Chapter 28 – 28.Skill Test (3)
***
As expected, hunting bands was the right answer.
‘I never thought I would receive a reward like this.’
16 points and 35 reputation points.
I came to take a skill test and was able to get a very nice reward.
‘I never thought we would get points for each executive.’
Do other monsters also get points if they kill executives?
No, it was highly likely not.
Even when I captured the Red Half Moon Bear, it said that I had just defeated the Red Half Moon Bear.
It was not a sentence about defeating a bandit with a unique name attached to it like a bandit.
‘Then is there an enemy as intelligent as a bandit? Otherwise, I think it only applies to enemies with proper nouns… Okay.’
If we see bandits in the future, let’s kill them.
It’s sure to be a good way to earn points.
However, at that time, let’s use the perfect chant while adjusting the amount of magic appropriately.
I had no idea that even I would be swept away by the shock wave, as the range of power of the perfect chant, written with maximum magical power, was wider than I expected.
There was no damage, but I couldn’t help but fly backwards.
‘This is like a game.’
Other bandits who were hit by the shock wave were immediately blown away or died, but I, the user, did not suffer any significant damage other than being blown backwards.
In addition, it was cumbersome to pick up the bandits’ hoods that were blown away by the shock wave.
Anyway, after completing the skill test and extermination of bandits, I headed down the mountain right away.
And on the way back to Valendia, I opened the status window and thought about where to invest the points I earned.
—
Name: Lee Si-han
Gender: Male
Abilities
Stamina: 9
Strength: 7
Dexterity: 9
Magic attribute: 12
Luck: 3
Fame: 46
Points held: 7
Possessed skills: Penetration (EX), Spear Mastery (MAX), Perfect Spear (F)
Title: Bandit Hunter. Area provocateur, bandit exterminator
—
I invested 3 in stamina, 3 in strength, 3 in agility, and 5 in magic power.
I’ll need stamina in the future, so I remember feeling a little tired when turning over Halfmoon Bear, so the higher the agility, the better the synergy with spear mastery, so it’s also 3.
And since I knew the convenience and usefulness of Jeolchang, I boldly invested 5 in magic attribute.
The remaining points were saved for insurance.
While checking the status window, something suddenly bothered me.
‘What’s the difference between a bandit hunter and an exterminator?’
Anyway, catching bandits remains the same.
All I have to say is that the exterminator seems stronger.
To confirm, I focused my attention on the bandit exterminator.
[Bandit Exterminator: A person who completely destroyed a group of bandits. An object of fear for bandits. It is an object of hope for ordinary citizens.]
‘Will this also work as described?’
Even if you think of it as just an ordinary text, when you think about penetration or spear mastery, there is a high possibility that something will have an effect if something is explicitly stated like this.
If the next bandit I see for the first time gets scared as soon as he meets me, the effect has been applied according to this description.
As I moved around thinking about various things, the sunset was setting when I arrived in Valendia.
“Sihan! You came back safely!”
When Rick saw me, he welcomed me with relief.
“Yes.”
“Yes. I’m really glad.”
Rick was happy every time I came back, but this time he reacted more strongly than usual.
“Has something happened?”
“Actually, I heard it from people coming to Valendia. They said that there was a huge noise like an explosion coming from the mountain where Velkendan was hiding out. Some people even said that something fell from the sky on the mountain. That’s why I was worried.”
‘Ah.’
It was because of me.
“I’m so glad you came back safely. So, did you catch a bandit executive this time?”
“Yes, we also caught a bandit leader.”
“Yes. As expected, you deserve to be admitted to the academy. But then it would be better not to come to Valendia for a while. Since they caught two executives, the bandits will definitely be targeting you for a while. No matter how much you pass by, you might be attacked while passing by. Because you can get hit.”
Rick truly cared about me and gave me advice.
He is a really good person.
But Rick doesn’t have to worry about that.
“Thank you for the advice, but you don’t have to worry about that.”
“Hey, Sihan. No matter how much you believe in your own abilities, you shouldn’t be overconfident. If Belken, the leader of the Velken Order, or his executives his attack you all at once …”
“The Velkendan have been destroyed.”
“Yes. As long as Velkendan is not annihilated… What? Ruined?”
Mr. Rick blinked his eyes and then tapped his ears.
“Ha, I’m still young. I’m sorry, what did I just say?”
“Velkendan has been destroyed.”
“My ears weren’t wrong. What… Do you mean, annihilated? Why do you say Velkendan was annihilated?”
“I destroyed it. I have proof.”
It was my first time wiping out a group of bandits, and I thought it would be hard to believe even if I said I killed the bandit group by myself, so I brought along evidence.
I took out the bundle from the inventory.
“That’s… ?”
“It is Belken’s neck.”
“B-Belken’s mother, neck!?”
Last time, when the faces of the bandits were brought out in front of Daishi, he was very shocked, so he wrapped their necks in a softer cloth.
“Mr. Rick, do you know Belken’s face?”
“Yeah, that’s right. A notorious guy like Belken has a wanted list.”
“Please check it out.”
“Woah, check?! Me?”
“If you feel uncomfortable, you don’t have to do it.”
Mr. Rick was silent for a moment and then opened his mouth.
“No, let me check.”
“I’ll hold it for you, so just untie the knot.”
Mr. Rick untied the bundle and checked the contents.
“…Tsk! It’s really Belken. Did you really destroy the Belken group, Sihan?”
“Yes. I took care of all six executives who were with me. I only had Belken’s neck, but I took all the hoods.”
“Yes. Haha…”
Mr. Rick said to me after tying the knot again.
“I thought he was a great guy, but I never thought… He could even destroy the bandits who were giving us so much trouble. A new hero was born.”
“Can you be called a hero for eliminating bandits?”
Hero.
Even in Rupan’s main story, the main character was called that.
However, that was mentioned only after solving an incident that only appeared in the main story and defeating the main story boss.
However, at best, he is a hero after defeating the leader of a bandit, a high-level mob.
It was nice to be called a hero, but it didn’t feel real.
“… Yes. It may be so for you. But.”
Mr. Rick put his hand on my shoulder.
“At least to those who suffered from bandits, you are a hero, Sihan.”
‘Mr. Rick.’
You let me fly like this.
Did Mr. Rick, who laughed at me when we first met, really exist?
In fact, it got to the point where I thought I might have been mistaken.
“Thank you.”
I put the bundle back in my inventory and returned to Valendia and headed to the Adventurer’s Guild.
Even if the bandit’s equipment can be exchanged for money at a blacksmith shop or Cat’s Company, proof of subjugation, such as a hood, can only be exchanged for money at the Adventurer’s Guild.
‘If possible, I wanted to exchange the magic stone I caught last time at Cats Store.’
However, at that time, the guild had already accepted the request to catch Halfmoon Bear, so I received a magic stone from the guild as proof.
I would have gotten more money if I treated it as if I didn’t request it and received the money right away from Cats Trading Company.
‘If you do that, you won’t accumulate any results.’
As the story progresses naturally in Rupan, the story progresses in such a way that the main character is a veteran who has completed any difficult request.
Thanks to its reputation, it gains the trust of high-ranking people in each country from the beginning, and the story sometimes progresses by being entrusted with personal requests.
Considering such a situation, it is important not to only think about money, but to gradually complete the adventurer guild’s requests to build performance and reputation.
‘I’ll have to look into it more, but even attending the academy required performance.’
When I arrived at the guild, I showed Belken’s head to Dacey as evidence, along with a report that the Belken bandits were destroyed, just as I showed it to Rick.
“Huh… Now, please wait a moment! Guild leader!”
After Deisi called the guild leader of the Adventurer’s Guild.
A sturdy-looking man with a beard came out.
“I am Dorlant, the guild leader of the Valendia branch. Would you please come inside for a moment?”
‘It looks like this.’
Dolant.
This is an NPC that often appears during event quests.
However, all I did was dress up an ordinary middle-aged NPC in an adventurer-style outfit as an NPC modeling twist.
What was in front of me was not the default NPC design, so it was really different.
“I understand.”
I entered the guild, was guided to a place that looked like a counseling room, and sat down on the sofa.
The Dolan guild leader sitting across from me asked me.
“May I ask why you brought the head separately?”
“I think just bringing a bandana would not be enough as evidence.”
“… Hmm, I see. Are there other heads besides Belken’s?”
“I thought Belken’s head was enough, so I didn’t bring any other heads.”
“That’s a good thing. Even if they bring multiple heads of bandits, it would be difficult for us to deal with them. They say they destroyed the bandits. Do you have any other evidence other than Belken’s head?”
“It’s more about loot than evidence.”
On the table in front of the sofa, I took out the bandanas of the bandit executives, bandit elites, and mountain bamboo soldiers I had caught today.
“This is the hood of the bandits we caught today.”
Doland’s eyes changed as he looked at the bandana on the table.
“…That’s amazing. I never thought you could completely destroy a group of bandits in one day. Thank you. You eliminated the bandits that other adventurers didn’t want to do. You completely destroyed them.”
“Is bandit extermination really that unpopular?”
“That’s right. Unlike monsters, bandits try to retaliate. Moreover, they are so clever that they cause enough trouble that no punitive force can be formed.
Plus Belken. This guy’s skills were comparable to those of a knight, so no adventurers were hasty in going forward. You solved that problem today. Thank you so much.”
“If you’re that grateful, you can expect sincerity.”
“It’s sincere… Yes, I’ll do it if it’s within my power. “What do you want?”
“I hope my story spreads widely.”
“What about you?”
“Yes. The destruction of these bandits that I have accomplished has been a good thing for the people. I hope that it will spread the word about how much of a nuisance the bandits have been, not only in Valendia but also in other places.”
The Dolant guild leader looked puzzled at my words.
“Your story will spread quickly even if we don’t do anything. But do you still want that?”
“Yes. There is a clear difference in the quality of credibility between something that is just a rumor and something that is directly spread by the Adventurer’s Guild. If the Adventurer’s Guild says it directly, it will be an achievement worthy of recognition by the Academy.”
In other words, it is no different from a performance certificate from a public institution.
Moreover, if this story spreads to the academy, there will be more gacha cadets who will recognize my skills or show interest.
This also allows for promotional activities and results that will be recognized by the Academy. It can be said that it kills two birds with one stone and kills two birds with one stone.
“Ah. Ha. Haha! I see! That was something like that. Now that I think about it, you were the cadet who entered the academy this time, right? I understand.”
Widely! The Dolant guild leader hit his knee and showed his teeth and a wide smile.
“I will spread your fame myself. A capable divinity has appeared in the academy!”
“Please take care of me, Dolant Guild Leader.”
[Achievement: You have obtained the title Academy Divinity.]
[Achievement reward: 3 points, reputation 10]
You get a title as soon as you get confirmation.
My trust in the Dolant guild leader has increased significantly.
