Chapter 37. Akasha’s Snake (5)

Yeon-woo knew that Akasha’s Snake grows by feeding on Akasha. But he would have never thought that the concept of ‘eating’ would also help him revive.

Yeon-woo felt like he could finally see a ray of hope. No, depending on how he handled the situation, the results could be even better than what he originally had in mind.

The longer the time it spent on resurrecting itself, the larger it would become in size along with the amount of essence it possessed. If only he could absorb its full power.

Yeon-woo’s eye glistened with anticipation.

‘Plus, this doesn’t go against the quest’s directive.’

The quest told him to stop the resurrection ceremony, but it didn’t set a time limit for it. In other words, he would complete the quest as long as he killed it ‘before’ the ceremony ended.

‘As long as the ceremony continues, I can keep making Akasha’s Snake bigger and bigger. It won’t be too late to kill it once it reaches its limit.’

Moreover, he was currently in the tunnel of Akasha’s Snake. Who knows what other secrets were hidden inside, and what rewards would he receive after completing the quest?

‘Considering the risk, it won’t be small.’

This way, he might be able to acquire even more stats and Karma than he would have by following his original plan. The mere thought of it almost made him burst out laughing, but he held himself back.

‘It’s too early to celebrate.’

Strike while the iron is hot, as they said.

Yeon-woo quickly began to work out the plan.

‘The main variable in Akasha’s Snake’s resurrection is none other than Akasha, the spiritual energy. The more energy the snake absorbs, the bigger it will grow. It’s just like Bathory’s Vampiric Sword. If so, I will have to bring more food to fatten up the snake.’

Yeon-woo presumed Akasha’s Snake must be hungry from its resurrection. He had to think of a way to get enough food to constantly feed Akasha’s Snake.

Undine’s Goblet?

‘No. Just one won’t be enough. And Galliard probably doesn’t have that many to spare.’

He immediately shook off the idea of asking Galliard for help. Yeon-woo didn’t want to share the loot with anyone else.

‘Then the only way left is…’

Yeon-woo watched the last remaining corpse vaporizing into smoke.

‘To bring more sacrifices here.’

Fortunately, there were many monsters wandering outside the tunnel. Monsters that would become a good meal for Akasha’s Snake.

“If I disturb the Orcs, the ceremony could be interrupted… I need to go farther away. Or maybe…’

A sly grin crept over Yeon-woo’s face.

‘I could raise the stakes.’

If he could lure the monsters guarding each area… If only he could bring those monsters into this eastern desert area and cause mayhem… How much would Akasha’s Snake grow with such quantity of food?

Yeon-woo cast Shunpo and left the place after putting his thoughts in order.

The ritual continued even after he left the tunnel.

“Oh, our god, I beg of you!”

Kaah!

The cry of the snake shook up the whole tunnel.

* * *

[150:43:11_56]

There was less than a week left until the tutorial’s conclusion.

The sixth ranked player in the tutorial, Bain, was now considering whether to stop collecting Tokens and moving on to Section F.

‘I have to be in the top five. That’s the only way I can be acknowledged by ‘The Isle’.’

The Isle.

It was a word that the players of Arangdan used to address Cheonghwado.

The Isle worked through meritocracy. He had to stand out and perform brilliantly in order to be reborn as a Ranker.

Normally with Bain’s level of skill, he would have easily achieved fifth rank, or even third rank if he was lucky. But there were too many abnormally strong players in this round. Phante, Edora, Kahn, and even the Marcusian swordsman. He was getting a little impatient thinking how he had to overtake those players to be able to reach the top five.

Just then, Bain received an order.

“An assassination mission? For me?”

“Yes. Bild has given the order for the members of the Team 1 to convene.”

Bain’s face crinkled up.

His hands were already full with his own problems, but now he also had to participate in an assassination mission? Moreover, the target wasn’t even in the top 10?

That alone was enough to hurt his pride, but Bild even ordered them to operate as a team.

Bain waved his hand in annoyance.

“Send the others. I have my hands full trying to keep my rank. Say that to Bild, I’m sure he’ll understand.”

But as he turned away, the messenger continued.

“This is a special order. The ones who disobey will be cut off from the clan on the spot.”

Bain gazed at the messenger with a now completely distorted face. At that moment, a cold aura spread through the air.

Nevertheless, the messenger remained calm.

“Special?”

“Yes, so you have to move together as a team. He also offered all the Tokens in Arangdan’s possession for the one who brings back his head.”

At that moment, Bain’s eyes shone with greed.

Tokens collected by Arangdan as a clan. There must be at least a thousand, and he was willing to give them away for just one person.

This was his opportunity to turn the tables.

Not only that, but Bild would also be watching over his back.

“However, since the target is also the very player behind the annihilation of Team 2, Bild also advised to be as careful as possible..”

Bain opened his eyes wide.

Although Team 2 was inferior to Team 1, they were still a tough oponent because of their unruly temper. Even Bain’s life would be at risk were he to fight them all at the same time.

‘The reason why he told us to move together, it all makes sense now.’

Bild preferred to handle businesses in a more secure fashion.

‘Wait a minute. If the target eliminated Team 2 completely, that means he has all their Tokens too, doesn’t it?’

The Tokens from both Arangdan and Team 2.

‘Without a doubt, that would boost me up to the top five.’

Bain’s eyes had a cold glimer. The corners of his mouth rolled up.

“All right. Tell him I’ll be moving on to the gathering spot immediately.”

The messenger disappeared with a farewell.

Without further delay, Bain moved straight towards the designated location. He was anxious that others might take away the Tokens if he was late.

And in Section E, fifteen other players with similar thoughts were heading towards the same location at the same time.

But little did they know, they were heading straight into an impending disaster.

* * *

Yeon-woo’s first destination was not far from the eastern desert area. He was currently nearing the border of the northern swamp.

Yeon-woo secretly followed a Lizardman Scout and found its village.

[‘Shunpo’ skill proficiency has increased. 7.1%]

Shunpo was a skill that very much suited Yeon-woo. He tried out various complex moves he had envisioned in his head, as such, his skill proficiency had been increasing at a quick pace.

Thanks to the skill, Yeon-woo was able to slip into the central part of the village’s main barracks. Inside, a slightly bigger Lizardman, seemingly the chief, was giving orders to his army.

“Our king is dead, and it must not be known. Especially to the Orcs. if they find out, they will rush out to fight us. We have to be careful.”

“Roger!”

“Roger!”

The Lizardman Warriors nodded their heads and exited the room in an orderly way.

“This is tiresome.”

The big Lizardman sat down on his chair and muttered in a cold tone.

‘They must be having a lot of troubles after Hargan’s death.’

Yeon-woo quickly checked the title of the currently agonizing Lizardman.

[Kurarak, chief of the 21st tribe]

It seemed he had come at just the right time. At present, the Lizardmen lost both Hargan, the Lizardman King, and Taragan, the strongest warrior of their species. They now had no pivotal force to bind them together. The whole species was suffering from all sorts of problems. If a war broke out in a time like this, they would be pushed out of their territory. They had to raise their guard and keep their mouths shut.

‘It’s better this way.’

On the other hand, Yeon-woo thought of this as a great opportunity. What he wanted was to create chaos between monsters. If he could take advantage of this, it would be easier to drive a wedge between monsters.

*Pat*

Yeon-woo then jumped at Kurarak.

“What! An assassin… Kuk!”

Kurarak sensed Yeon-woo’s presence and reached out for his scimitar but,

*Puck*

Carshina’s dagger was already stuck in his forehead.

Kurarak fell to his back from the impact.

It was a pitiful end for one of the 25 tribal chiefs representing the Lizardmen.

Yeon-woo threw the corpse of an Orc he had killed on his way here next to Kurarak’s body. Then he smashed a couple pieces of furniture.

‘When the Lizardmen find this, they will think that Kurarak died fighting against an Orc assassin. And the bigger the damage, the better the effect will be.’

Yeon-woo spread out his hand and cast Flame Infusion.

*Rush*

A flame shot up over his palm. It was small due to his lack of proficiency, but it was still enough to set something on fire.

Yeon-woo threw the flame a small distance away from the corpses.

Being a flame created by a skill, it quickly spread and engulfed the barracks in seconds.

“Fire! Fire!”

“Chief! Something’s wrong with our chief!”

Soon, the whole tribe fell into great turmoil.

Watching the chaos unfold, Yeon-woo leisurely walked away and moved on to the next place.

He had several places to visit this evening.

* * *

Over night, the whole swamp was plunged into utter confusion.

Lizardmen were already on high alert over the death of their king and queen. The tension reached its peak as the chiefs and some other warriors were found murdered. And when they found out that Orcs were related to those cases, they all went into rage.

“The Orcs have killed our king and queen! Orcs are about to invade our territory! Orcs will be coming here soon!”

A shout was heard among the crowd, and it was enough to stir up the whole tribe.

“We shall strike before they can! This is a war! And we will have our revenge!”

And the next morning, the northern swamp quaked. Armies of thousands of Lizardmen began their move towards the eastern desert area.

In the meantime, Yeon-woo was moving towards the jungle in the west.

I’ve been using ‘carcass’ for everything that’s non-human, but I think ‘corpse’ should be better for humanoid monsters. But I’m too busylazy to go through all the previous chapters and check.

Anyway, correct me if I’m wrong since english isn’t mine nor TK’s first language.