Golden Experience-Chapter 234: “Killing With The Eyes”
“I wish I could have disappeared stylishly with something like [Summon].”
“But if we did that, we’d just end up back where we started.”
“No, even if we disappeared with [Camouflage], it doesn’t mean we’d truly vanish. The bear could still smell something. Well, there wasn’t much else we could do, so it couldn’t be helped.”
Lyra and I moved away from the boss area and walked towards the city of Kiefer.
Since it was a rare opportunity, we hadn’t completely given up on the idea of taking a journey on foot. We had only peeked into one dungeon so far.
We could have used [Summon] to temporarily leave the area and then returned to the entrance of the dungeon using the teleportation service. However, this was right after pulling off a mysterious move, and we didn’t want others to witness a scene that didn’t seem cohesive.
For now, we had mostly finished the verification we wanted to do.
The acquisition of [Resurrectio], and the use of the Philosopher’s Stone.
The conditions for obtaining [Resurrectio], as suggested by Blanc’s inspiration, were correct: they needed to revive once, even if it was with an item.
In other words, the reason there hadn’t been any players who had obtained [Resurrectio] so far was because the devs had restricted it.
The [Zagreus’ Heart] required for [Resurrectio] could only be obtained by defeating the Archangel.
“If what Lyra said is true, and the Archangel subjugation battle was unexpectedly moved up, then the plan was probably to make [Resurrectio] available much later.”
“Well, maybe they were planning to give out revival items as event participation rewards or something.”
Either way, now anyone could challenge the Archangel. If they won, they could obtain this resurrection item.
At present, few players would understand what it was, but if items that could be appraised became available for purchase, players would realize it was a resurrection item.
“Now, you can hunt as many Archangels as you want, and hearts are limitless. Players may start coming to resurrect their parties from now on.”
“Yeah, right. Like that would happen. It’s not that easy to beat that thing. I didn’t see what happened to the more than a hundred players from yesterday, how many parties they ended up forming, but I think it was probably useless.”
Certainly, as far as I knew, the Archangel was the strongest game boss that players could currently fight. Even if it was weaker than the real one I fought, that wouldn’t change.
It would take a little more time to be able to defeat it in a stable manner using conventional methods.
Moreover, even if it was defeated by a raid party of, for example, thirty people, only one heart could be obtained. To get one for each player, they would need to do thirty rounds.
“Now, about what to do from here. If we continue walking and go to the city of Kiefer, should we just peek around the city? Or do something else?”
By “do something”, what exactly did she mean? It would be better if she didn’t refer to people as dangerous terrorists or something.
But since it was a rare opportunity, there was no choice but to choose an option other than doing nothing.
“Let’s enter a random shop and recruit a few NPCs, like merchants or craftsmen. Well, anything will do. I want to have a few residents in the city just in case, creating shortcuts for movement in case of emergencies.
Besides, it’s a city that serves as a portal, so we want to keep an eye on whether players are acting suspiciously. Especially those who aren’t focused on combat or those whose rank doesn’t match a ☆1.”
“I’ll recruit a few underlings too. I haven’t acquired any beastmen as subordinates.”
“For now, if that’s the purpose, we can just wander around the city as usual, pretending to be traveling NPCs. But…”
“But what?”
“Well, it would be super suspicious if traveling NPCs were walking around empty-handed.”
“Ah, well, isn’t that fine? Let’s just go with a super suspicious NPC route. The reactions of those players earlier were a bit thrilling. A suspicious robed person might actually be a shadowy mastermind. Having a pure white robe and a jet black robe also adds to that vibe.”
The point was understood well.
“There’s a suspicious red robe as well.”
The suspicious red robe should be currently active in Shape. Her actions were roughly similar to ours.
*
And so, we entered the city of Kiefer, the portal city in Pearl.
It wasn’t as if they sneaked in secretly; they simply walked through the city gate. There were guards at the gate, but we were only cautious about monsters in the nearby Abhang Wetlands.
As long as our appearance resembled humans and we were properly dressed, we wouldn’t be stopped by the guards.
Unless we committed some crime, at least Lyra and I had not engaged in criminal activities in the game. Killing players or NPCs in the city would naturally be a crime, but if all witnesses disappeared, it would be as if nothing had happened.
<It’s lively enough. Not as much as my Felicita or Rare-chan’s Rifure, but still.>
<Considering the size of the city, there are quite a few people. Not everyone is a player, so there are probably NPCs who moved here attracted by the number of players.>
We chatted casually in the friend chat while walking along the main street of the city.
Having secret conversations in our minds added to the mysterious outward aura, making it enjoyable. However, it was a basic feature of the system, so anyone could do it if they wanted.
A pair of black and white robed figures walking through the city did raise some suspicion, but we didn’t attract as much attention as we thought we might.
<It’s good that we’re not standing out. Let’s enjoy our journey leisurely.>
<It’s not that we’re not standing out; it’s just that no one seems to care even if we do.>
Occasionally, beastmen glanced at them, but it wasn’t as if they kept worrying about it. It seemed like walking strange characters was a common sight in this city these days, given the recent increase in players.
<Now that we’ve roughly seen the state of the city, shall we look for some unfortunate victims?>
<Unfortunate victims? You mean happy collaborators, right? Anyway, as long as the service continues, immortality is guaranteed to them.>
<…Whether that’s a happy thing or not depends on the person, I guess.>
“Ah!”
“Hm?”
As they were casually walking, they noticed a splendid inn located in a prime location facing the main street.
Without much thought, as they were observing, a beastman who had just come out pointed at them and shouted.
“Kh, the masterminds!”
“That’s rude. Who are you—”
<Ahh, this kid is the one from earlier.>
<…The player who played with the bear. If she’s already here at this timing, does that mean she died shortly after?>
It seemed like this inn was their respawn point.
Certainly, if players made this city their base, they would naturally stay at the inn. It wouldn’t be strange for an inn that primarily targeted external people to be located in a prime spot facing the main street.
Honestly, I didn’t think a player of such low level had enough money to stay in an inn of this rank. But it seemed like they were making money quite efficiently somehow.
“Sorry for my sister’s rudeness. You are the foreigner who was in the wetlands earlier, aren’t you? Did you enjoy playing with mr. leopard bear? And are you alone? What about your other friends?”
“Wha-! You- You remember!? About us!”
“Well, how could I forget something that just happened? Did you think I was stupid?”
“…
Even though It’s just an event NPC
…”
Enhanced Hearing picked up the mutterings of the beast-race player.
<Ahh, in other words, it’s that. She’s moved because a seemingly special event NPC with the position of a secret mastermind remembered her.>
<I guess you’re right. But anyway, if you have time to be happy about being remembered simply because of your timing, why don’t you make an effort to be remembered by the NPCs by imprinting something on the game world with your skills?>
<…I can certainly say that Rare-chan has left scars on the people of this continent that can never be forgotten.>
Even so, I had only openly destroyed one country so far. It had not reached the point of being etched into the entire continent.
Although it’s not the main purpose, we haven’t revealed our names in the first place.
“…What are you doing in this city!? Are you…”
It’s unclear if it’s because of our power or for some other reason. Perhaps they’re unsure of how we will react.
They seem well aware that we could easily destroy the entire city if we wanted to.
“Just sightseeing. We’re taking a look around.”
“…By the way, are you staying at this inn?”
“Yeah, we are. Why?”
“Is it a good inn?”
“Well, it’s expensive, but the rooms, services, and meals are all at a pretty high level…”
“I see. Thanks.”
<Are you planning to use this inn?>
<Yeah. Until now, we’ve mostly used guilds and churches, but using an inn isn’t bad either. If we want to monitor the players, there’s no better option than this.>
Lyra nodded, then looked across the main street. She focused her gaze on something and stopped.
Observing her line of sight, there was a mercenary guild.
<No, that’s a bad idea. If they’re connected to the devs, a warning might not be enough.>
<More like, if I had to say, they’re connected. So I won’t touch the mercenary guild itself. But…>
Lyra stopped talking for a moment and walked towards that direction.
<Hey, I’ll go take a look over there. Rare-chan, don’t do anything reckless, okay?>
<What do you think I’m planning to do?>
“Hey, um, where did the black robe person go…?”
“Who knows? But more importantly, look over here…”
I lifted my hood slightly and lowered the cloth covering my mouth.
Enduring the brightness, I opened both of my eyes.
My eyes met those of the beast-race player, who stared blankly at me in surprise.
“[Charm].”
I showed my face just in case, so that the effect of [Beauty] and [Super Beauty] would also take effect, although this girl would not be able to resist in any case, since she was already easily defeated by a bear of that caliber.
The reason I used Charm instead of Fear was because it was daytime. Fear would be more effective in the dark, but Charm is probably better if you take into account the bonuses of my characteristics.
“──! …!”
The beast player – a tank called Margaret, I think – stiffened and stared blankly at me with a blank expression on her face.
But that doesn’t mean that she was truly charmed by my beauty.
She was just in a game-like state of shock.
According to Blanc, when a player is Charmed, he or she is unable to take any action without the permission of the person who initiated the spell. Unlike Fear, the vision remains the same, but instead, mysterious sparkles and pink effects appear. I don’t really care about that.
“…Looks like [Charm] took effect. Well, just stay quiet for a while in that spot.”
Leaving Margaret behind, I passed through the entrance curtain of the luxury inn.
That the event NPC, presumably the mastermind, did something at the inn would remain in this player’s memory. However, there was no particular problem with that.
Even if the innkeeper and staff were Subordinated, they would continue to be residents of this city.
Even if this player spread the word and planned to do something about the inn with many other players, the player who did something would be the criminal. On the other hand, the staff transformed into followers could respawn even if they died.
Furthermore, the main goal here is to monitor the players.
If the players themselves decide to monitor this inn, it saves us the trouble.
Margaret seemed to be staring at my back as she disappeared into the inn. Without specific instructions, [Charm] would prevent the affected person from diverting their gaze from the caster.
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Chapter 234: “Killing With The Eyes”
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