ALL NOVEL Chapter 23
‘Th-this…’
After ten years as a knight, I was betrayed by the lord and ended up as a wandering vagabond.
But somehow, I seemed to have a knack for thievery and, before I knew it, I had gained quite a number of subordinates.
What started as a small band of thieves quickly transformed into a large bandit group, and soon enough, I gained notoriety in the region.
‘These damn fools.’
Ten years of practical experience was no joke.
Even skilled swordsmen and promising mages had their necks chopped off the moment they resisted.
But the type that made the boss the most perplexed was not such strong opponents.
“This is your last warning!”
“Mi Jeong, just lay down.”
“······Okay.”
Even with the tip of the sword pressed against them, the man and girl chatted calmly.
It was driving me insane.
Everyone in this area knew the notorious reputation of the bandits.
While all other passengers raised their hands and hurriedly pulled their belongings from their pockets, these two seemed blissfully unaware of the situation.
‘This is why I hate foolish kids the most.’
If they resist, at least I have a reason to chop off their heads, but these kinds are way harder to deal with.
Since they ignored the warning, I couldn’t save face and let them live.
At this rate, there was no satisfaction in beheading them at all.
The boss clicked his tongue and raised his sword just then.
“Hmm?”
Yoo Jin’s eyes widened as he sensed a weak killing intent, locking gazes with the boss.
Goosebumps spread over his entire body.
Ten years of various combat experiences.
A keen sense sharpened by facing mages.
All of it screamed at him.
Run away.
The moment he realized it, the boss was already moving his body.
Thinking was too late.
He learned to rely on instinct to survive, leaving his body to act unconsciously.
‘Wait, but why is my line of sight spinning in the opposite direction?’
However, the direction his sight was spinning was strange.
If he jumped out of the carriage, his head should be facing the entrance.
Yet the boss was turning his head the other way.
“Oh, come on-”
Only then did he notice.
His sight spinning around, and only after seeing his own back did he realize.
In an instant so fast he could barely comprehend it.
He had already been beheaded.
“Eek?!”
Thud thud thud.
His head fell inside the carriage, rolling around as his body, responding to commands from his brain, had already lunged out and was rolling on the ground.
The faces of the subordinates looking at the headless corpse of the boss turned pale.
“Ugh. He looked the strongest. At this rate, we won’t even get trained.”
Thud. Thud.
Heavy footsteps echoed from inside the carriage as a figure revealed itself.
The man stopped in the darkness, as if refusing to show his face.
One, two, three, four…
Nodding to count, he raised his sword.
The blade that had beheaded once had no drops of blood on it.
There hadn’t even been time for blood to stain it.
“Wh-what do we do, Vice-boss?”
“Fuck, what do you mean what to do? We all need to run away…!”
In that moment.
The man’s figure vanished.
And in the next instant, the vice-boss’s vision spun.
Tap tap tap.
The carriage heading towards the village was silent, filled with nothing but eerie stillness.
It felt like a carriage carrying nothing but corpses.
…Of course, that was a joke.
Not a single innocent passenger was killed.
Hik.
“······.”
As I lifted my hat slightly, people turned their heads away from me.
They all desperately tried not to make eye contact with me.
I was grateful for that.
If my face becomes known, it could become troublesome.
Even if I became famous later, it’s much easier to operate without having my name and face recognized.
‘Ugh. It hurts.’
Covering my face with my hat again, I swallowed a groan.
I almost cried out due to overload.
If someone had just touched my leg, I might have screamed like a girl.
But everyone was keeping their distance from us, so that wasn’t going to happen.
‘I might have overdone it just now.’
It was certain that focusing all my nerves on mana control made my speed incredible.
Even a seasoned swordsman couldn’t put up any resistance and was simply decapitated.
But maintaining that state was another matter.
There were about 50 remaining bandits.
I leaped down from the carriage, but I couldn’t even defeat ten of them before going into overload.
At the moment of overload, I was practically neutralized, but the battle was already over.
The terrified guys were running into the mountains without looking back.
There was no loot to be gathered.
These guys didn’t carry a single usable sword.
It seemed they left behind everything that could hinder climbing, so there were no valuables.
Instead, I took the dog tag that had been hanging around the boss’s neck.
It looked utterly out of place in a fantasy world, making me chuckle as I subconsciously reached for it.
Eventually abandoning the loot, I staggered back to the carriage.
It took a long time for the passengers, wary of me, to reboard, causing significant delays in our departure.
[Achievement Unlocked]
[NPC Kill!]
[You have received the trait ‘Reputation’ as a reward for achieving the achievement.]
Besides confirming the performance of my mana control, I gained something else.
The trait ‘Reputation’.
Come to think of it, I had killed several people in my previous playthrough, but this is the first time I’ve seen such an achievement.
It seems there’s a distinction between NPCs and regular residents.
[Trait: Reputation]
[Check your reputation value.]
[Yoo Jin: 0.01%]
[Known by a few people. Your presence is minimal.]
[???: 11%]
[You have begun to spread notoriety. Your presence is increasing.]
What the heck is this?
I nearly sighed in disbelief upon seeing it.
With ‘Yoo Jin’ listed, there’s also an unknown slot ‘???’.
‘Is this because people don’t know my true identity yet?’
The passengers hadn’t seen my face.
They didn’t know my name.
The only information they had was that I wield a sword and that I was with a girl wearing a hood.
It seems the amalgamation of that information created the identity of ‘???’.
It seems my reputation is calculated separately from my own identity, Yoo Jin.
‘This could be convenient.’
I thought it was an insignificant skill.
But it seems quite useful.
I could check in real time how widely rumors about me spread.
Moreover, this trait has another function.
‘This is basically a multi-identity trait, right?’
With this, I can use shadow replication techniques.
To be precise, I can immediately tell whether my replication succeeded or not.
If I introduce myself under a new name and a new identity appears in my reputation chart, then it was successful.
On the other hand, if the ‘Yoo Jin’ slot gets a message like ‘rumors about mental illness are starting to circulate,’ then it’s a failure.
‘Sigh. I feel a bit reluctant about this.’
I had always participated quietly in internet communities.
I’d occasionally use a handful of accounts to promote my posts or bomb malicious posts.
I was merely contributing to the healthy circulation of the community.
I had never engaged in malicious acts or deception, I was a decent internet user, so it felt a little unsettling.
But hey, what can I do?
My creed is to utilize everything I can.
So I decided to let my conscience slide just a tad, and for the first time, I resolved to attempt some malicious multi-identity antics.
“······Danger.”
“Ah!!!”
Crash!
A small hand landed on my shoulder, causing me to let out a scream like a girl.
The overload pain concentrated in my shoulder felt excruciating.
With tears starting to well up, I turned to see Mi Jeong floating from my shoulder, chasing a fly in the air.
Did she wake me up because of a fly…?
[???: 11.2%]
[You have begun to spread notoriety. Your presence is increasing. ······Tic disorder suspected.]
Damn.
Should I sell my account again?
*
It was a pitch-black night.
Unable to sleep, Jill sat, hugging her knees.
A large hand descended onto her head, slowly stroking her hair.
As she turned to see who it was, a strong arm wrapped around her waist from behind.
Jill felt a sense of stability from the gentle pressure and lay back.
Resting her head on a broad chest, she rubbed against it.
She wanted to whine right then and there.
With her hands interlaced on her belly, she whispered quietly.
“Tomorrow, let’s not go anywhere and just be alone…”
But those words never reached completion.
Her voice seemed to freeze, and the reassuring figure behind her vanished.
An empty expression flickered on Jill’s face.
“Ha! Ha… Ha…”
At dawn, Jill gasped awake, breathless.
Her hands were wet, and cold sweat beaded on her forehead.
That dream again.
The dream of a mysterious man.
For some reason, being with that man felt comforting.
Even if she showed him her ugly side, he would be there to accept her.
Most importantly, it felt secure.
She felt like no matter what happens, he would never leave her side and would protect her.
“Huh. What on earth is this dream…”
If it’s a nightmare, then it surely is one.
The dream always ends with the man disappearing.
Whenever she tried to see his face, he vanished.
Even when trying to enjoy his warmth, it quickly faded away.
Though he was someone she had never met, the sense of reality remained.
Just like any other dream, she thought that with time, the emotional turmoil would settle after waking up.
But that wasn’t the case.
The longer time passed, the more vivid the dreams became, and every night they grew more intricate.
‘Could he be my destined partner?’
Jill chuckled as she stepped cautiously outside.
She wouldn’t let herself be swayed by a mere dream.
There was no way she’d be conscious of a man she had never even glanced at because of a dream.
Perhaps it could be a result of a spell or magic from the anti-faction monitoring the priestess.
“Uh?”
Jill’s eyes narrowed as she checked her mailbox.
Inside was a strange envelope.
Rather than being unfamiliar, it was made of low-quality paper, suggesting it likely wasn’t sent from a noble.
Frowning, Jill pulled out the envelope.
It was likely just a commoner’s message thanking the priestess for her service.
She was going to toss it straight into the trash, but decided to read it first.
“······.”
The moment she tore open the letter, Jill’s eyebrows furrowed.
It contained a disagreeable message.
A childish prank about the anti-faction plotting against the priestess.
The sender was left blank.
But Jill quickly realized this wasn’t a joke.
“Huh?”
An emotional torrent crashed over her in an instant.
Before she knew it, tears were streaming down Jill’s cheeks.
Simultaneously, fragments of memories began to stir within her.