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Chapter 47
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Akare’s hunting grounds are vast by design.
They’re large enough to accommodate a large number of players.
Of course, if the crowd becomes too much to handle,
separate channels are automatically generated to reduce congestion.
That said, apart from the official launch,
there hasn’t been a time when channels were necessary due to player traffic.
This is why Mages became increasingly efficient hunters as the game progressed.
When the hunting grounds were empty,
they could hunt as if monopolizing the entire area alone.
“I want to play as a Mage.”
While hunting alone in The Gorge of Wyverns, I felt a wave of regret.
Inquisitor, Priest, Paladin.
Among the Second Awakening classes for Priests,
the Inquisitor’s position was closest to that of a Martial Artist.
It was specialized for raids over hunting,
and even more for PVP over raids.
You could say its PVP stats were even more extreme than a Martial Artist’s.
Because of this, it didn’t perform well in PVE-related content
compared to other Second Awakening classes.
Sure. I knew all of this.
I chose the Inquisitor fully aware of its limitations.
But I never imagined I wouldn’t get a single offensive skill.
It’s so unfair.
Seriously, it’s unbelievably unfair.
If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve chosen a Priest or a Paladin instead.
Crunch—!
[Critical Hit!]
“Phew…”
Wyverns and Drakes, as dragon subtypes, have an “inverse scale.”
Landing a hit on this scale triggers a guaranteed critical hit.
This is common knowledge, even posted on Akare’s official site.
Yet, not all players aim for the inverse scale.
Why? Because the scale is incredibly small.
While a real dragon’s inverse scale is large enough to observe with the naked eye,
Drakes and Wyverns?
You’re just dragon wannabes.
Naturally, they’re smaller than dragons, and so are their inverse scales.
So, most players don’t bother targeting them.
Before the Second Awakening,
you could still play smoothly with party play without focusing on the inverse scale.
And after the Second Awakening?
Hunting became so easy it felt like watching MoTube Shorts lying down.
They call it a “damage crush” playstyle.
Crushing everything with pure damage.
But as an ordinary player without any offensive skills,
I couldn’t rely on damage crush.
I had to swing my heavy mace,
target the inverse scale, and hunt manually.
Even with a critical hit, they wouldn’t die in one blow.
Wyverns took two hits, and Drakes required three.
“Mob hunting is the answer.”
One of the Second Awakening skills, Mark of Heresy,
is exclusive to Inquisitors.
The other skill, Rule of Light, is a universal skill given to all Second Awakenings.
Since Mark of Heresy was practically useless outside raids or PVP,
I discarded it.
But Rule of Light was an AOE skill with a lingering damage-over-time effect.
So I roamed the gorge, targeting Drakes’ inverse scales twice,
then used Rule of Light.
This would wipe out a group of injured Drakes in one go.
If I were a Mage, this could have been done with a single click.
This realization brought another wave of regret,
but I pulled myself together and continued hunting.
Then, it happened.
I had gathered about a dozen Drakes,
waiting for Rule of Light to come off cooldown.
Suddenly, Chain Lightning was cast from somewhere,
obliterating the Drakes in an instant.
“Ah, ahhh…”
The Drakes I had painstakingly gathered to defeat in one go…
“Why, why?”
Why can’t I ever be happy in Akare?
Memories of my past flashed before my eyes like a montage.
The Rice-Farming Saintess, Hacker, Crazy Bitch…
All the weird nicknames I’d been branded with.
The resentment and sadness from those moments surged all at once.
“I can’t forgive this.”
I followed the mana residue left behind by Chain Lightning.
Before long, I spotted two men chatting near a Record Point.
“Sweet?”
Memories of my first encounter with Suzuka flooded back.
All the trouble had started with that meeting.
Stealing monsters in a hunting ground was a serious crime in Akare,
punishable by summary execution.
But if I acted rashly here, my reputation—
already tarnished by beating up Cultists—
would plummet even further.
Take it easy. Calm down.
“…We can call Suzuka for the Cultist buff.”
“Excuse me.”
Wait.
Now that I think about it, that Chain Lightning—
didn’t it have more than ten chains?
Chain Lightning normally starts with a single chain.
With enhancements, it adds two chains per level,
reaching seven at Lv.3.
To my knowledge, no one had ever achieved triple casting.
In other words, Sweet’s Chain Lightning was at Lv.3.
Anger surged.
If I had Divine Punishment, the top-tier offensive skill for Priests,
or Sanctification, which creates a domain enhancing all skill effects by 50%,
I’d use them brilliantly too.
But as someone stuck without even a basic offensive skill,
my composure was completely shattered.
“Did you just kill the mobs I gathered?”
Unable to hold back, I checked Sweet’s realization count.
Five. The maximum number obtainable from the Tower of Magic.
He had maxed out Chain Lightning in just five tries?
Good for him. How impressive.
But just because you’re skilled, does that make it okay to steal?
“Uh, well…”
Sweet’s obvious panic showed he hadn’t done it on purpose.
But unintentional or not, a mistake is still a mistake.
Still, if he just apologized sincerely, I could let it go…
“…Rice-Farming Saintess?”
Shaking—
Don’t cause trouble.
This was the promise I always made to myself whenever I played a sub-character.
And now, that promise was broken.
“Mark of Heresy.”
[Please specify the target and reason.]
The target was Sweet.
The reason was Monster Stealing.
In RPGs, monster stealing is a serious offense.
Sweet had stolen monsters from an Inquisitor while hunting.
Thus, he was a heretic.
Surrounded by Blessing and a Holy Barrier,
I activated Radiant Light to release a sudden flash.
Though it only dealt damage to undead monsters, that didn’t matter.
The unexpected burst of light was enough to blind the target.
Sweet covered his eyes with his arms,
but the Blindness debuff had already taken hold.
“Rest in peace.”
I swung my mace with all my might toward the blinded Sweet.
***
Rice-Farming Saintess.
Was that the trigger?
[You have been marked as a heretic by the Inquisitor ‘Fera.’]
[Reason: Monster Stealing.]
[You have been branded with the Mark of the Church.]
“What is this…”
Before Sweet could process what was happening,
the system message updated again.
[Inquisitor ‘Fera’ has initiated the Heretic Judgment.]
[Mark of the Church!]
[PVP is forcibly activated.]
As Sweet read the system messages blocking his vision,
a flash of Radiant Light burst in front of him.
Caught off guard, Sweet fell into a state of blindness.
“Rest in peace.”
Without giving him a chance to say, “What are you doing all of a sudden?”
Crunch—!
A grotesque sound of something breaking echoed,
and Sweet’s vision went dark.
In the pitch-black void,
only the familiar resurrection message and the broadcast chat window appeared.
“What the…”
Did I die?
―――
Rice-Farming Saintess, Hacker, Crazy Bitch Let’s go!
Welcome back, former overlord of InGameGal!
There really are Inquisitors?
Wow, that’s terrifying.
First time seeing someone actually play as one.
A legendary incident.
You’re dead lol.
―――
“Guys, what’s an Inquisitor?”
Accepting his death, Sweet voiced his curiosity.
―――
You need to punish 100 cultists to unlock it lol.
It’s one of the second awakening classes for Priests: Priest, Paladin, and Inquisitor.
―――
If Priests inherit the traditional path of clergy,
those who choose the Knight sub-class become Paladins.
Similarly, with the appearance of cultists, the Inquisitor class was also unlocked.
But the requirements were so unusual that most players avoided it.
Players who choose Priests usually enjoy PVE content, after all.
―――
[Anonymous User donated 10,000 won]
Information: The Inquisitor’s exclusive skill ‘Mark of Heresy’
grants the Mark of the Church only if there is a valid reason.
This mark is normally only found on cultists or monsters belonging to the Salvation Church.
Priests can forcibly activate PVP against marked targets at any time.
―――
“Oh, yeah, thanks for the detailed explanation.”
―――
Respect for the 10,000-won rice mound donation.
Wow, they packed that bowl full.
TMI king strikes again.
Anonymous nailed it with the explanation.
―――
Thanks to the concise explanation from the anonymous user,
Sweet understood the situation but was left with a lingering question.
“But how does our anonymous friend know all this…?”
―――
Probably collected about 100 cultist heads~
Are you an insider?
Oh! The anonymous user knows everything.
What the…
Shocking.
―――
Although curious, Sweet decided to keep the anonymous user’s secrets intact.
He opened the map.
The respawn location could be set to a city or a Record Point in the area.
“Wouldn’t respawning at The Gorge of Wyverns just get me killed again?”
If he revived in the same spot, he might fall victim to spawn-killing.
However, the situation also presented an opportunity to recruit a much-needed Priest for his Emperor Hunt.
As Sweet deliberated internally, a familiar sound effect played.
Jingle—!
―――
[Anonymous User donated 10,000 won]
Information: The Inquisitor’s ‘Mark of Heresy’ won’t activate without a valid reason.
Valid reasons include verbal abuse, monster stealing, using illegal programs, exploiting bugs, etc.
In conclusion, Sweet doesn’t need to worry about being spawn-killed.
―――
“Ah, thank you! Honestly, your knowledge could rival AIChat. Incredible info!”
Sweet gave a thumbs-up, even though it couldn’t be seen in the darkness.
It didn’t matter, as the thumbs-up was one of Sweet’s signature reactions.
―――
Suspiciously knowledgeable anonymous user.
Terrifying.
Did they torture cultists to gather this info?
Seriously creepy.
Shivers.
―――
Following the suspiciously accurate advice,
Sweet respawned at The Gorge of Wyverns.
“Huh.”
The first sight greeting Sweet upon respawning was a hunter standing on their hands.
Fera, holding a blood-stained mace, turned her gaze toward Sweet.
“…”
“Uh, I’m sorry?”
The moment Sweet met Fera’s hollow red eyes,
he instinctively apologized.
Even Sweet didn’t know why he was apologizing.
Was it the oppressive pressure?
The fear? A primal terror?
He couldn’t quite explain it, but it felt something like that.
“That’s, um, my friend. They didn’t do anything too bad, so…”
“I know.”
Hoping to at least save his audience,
Sweet tried to reason with her.
“That’s why I didn’t kill them.”
The only response was a chilling statement.
—
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