LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 42
Chapter 42: Hideous Witch (3)
The city of Elron, burned by the Crimson Tower, was under the protection of the Dark Elves, making it a place no ordinary force dared to meddle with.
Dark Elves were a small tribe with a strong sense of belonging, known for their relentless vengeance against any who attacked them.
Additionally, Dark Elves were masters of archery and assassination, making it unpredictable when and where they might strike, regardless of how powerful the enemy might be.
“Dark Elves, huh. Vicious creatures indeed.”
Arriving in Elron, Yeonwol surveyed the surroundings.
Though all the buildings had crumbled into black ash, the city was bustling with people.
In this world, the destruction of a city did not equate to its complete demise. Monsters often emerged to feed on the death that lingered in such places.
[Lv. 142 Grey Lizardric]
[Title
The Grey Lizardric, a bipedal lizard monster with gray skin, lacked the intelligence of a Lizardman.
Instead of claws, it wielded sharp talons and struck with its poison-laden tail, which was both swift and deadly.
“Looking for a Bruiser class for a Lizardric hunting party! We’ve got a tank and healer, so you can just focus on dealing damage from behind.”
“Any ice-element mages? Generous loot distribution promised!”
“Level 155 swordsman looking for a Dark Elf Ash Fragment quest party.”
“Care to join us?”
Elron was teeming with players in the 140–150 level range.
This area was already popular as a hunting ground for mid-level players, and the city’s destruction had created a new hunting zone, drawing in a crowd.
Some players took an interest in Yeonwol, noticing that he was operating alone.
“Excuse me, you seem to be a melee class based on your armor. Would you like to hunt with us?”
“No thanks. I’m just here for a quest.”
“Ah, you must be doing a Dark Elf quest. Is it the Arsonist Pursuit quest by any chance?”
“Yes, something like that.”
“That one’s notoriously difficult; most people give up on it.”
“Is that so?”
“Hardly any clues are left behind. Besides, whoever burned down an entire village must be at least Level 180 or higher. It’s too much for players like us to handle.”
Considering the Dark Elves who guarded Elron were around Level 170, it made sense that a Level 150 group wouldn’t stand a chance against the arsonist.
“Well, good luck.”
Declining the players’ party invitations, Yeonwol continued to walk through Elron.
-Crack!
A Lizardric spotted Yeonwol and charged at him. Drawing his Blue Sea Blade, he aimed at the charging monster.
Crackle!
A wire formed at the Lizardric’s ankle, causing it to topple over.
This was predictive alchemy in action!
Yeonwol had perfectly predicted where the Lizardric would step a few seconds ahead and deployed alchemy in that spot.
It was an essential technique to make the typically slow activation speed of alchemy effective in combat.
But his alchemy didn’t stop there.
Sharp spikes had already sprouted in the direction the Lizardric was falling!
Thud!
Yet, being a Level 140 monster, the Lizardric’s tough hide wasn’t easily pierced by mere stone spikes. It twisted its agile body, reducing the damage to a minor scratch on its shoulder.
Snap! The wire binding its ankle broke as the Lizardric charged at Yeonwol again.
-Crack!
“The performance of this alchemy kit has improved, but it’s still not like the old days.”
Such was the limitation of production-based classes. No matter how skillfully alchemy was used in combat, it remained a support technique at best.
If alchemists were truly suited for combat, Yeonwol might have chosen that path again.
Swish-!
Left with no choice, Yeonwol swung the Blue Sea Blade, severing the Lizardric’s neck in a clean strike before shaking off the ashes from the sword.
[You have overcome an overwhelming level gap and defeated your enemy!]
[You gain a significant amount of experience points!]
Even though Yeonwol had hunted a monster 40 levels above him, his experience points did not increase dramatically.
After Level 100, the required experience points grew exponentially, making rapid progress like in lower levels impossible.
“Not that I came here to hunt anyway.”
Sheathing his weapon, Yeonwol ventured further into the city. Amid the ruins, a peculiar sight came into view.
A pitch-black tree, called a “Darkwood,” had sprouted in the center of the ruined city’s plaza!
This was a Dark Elf structure, as they could summon their homeland’s trees at any time to create a sanctuary.
It was a power unique to Dark Elves, something even High Elves couldn’t achieve.
High Elves regarded trees as friends and refrained from using them as weapons, specializing in spirit magic instead.
Dark Elves, on the other hand, treated trees as subordinates and wielded them like weapons.
Although their inability to use spirit magic was a drawback, Yeonwol personally didn’t rate spirit magic very highly.
Strategically, he considered Dark Elves much stronger.
“Halt, adventurer. State your purpose here.”
As Yeonwol approached the tree, Dark Elves intercepted him.
“I’m here to take on the Arsonist Pursuit quest.”
Yeonwol subtly pressed the button to display his nickname.
With his fame far surpassing his level, the Dark Elves looked at him with wide eyes in astonishment.
“You are quite a renowned player. Welcome. I hope you can solve our problem and exact vengeance for us.”
Dark Elves are famous for their cold rationality.
They are fiercely loyal to their own, avenging any harm done to them without letting emotions cloud their judgment.
“I like their temperament and find them trustworthy, but I never wanted to do quests with them.”
In his past life, Yeonwol had quite a headache working with them because of their cold-heartedness.
Unlike emotional humans, they make robotic decisions, even abandoning beloved comrades in danger without hesitation.
While such behavior has undoubtedly saved many lives, it is hard to ignore the unease it stirs in humans.
Guided by the Dark Elves, Yeonwol stepped inside the tree and was greeted by a Dark Elf who appeared to be the leader.
“Is your name Yeonwol? Though your reputation hasn’t reached our kind yet, you are known as a famed player elsewhere. I shall entrust you with the Arsonist Pursuit mission.”
[You have accepted the Hard Quest: ‘Elron City Arsonist Pursuit!’]
[The Dark Elves are determined to exact revenge on those who burned the city under their protection!]
“Given your high reputation, we can trust you with our information. Do you have any guesses about the arsonist’s identity?”
“Yes. The Crimson Tower.”
“Oh, this is surprising. To think a player has already uncovered that. Indeed, the Crimson Tower attacked the city under our protection. This is a clear challenge against the Dark Elves. We have marked the suspected hiding spot of the remaining mages from the Crimson Tower on this map.”
Ding!
With a wave of the Dark Elf’s hand, a holographic map visible only to Yeonwol appeared, revealing the terrain.
Unexplored areas beyond the city remained hidden unless players purchased a map or visited the locations themselves.
However, quest-provided information could unlock detailed maps.
“So, it’s roughly in that location. They’ve marked it well.”
This is exactly why Yeonwol had been so fixated on building his reputation.
Even he couldn’t remember everything that happened in such a vast world.
But with high reputation, information would come to him unbidden.
“The remnants of the Crimson Tower are being handled by us Dark Elves, but entering the tower itself is still impossible. However, a renowned player like you might manage it.”
“Of course.”
“Be cautious. The master of the Crimson Tower is the ‘Hideous Witch,’ estimated to be over Level 180. She is infamous for slowly burning her victims to death in flames of agony. Players like you are vulnerable to pain, so take special care.”
As the Dark Elf said, players often avoided fire-type monsters.
In this world, where pain was felt at 100%, the shock of burns was fully experienced.
While tanks with high defense could endure, agility-based classes were particularly wary of fire monsters.
“Don’t worry about me.”
For Yeonwol, accustomed to pain, this was not a concern.
In Yeonwol’s view, the “Crimson Tower” was a type of field dungeon.
Not all dungeons required a shift to another world to be classified as such.
Specific locations on the field could also be treated as dungeons, granting various dungeon benefits upon entry.
Unlike typical dungeons, field dungeons allowed multiple parties to enter simultaneously, making them exceptionally challenging to conquer alone.
“That works in my favor.”
For now, the Crimson Tower’s existence had not been disclosed to other players.
Unless they were highly reputable, Dark Elves wouldn’t trust them enough to share all the details.
If players managed to uncover information and approach the truth, only then would the location of the Crimson Tower be revealed as a “hidden quest.”
“There’s still some time before that happens. I’ve got plenty of time to monopolize the rewards in the Crimson Tower alone.”
Though he had shared footage of the Spectrals, Yeonwol found it bothersome to summon them and fight publicly.
Once recognized as Yeonwol, people would keep approaching him, chatting incessantly, picking fights, or even interrupting and stealing his monster kills.
“It’s no wonder famous players hunt discreetly.”
Whenever a celebrity or streamer appeared in a field, attention-seekers would flock to disrupt their hunting or insult them for fun.
Some guilds even harassed famous players who hunted in their territories without permission, relentlessly pursuing them until they broke down in tears.
The guilds then brazenly claimed, “If you can’t handle this, you have no right to stream hunting in our territory,” their immense power leaving fans unable to retaliate.
As a now-prominent figure, Yeonwol also needed a quiet place to hunt.
Naturally, all lucrative Level 150 hunting grounds had long been claimed by major guilds.
Field dungeons?
Anything remotely valuable had already been fiercely contested in bloody guild wars.
In other words…
[You have discovered the field dungeon, ‘Hideous Crimson Tower,’ for the first time!]
[A minimum of Level 150 and a 4-person raid party is recommended.]
[As the first to discover the dungeon, you receive a 1.5x experience bonus for one week.]
[You are ‘The First Great Challenger.’ Experience bonus increases by an additional 20%.]
This meant Yeonwol could monopolize a field dungeon coveted by major guilds for the time being!
“With my skills honed and the Spectrals upgraded…”
Yeonwol planned to stay here for a while, claiming all the experience for himself.