SPINOFF P3/3 – Who I always want by my side
Seasoned Crab began climbing Vasly Mountain early in the evening.
The night was as dark as ever and he relied on the faint moonlight and the touch of his hands for orientation.
‘I have to take the steep and cumbersome paths where people don’t usually go.’
The bandits typically guarded the paths used often by players and citizens.
He estimated that there would be almost no guards near the cliffs or the rocks.
‘Think realistically. The bandits use their brains too. But there has to be a way.’
Seasoned Crab laid down flat on the grass in wide fields and crawled slowly.
In the darkness he could not see the enemy clearly and in turn, it was less likely for himself to be discovered.
‘Take it slow. I have all the time in the world. Even if the sun comes up, I just have to hide somewhere unnoticeable.’
He moved through the night and reached where he could see their hideout.
His heart pounded as he could be discovered at any moment, but he managed to arrive safely. At the hideout, he could see the bandits roasting a boar by the fire without a care in the world.
‘It’s them. Nice, they’re drinking too.’
The bandits were partying with the supplies and loot they scavenged from the soldiers.
The leader Katan was drinking out of a barrel and there were no obstacles in the way for Seasoned Crab who was hiding up a tree.
He pulled out his bow and loaded a poison arrow.
‘Should I do it now? I’m not sure about this… Let’s just wait.’
If he had possessed the archery skill, it would have been a perfect opportunity but he decided to observe for a while instead. Truthfully, he wasn’t feeling confident enough for the kill.
While he was watching, the bandits continued to drink and one by one they began to fall asleep. The sun would rise in the morning, but he waited patiently.
‘It doesn’t matter if it gets bright. In combat, I can’t face them head on. They need to become properly wasted for me to get my chance.’
Time passed and some of the bandits headed inside one of the tents to sleep.
‘The leader will also head to his own tent. If that’s the case, it’s probably the biggest tent.’
Seasoned Crab carefully changed locations.
He was so tense that sweat ran down his back, but judging from what he saw, the bandits were not on high alert.
‘The opportunity is there. This is a war that I will lead and win rather than following the army.’
He made a bold entrance through one of the open windows.
It was a bandit’s room, with a wide bed, empty barrels and a handful of treasures scattered around! The treasures had to be worth at least several dozen gold each, but he scanned his surroundings with a keen eye.
‘The best place for an ambush… It has to be at an angle where I can’t be seen easily and can get to the bed in an instant.’
There were barrels stacked high just a bit further away but he decided to hide behind a pillar nearby.
Small breaths quietly escaped his lungs.
He could hear the muttering of the bandits from afar.
After a long moment, the door opened and a bandit with a threatening face walked into the room.
“Burrp!”
The bandit laid down on the bed.
Throb. Throb.
His heart pounded, but he waited.
In less than 5 seconds, he could hear a loud, dreaded snoring.
Seasoned Crab looked out the window and the sun was peeking over the mountains.
‘I don’t have to wait it out any longer. This is the moment.’
He already had the poison dagger in his hand as he slowly approached the bed.
His cloth-wrapped boots made almost no sound. If the bandit were to react, he was going to strike instantly. The bandit must have had so much to drink that he didn’t even wake up when Seasoned Crab stood right beside him. He aimed the dagger squarely at the throat and stabbed down hard.
< Critical Strike!
You stabbed the vital point of an unarmed enemy.
You applied 7x the damage to your base attack power.
You have taken his life.
You succeeded in an assassination! >
< You have gained a level. >
< Reputation has increased by 147. >
< Proficiency in sword technique is enhanced. >
***
Seasoned Crab assassinated 41 drunken bandits that day alone.
He gained 3 levels.
‘This is so worthwhile.’
Once he returned to Olth, the other players were busy packing their bags for moving.
‘It was the right decision to consider the traits of those bandits rather than a frontal assault.’
Suddenly, he remembered a famous line by the god of war, Weed from the Continent of Magic. Though he never met Weed in person, his words were spread across the communities on the internet.
– There are no monsters that cannot be hunted. Neither is there someone who can’t.
– Once you start clobbering, don’t stop.
– There always were people who talked behind my back, until they got a beating.
Seasoned Crab was certain.
‘This quest. There is a way to clear it.’
He spent all of his money on buying several liquor barrels from Olth along with sleeping herbs. The money Weed would have been crying over was all spent for a greater purpose. He took the barrels mixed with the sleeping herbs on a wagon and abandoned them near the mountains.
‘I’m sure they will take it up themselves.’
It was betting on luck, but it was a trap with a high chance of success.
“Is this liquor?”
“Let’s take this back to the hideout.”
The bandits were excited to take the barrels.
That night, Seasoned Crab visited the hideout again and succeeded in assassinating 60 bandits. He gained 3 more levels and his Novice sword technique increased by 2 levels. On top of that, he acquired stats from combat achievements.
< You have earned the title ‘Master of Assassination’.
You have executed the enemy swiftly and with precision.
The bandits did not even get a good look at your shadow.
Agility has increased by 12 points.
The first Critical Strike applies 200% additional damage. >
‘Master of assassination… Heh. This makes hunting so much easier.’
The bandits tended to respawn over time.
Seasoned Crab roamed the dungeons and hunting grounds near Olth and exterminated the bandits every two or three days.
His level advanced rapidly and so did his skill in hunting and assassination of bandits.
‘It sure is easy to level up. At this pace, becoming one of the top players in all of Royal Road isn’t just a dream anymore.’
A sense of security was spreading among the players of City Olth because no one was actually suffering from the bandits.
“That’s weird. The bandits settled down… But the security level of the city did not decline that much.”
“There’s no ambush either. I heard those are scary.”
“You’re right. Dozens of bandits hunting players.”
Seasoned Crab’s unseen efforts was turning City Olth into a safer location. What’s more was that he had succeeded in hunting all the bandits at least once.
Blink!
< The Bandits Threatening The City Complete.
The bandits of Vasly Mountain could not avoid the silent approach of death.
The dead bandits will never be able to put Olth in danger again. >
Quest complete!
It was an emotional moment for Seasoned Crab, but also for the remaining players who could not abandon their homeland as they cheered.
“What. The quest is complete!”
“What happened? Who exterminated them?”
The players were puzzled and the citizens began speaking.
“Do you know about Seasoned Crab? They say you cannot escape his blade.”
“The bandits he went after probably had no idea that they would be killed.”
“Beware of the shadows! Seasoned Crab may be hiding!”
***
Seasoned Crab departed from the city of Olth.
No players could match his level as he was far beyond them.
‘Hoo. Is there going to be anyone in Versailles who could compete with me?’
He roamed the Central Continent for mercenary requests and hunting grounds.
“No outsiders can enter this place. Go somewhere else.”
“Sorry?”
“You can hunt for a week by paying the 50 gold entrance fee.”
“That’s too much.”
“Then beat it.”
It was common to see the guild hog the good dungeons and exploit other players.
Seasoned Crab sometimes paid the fee, but usually he travelled far from the city to hunt.
They weren’t efficient hunting grounds, so he encountered monsters less frequently, which lowered his rate for levelling up.
‘This is a cheap, dirty world.’
A guild tried to recruit Seasoned Crab.
“I heard you left Olth? Hehehe. Join our guild. We will provide you with the hunting grounds and equipment.”
“I don’t have a lot of money.”
“Forget about money. We will provide everything once you join. Of course, if a war breaks out you must fight with us.”
Seasoned Crab turned down all the invitations and acted alone.
He did register into a guild for a few days only to quit after realizing the internal affairs.
In conflicts against other guilds he would fight proudly, but there were many incidents where he had to maintain dungeons or hunting grounds and take entrance fees.
Sometimes they ambushed players that passed by and took their possessions.
Seasoned Crab cut all ties with other players.
“I will kill all villains.”
Only a single dagger will seek justice.
Regardless of player or monster, if he assessed them as a villain, he took care of them silently.
– The death bringing shadow, Seasoned Crab.
– Death that cannot be avoided, Seasoned Crab.
– Murderer of the shadows, Seasoned Crab.
– Soul destroyer, Seasoned Crab.
– Merciless slaughterer, Seasoned Crab.
Countless infamous titles were stuck to his name.
A long time passed.
Seasoned Crab arrived at the Fountain in Morata where he had a scheduled meet up.
“Crab-nim! Come quick.”
“Did you eat?”
“It’s Rice Thief-nim!”
“Where are we going to hunt today, Weed-nim?”
Seasoned Crab smiled brightly wearing the Robe of the Assassin.
Weed was busily making a sculpture.
The trustworthy Pale stood beside him with his bow.
The kind Irene looked good in her long white dress.
Mage Romuna stood impressively, staff in hand.
Surka with her mad fists but soft heart.
The passionate and beautiful Hwaryeong.
The complaining instrumentalist Bellot.
Where he arrived he found the comrades he wished to be at his side forever.
< Spinoff Complete >