NoveLight ™
2.
The way he said it, especially the part about being looked for, sounded so sweet despite his rough accent.
This hidden piece seems like the kind where I have to find the room of the dead Garrick, look for clues, and visit several places.
However, as soon as Seong met Garrick’s ghost, it became unnecessary.
Seong thanked the other NPCs and distanced himself before speaking to Garrick.
“Are you the gravekeeper Garrick?”
“Hmm.”
How should I say this?
After a moment of hesitation, Seong spoke up.
“The village chief of Hindel Village said you might be of help and told me to find the gravekeeper Garrick.”
Would he understand if I just say this?
The thought turned out to be correct.
As soon as Garrick heard Seong’s words, he smiled brightly and nodded as if delighted.
“Oh.”
It went through right away.
Though Seong didn’t really understand why he was being looked for.
“Something?”
Again, the village chief Pam.
How much is he planning to give away?
Is there a reason for giving so much?
It’s a shame I didn’t hear exactly what the village chief said in the end.
As Seong wore a puzzled expression, Garrick scratched his head as if embarrassed.
If Garrick doesn’t know, then there’s only one way.
Seong would have to go check the item directly.
There are other users around, after all.
And he’d already met Garrick’s ghost.
“Let’s go right away.”
At Seong’s words, Garrick immediately responded.
Garrick took the lead to guide Seong, and Seong followed behind.
The atmosphere in the eerie graveyard was cold and unsettling.
It felt as if something might pop out at any moment, and the other users seemed visibly tense.
Some walked as if nothing was wrong, but their careful steps made it clear they were secretly nervous.
Seong, however, was completely unfazed, accustomed to this atmosphere.
For Seong, walking briskly through the graveyard was no different from walking anywhere else.
Ghosts coming out?
They were all friendly toward him anyway.
There was no need to be scared.
Though, he couldn’t help but click his tongue slightly, almost regretfully.
‘I can’t use the Legion of the Dead here.’
Was it because of the users' gaze?
No.
It wouldn’t be a problem since he could become a dark mage after leaving the newbie village and using his skills.
It wasn’t that.
It was the conditions for the Legion of the Dead.
The condition that he could only raise corpses he had personally killed due to his low level.
It was a rather annoying restriction.
Though it didn’t matter that much in the grand scheme.
Seong drew his sword and strapped it to his waist.
On the left, he secured a short sword-sized Tiger Fang, and on the right, a longsword-sized Steel Sword.
Once ready, he began walking briskly again.
Nearby users turned their attention toward him.
“Wow, looks like he’s not scared at all.”
“Seems like he’s pretty bold, huh?”
“Hm, he looks like a beginner, but he’s not bad.”
Some users seemed more focused on observing others than on hunting, as they scanned the players around them.
Seong didn’t know, but they were scouts from various guilds.
They were people stationed in the first village to recruit promising new players.
The calmness Seong showed in the graveyard was enough to catch their eyes.
That calmness and composure were essential qualities for gamers.
But apart from that, skill was still necessary.
Without skill, calmness and composure didn’t mean much.
“Ah? An undead’s appeared?”
“Let’s see how he handles it.”
“If you don’t have the skill, you’re done for.”
The scouts muttered, visibly excited.
A few of them, wishing to catch the scouts' attention, felt jealous seeing them focused on Seong.
But even if they were jealous, it was unlikely they could catch the scouts' eyes.
Just then, as an undead appeared, Seong was about to step forward when Garrick called out.
‘Hm?’
A sword, and blunt attacks?
In that moment, Seong recalled the memories of his previous sword instructor.
Wondering if there was a way to deliver blunt damage.
Just then, the instructor’s experience came to mind.
A skeleton appeared before Seong.
It was in a decrepit state, with no weapon in hand.
A low-level undead, barely worth the name.
Seong swung his sword toward it.
“Oh, he’s going straight for the sword.”
“Won’t kill it with that in one hit.”
“Did he forget to prepare a blunt weapon while in the graveyard?”
“He’s a beginner, so it’s understandable.”
As the scouts clicked their tongues in disappointment, one of them suddenly shouted.
“What!? Look over there!”
It was true that he swung his sword.
But instead of slashing, he used the broad side of his Steel Sword to strike the skeleton’s head directly.
Wham! Crack!
The sound of bone breaking echoed as the skeleton’s skull caved in with a single blow.
The decaying bones immediately turned to dust as the skull collapsed, scattering across the ground.
A clean and precise strike.
“With the sword’s flat side!?”
“Whoa! It’s not easy to land a hit with the sword’s flat side like that!”
“I think that was a critical hit! The light just flashed!”
“And look at that sword! It’s a longsword! A Steel Sword!”
“Whoa?! He might’ve spent money on it…”
“He actually chose that one?”
The scouts murmured, surprised and impressed.
The quick judgment and the sense to pull it off with precision were impressive.
Anyone who would say he lacked skill would be mistaken.
Just as the scouts were all praising him, Seong’s strike triggered some messages.
[Critical Hit!]
[The effect of “One Strike!” is activated!]
[You gain experience.]
[You’ve demonstrated an ability beyond common sense using “Unknown Power.”]
[Your Dexterity increases by +3 permanently.]
Along with the incoming memories and experiences from Garrick.
Garrick’s memories contained records of facing several undead.
Thanks to that, Seong could clearly feel how to handle undead.
And with that knowledge, paradoxically, Seong also figured out how a dark mage should deal with undead.
‘Ah.’
Could this be why Chief Pam asked me to find the gravekeeper?
Because I’m a dark mage?
No, that’s too much of an over-interpretation.
It’s better not to think too deeply.
For now, I’ll just keep hunting the undead.
There was no need to go all the way to Helena. Garrick’s memories and experiences were still less useful than those of the previous sword instructor or Hunter Apik.
His abilities and the fact that he was a gravekeeper didn’t make him particularly impressive.
However, at least the undead generated in this graveyard were different.
Clank, clank.
The skeletons began to rise again from the ground.
There were five of them.
If they were regular users, they would probably retreat right away, but Seong didn’t.
Instead, he sheathed his Steel Sword.
It wasn’t because he was trying to run away.
Tatatat!
He dashed toward a shovel lying a little farther away from the skeletons.
Kicking it up with his foot, he grabbed the shovel’s handle.
It was cold and heavy in his hands.
With the shovel now in hand, Seong’s eyes lit up as he ran again.
The sound of quick footsteps and his swift movement.
The skeletons, their hollow eyes locked on him, tried to follow, but they couldn’t keep up due to his quick turns.
When Seong neared them, a black mass appeared in front of him, and a crackling sound echoed.
Crack—!
With a dull sound, the first skeleton in the front collapsed, its bones shattered in a single blow.
The skeleton fell in one strike.
[Critical Hit!]
[The effect of “One Strike!” is activated!]
[You gain experience.]
Seeing Seong swing the shovel, the skeleton right behind him tried to grab him, but in an instant, Seong crouched down, lowering his stance.
Then came a follow-up low kick.
Thud!
Seong’s kick hit the frail leg bones of the skeleton, causing the three who tried to grab him to topple backward.
Ignoring the fallen ones, Seong swung the shovel at the one struggling to stand.
Crack!
[Critical Hit!]
[The effect of “One Strike!” is activated!]
[You gain experience.]
With a powerful swing of the shovel, the struggling skeleton turned to dust.
The remaining three skeletons tried to stand, but Seong, who had swung the shovel at the fallen one, wasted no time in stomping on the head of one of the toppled skeletons.
With a weak crunch, the skull shattered into powder, and Seong used the stomped foot as leverage to kick the other skeleton hard with his opposite leg.
Thud! Crack!
[Critical Hit!]
[The effect of “One Strike!” is activated!]
[You gain experience.]
[Critical Hit!]
[The effect of “One Strike!” is activated!]
[You gain experience.]
The skull of the skeleton that received the soccer kick shattered into dust as it fell, and when another skeleton tried to get up, it found that all its companions had already turned to dust.
The remaining skeleton, filled with fear, might have hesitated, but instead, it mindlessly rushed at Seong.
It revealed the undead’s pure hatred of the living.
Seong, reading the skeleton’s movement, ran past it as if gliding, grabbed the shovel’s handle, and swung it.
Using the skeleton’s momentum, Seong’s powerful swing of the shovel made a terrible noise.
Crack!
[Critical Hit!]
[The effect of “One Strike!” is activated!]
[You gain experience.]
In a single breath, Seong had dealt with all five skeletons.
The scouts watching this were left speechless.
“Goodness!”
“Ugh.”
“What, what was that?”
“Crazy f***ing shovel!?”
“Wow!”
The scouts couldn’t help but be amazed.
To think that such movements were possible with an ordinary shovel lying around.
Though the method was the same as the gravekeeper NPCs, it was on a whole different level from what the gravekeepers showed.
The speed of Seong’s mind in predicting movements, his awareness of every situation, and the path he took were all executed perfectly.
There was nothing lacking.
If anyone missed this, they would definitely regret it.
All the scouts thought the same.
This was someone they had to recruit!
Just as they were about to act on that sense of duty.
“Huh? Where did he go?”
“Wait?! He was right there just now?!”
“Where did he disappear to!?”
“We need to find him NOW!!”
Seong, who had been there a moment ago, was now gone.
In the moment they looked away, he vanished.
Where did he go!?
While the scouts were flustered and searching, Seong, guided by Garrick, quickly entered the forest behind the graveyard.
It was impossible for the scouts to see him.
The forest was dense.
The trees were so thickly planted that even Seong, who was running, had difficulty seeing ahead.
It was easy to get lost here.
The area was often referred to as the Labyrinth Forest by the players.
But Seong was running faster than anyone else.
All thanks to Garrick’s guidance.
If it weren’t for Garrick, what would he have done?
A hidden piece found by his own effort?
Sure, but when others are chasing, getting there first is the priority!
As Seong kept running through the winding trees without pause, something appeared in the distance.
Was it an open area?
The rest of the forest was so dark because the thick trees blocked out the light, but this place was different.
A soft light bathed the clearing.
And there, in the middle of the clearing, stood a small hut. Seong widened his eyes.
He had arrived.
[You have found a clue about Gravekeeper Garrick.]
[Conditions to approach Garrick’s hut are fulfilled.]
With the condition fulfilled, Seong was allowed to step into the clearing.
‘Am I the first one?’
Wondering if a player who had noticed it five days ago had already arrived, Seong glanced around.
There were no signs of anyone having been here.
Seong was sure he had arrived first, using Hunter Apik’s memories and experiences to confirm it.
With a sense of accomplishment, Seong moved toward the hut.
At that very moment.
Rustle.
He heard a noise behind him.
Having been recalling Hunter Apik’s memories, Seong instinctively turned as soon as he heard the sound.
Thud.
An arrow made of bone brushed past where Seong had just been standing.
Seong, with sharp eyes, turned to the source of the sound.
“A beginner avoiding this?”
There, he saw a user dressed in a robe, their eyes wide with shock, staring back at him.