Translator: Dreamscribe

Despair descended upon Gron Village.

As the evil Death Knight stretched out its hand, a rusted sword embedded in the ground was sucked into its grip.

Kwahhh!

A menacing flame surged from the rusted sword. When the Death Knight raised the sword high, the flames burst in all directions and fell to the ground.

Wherever the flames landed, ominous magic circles appeared and multiplied as if dividing.

Vwooom!

Countless magic circles filled the area around the Death Knight.

From atop the stone wall, it looked as though the entire space in front of the village had turned into one massive magic formation.

[Arise.]

Pshuk! Pshuk!

As if crawling out of graves, Skeletons burst up through the ground. Their number reached a thousand in the blink of an eye, and continued to grow.

“Holy shit...!”

“T-That… all of that…!”

Flinch.

The overwhelming sight paralyzed not only the players below the wall but even those who had climbed up on it.

UruBear was also on the wall. He had come down from the Beastkin Village to temporarily store specialty goods in Gron Village.

-Hans is dead? That’s insane…

-Fuck, what is that…

-Wait, NPCs can die? Tell me it’s not true. Please…

With trembling hands, UruBear took out a Monster Appraisal Scroll from his inventory. He had purchased it from Everton Magic Shop.

Rip!

He tore the scroll and looked at the Skeletons. Instantly, their information appeared.

[Lv.10] Skeleton of Erosion

The Death Knight summoned it by corrupting the soul of an Arsilanian. The consumed soul screams in unspeakable agony.

Each of those numerous Skeletons was on par with a Corrupted Goblin.

“Aaaagh!”

The Northern Grand Duke charged at the Death Knight, swinging her two-handed axe. She smashed through Skeletons as she ran, but there were simply too many.

“Hans... Hans...!”

Crunch!

The Northern Grand Duke’s attacks became nearly frenzied.

She swung her axes wide and smashed two Skeletons to pieces.

Grrrrk!

But from the shattered Skeletons, violet flames surged and fused them back together as they stood up once more.

Flick!

With a flick of the Death Knight’s finger, the Skeletons split to either side.

What was it about to do?

The Death Knight looked at her and opened its mouth.

From that mouth, a dark current spewed forth and took the form of Hans’s face.

[Kuh, kuhuhu! Do you want him back? Then come and take him.]

“You fucking son of a bitch!!”

The Northern Grand Duke charged the Death Knight with all her might. As she activated the most powerful skill she could use, a blast of cold surged from her two-handed axe.

But her axes never landed.

Squelch!

The Death Knight’s sword pierced straight through her charging body.

[How weak.]

That horrifying voice was filled only with mockery.

The Death Knight looked at the Northern Grand Duke, then swung its sword. Her impaled body flew through the air and crashed into the stone wall.

“Han....”

Northern Grand Duke's body fell helplessly to the ground and disappeared, turning to ash.

[...Kill them all and burn everything!]

At the Death Knight’s command, the Skeletons began to climb the stone wall.

The number of players wasn’t exactly small. Nearly a thousand players were ready to fight at that moment, but compared to the ever-growing number of Skeletons, they looked few.

Monster wave!

That expression came to mind.

“Stop them!”

Players fired arrows and cast spells at the Skeletons climbing the stone wall. But there was no sign the Skeleton numbers were decreasing. As long as the Death Knight existed, they would reform and rise again even if destroyed.

Crack!

The Skeletons overlapped their bodies and formed ladders that clung to the stone wall.

“They're climbing over!”

“Urgh!”

Skeletons reached the top of the wall.

UruBear struck one down with his shield, but more kept coming, climbing up endlessly. In the end, UruBear had no choice but to retreat.

“Hold them back! We must protect Gron!”

"Uwaaaaak! Kuerk! Sorry, Julia.... I was going to confess to you tomorrow...."

“No! Aaaaaa!”

The guards who were desperately fighting on the wall were surrounded by Skeletons and met their deaths.

At first, they seemed to turn into golden particles, then became tainted violet.

“Evacuate the villagers! Through the back gate...! Ku hack!"

“Aaagh!”

The guards fell one by one.

The players saw them die like that. Skeletons that took over the wall pushed swiftly into the village interior.

“There’s… too many of them!”

“Magic isn’t working well!”

The players fought back against the Skeletons, but their numbers quickly dwindled.

Gron Village echoed with screams.

“Hero! Please evacuate the villagers! We can’t hold them off! If we can call for help from Lunatie....”

Just as Guard Lonta shouted that toward the players.

Crash!

The village gate shattered, and the Death Knight appeared.

Everyone’s eyes turned to the Death Knight. UruBear and the players gulped as they stared at it.

[In return for the pleasure you've given me, I shall offer you a gift.]

The Death Knight extended its hand, and a magic circle appeared. Familiar NPCs emerged from it. Their skin was pale like corpses, and their hair had turned to gray.

Hans, the village guards, and Naria, the receptionist at the Gron branch of the Adventurer’s Guild, stood there.

UruBear froze. Just recently, he had been speaking with Naria, and now she had appeared before him as a monster.

[Erosion] Corrupted Naria

*Affinity -100% (Extremely Hostile)

That was the banner floating above her head.

Hans was the same.

-Ah...

-What is this.

-No way.

Lonta, who stood in front of UruBear, stared blankly at her, then charged at the Death Knight.

“No! Naria! You bastard! Aaaaah!”

Squelch!

Naria stepped in front of the Death Knight and plunged a dagger into Lonta’s chest. She shed black tears with a blank expression.

“N-Naria....”

Thud!

Lonta’s body was devoured by darkness and vanished.

“...R-Run away!”

“Evacuate all the villagers! Hurry!”

The players led the surviving NPCs and fled Gron Village. Only after barely escaping through the back gate and putting some distance between them and the village were they able to stop.

Fwoooosh!

Flames soared from the direction of Gron Village. But those flames did not shine brightly. Rather, they made Gron darker than the night itself.

UruBear and the players stood frozen, blankly staring at Gron Village.

The Skeletons that had emerged from Gron Village began heading somewhere. Upon seeing the direction, UruBear’s face turned rigid.

-That way...

-Isn’t that Lunatie?

-No, what is happening all of a sudden?

“Lunatie...?”

The Skeletons did not stop and were heading straight for Lunatie, the Beastkin Village.

"We're fucked."

That was the only thought filling UruBear’s mind.

* * *

Lee Min-hyuk, a university student in Korea, was on the subway heading to class.

‘Should I take a leave of absence and get a part-time job?’

He had given gifts to Mia, cutting down on his living expenses. He could be called a sucker, but he didn't mind at all.

When Mia smiles, when Mia is happy, when Mia says thank you! Money doesn't matter!

Just seeing her perky ears made him content.

Her swaying tail felt like a heavenly gesture.

This happiness could never be measured in money.

“Heheh.”

He looked at his smartphone screen.

As soon as he saw a photo of him and Mia together, a smile broke out.

This was the exclusive privilege of someone who had broken through 50% Affinity.

‘Should I check on those average folks who haven’t even hit 50%?’

Smiling broadly, Lee Min-hyuk logged into Arsilan Worlds on his smartphone.

“Huh?”

All the top posts in Arsilan Worlds were urgent. Lee Min-hyuk clicked on one to read.

Title: Request for Help!

A Death Knight appeared and wiped out Gron.

Now it's marching toward Lunatie.

Anyone nearby, please gather at Lunatie quickly.

Hans is dead. Naria is dead too.

My friend Lonta as well.

I’m gonna kill that fucking bastard and get revenge.

Anonymous1: What? That’s insane.

HohoGamMan: What is going on? How could such an unbelievable thing happen? Naria died?!

└Anonymous2: They say the Death Knight killed her. I don’t know what’s going on.

└HohoGamMan: Fuck!

AnimalEarLover: I'm taking a day off right now.

└LickFlick: I turned around on my way to work too.

└PorkCutletKing: I’m going as well.

What is going on?

After reading through all the posts, Lee Min-hyuk’s complexion turned pale. He immediately got off at the next station.

“Mia...!”

Mia! She has to be safe!

Min-hyuk started sprinting toward home with all his might.