Hyper Luck

Lorad, who hastily put bandages on the burn marks on his arms that were still oozing out, looked like he was about to collapse at any moment.

“So, what are you here for today?”

“There is something I want to say to the special investigator. The conclusive evidence of this case.”

Everyone fell into silence at Lorad’s words. Only a particularly tall adult seemed upset, as he jumped from his seat.

“Evidence? This late? We’ve already decided to start the investigation from scratch!”

Despite the man shouting at him, Lorad took off the vest on his upper body to show his chest to the people in the room. And in the middle of it, there was a crystal ball stuck in the middle of his chest.

“I see, you’re a vocalist?”

Zike’s eyes widened with surprise.

And that was when I remembered what Khea briefly said when she introduced me to Lorad.

‘This is Lorad. He’s my friend. He’s the little bird with the biggest ears in Azharus. He’s the most famous vocalist in Azharus. He’s called the ‘Vocalist that never misses a sound he has heard’.’

“Yes, sir. I am the vocalist Lorad. I was recognized for my achievements in the ‘War of the Longbass tribe’. I have implanted a memory crystal in order to work as an informant soldier.”

That meant that nobody knew what would come out of that crystal ball!

Soon Lorad put his hand on the crystal on his chest, with cold sweat running down his neck.

Lorad opened his mouth with solid expression on his face, but the voice that came out from his mouth was not the one I expected from him

The voice was definitely from Choi SeopHo.

“This’ll get rid of all the evidence. And the investigation will be focused on the cause of the fire, which was caused by a user who broke into the factory. The ‘Adult of Swamps’, one of the Adults of Azharus, will take charge of this investigation. Things will get very interesting, don’t you think?”

The voice of Choi SeopHo resounded through the hall sound and clear, astonishing everybody in the room. Lorad proudly opened his mouth.

“I was kidnapped by NGTEC! They kidnapped me to take vengeance when my friends started investigating the ones who were responsible for producing Vanetic! If I wasn’t such a deft dwarf, I would’ve lost my life to the fire which Choi SeopHo had started! But thankfully, I was a dwarf, and I was able to barely open the door and escape!”

Utter silence. And in the midst of it all, there was Zike, with a dark expression on his face. I had to clench my butt for a brief second due to the murderous aura Zike was emitting.

“This won’t do, it won’t do.”

Zike stood from his seat carefully as he shook his head. Then suddenly, he started to speak very clearly.

“How fucking dare you mock the special investigator and ruin the beautiful city of Azharus?”

Then his sharp gaze headed towards the Adult of Swamps.

“52,000 drug victims. 383,000 suspected drug addiction victims. 110 casualties, and it is expected to increase in the future.”

He said clearly and with a smirk as he continued.

“Congratulations! You have become an accomplice in this tremendous crime. You are going to be sentenced to Medeium spell prison. All the related guilds and companies will be sacked along with you.”

He said with a murderous aura in his words, he no longer spoke with a dialect. As soon as he finished his sentence, the Information Guild members arrested him. The Adult of Swamps shouted and screamed something as he was dragged out of the room.

Zike smiled at me and Khea and bowed his head with his tone returning to his distinctive dialect.

“Please excuse me. I almost didn’t recognize the heroes of Azharus!”

Zike soon started to talk at a loud volume with a standard accent

“Now then, I shall end the trial here on behalf of the Adults. The case was caused by the distribution and production of drugs by the NGTEC and the Pickup Artist guild, and a huge amount of damage occurred as a result. It was proved that the testimony of the Sworder Khea, who was designated as a suspect, was true based on the decisive evidence submitted by the victim of the case. I hereby announce that the biggest contributors of this case will be the Sworder Khea and Sworder Mose.”

< Your level has increased. >

< Your level has increased. >

< Your level has increased. >

< Your level has increased. >

...

...

...

< You have acquired the title of ‘Savior of Azharus’. >

[All stats +14]

[Luck +8 (Special Trait bonus)]

[Fame +83,271]

< Hidden Quest cleared! >

[Prince of Drugs]

Super Clash Battle Quest

Difficulty: A+

Reward: ???

History: The free city of Azharus had been festered ever since the player-owned factories started to be built within the city. The culture of players began to enter and devour the city under the name of freedom.

Immortals, you have committed and indulged in illegal activities which are never allowed in reality too easily.

Of course, it could be considered an adventure story in the future. However, the plan of one evil player in Azharus drove the entire city into fear. This cannot be dismissed as a simple adventure story. 

This immortal, who only acted purely for his own pleasure, was the owner of a company that, ironically, makes potions that heals the wounds of the immortals.

A heinous drug that goes against the company's public image is like a deadly poison to the people of this world, and many people have lost their lives. 

And now, allow me to ask you a question,

The drugs he produced will provide you with the most intense and stimulating pleasures you have ever felt in your life.

Now, you are connected to a different world where you can do things you could not even dare to do in real life without any risk. You would want to experience that great pleasure at least once.

And so,

If that was you,

Would you have tried the drug?

Or would you save others from that drug?

The result is simple.

If you try it then you become a ‘troll’ player,

And if you save the victims, you will be a ‘hero’.

The decision is yours to make.

The notification window completely obscured my view. I had received a title that raises my stats as much as a unique item does, fame stats equal to the total amount of the 2nd place currently possessed, and a hidden quest clear.

This was the most thrilling moment no matter how many times I experienced it to receive the sense of accomplishment I got from solving a series of events at once.

By clearing the hidden quest once before, I got a 'rare job’' as a reward by a coincidence, so I was very excited about what kind of coincidence this hidden quest's reward would lead me to.

Khea hugged Lorad with tears after confirming that he survived. I also quietly bowed my head to Lorad from behind. He was a lifesaver. If not for him, things might’ve gotten more complicated than they needed to be.

“I can’t possibly explain the despair I felt when I couldn’t find you back at the Troll Tongue.”

“Where have you been all this time?”

At Khea and my series of questions, Lorad raised his chin in dignity, like a triumphant general, and continued his speech sternly.

“Well, they locked me up in a room where they produced the drugs, y’see. I was nothing more than just bait to lure you two in!”

Then he tried to cross his arms reflexively, only to remind himself of the burns he had on his forearms.

“Ouch... Anyways! After regaining my consciousness after the abduction, I found out that the door was locked in three layers!”

The dwarf hero gazed at the empty air as if he was reminiscing on that moment.

“I could unlock a door with my eyes closed. However, I missed out on how the door locked and opened, so I couldn’t unlock it!”

“So, what did you do?”

“Then, that guy named Choi SeopHo suddenly walked into the room! Then he said the things I replayed back up there, y’see. Not realizing that I am the little bird with big ears! Gahaha!”

I was able to laugh along with the dwarf’s cheerful laugh. He suffered horrific burns on both of his arms, but even that seemed insignificant to him.

“Besides, he opened the door with the key to come in, so I saw how the lock worked!”

“What about the burns on your hands?”

“Gahaha! Everything was fine, except the rope was tied too tightly!”

Even my heart warmed to the sight of Lorad smiling brightly despite Khea's sincere worries.

“In the end, I managed to escape after getting myself a little burnt!”

“Thank you so much, Lorad. It’s all thanks to you that we cleared our names.”

“Thank you.”

I thanked Lorad along with Khea with our heads bowed. At that sight, Lorad got up from his seat and started bowing more deeply than we did.

“Thank you for saving Azharus. Really.”

***

A pop-up window appeared for all players active in <Circuit Master>, Azharus, and its vicinity.

It was a window explaining the ‘Azharus Troll Patch’.

Unusually, unlike the large-scale, publicly conducted troll patches for each continent, the Azharus troll patch quest was conducted as a hidden quest. 

People were greatly shocked.

That was because the final boss of the quest was a ‘player’. Considering that the final bosses of the other quests for each continent were ‘NPCs victimized by players’, this was indeed a unique case.

If that was you,

Would you have tried the drug?

Or would you save others from that drug?’

According to the messages in the pop-up windows, the theory that the patch was classified as a hidden quest because it was a quest containing choices that put players to the test emerged as the most believed hypothesis among users.

This troll patch in Azharus was the fourth one, after the patches finished in Asparagan, Tikris, and Lang.

After the case was closed, Azharus promptly encouraged all hospitals to formally hire alchemists who specialized in dispelling magic and immediately launched an emergency management organization that could accuse and take sanctions against psychotropic drugs.

Thanks to that, adventurers who have not yet chosen a profession were flocking to become alchemists for high-paid jobs, creating a new phrase ‘Alchemy boom to the moon!’.

Some alchemist players even opened a private academy that offered lectures for the entrance exams of 'Stone Gold Arc', which was called the MIT of the alchemy world.

The academy's popularity soared to the point that the academy had to post a separate notice.

[Currently, we are only accepting reservation counseling due to a large number of applicants. For the applicants right now, the expected course date is 3 months from now in <Circuit> time.]

* * *

I will not be staying in Azhaurs for much longer. I had to start making some concrete plans.

First off,

I had to repair the Attoria’s armor set which had been partially destroyed in the battle against Lidornn. The durability of the armor was greatly reduced because Korma pierced through the armor, and had a penalty on the stats of the armor, therefore, repairing was an urgent priority.

At the same time, it was necessary to trim the stigma and engraved swords as well.

As a separate issue from the armor, I felt the need to learn how to repair my own weapons.

Second, I had to find Sharan. I was not sure where my next destination would be, but it was most likely that I’ll be heading to the eastern continent of ‘Lang’ and the southern continent of ‘Tikris’ since I had never been there before.

Perhaps Sharan might have quit the game.

And third, I had to think about the reward for clearing the hidden quest in Azhaurs. This was completely unexpected since it was such an accidental reward.

This was the pro and con of the reward for clearing a hidden quest. However, the reward was so good that there was no point in complaining. All I could do was prepare for what may come.

And lastly...

This was an issue that I’ve had in my mind for a long time. It was about the reason why I started playing this game. 

To be quite honest, I am pretty satisfied right now.

My gameplay so far was nothing more than hitting jackpots wherever I went, which led me to make a ton of money.

And I got recognition from my parents.

However, the fact that I wasn’t making any improvement kept me contemplating. It wasn’t about making more money.

It may be that I’m not making any progress anymore because the desire to improve the environment I lived in was too huge.

It turned out that I didn't think about improving the environment in reality due to the vicarious satisfaction of continuing to grow as Mose in <Circuit>.

Now was the time to change this.

I worked hard to plan and organize dozens of plans that popped into my head, and quietly leaned back against the rocking chair. My body was pushed back, and was leaned forward again, and was soon pushed back again.

Then I looked at the quiet afternoon sunlight. At this time of the day, a complex feeling that cannot be described was often filled inside me.

After enjoying the comfort in the subtle shaking of my body, I came to my senses in the rocking chair that suddenly stopped at one point.

I felt ebony black and soft hair on both my shoulders. When I tilted my head upward, Khea was looking down at me with her twinkling eyes that seemed to contain the entirety of the universe.

“What’re you thinkin’ about?”

“Just... Some things...”

She leaned her elbow on the upper part of the backrest and rested her chin on her hand as she shook the rocking chair for me.

“Did you get to say farewell to Pharah?”

“Yeah. She was able to sleep as comfortably as the dew on a bud at dawn.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Thank you.”

Her scent of flowers filled my nose. The momentary freshness I felt almost bloomed within me.

Khea suddenly bowed her head to meet my face. I looked up at her face, only to find nothing but pure beauty, without even a single inch of disheveling.

“Witherspoon.”

“Hm?”

“You’re my Witherspoon.”

She said with a strange tone, strange nuances, and gaze.

“Thank you.”

Her lips softly landed on my forehead as it passed by in an instant.

That feeling. It felt like a riddle that I wouldn’t be able to solve even if I end up realizing the secrets of the universe in the future. However, it had the sweetness that would keep me searching for the answer.

It was late evening. Still, I was enjoying the soft tree trunk lights of the peaceful Azharus.

But suddenly,

I noticed a figure walking toward me from far away.

It was a goblin wearing a blue robe with a long nose.

He greeted me with a bow when he reached me.

“Nice to meet you. I am Lumprump from the Transfer Asset Management Committee.”

At his polite greeting, I got up from the seat and bowed my head as well.

“I came to see you because a transferable asset was created through the decisive battle against ‘NGTEC’ that you performed.”

“Uh, what does that mean…?”

Lumprump unfolded the long parchment and began to read the contents of the parchment, revealing his sharp teeth.

“NGTEC was judged to be ‘incapable of continuing business’ after the battle between Mose and NGTEC. This meant that there was no coercion in any way, as it was a result of fair reason. As a result, those who invested in NGTEC refused to receive the dishonorable transfer assets of NGTEC, so the transfer right was passed to Mose, the final winner of the battle against NGTEC.”

Then he folded the parchment and carefully pulled out a jewelry box from his pocket.

“You are the owner of this, Mr. Mose.”

When I accepted the jewel box the goblin had offered me, he bowed his head, then turned around and disappeared in the distance.

I carefully opened the jewelry box in my hand.

Then, golden letters appeared to fill my vision.

[Varabanderon's Earrings]

Class: Earrings

Rank: Legendary

Effect:

Strength + 33

Health + 33

Dexterity +33

Intelligence + 33

When equipped, [Lv.7 Body Enhancement] magic is activated.

- The dedicated socket is empty.

‘I shall whisper into your ear [       ]’

History: Varabanderon, the most powerful wizard of the ‘Blood Elves’, a race that was destroyed from within, was the fear incarnate to other elf races. Although Varabanderon never died in the long 'War of the Orton Tree' between the elves, his soul was sealed inside a small earring by one of the ‘Five Branches of the World Tree’ and an elvish archmage ‘Ozirn’ in the end.

Because of how strong the seal differs depending on the ‘unlock condition’, Ozirn had decided to choose the ‘runic alphabets’ as the keys to unlock the seal.

The elves around asked him.

‘What will be the runic alphabet that will unlock the sealing of Varabanderon?”

Ozirn said, with a strange smile on his face.

‘It contains the curse of obedience.’

-Historian Surez-