Chapter 36 :

Episode 8 : Faker (4)

Finally, we have arrived in the ‘Kingless’ Kingdom.

I saw tons and tons of people walking down the pathways while others were enjoying the time of their lives.

I stopped walking because a sudden thought popped up in my head, so I asked Alaine. "You know, you haven't introduced yourself."

Naturally, I already knew her name but it would be strange if I suddenly said her name without her telling me first.

"Oh. I forgot about that, sorry! My name is Katharina Alaine."

"I see.. Do you know the reason why HwanGi-ssi is in danger?"

"Someone used a skill on him! HwanGi didn't want to tell me but I could easily tell something is wrong with him."

"You're just saying HwanGi-ssi is in danger but in fact, you're not sure?"

"W-Well.. He kept drinking small potions even though he didn't get hurt.."

‘It must be poison.’ I thought until I heard..

"And he's weaker than before! He used to fight against more players but now he can't even handle one."

‘Weak..? Don't tell me..’ I looked up to see if it was almost night. ‘Good, it's about to get night soon.’

"Hm? What are you..?"

"Never mind. Could you please tell me where HwanGi-ssi is? I mean we're already in the kingdom."

Alaine became embarrassed. "A-ah! Sorry. Go over there to that tavern covered with flowers."

"Alright." I followed her directions that she pointed to me.

On the other hand, I was carrying her to the tavern.. and let's just say she was quite a talkative person.. "How did you survive? Where were you after you fell in the river?"

Asking questions about me nonstop and no doubt, I was getting increasingly annoyed by her talkativeness.

I ran to the tavern as fast as possible instead of using my skill, ‘Discharge’. Because a message will appear..

[You are not allowed to use this skill in the safe zone.]

That was right. There were many places quite like this one. Where you couldn't use your offensive skills or skills that could potentially harm the cities, towns, kingdoms, etc.

My skill, ‘Discharge’ helps me to sprint faster but it could also damage the ground I'm running on, while also leaving a trail of static electricity behind me.

Without a doubt, I wasn't able to use that skill..

"Say. How did you meet HwanGi-ssi?" I tried to change the subject.

"I met him after the ‘helpers’ went away! Let me tell you that I tried my best to befriend him and he just kept saying he didn't want a friend. Saying, ‘I'll bring misfortune to you if you stay with me.’ and I was like.. ‘Bring it on! I'll face those misfortunes head on!’ Didn't I sound cool?"

It was a mistake to even talk to her! The only thing I did was making it worse! ‘Ugh.. Annoying..! I wish I could use my skill right about now!’

I quickly went inside the tavern by barging in which kinda startled the owner.

"Wow there young man, easy on the doors." Payne spoke while he was cooking something. "Alaine? Don't tell me you caught yet another man. Haha!"

Alaine blushed, telling the owner. "No, I didn't! Stop joking around, old man!"

Then she told me where HwanGi's room was. Hence why I had to walk upstairs, looking for the room that HwanGi was in.

———

[6:58PM]

In HwanGi's room, HwanGi was checking the time. After knowing the time, he drank a potion to recover his health points.

And on the table, there were a bunch of small potions for HP, MP and stamina recovery that HwanGi had bought for cheap prices using his skill, ‘Favorability’.

‘Why won't this go away?’ He pondered as he covered the black vines that were spreading on his chest. ‘Do I have to encounter that lady again to get rid of this?’

He rubbed his temple, thinking. ‘But how can I find her? She'll definitely kill me if I leave the kingdom.’

HwanGi then sat on his bed, unable to move much because of his depleting stamina.

Afterwards, he sighed as he closed his eyes to come up with a plan. However, what appeared wasn't something he thought of.

‘JoonChul.. Why do I keep thinking of him?’ He was puzzled as to why this always occurred when he was thinking.

‘I only met him for a bit. I ought to forget about him by now.. So why?’

HwanGi couldn't help it, he became more and more confused just by thinking of it. To top it all off, an indescribable feeling of some sort continued on lingering inside HwanGi.

He considered that it would fade away after some time, but it still remained.

‘I need some rest.’ After he told himself that, obviously wanting to avoid thinking, he laid down on his bed. And only a few seconds later, he was fast asleep.

———

When I got to where HwanGi-ssi's room was, I stood in front of the door. "Alaine. Can you stand by yourself now?"

"Hmph.. Fine." I bent downward to let Alaine get off me easily.

When Alaine got down, she instantly went and knocked on the door, saying. "HwanGi! I got you a surprise!"

"..." Silence was the only response to her words.

I spoke, tilting my head a little to the left. "He must be asleep."

"He never sleeps this early.." When she said that, she literally barged in his room by kicking the door.

‘..This young girl.. Easy on the doors..’ I realized I just thought of the words that were spoken by the tavern's owner. ‘Damn..’

Without further delay, Alaine went in as soon as the door opened.

I entered behind her and saw that HwanGi-ssi was resting. Not only that, I also noticed his right hand had veins exposing out of his sleeve. His veins were dyed in the pitch-black color, becoming more evident.

‘It's what I expected. Someone had used a hidden skill on HwanGi-ssi. A deadly skill for players in the early stages.’

A hidden skill that diminishes a player's HP, MP and stamina simultaneously, weakening them to a state where they couldn't fight back.

To put it simply, it forced players to be useless in a battle but mostly killable.