Chapter 71

Translator: MagicFishCat

Proof-reader: Asada

[You have completed the quest ‘Troll Subjugation’.]

[You now have the qualification to rank up.]

[You can now attempt a promotion mission.]

Soo Hyuk thought as he stared at the notifications. [TL: system messages will be notifications and notification window from now on.]

‘That was faster than I thought.’

He had only done 3 missions.

‘I expected at least 10.’

When he had researched into the mercenary system, he found that although it differed with the difficulty, it took users around 10 missions to be able to ascend into D-rank.

‘Is it because I was quick?’

He had only completed 3 missions. There was too much of a difference, so he tried to think of possibilities.

“Next person.”

Soon, it was Soo Hyuk’s turn so he snapped out of his thoughts and sat down on the chair. Then while handing the mercenary token, he said,

“I want to see the promotion missions.” [TL: Ranked missions will be changed to promotion missions because it makes more sense.]

At Soo Hyuk’s request, the NPC took his token and gave him the promotion mission catalogue. Meanwhile, Soo Hyuk received the catalogue from the NPC and immediately started flpping through it.

-Havik Orc Village Extermination

Rewards: 1000 gold

Time limit: 1 week

-Twin Headed Ogre Katuru Subjugation

Rewards: 500 gold, 2000 Hadrac Contribution Points

Time Limit: None

-Sage Hadila’s Request

Rewards: Hadila’s Robe

Like that, Soo Hyuk flicked through all the missions before coming back to the first page.

‘The village extermination looks okay.’

Most of the missions were either defeating boss-grade monsters or completing requests from various NPCs. The boss hunts were popular amongst the users however, it took time to even find the around the vast wilderness outside Hadrac. In other words, there was a likely chance that they could take a long amount of time to complete.

Meanwhile, NPC requests weren’t safe either. Since he didn’t know what kind of request they were going to make, it was all up to luck. He wasn’t willing to take that chance.

‘Looking at the title, it could contain a map.’

The first mission ‘Orc Vilage Extermination’ clearly stated that it was the Hevik Villgae that was to be exterminated, and quests like these usually included a map. Making his decision, Soo Hyuk returned the catalogue and said,

“I want to select the first mission.”

[You have selected the quest ‘Havik Orc Village Extermination’.]

[You have acquired a map of Havik.]

He thought as he looked at the notifications.

‘As expected.’

There was a map included in the quest information. Soo Hyuk then got back his token and stood up from his seat. He then exited the Mercenary Agency and opened his inventory and quest window. He wanted to check the information on his new quest.

[Orc Village Extermination]

Near the Kamian Mountains is a town called Toria. Recently, orcs have been invading Toria and the town has been suffering serious damage. Investigations showed that they were Havik Orcs. Exterminate the Havik Orc Village and reduce the number of orcs!

[Havik Orcs: 0 / 500 ]

[Havik Orc Chief Karashi: 0 / 1 ]

[Time Left: 7 days]

[Quest Reward: 1000 gold]

.

.

.

[Havik Orc Village Map]

A map showing the location of Havik in the Kamain Mountains. After checking the quest, he closed the quest window and took out the map from his inventory.

‘Hmm.’

The map only showed two things: the entrance of the Kamian Mountains and the location of the orc village. Soo Hyuk carefully looked over the map, then put it back in his inventory as he started heading to the Kamain Mountains.

‘What? That user?’

Koma Guild’s scouter Roa stared at a young man with confusion.

‘Wasn’t he here just a moment ago?’

That user had just been here an hour age.

‘He definitely left after getting a mission.’

He hadn’t seen wrong. Roa had been observing him with interest because he didn’t belong to a guild, and he had clearly left an hour ago.

‘Don’t tell me he completed one in that short amount of time?’

Roa attentively watched the young man. Not long after, the man stood up from his seat and exited the agency. Roa quickly chased after him.

‘…Map?’

The young man was looking at a map outside the agency.

‘Did he get it from his mission?’

What kind of map was it? Did it have something to do with a mission?

‘That means it’s not a normal mission…’

Of course, it could be completely unrelated to a mission, but what if it was? Question marks kept appearing on his head.

‘Should I follow him?’

At that moment, the young man started walking.

‘Yeah, I can recommend him into our guild.’

The man wasn’t in a guild, as shown by his lack of guild mark. After pondering briefly, Roa decided to follow the man.

When he arrived at the Kamain Mountains, Soo Hyuk took out his map again.

‘So I have to go that way.’

Soo Hyuk walked around the mountains as he followed the map. His destination was the Havik Village. The further he walked, the less users he could spot around him.

“Poison Sphere.”

“Firebolt.”

“Fireball.”

Meanwhile, the number of encounters with orcs were increasing. When he was trekking through the undergrowth,

Crack!

The sound of a tree branch breaking came from behind.

“…?”

Soo Hyuk quickly turned his head around and tilted his head.

‘What was that?’

He couldn’t see anything unusual.

‘I definitely heard a sound. Did I just hear wrong?’

What was that sound? Raising his caution, Soo Hyuk turned around and continued on his way.

‘Hmm?’

Then after a few minutes, he stopped again.

‘Did I arrive already?’

A crude barricade entered his sight. Had he arrived at the village? To answer his own question, Soo Hyuk took out the map again. [TL: the map doesn’t track your own location.]

‘It looks like the mountains are smaller than I thought.’

He had expected his trek to take some time, but he had arrived before he knew it.

It was then.

-Chueek!

“Magic Missile.”

At the orc’s sudden appearance, Soo Hyuk reflexively fired a magic missile at it. As the orc was blasted away into oblivion, he checked his quest progress.

[Orc Village Extermination]

Near the Kamian Mountains is a town called Toria. Recently, orcs have been invading Toria and the town has been suffering serious damage. Investigations showed that they were Havik Orcs. Exterminate the Havik Orc Village and reduce the number of orcs!

[Havik Orcs: 0 / 500 ]

[Havik Orc Chief Karashi: 0 / 1 ]

[Time Left: 7 days]

[Quest Reward: 1000 gold]

“…”

Soo Hyuk was left flustered at his situation.

‘Ah.’

The orc had died, and even dropped a tendon. But why was the count still 0, not 1?

This chapter is scrapped from readlightnovel.org

‘Don’t tell me…’

Soo Hyuk frowned as a thought struck him.

‘This isn’t the village?’

The orcs he had to hunt weren’t any orcs. They were Havic orcs that were only found near their village. As for this orc, they definitely weren’t Havic orcs.

‘I knew it!’

The fact that an orc this near a village wasn’t a Havic orc meant that the village in front of him was the wrong village.

‘I thought it was too fast.’

He then started walking towards the unknown village.

‘Well since I’m here,’

The orcs in the Kamain Mountains were around level 100-130. In other words, it was a very good hunting area for him currently. Deciding to clean up this village, Soo Hyuk walked past the entrance into the village and quietly muttered,

“Poison Storm.”

Chuuuaak!

-Chueek!

-Hu…Kuaack!

The orcs that had been running towards Soo Hyuk screamed in pain as the poison gas swept towards them. As they dropped like flies, his drops started rapidly increasing.

‘…Sun Orcs?’

Soo Hyuk cocked his head when he looked at the drop window. One of the words that caught his eye was the name ‘Sun Orc’.

‘Wasn’t there Sun Orcs near Matab as well?’

He remembered hunting them in the Bulam Mountains when he was staying at Matab.

‘Well, they’re not rare monsters.’

Orcs were one of the most common monsters, unlike epic monsters like dragons or demons. There was no reason that they couldn’t appear near Hadrac as well.

‘When’s the boss going to appear? Will the name be different as well?’

He wondered as he stared at the dying orcs while waiting for the chief. Just when he finished the thought,

-Chueek! Intruder!

[Warning!]

[Chief of the Sun Tribe, Koren has appeared!]

The awaited notifications appeared as the chieftain entered his eyes.

‘The names are a bit different.’

The Sun Tribe Chief near Matab was called Talon, so the tribe names were the same while the boss names were different. Soo Hyuk turned to face the charging chieftain while Koren howled with rage.

A few seconds later…

[Chief of the Sun Tribe, Koren has been defeated.]

[Sun Orcs will be confused for 10 minutes.]

[While confused, Sun Orcs’ attack will increase by 50%.]

[While confused, Sun Orcs’ defense will decrease by 50%.]

Soo Hyuk was lost for words as he stared at the notification window.

‘Already?’

He had been prepared to fire a few more spells, but Koren had died pathetically from poison storm and a magic missile. And while he was checking his drops…

‘This crazy!…’

Roa was also lost for words as he recalled what had happened.

‘What village.’

The place he had arrived by following the young man was the Kamain Mountains. After a whole lot of walking around and checking his map, the young man had arrived at an orc village. When he quietly followed him into the village, he saw it. The orcs instantly disappearing around him.

[Warning!]

[Chief of the Sun Tribe, Koren has appeared!]

[Chief of the Sun Tribe, Koren has been defeated.]

[Sun Orcs will be confused for 10 minutes.]

[While confused, Sun Orcs’ attack will increase by 50%.]

[While confused, Sun Orcs’ defense will decrease by 50%.]

The boss orc was no different from orc mobs. There hadn’t been any noticeable difference when the boss and a random mob died.

‘Was poison storm always that strong?’

Roa, who saw the notifications, looked around at the rolling green gas and thought,

‘This is a dog scam.’

Poison storm wasn’t commonly seen, because to be able to cast it, users had to be of sufficient level, but also a poison magician.

‘This speed is unbelievable.’

The village quietened as all the orcs were massacred. Roa looked around at the now desolate village then followed the young man outside the village.

‘Hmm?’

Outside the village, Roa saw the young man look at his map again.

‘Wasn’t this his destination?’

He had assumed that the previous village was this man’s destination, but it seemed he was wrong, as the young man had pulled out his map.

‘Should I keep following him?’

Roa, who had already wasted a lot of time, pondered. Follow him or not?

‘Yeah, I went this far already.’

He came to a decision quickly.

‘I haven’t talked to him about a guild yet either.’

The reason he followed this mysterious man all the way to the mountains wasn’t just because he was intrigued by him. He originally also had another even bigger aim, which was to recruit him into his guild.

‘I’m more curious as to where he’s going now.’

But that was the story before he saw the poison storm. Now, he was more interested in finding out who this mysterious young man was and where he’s going.

‘If it’s a dungeon…’

Keeping his fingers crossed, Roa hastily followed after the young man’s retreating back.