I Raided the Demon’s Treasury

Chapter 95:

‘Tabula’s Fear?’

The system messages often provide players with far more information than they realize.

It might be easy to dismiss them with a simple “Oh, I see,” and move on, but Se-woon recognized that this mention of “Tabula” revealed the full scope of an event set to occur a month later.

Tabula’s Fear and werewolves.

Something came to mind.

‘Wasn’t that a board game?’

Before entering the Tower. It was a memory from a distant past, but back on Earth, there was a game called Tabula’s Wolves.

If he remembered correctly, it was a board game about villagers opposing each other to catch the werewolves threatening their town.

– The ‘Stigma of Satyr’ grows stronger as it devours the deeply-rooted fear that has ripened over time.

– By devouring fear, the alias of the Blood Wolf is strengthened

“Graugh! Grr, grrr… grrr…”

As the black aura emanating from the man’s head seemed to be absorbed by the stigma, his groans gradually subsided.

Lee Ha-neul, who had been watching, brought a damp cloth and wiped the man’s cold sweat.

His breathing, which had been erratic, began to stabilize bit by bit.

When the stigma, seemingly satisfied, dimmed its light, the man’s condition completely calmed.

“It’s fascinating. Is that perhaps the Power of an alias?”

“It’s not just the Power of an alias, but… something like that.”

“I’m envious. If I could gain such an alias, I would be of much more help to everyone.”

“You’ll be recognized by the system soon enough. Don’t worry.”

“…… Thank you. Well, for now, I’ll bring some water.”

The woman, shyly scratching her cheek, brought a small water bottle.

Tilting the bottle, she let a little water trickle onto the man’s lips, and he slowly began to swallow.

And after a while.

“You are…….”

“You’re awake!”

Finally, the man regained consciousness.

* * *

“And those werewolves….”

“Yes. They’re the monsters that massacred the players remaining in the village a year ago.”

Perhaps out of gratitude for having his wounds treated, the man explained what he had experienced without hesitation.

As expected, the culprits were werewolves.

But not just any werewolves.

“You’re telling me… the villagers were the werewolves…?”

The culprits were the residents of the village.

A month later, when the full moon rose, the bodies of the villagers swelled, transforming them into werewolves, and the players who had stayed in the village stood no chance against them.

“Se-woon, what do you plan to do? Shouldn’t we attack them before the full moon rises?”

“I agree.”

Se-woon was well aware of the nature of werewolves.

Though werewolves could be categorized into various types, they all shared one trait: under the full moon, they exhibited their greatest strength and ferocity.

To confront them, avoiding the full moon was paramount.

‘The wolves must’ve come because of this.’

The sole survivor of the massacre.

The presence of a predecessor player must have been a significant nuisance to the werewolves. Though they eventually tracked him down, they failed to kill him because of Se-woon.

It was clear now that the recent attack by a thousand wolves on the base had been targeting the predecessor player.

With this, most of the information about the hidden piece was revealed.

However.

‘Something feels off.’

Something nagged at Se-woon’s mind.

The reason was tied to the information Park Jung-pil had brought back when they visited the village not long ago.

‘The residents claimed nothing had happened.’

There were signs of a battle, but the residents insisted they had no idea what occurred. In fact, they speculated that it might have been some conflict among the players themselves.

Could it have simply been a lie? If so, it was a remarkably foolish one.

If they had wanted to hide their true identities, there was no need to mention the signs of battle. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to say monsters had attacked them instead?

At that moment, a hypothesis flashed through Se-woon’s mind.

“Did you notice anything unusual about the werewolves?”

“I’m ashamed to admit it, but I was so desperate to escape that I couldn’t properly observe them.”

“Even something minor would help.”

“Hmm, their behavior did seem a bit strange.”

“In what way?”

“It was as if their movements were interrupted. They didn’t seem like wild beasts, but rather like puppets following someone’s instructions.”

“Puppets, you say….”

“That’s actually how I managed to survive. After killing my comrade, they suddenly froze, as if in a daze, giving me the chance to escape.”

Se-woon grew more confident in his hypothesis.

It was true that the villagers were werewolves, but they were being controlled by someone.

‘That’s probably why they failed to capture the predecessor player over the past year.’

The residents, from the very beginning, bore no hostility toward players.

In their right minds, they would have had no reason to search for the predecessor player.

There was only one individual—the one controlling the werewolves—using the wolves to hunt down the predecessor player.

If they resorted to manipulating the wolves instead of taking direct action themselves…

‘It means they’re wary of being noticed by others.’

The culprit must also be one of the villagers.

In that case, there was only one solution:
Identify the culprit among the villagers who were controlling the werewolves.

‘This really is just like Tabula’s Wolves.’

Uncovering the true werewolf.

That must be the true trial of the first floor.

* * *

As soon as Se-woon grasped the situation, he went to find Park Jung-pil.

Though he was usually wandering around the village all day, Jung-pil always came back before dinner, so Se-woon quickly tracked him down.

At Se-woon’s summons, Park Jung-pil entered the room, sweating nervously.

“H-hyung! You called for me! Haha!”

“Where were you wandering off to this time?”

“It’s all for you, Hyung! I was scouting out restaurants you’d like, infiltrating the underworld where all kinds of juicy info flows!”

“So, instead of drinking, you were out gambling, huh?”

“I swear I didn’t intend to gamble! But for the sake of gathering intel, I had no choice…”

– The Constellation, ‘Thief with the Donkey Head,’ snickers, asking if today’s lost merit points were spent on gathering intel about the village ladies’ ideal types.

“Shh! Quiet! Shh!”

Despite the strict no-drinking lessons, he went straight to a gambling den. Indeed, it seemed another session of lessons was in order.

However.

‘Could this actually be beneficial right now?’

As Park Jung-pil mentioned, places like gambling dens were often where information that couldn’t be obtained elsewhere was easily circulated.

At the very least, among the players, Park Jung-pil probably knew the most about the village.

“So, did you hear that those girls were werewolves?”

“Nope? Well, Clara Noona is wild, but she can’t possibly be a werewolf……”

“Not like that. I mean real werewolves. All of the villagers.”

“Whaaat?”

I explained the situation to the flabbergasted Park Jung-pil.

I figured it would be easier to let him sift through the information and make his own conclusions rather than listening to all the details first.

He looked confused at first, but as the conversation went on, he quietly nodded.

It was as though he was thinking, ‘I knew it.’

“Now that I think about it, there was one suspicious person.”

“Who?”

“The village chief.”

“The village chief…?”

Before and after the regression, I had never encountered this person. Honestly, I didn’t even know there was a position of a village chief in such a small village.

Even the pre-regression Se-woon, who had the Guidepost of the Journey, usually spent his time outside the village, looking for the hidden pieces.

He hadn’t paid much attention to the village’s internal affairs.

“Strangely, everyone seems to avoid talking about the village chief.”

“Did you ask why?”

“Of course! But, well, I didn’t get a proper answer. They all just showered the village chief with praise! It felt a bit unnatural, you know?”

There wasn’t concrete evidence, but it was enough to raise suspicion.

Even if the village chief wasn’t the culprit, Se-woon still had more than half a month left.

“Alright, let’s make the village chief our first target.”

“But do we have a way to confirm it? If, as you said, they’re werewolves, I doubt they’d just admit it if we asked.”

“Don’t worry. We’ve got a good bait.”

“You’re not talking about me, are you? Ugh! You don’t mean you plan to throw me to the village chief as bait…?”

“Even if I did throw you to him, he wouldn’t reveal his true identity.”

“Phew. Then, what kind of bait are you talking about?”

At Park Jung-pil’s question, Se-woon smiled faintly and glanced toward the infirmary.

The predecessor player.

It felt a bit bad to use him so soon after he had just woken up, but in order to root out Tabula’s Wolves, Se-woon had no choice but to utilize him.

* * *

“The moon is truly beautiful.”

A peaceful village on the first floor of the Tower.

The man who held the position of the village chief and managed the village raised his head and looked at the sky.

The crescent moon was shining especially brightly.

“I’m looking forward to the full moon. It seems like there are a lot of strong outsiders this time.”

Strangely, the chief licked his lips as he thought of the full moon ahead.

Just then.

“Grrrr…”

The bushes on the left rustled, and a wolf emerged.

On the first floor of the Tower, where it’s difficult to even find a monster, a wolf had entered the village!

This was no small matter.

Most of the villagers had combat abilities close to zero, meaning this could easily lead to significant damage.

However, despite noticing the wolf’s appearance, the village chief showed no surprise. The wolf, upon facing him, lowered its tail and bowed its head.

“The predecessor one escaped the base? Haha, it dares to foolishly bring its head to me.”

Was the chief talking as if having a conversation with a wolf? Holding his gaze on the crescent moon, he spoke joyfully.

“Although I doubt those clueless outsiders could figure anything out, the thought of enjoying an appetizer before the full moon is quite exciting.”

In an instant, his eyes turned a shade of red.

The wolf lowered its head even further, trembling with its tail.

“Silence its vocal cords before it speaks nonsense. I’ll handle the aftermath personally.”

“Grrr……”

The wolf responded with a low growl, then quietly retreated into the bushes.

Stretching wide, the chief got up from his rocking chair.

“Ugh! This body is too uncomfortable. My muscles itch, and I can’t bear it.”

As he stretched, the village chief’s body suddenly twitched.

Muscles, wild and inappropriate for his age, bulged beneath his skin, and a thick, metallic scent of blood began to fill the air.

Sharp, previously unseen fangs jutted out from between his lips.

At that moment.

“Who’s there!”

Swish!

The chief whipped his hand behind with sharp intent.

Somehow, sharp claws had extended from his hand. Claws that resembled those of a ferocious beast.

However, there was nothing present where his hand struck.

“… Was it the wind?”

The village chief muttered to himself as he retracted his claws.

He thought that being surrounded by humans might have dulled his instincts, and as he grasped the door handle, a chilling voice came from behind.

“So, it was you.”

A cold wave of fear ran down his spine.

His survival instincts screamed in his mind, warning him that his life was in immediate danger if he didn’t act.

But before he could even turn his head.

– Opened the Treasury of Greed

[ Kilkergas’ Assassination Technique ]

– An assassination technique from Kilkergas, a legendary assassin who once instilled fear in the continent’s nobility. A supreme assassination technique that ensures one remains unaware of their impending death until the end.

Thunk!

“Gah!”

A cold metallic sensation pierced his nape.