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Chapter 17n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
3.
“He dodged that? A beginner?”
The user who shot the bone arrow at Seonghyun was dumbfounded.
He had aimed precisely, and was sure it would hit!
He dodged that?
The user's name was Bejiron.
He was the first to discover Garrick's hidden piece, and a high-level user at level 30 in Perthville.
That's why he couldn't believe it.
How did he dodge his level 30 attack?
A mere beginner?
“Did I aim wrong?”
‘No! That couldn't be.’
Bejiron was objectively an excellent user.
But why did he stay here when most users left the first village at level 20?
Because he lacked talent?
No.
Only one reason.
Because of the hidden piece.
The story of the cabin in the Labyrinth Forest had been circulating for quite some time.
But no user had been able to meet the conditions to enter.
Neither had Bejiron.
But Bejiron couldn't just leave that cabin, which was clearly a hidden piece.
Others were busy leaving the beginner village and leveling up quickly to grow.
It was naturally difficult to spend time on a mere cabin with no apparent clue.
While others were leveling up and heading to the next village, he was in an uncertain endeavour by continuing investing time in it.
It wasn't that there weren't any users who wanted to gamble, but no one had found it yet.
But Bejiron was different.
He thought he would definitely get the hidden piece, even if it was a little late.
And after making inquiries and investing a considerable amount of time, he was finally able to find it.
“It's Garrick's cabin!”
Information he barely obtained after clearing countless quests from the library and other residents and increasing his intimacy.
He was able to obtain information that Garrick used to frequent the Labyrinth Forest.
And even information that the secrets of black mage were hidden in that cabin.
It was something other users besides Bejiron, a black mage, could not obtain.
An achievement made only with perseverance.
He was confident that he was ahead of everyone else.
‘No, no one else even knew about this hidden piece.’
But there was a user who came here before him.
“What the hell?”
Clearly, there was no user who found it before him.
He could guarantee it.
There was no sign of anyone coming and going to the gravediggers' quarters used by Garrick, let alone this cabin.
Bejiron was the first to set foot in it.
But how did this happen?
At first, seeing Seonghyun dodge the attack, Bejiron misunderstood.
Was he a high-level user like himself, exceeding Perthville's appropriate level?
But no.
The user looked like a beginner.
The equipment he had looked pretty good, but he was clearly a beginner.
Equipment didn't matter.
He couldn't fool Bejiron's eyes.
In the first village, including Perthville, there is a bracelet that you must receive when you reach level 10 and enter the vocational training center.
However, no bracelet was visible on either of Seonghyun's wrists.
"He's below level 10."
The fact that it wasn’t there meant he was not above level 10.
It could be that Seonghyun had already changed class, and since he wasn't level 10 yet, he came to get Garrick's hidden piece before that quest.
An accurate guess.
That's how the scouts knew Seonghyun was a beginner.
It was also a common way of distinguishing in the first villages, including Perthville.
"Is it a coincidence?"
Even if he wasn't a beginner, any user in Perthville would have been hit by that attack.
But Seonghyun dodged it.
That one point bothered Bejiron considerably.
"Hmm."
Even that seemingly calm voice.
He looked back at him with an unchanged expression and tilted his head.
As if asking why did he attack.
Does he really not know?
His nerves were on edge.
Perthville, a place where he remained despite being ridiculed by his friends for doing something foolish.
Only for the one hidden piece.
If he got that and moved on, it more than make up for the delayed level up.
No! Rather, he will surpass them all at once.
So this was.
"This is my hidden piece, so get out!"
Bejiron shouted.
Seonghyun looked at Bejiron and spoke as if he was strange.
"Excuse me? I arrived here first."
It really left him speechless.
No words of rebuttal came to his mind.
But it's okay.
"...Anyway, it's mine!!"
Warning messages were already lined up.
But he ignored them.
It didn't matter if he killed him anyway.
He was just trying to take what was originally his.
Dodging the bone arrow the first time was a coincidence.
He was dodging all the attacks of the two zombies and the skeletons, but he would be caught soon.
Then it would be over.
‘Now, shall we pull that a little closer?’
He dodged it by chance earlier, but this time, he won't even have a chance.
"Bone Arr..."
As Bejiron tried to deploy the skill, a change occurred.
Seonghyun's eyes glowed teal, and a teal energy rose from behind his back.
‘What is that?’
He couldn't understand it, and he didn't.
It certainly seemed like a black mage skill, but a beginner who wasn't even level 10 had changed class?
Strange.
One can change class at level 10, and if they’ve already changed class, there's no way they wouldn't have a bracelet.
But that's definitely a black mage’s skill.
Bejiron being a black mage himself, could feel it.
Then, the eerie teal energy gathered and formed the shape of a heart behind Seonghyun's back.
The shape of a heart that felt so vivid, like the real thing.
His eyes trembled violently at the sight of the heart, identical to the one he had seen in old training materials.
Could it be an incredible skill?
He was suddenly afraid.
'Ah, no. That can't be!'
But he desperately denied it.
It must be a skill with special effects.
He denied it like that.
There's no way a beginner could have such an amazing skill.
But that thought was only for a moment.
Thump, thump.
As the heart started to beat.
Bejiron's thoughts shattered, and a teal energy began to spread eerily around him.
The teal fog didn't obstruct his vision, but it enveloped a fairly wide area around him.
And as he touched that energy.
[You have been exposed to an irresistible force.]
[Your health will continuously decrease.]
An irresistible force?
Him, a level 30 user, in Perthville?
‘No, that can't be, can it?’
It seemed like some kind of curse, so he needed to dispel it.
Curse countermeasures are essential for a black mage.
"Dispel!"
[Your level is too low.]
[It's an irresistible force.]
[The normal skill, 『Dispel』 does not work.]
"Huh?"
Letting out a dumbfounded sound, Bejiron rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
‘What does that mean?’
He, a level 30, couldn't dispel it?
‘The level is too low?’
It was a series of incomprehensible messages.
At the same time, he felt the damage repeatedly coming in.
It was still bearable damage, but it was quite significant.
He thought he might lose if this continued, but it's okay.
He calmly regained his composure.
'He must have gotten lucky and obtained a high-rank skill, right?'
But even so, his undead are still intact.
No matter how powerful the curse is, a curse is a blessing to the undead.
‘I'll crush him with two zombies and five skeletons!’
That's when Bejiron had that thought.
"Groooar!?"
"Groar?!"
"Rattle!?"
Why were the zombies and skeletons making strange noises?
Why did they stop attacking?
"A-attack! Attack, I say!"
Bejiron shouted as if in a frenzy, but instead of listening to his commands, they opened their mouths wide toward the sky!
Then, as if vomiting something, teal smoke, similar to the smoke that had spread around the area, rose from between their open mouths.
Undead definitely shouldn't be cursed!?
‘What the hell is that!’
With trembling hands, Bejiron chanted Bone Arrow once again.
He felt like something would go wrong if he just stayed still.
It was an almost instinctive movement.
As Bejiron's Bone Arrow was completed.
"Bone Arrow!!!"
Bejiron chanted, and the bone arrow created in the air flew vigorously towards Seonghyun.
However.
Thud!
An arm like a black shadow appeared in the middle and snatched the arrow.
The owner of the arm, which was as black as a shadow but emitted teal smoke from the cracks in between, was a zombie.
The one that had been under Bejiron's command until just now.
[Your subordinate undead, 『Zombie 1』, has been seized due to overwhelming difference in level.]
[Your subordinate undead, 『Zombie 2』, has been seized due to overwhelming difference in level.]
[Your subordinate undead, 『Skeleton 1』, has been seized due to overwhelming difference in level.]
.......
.......
[Your subordinate undead, 『Skeleton 5』, has been seized due to overwhelming difference in level.]
"Huh?"
Now, not only the hidden piece, but also the undead were taken away.
‘Hey, give me back my undead.’
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