Chapter 32: What I Need Right Now (1)

“Looks like something good happened to you?”

Lucard flashed me a sly grin as I silently screamed on the inside.

“Haha, well, something like that.”

I brushed it off and ran my fingers over the new C-rank Destiny Card, ‘Mercenary Gladiator.’

As I did, the card’s information surfaced in my mind.

[Destiny Card][C-rank] The fate of a gladiator who casts off the shackles of bondage and charges toward freedom is contained within.

Special: Still retains the powers once held as a lower-rank Destiny.

This card contained not only the skills of its current rank but also those from its previous, lower-ranked days.

‘Taste of Bondage, Taste of Masochism, Taste of Sadism.’

The three quirky skills from the F-rank Slave Gladiator—basically creative junk.

‘Crime of Wrath, Crime of Gluttony, Crime of Deceit.’

I never used them, but these were the exclusive skills of the D-rank Prisoner Gladiator, and all of them were stored here as well.

It was because this card had climbed two ranks, from the very bottom to C-rank.

But that didn’t mean I could use all these skills.

‘For skills outside your current rank, you can only choose one from each to keep.’

In other words, this is how it works.

“Equip card.”

[C-rank Destiny, ‘Mercenary Gladiator,’ is bestowed upon ‘Gilloshian Elodie Vald’!]

[You can activate some skills from the past. Please select.]

After a brief moment of thought, I made my choices.

From the Slave Gladiator: ‘Taste of Bondage.’

From the Prisoner Gladiator: ‘Crime of Wrath.’

Those were the two I picked.

First, the effect of the F-rank ‘Taste of Bondage’ was definite.

It had saved my life once at the very start of the game—a survival skill that shone in deadly situations.

‘It’s a bit awkward that it only activates when I’m tied up, but still.’

Even so, it was more useful than skills that just refill HP while getting beaten or cause bleeding without any damage.

Then there was the D-rank ‘Crime of Wrath.’

That was the berserker skill.

[Offensive Skill] Exclusive skill of the Prisoner Gladiator. Accumulates rage energy from various physical and mental damages and channels it into powerful attacks.

In other words, if I get hit or fall into certain negative states, my attack power goes up.

‘Wait, was the description always this vague?’

I couldn’t remember every skill from the D-rank Destiny Cards perfectly, so I wasn’t sure.

‘I think there was something like: For every 1% of physical damage taken, you gain 2.3% rage energy.’

Yeah, I’m pretty sure that was it…

But now, it had changed.

“Was it described like this in the beta version?”

…Was it?

Honestly, I had no idea.

Even I couldn’t remember every detail that precisely.

“Hmm…”

This feels weird.

But the system messages didn’t care about my feelings and displayed promptly.

[You have inherited 2 exclusive skills from your past Destinies.]

[You have obtained 3 exclusive skills of ‘Mercenary Gladiator.’]

[May fortune be with you.]

I had finally managed to get my hands on a C-rank Destiny.

‘This game is so brutal, isn’t it?’

Well, that’s because it’s not actually a game.

Still, having raised the Slave Gladiator to this point, I couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride deep inside.

What kind of card is the C-rank Mercenary Gladiator?

‘Obviously, a really solid card!’

Honestly, after struggling all the way here with just an F-rank, how could I not be satisfied with anything better?

But the Mercenary Gladiator really was quite a decent card.

Its physical stat bonuses were top-notch, and it gave a combat bonus in both urban and plain terrain.

‘The exclusive skills that come with it aren’t bad either.’

Having climbed two whole ranks, the exclusive skills were finally ones a human could actually use.

Even those Godsoft guys had to get serious about character design from this point on.

‘Dance of Blades Commission, Gale Commission, Gold Bar Commission.’

Yeah, those are pretty useful skills.

If I combined them with Haewoo Swordsmanship, they’d make for even better combat techniques.

Tomorrow was almost here already.

‘Rite of the Crimson Wind.’

That event where the children of Aurax die meaningless deaths, and the quest I’m tied to, were both scheduled for tomorrow evening.

If I had switched to a magic class during the second shuffle, things would’ve been a bit easier.

‘But it’s not like a Gladiator can’t do it.’

Of course, I needed to practice the new skills before then.

Might as well grab some rewards while I’m at it.

Yeah, that dungeon will do.

Information about a nearby dungeon surfaced in my mind.

[Dungeon] A place where traces of an ancient, forgotten civilization remain. Try collecting the Fragments of Secret History scattered across the continent.

‘Fragments of Secret History…’

Back in my room, I drifted into nostalgia for a moment.

‘Yeah, there was a time when I was obsessed with collecting those.’

According to the original lore of Shin B.S.E, those Tomb Ruins belonged to an ancient kingdom that existed long, long ago.

The one and only great nation that existed on the continent back then.

Many names for it survive in historical records, but the most famous one is…

Yeah.

‘Everlast.’

Amazingly, in that ancient nation, every citizen was said to wield the power of a demigod.

Just as almost everyone in the Empire today is a mage, all the people of Everlast were essentially half-gods.

‘What kind of place could that even have been?’

Of course, there wouldn’t have been a Revolutionary Army back then, so Aurax would have been completely different as well.

This region was probably where the former kings of the kingdom were buried, where the royal tombs stood.

‘That’s why it’s called the Tomb Ruins.’

Fitting the background perfectly, the ‘Tomb Ruins of the Ancient Kingdom’ was a maze of dozens of corridors and rooms leading up to the chamber with the ancient king’s memorial tablet.

So…

‘To clear it perfectly would take about a week of in-game time, with a five-person party, each at least level 75.’

In other words, there’s no way I could handle it right now.

‘I’d get wiped in a second.’

So the main passage to the ancient king’s memorial was absolutely out of reach for me.

But I had my sights set elsewhere.

‘There’s another route tucked away in a corner.’

A small passage next to the main corridor.

That’s the dungeon I was aiming for as a low-level character.

[Dungeon] The protective magic over this section has faded, so it appears to have been forcibly sealed.

Entry restriction: Level 10 or below

In short, it’s a route for low-levels.

You can’t reach the ancient king’s memorial, but it gives you a taste of what the main dungeon is like.

‘Though, for a sample, it’s a bit too spicy.’

But that meant the rewards and benefits were amazing.

Of all the dungeons available for level 10 and below, it was the shortest but also the toughest.

And it hid rewards so great you could forget all about the pain.

That was the ‘Sealed Passage’ dungeon.

‘There’s a reason Aurax is called a paradise for newbies.’

Here, I planned to get two rewards.

If you clear the Sealed Passage properly, there are two rewards for the player.

First:

[Dungeon Clear Reward]

• B-rank Equipment Selection Ticket

If you beat the dungeon to the end, you get a voucher to pick one piece of B-rank equipment you need.

I planned to get a piece of exclusive gear that fit the Gladiator card.

‘Yeah, the Victory Gladiator’s Gauntlet would be perfect.’

B-rank equipment was leaps and bounds better than what I had now.

[Equipment Package] A stylish set of four types of gear for rookie travelers.

Contents: Worn Armor, Rusted Helmet, Worn-out Shoes, Holey Gauntlet.

Since the beginner set was rated D-rank, this would be a jump of two whole grades.

But.

The real value of this dungeon lay elsewhere.

There was a hidden reward.

…If you cleared the dungeon under special conditions, you could get a ‘Special Clear Reward.’

[Special Clear Reward]

• Encounter with an Ancient Divinity
• Blessing of Ancient Divinity (choose one)

‘Meet one of the ancient gods of Everlast and receive their blessing.’

I planned to use that to boost my physical attack and defense all at once.

That way, I wouldn’t have to worry about defense at this level, as long as everything went according to plan.

Just as I was thinking that—

“Sir, I’ve brought the weapons you requested.”

Thomson, whom I’d sent out with Karls earlier, returned to the room.

“Oh, thanks for your trouble.”

I took the weapons from him, stashed them in my inventory, and asked as a matter of routine.

“Nothing happened outside, right?”

But for some reason, Thomson looked unusually tense.

“Uh, sir, actually…”

“?”

“There was a fight outside.”

“A fight?”

No way!

Could it be that the reason I didn’t see Karls was—

My face turned grim, and Thomson hurriedly waved his hands.

“Ah, it’s nothing serious, sir! We weren’t the ones fighting.”

“You guys didn’t get into a fight?”

“No, sir, we almost got caught up in it because the Black Society and the City Guard were fighting, but we managed to slip away.”

Ah, so it was a fight between those two.

“Then where’s Karls?”

“The knight went through a few dog holes and got covered in mud, so he went to wash up.”

……

Not only was the Second Knight of the Imperial Knights being chased by the City Guard, but he’d had to escape through dog holes and ended up drenched in mud.

‘I feel really bad about this.’

If this were just a game, I wouldn’t care, but now that it’s real, I genuinely felt sorry.

If Tirvaen found out, she’d probably smack me on the back.

“There are City Guards everywhere outside, so the Black Society folks seem a bit agitated, too. Anyway, that’s the situation.”

Of course.

For those back-alley types dealing in dirty money, this must feel totally out of the blue.

‘They must be shocked and confused.’

…But honestly, so was I.

‘Is the security really ramped up this much?’

Sure, the quest I’d accepted was designed to draw aggro from the City Guard.

That made sense, right?

There’s an escaped convict running around the city, so of course the City Guard would be on edge.

But this was over the top.

‘It’s certain that the Order of Eolem’s opposition forces are involved…’

Maybe the higher-ups were talking about it, too.

‘Someone might have even reported to the Chief.’

The City Guard would keep expanding their patrols, and another crisis might hit before tomorrow evening.

If so, I needed to move quickly.

“Thomson, listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”

“Yes?”

“We’re leaving here now, and we’re not coming back.”

“…?”

“I said I’d get you into the City Guard, didn’t I?”

Thomson nodded blankly.

“Then just do this. If you follow my instructions, you’ll become a Guard.”

“How do you mean, sir?”

Thomson’s eyes sparkled.

“It’s simple.”

I grinned.

“You just have to sell us out.”

“I—I could never do that, sir!”

“No, you can. Good luck!”

After all, we weren’t going to get caught.

If anything, my bait would throw the City Guard into chaos.

And in the meantime, I planned to clear the dungeon and head straight for the quest.