ALL NOVEL Chapter 39
Chapter 39 – The Miracle of the Outskirts (9)
I wanted to ask how you knew that and whether you were truly the Archangel of that world, but it was impossible. I was just a character in that other world.
All I could do was express my feelings by giving a thumbs-up to reassure Riena, who seemed shocked by his words.
“So, will you ride?”
Legnore urged for an answer. There was effectively no choice, as refusing would halt the game’s progress. Unsure of how it worked, but I pressed the accept button anyway.
Soon, a prompt asking if I would board the cart appeared, and I interacted with it to climb aboard. Riena seemed cautious, slowly getting on as well.
‘I wonder how this will go.’
In the game, a loading screen would appear, and the space would change instantly, but given the mysterious dialogue suggesting the NPC recognized my player identity, this was at least outside the realm of the game, at least for now.
Our destination was quite far from here, but could it be that we really had to travel all that way? Riding in this cart might take days, for all I knew.
“Oh.”
However, my concerns were unfounded. The moment the cart started moving, a loading screen popped up, and the scene transitioned.
The loading itself didn’t take long, as the screen came alive again in less than thirty real-world seconds at a completely different place.
My character and Riena had already disembarked from the cart.
“–, —.”
For me, it was just a game, so I didn’t think twice, but for Riena, it must have felt like moving through space.
Thinking about this, I turned to her, and Riena gave an awkward smile, surprisingly calm. Considering all she had experienced up to now, perhaps moving through space wasn’t that big of a deal.
“The wicked demon lords each try to engulf this world in their own ways. If you wish to save this foolish world filled with blind power-holders, crowds unable to resist their desires, and corrupt clergy, then hunters like you must step up. I’m just an insignificant merchant, but I hope to see you again someday.”
Legnore, still on the cart, delivered a meaningful line. It was a part of his scripted dialogue from the game. With that, he moved the cart away.
‘Is our goal the same after all?’
The face I saw in the strategy videos looked identical. Yet Legnore’s face had something different. It was hard to dismiss it as a mere graphic model.
Of course, the demon boss, Death Demon Deus, had become an existing being too, spouting nonsense before being eliminated, so I shouldn’t be surprised now.
Above all, since our goals aligned—exterminating the demon lords and clearing the game—it didn’t matter.
‘First, I need to set up my equipment.’
I folded my complicated thoughts there and turned my character’s body to observe the scenery unfolding before me. The setting for Chapter 2 was no longer a fallen rural domain but a reasonably bustling city.
This was the place where the real game started, following the extension of the tutorial that was Chapter 1. From here, I could not only progress the story but also evolve skill trees, combine abilities, and start farming special equipment.
I was thinking of using those to empower Riena and the residents. Since I wasn’t sure when I’d be able to tackle the Chapter 2 boss, I planned to hit the nests I hadn’t attacked yet after gathering the residents.
‘Alright, let’s go.’
Having already mapped out a plan using strategy videos, I led Riena towards the sprawling urban area outside the castle wall, jumping and rolling as a habit.
From a player’s point of view, jumping was a basic action, but it surely looked ridiculous to others. The NPCs wouldn’t usually react, but their stares felt sharp.
*
“He is a special being, so it’s alright to trust him.”
“…Are you speaking to me?”
“And we do trust you too.”
The moment the cart set off. When the loading screen appeared on his monitor.
Riena cautiously climbed aboard the cart she had never ridden before and felt unsettled by Legnore’s sudden remark as he held the reins.
“Really.”
Seeing her reaction caused Legnore to chuckle, and at that moment, the cart jolted. As Riena turned to look at him, she found herself no longer sitting in the cart but standing outside in an instant.
Legnore calmly bid farewell in that situation, and he, watching it all happen, showed barely any reaction, as if it were completely normal.
‘So this is…fine.’
Seeing him so composed helped Riena to calm her surprise. He thought she wasn’t shocked much from all her tough experiences, but in truth, she was quite startled.
She merely suppressed it, thinking this was normal owing to the strong bond they had formed. This bond was not just a simple connection but a powerful trust forged through fighting together and protecting each other’s lives.
“What’s going on?”
“Seems to be a person overflowing with unnecessary energy. What about the lady next to him?”
“…”
Even though he was drawing attention with unnecessary rolls and jumps, Riena tried hard to appear unfazed.
There wasn’t a single thing he had done wrong up until now. Furthermore, just before, having felt the limits of her strength and getting chased away from the Bug Nest, Riena was in a hurry to grow stronger.
‘Is he even aware of it?’
Still, having overheard the whispers surrounding them, his previously exuberant behavior calmed a bit as they entered the city.
“Do you have a set destination?”
Riena mustered her courage and spoke first. He turned his body to look at her when he heard her call.
Whether he truly understood her or not, Riena had no idea, but he had responded positively whenever she called or spoke to him.
‘Well, he must know something. No need to ponder how he knows it.’
He didn’t reply like usual but nodded, as if he understood a bit, and pointed to one side.
He was definitely moving with a purpose. It was some kind of sub-quest for gaining special equipment that needed to be completed before progressing the main story.
“Quite unique customers, it seems.”
‘Armor Artisan…?’
He led Riena without hesitation to a shop located in the city center as it grew larger closer to the castle walls.
With a mix of excitement and a bit of nervousness, Riena, captivated by the typical medieval fantasy city and people she had never seen before, instinctively sensed the unusual presence of the people inside the shop as they reacted to her and him.
This artisan actually fulfilled the role of a shopkeeper who could craft equipment or purchase materials after completing related quests.
The man was short but sturdy, with rough skin and a grim expression, brushing off Riena and Legnore with a grunt.
“You’re tracking demonic traces? For someone I’ve just met, you certainly speak ominously, but you don’t seem like someone from the Order.”
Riena couldn’t hear him, but he, through the options available, began speaking to the artisan. The artisan, too caught up in Riena’s startled reaction, absentmindedly chuckled and waved his hand.
“There’s work to be done, but I won’t deal with a mercenary I don’t know.”
The artisan dismissed his proposal to eliminate the demons as was typical for the game’s system flow. To persuade him here, Riena would need to engage in a few additional dialogues to receive a qualification verification quest.
“We really took down the monsters that occupied the castle and devoured the villagers’ souls.”
Then Riena spoke up. She felt frustrated witnessing him be disrespected by a mere artisan.
“Anyone can talk.”
Then a variable occurred. The artisan turned his gaze to Riena and laughed, finding it amusing.
“If you really want to know, there’s a cost. You don’t think you can get something for free, do you?”
“What’s that?”
Taken aback, Riena glanced at him nervously while responding to the artisan’s teasing remark. He merely watched the situation unfold, not stopping her reactions.
“A beast has appeared in the West Forest, and the leather hunters I hired fell victim to it. I’m on the verge of losing my business because of it. If you take it down, I’ll give you whatever you want.”
“Th-the beast?”
Naturally, the artisan smoothly assigned a quest to her following the flow of conversation. In truth, this was the first time Riena, having spent nearly her whole life in the small tribe of the Grassland, was communicating with outsiders in such a way, causing her eyes to widen.
‘Is it really okay?’
Looking for a hint of approval from him, Riena felt relieved as he showed a thumbs-up and nodded. Perhaps she had jumped in without permission, but essentially, the quest was received regardless of the different processes.
“Fine. I’ll hunt that beast.”
Ultimately, the quest was established under Riena’s leadership. He then turned as if he had been waiting and led her toward the western side of the city.
‘Now I have more to share with people.’
As they crossed the city together, Riena faintly smiled with a fluttering heart. She was not the only frog in the well. The villagers from the small tribe of the Grassland felt the same way.
Every experience she had in this different world was a fresh sensation and amusing tales for them.
One of Riena’s recent joys was sharing her adventures with the village children.
Like Balun willingly accepting the druid’s spell, they were a blank slate in good ways. They could absorb whatever they witnessed and heard just as it was.
That was the advantage unique to them, one that couldn’t be matched by other tribes or even the settled ethnic groups across the wall who looked down on them as barbarians.
“Ah.”
The map, meaning the portals scattered throughout the city, was no longer a mystery to her since she had already experienced space travel.
Stepping onto the blue portal in the middle of the street, she found herself dropped onto a forest path outside the city, hardly fazed like the local inhabitants.
‘Is it over there?’
Moreover, the one leading her was someone already knowledgeable about everything in this world. With no doubts, she quickly began to follow him as he moved along.
“I hear it. It’s not far.”
Soon, Riena’s keen ears caught the sounds of beasts echoing through the forest.
Whether it was by luck or misfortune, no others had been hunted down before they arrived.
A valiant warrior by nature, Riena, who had been practicing her combat skills every day recently, instinctively drew her sword and planted it into the ground with fluidity.