark managed to attack that uncouth guy ten times, being hit just once would reverse the situation instantly.

‘Why is it that I can never fight properly whenever I meet this guy?’

Although he could avoid the bayonet thanks to his hell training against the zombies, he couldn’t defeat Bread. Ark had no choice but to escape like a loach.

“Huk, t-those guys! Ark-nim, the thieves! Hik, they found me. The bandit group is pursuing me!”

The eyeball attacked to his back burst out screaming. Ark panicked and looked around at the scream. He could see Buksil and Baekgu running away.  And there were pursued by 20 thieves with only a few metres difference.

“Catch him!”

The sound of the thieves shouting was audible from the stage.

‘Dammit! Now is not the time to be doing this…..’

“I told you not to look away from me!”

Then Bread shot forward like an arrow and swung his bayonet. Ark was looking at Buksil and couldn’t avoid getting hit in the side. Blood spurted and he instantly lost 1000 health. At the same time, he received an abnormal state and his movements were slowed.

‘A mistake!’

A warning bell rang in Ark’s head. Once a user’s level was above a certain point, their equipment really wasn’t a joke. There were various skills to increase stats and one strike would often cause an abnormal state. It wasn’t necessary to explain to people familiar with online games, attack was no good if it couldn’t penetrate the armour. Therefore PVP battles at low levels often took over 10 minutes, fights between high level users were settled as fast as lightning. In a fight against a high level PVP user, concentration was needed to avoid even one mistake. However, Ark couldn’t concentrate on the battle.  Once he permitted a critical hit, he became even more impatient.

‘Dammit, as expected I can’t defeat this guy without mana. In this state it is impossible to win. I also can’t leave Buksil alone. But I have no chance without any skills available.  What is an alternative method?’

Then something popped into Ark’s head.

He didn’t have enough mana and spiritual power. He couldn’t be in a worst situation! However, didn’t Ark have a skill that doesn’t require mana or spiritual power? It was the skill he learnt just a while ago in Ciel, Entrusted Volumes! The so-called lottery skill. Yes, didn’t the skill use health instead of mana and spiritual power? Of course, there was no guarantee about what effect would come out.

‘It couldn’t possible get worse. I have no choice but to rely on luck. If it lands on the Byong hammer or the Goblin punch then it can stop that guy’s movement for a short time and allow me to escape.’

“Okay, let’s try it once. Entrusted Volumes!”

Ark raised his fist to Bread and shouted. With a flash, the slot machines that he had seen outside of Ciel appeared. The icons slowly changed until with a tak, tak, tak, it stopped. Then a huge fanfare like sound effect was heard and the information window appeared.

* Results

【Properties】: <Smile> 【Alignment 】: <Magician> 【 Environment】: <Theatre Stage>

The attack method selected is ‘Comic Magician.’

<The ‘Comic Magician’ effect is applied to all attacks for 3 minutes>

‘Comic Magician effect for 3 minutes? What is that?’

Entrusted Volumes had once again had an unexpected special effect. What type of effect will it have? He couldn’t grasp what Comic Magician would do and hesitated to attack.

“Ohu, I don’t know what it does but that is a skill. Are you planning to fight properly now?”

Although he initially flinched at the thought of Ark’s counterattack, Bread just stepped back and laughed. And he fixed his attitude and raised the bayonet again. The bayonet came at him right after Ark used Entrusted Volumes. Since it was an attack right after using a skill, there was no time to avoid it! He blocked using his sword like before, but this time Ark lowered his centre to decrease the power. After a short moment, Ark determined that he could attack and kneeled before lifting his sword at an angle.

Pyorong!

Yet why did a bouquet of flowers abruptly came from Ark’s sword? Both Ark’s and Bread’s eyes widened at the ridiculous situation. The spectators, actors and directors also stared at Ark with a foolish expression. After an absurdly long second passed, the audience burst out laughing.

“Hahaha, this is a hit! I never thought a bouquet would appear in this situation!”

“Is he proposing to the enemy?”

“A proposal of marriage in the face of death! This is really funny!”

“Hey, please take it. He’s really pitiful.”

The audience whistled and cheered with stupid expressions. After looking at the audience’s reaction, the director raised his thumb and shouted.

“Ohhhhh! Good, very good! Now it’s a comedic angle? I like it! You can get a job as an actor immediately!”

However, Ark and Bread just seemed confused about their reaction. Then Bread’s face turned red and he ground his teeth together.

“This, this bastard…..until when…..are you trying to mock me?”

“Ah, no this isn’t…..”

“Shut up!”

Bread frowned and ran up to him. Ark hurriedly swung his sword. This time a pigeon and rabbit appeared when he swung it. Yes, this was the effect of Comic Magician. The Comic Magician effect was literally a funny magician.

‘Oh my god, what kind of comic effect is this?’

In a desperate situation, he lost 500 health and trusted Entrusted Volumes for this effect? Despite his resentment for it, he had put his trust in Entrusted Volumes. However, he couldn’t possibly imagine the ridiculous Comic Magician effect.

“This bastard, mocking me again….. Ah, what a cute rabbit…… No.  I need to kill that bastard….. Huck, a puppy! Aigoo! These guys are dangerous! Ugh, don’t cling! I’m so happy. No, this can’t be. This bastard, this devilish bastard, how did he know my weakness? Using such innocent animals in order to win…..what a coward!”

Once again, Bread was an animal lover. When the rabbit and puppy appeared like ghosts from Ark’s sword, Bread’s face instantly became absent-minded. Bread couldn’t attack since it might injure the animals and he couldn’t move either. But Ark couldn’t understand the circumstances and just remained confused.

‘Eh? What’s with that guy? Is there an unusual effect like ‘Hallucinations’ to Comic Magician?’

Just as Ark was thinking this. Among the audience, a female elf wearing white armour shouted angrily.

“You really are a stupid bastard. Fireball!”

She was Redian. She was with Bread when he went off to deal with the thieves. She realized she couldn’t stop Bread from beating the thieves up so she just continued eating her barbecue. Then she heard noisy laughter from the theatre carriage and witnessed the play(?) between Bread and Ark.

‘Dammit, I’m screwed! That female was also nearby!’

Ark saw her absurd flying magic a little too late. Then Bread appeared in front of Ark and blocked the fire magic with his bayonet. Redian shouted as soon as Bread struck the magic.

“What are you doing? Are you still thinking about a macho duel?”

“Why are you throwing around magic like that? It’ll hurt the animals!”

“You dare say such things in this situation?”

“It’s because this is the situation that I’m saying that!”

‘What the, what is this?’

Ark looked with bemused eyes as Bread and Redian started arguing. Ark couldn’t understand anything that happened after he used Comic Magician but they were too busy arguing that Ark wasn’t their priority.

‘I don’t know what’s going on but this is an opportunity!’

While the two were arguing like alley cats, Ark sneaked away to the back of the stage. Redian belatedly noticed Ark’s behaviour and shouted.

“You idiot, that bastard is escaping!”

“Eh? This bastard is thinking about escaping again?”

Bread raised his bayonet and rushed after Ark.

‘I have no choice but to believe in Comic Magician. I’ll leave it to the rabbit hallucination or something!’

Ark swung his sword and a message window appeared at the same time.

<It is always important for a magician’s stage to be finished properly. The magician’s finishing move is normally his best magic! When the effect of Comic Magician ends, ‘Magician Finish’ will automatically be triggered>

‘Magician Finish? Eh?’

Pepepepeng!

Ark made a perplexed expression. Huge amounts of pollen suddenly emerged from the sword and exploded into smoke. Ark flinched and when he closed his eyes and opened it again, he was behind the stage. Yes, Magician Finish was an effect where the magician disappeared behind a smoke screen. It was an absurd technique but it benefited Ark at the moment.

‘Ohu, isn’t this a perfect hit?’

Ark managed to escape from Bread and he didn’t look back. At that time, Bread rotated his bayonet like a windmill and got rid of the smokescreen.

“What, what the? Where is that bastard?”

Bread realized that Ark had disappeared from the stage and looked around restlessly. Then Redian ran forward and exclaimed.

“This idiot, look away from the stage!”

“Eh? How did he get there? Did he use Warp or something?”

Bread jumped off the stage and ran after Ark who he could see escaping in the distance. But when he jumped off the stage, someone suddenly grabbed Bread’s shoulder.

“Sir, please don’t forget about the bill!”

“Eh?”

“You drank 3,000cc of beer and that woman ate 18 servings of barbecue so the total cost is 36 gold. That woman you were with told me that you were paying for the bill. It will be a problem if you try to eat and run away.”

The man was the owner of the tavern that Bread and Redian had eaten at. Bread looked around with an angry expression while Redian looked away and pretended ignorance. When the drama ended under such unexpected circumstances, the audience burst out laughing.

“Hahaha, this is the real deal! The last scene is paying off the accounts?”

“I don’t know why the contents changed but it is the best!”

“This is the best play the festival has staged!”

“Ohhh, this is the first time my plays have received so many cheers!”

The director wiped away impressed tears….. Anyway, Bread and Redian were caught by the tavern owner while Ark ran after Buksil.

‘Entrusted Volumes can be used in this style. That’s right, I still don’t know that much. It is still too early to give up on Entrusted Volumes.  Of course, most are useless when the effect has gotten the wrong skills depending on the situation, although it might help. There is still more worthy research.’

Ark was starting to consider Entrusted Volumes again thanks to the unexpected situation. But it was more important to ensure Buksil escape than worry about unravelling the secrets of Entrusted Volumes right now. While Ark was caught by Bread, Buksil had already been running away for a few minutes. But no matter how much he looked around the area, he couldn’t see Buksil or the thieves.

“Buksil, where on earth are you? Surely you haven’t already been caught?”

“I don’t know. While being chased by the thieves, I ended up hiding somewhere…… Hik, t-there’s something strange. M-monsters….. Hiik!”

The eyeball winced and stuttered.

“Monsters? Why would monsters be in a village?”

“Master!”

Ark tilted his head with confusion. In the meantime, Racard had been flying around and shouted.

“I saw something while flying this way. Buksil went in there just now!”

“There?”

Ark looked at the building that Racard was pointing to. It was a building which gave an eerie impression with a huge sign in front of it.

Welcome to the castle of terror! Escape the midsummer’s heat and experience the castle of terror! If you escape from the maze within the time limit then you will get a fixed item!

<Admission fee: 50 silver>

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