NOVEL NEXT Chapter 24 : Bounty
*Boom*
The monster boss landed on the ground with a bang that caused some chaos inside the room, killing Eileen from taking damage.
Nash couldn't help her in any way because he could not risk being killed at the same time as well, given that it would be too detrimental for the two of them.
With a partly successful attack, the rock monster boss has set itself up for defeat by Nash.
After the last move, it has used up everything that was available in its arsenal, standing bare before Nash, who did not waste the opportunity.
A continuous combo of [Stun Strike] and [Thrust] was rendered by Nash and Null, his shadow, until the monster's HP ran down to zero and it died.
Finally, Nash succeeded in defeating the boss of the [Fiery Marsh].
Nash dropped to the ground, signing loudly and with relief after an arduous battle that almost claimed his life as well.
"Finally," he breathed in a low voice.
After he had rested, Nash walked up to the corpse of the rock monster.
"Plunder," he said firmly.
There was a kind of unspoken rule that existed in the game and guided how drops appeared and it was a simple one.
The smaller the number of players in a group who were to share the rewards of a quest, the higher the drop rate of that dungeon once the boss is defeated.
*Ding*
Using his [Plunder] skill, Nash extracted a heap of copper coins in an instant and in two unique rank items followed suit.
Seeing this, Nash was very happy with the reward for his effort, also coupled with the fact that Eileen, despite having died in the dungeon, will not suffer any punishment since Nash succeeded in defeating the rock monster.
Nash proceeded out of the dungeon to the game world outside it.
******
Stepping outside, Nash never believed that he would miss sunlight so much.
He felt relief seeing the world outside [Fiery Marsh] once again.
"Neon!" Eileen called out loudly as soon as she saw Nash, not mixing up his real world and game names for the first time.
Nash turned in the direction of the voice, only to meet her figure already in the air and landing towards him.
He instinctively spread out his arms and welcomed Eileen's hug.
She hugged him tightly like she had not seen him in a long time, making Nash move his eyes weirdly in confusion.
As if realising herself, Eileen pulled back and waved her hands, apologising.
Her face was red with embarrassment.
"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" she mindlessly blurted out.
She looked away, fiddling with her hands. "I was just happy that you made it out in one piece. U-Unlike me."
Nash looked in a good shape that did not match the hectic fight he just came out from.
This was because he took the last vial of his low life potion as he walked out of the dungeon.
While Eileen was worried by her death in the dungeon, Nash did not really care about that.
He walked forward, patting her head like a proud teacher and smiling.
"Let's go to the Lycan Hills and hunt some wolves," he said. "I need to make more life potions. In fact, more than enough. So we don't get stranded in dungeons."
Eileen clasped her hands like a loyal servant and nodded a few times, agreeing with Nash's suggestion.
"Sounds like a good plan," she replied.
Nash playfully rolled his eyes and thought. 'Of course, it is.'
The two headed to the Lycan Hills for Nash to carry out his wolf slaying like he planned.
However, it had not occurred to them that Nash had an existing target on his back, and it was all thanks to Hawkeye and his jealousy.
Following Hawkeye's orders, Kai made sure to spread the news of the bounty and any player who was interested in such things would have caught a whiff of it by now, possibly searching for the player named [Neon].
Hawkeye's offer of 200,000 copper coins was even more than the game would place for a red flagged player of the same level as Nash. Naturally, people would jump on it.
******
At Lycan Hills.
Nash had already begun his slaughter of the wolves.
Since he was all too familiar with this location and experienced in fighting the wolves that live here.
He was busy gathering some of the liver from those he killed and storing it in his inventory when he suddenly felt a prick on the back of his neck.
Nash quickly slapped the area. It felt as though an insect had bit him.
-12 HP damage.
"Huh?" Nash blurted out, quickly turning while he subtly signalled to Eileen to go down low.
Eileen obeyed without question and Nash, as well, squatted low and scanned the area, only to find nothing.
He couldn't see the attacker but one thing was certain now.
They were not alone.
[Poison effect activated]
[Effect: to numb your senses. Can be countered with racial skill]
Reading this prompt, Nash quickly used [Strength of Mind] to overcome the numbing effect of whatever poison it was that he was attacked with.
'Using such a weak ass poison when you have a point blank shot makes me wonder about a few things,' he thought cautiously while still studying the environment.
'Whoever it was definitely didn't want to kill me and wanted me to know they were present. So, it may be a thing of pride. Perhaps, it's a player of a lower level than I am that does not have high grade items to use.'
At this stage, Nash could fight the player without restraint because of the message that was floating in front of him.
*Ding*
[You've been granted freedom to retaliate for an attack from another player]
[Permission to counterattack without punishment granted]
Nash was satisfied with this as it means he could fight and, if it gets to that, even kill the player that attacked him without the fear of being red flagged.