NOVEL NEXT Chapter 632
<632 – Theme Park of Oknodie (7)>
[Hanging on the safety bar without emergency ejecting from the high-speed Giant Drop, we managed to hang on safely.]
[Hanging Experience Points +5]
[Grab Experience Points +5]
“Tito. Jiang. Wanna ride again?”
Ugh! With a thud, Tito and Jiang fell to the ground, and in their anger, they tried to hit the light stand, showcasing their fierce aggression with Jam Jam Punches.
Unfortunately, it seemed like the advantages of skill enhancement didn’t appeal much to them.
Well, for those with talent limits, randomly raising any skill can be a bit much!
“Just say you don’t want to! Then let’s go check out the Dragon Train and Death Field Maze!”
“I don’t need collectibles… I want to go back to the Academy…”
“A student’s duty is to focus on studies. Oknodie. Let’s go back and study.”
Even though I thought we might be fine since I was used to Rung Nosa’s free-diving training until boarding, unexpectedly, Jiang looked just as dissatisfied as Tito.
“Isn’t Jiang used to drop training like this?”
“…Do you think I’ve witnessed the sight of my insides bursting from the shock while being protected by shock-proof magic more than once? I was so tense, thinking I’d have to protect my body with my mana if the magic stone’s charge ran out.”
“Then just use Auto Field and Self-Defense Techniques for constant defense. What’s the problem?”
“…I held on for this long because it’s me; if I said that to someone else, I’d end up with a knife in me.”
Is that how it is?
Anyway, while I was struggling to convince Tito, who wouldn’t ride anything else, I saw the senior from Gift Academy look around and gasp in admiration.
“There’s a fun event happening at the theme park.”
“What kind of event? Parade? Buffet discount?”
“Thieves targeting the collections in the Collection Storage were captured.”
Gasp!
I thought there might be thieves at least once, but I didn’t expect there’d actually be thieves.
“Shall we go take a look?”
“Hmm, if they’re mastered rogues who haven’t been caught, I might be curious, but caught scrubs are a bit…”
“No, Oknodie! There might be skills unique to scrubs!”
“On the contrary, it might be a chance to learn habits of how not to treat the weak from such examples.”
“Really? You’re not just saying that because you don’t want to ride the rides?”
Though I doubted Tito and Jiang’s true intentions, they were here on an outing.
They weren’t exactly here to train, so I let it go.
“This way.”
“Huh? I think I’ve seen those uncles somewhere before.”
“We are retired members of the Thief Guild, summoned by Lord Destroyer. I retired due to aftereffects from the Kanelle City skirmish.”
“Oh, I see!”
“Currently, I’m working as a security consultant, assisting in strengthening security and plotting likely intrusions by thieves. I’m grateful to repay Lord Destroyer for his help in Kanelle City.”
Gasp! “That’s not true. I owe a lot from that time too!”
“Haha. Then follow me. The prisoners are this way.”
As we headed toward the underground prison, the various animal sounds made me question if this was even a prison.
“I remember this sound! Giant King Crab
’s claw sound!”“Why the heck is there a Psycho Bat’s supersonic sound at a theme park? It’s a vile monster that confuses living beings with its wing flaps, making them slam their heads into walls and then devour them!”
As we lived in the Gift Academy, Tito and Jiang perked up their ears at the monster sounds one could hear at least once.
“How do you students know the cries of such powerful monsters?”
The Thief Guild member’s question made Tito and Jiang avoid sharing their complicated past and mumble bitterly with forced smiles.
“Why are such monsters even here?”
“Of course, because Miss Jezel is planning to create a monster theme park, so she ordered us to capture monsters from around the world and devise a way to isolate them.”
Hieeek! “You can actually confine monsters!”
“By the way, for the research on isolating monsters, we are receiving advice from Director Heinrich, the former head of the Chimera Research Institute and commander of the Empire’s Chimera Legion. Since it’s a request from a friend of Oknodie, he is giving us very enthusiastic advice, which has been a great help.”
Tito suddenly looked shocked, realizing that his friend was someone remarkable.
Ahem.
Seizing the moment to boast, Tito’s eyes returned to looking at me as his usual unremarkable friend.
…Why is that?
It must be because we’re just good friends, right?
“Oknodie is really amazing. To think you were planning to build such facilities even when recruiting the Chimera Legion…”
“Not like that!”
“Okay, okay. I’ll take your word for it. The mouth of an assassin is heavy, so it’s okay to trust you.”
Once Tito and Jiang finally calmed down, we discovered the thieves trapped between empty iron bars in the isolation facility designed to protect monsters.
The thieves were not wearing any face coverings, hats to hide their hair, or even the essential outfits for stealthy thievery.
“Wow! How can these thieves go around so carelessly without their thief set outfits? They look just like regular uncles and aunts!”
One of the thieves inside the bars answered my question.
“If a thief doesn’t show that they are a thief, what’s the point? Only by appearing like a regular person can one truly claim to be a thief.”
Gasp!
“Don’t call plainness tacky. In this world, all criminals are our disguises and transformation tools. As long as criminals exist, thieves can appear anywhere.”
Jiang looked incredulous.
“Even saying that you guys have already been caught. Why are you trying to be all high and mighty?”
“Are you really saying that while looking at your comrade?”
The thief pointed at me.
“Oknodie? Why do you look so moved?”
“I’ve reached enlightenment!”
“…What kind of enlightenment from such words?”
“Set items and dedicated lookbooks are elements that help with mastering skills, so I’ve carefully collected and sometimes changed my outfits. I had pretty lookbooks just because the clothes were nice. But the true veteran player is one who graduates from content. The veteran who graduates from set items and lookbooks is the one that can become murky water!”
━━━
[You have been liberated from your long obsession with lookbooks.]
[You acquire the rare stat: Detachment.]
[Detachment +20]
━━━
Detachment: Having freed yourself from long obsessions and addictions, you can temporarily liberate yourself from the constraints of your mind and body using the power of detachment.
━━━
“Why is it that the stronger ones are the only ones gaining enlightenment? If enlightenment is to be gained, we should too. Hurry up and grant us detachment!”
Jiang brandished a dagger, looking ready to threaten the thief, but the thief inside the prison spoke leisurely.
“Go ahead and threaten for a hundred days. Outside the bars, what can you do besides begging for enlightenment? Are you planning to become a thief and get locked away like us?”
“Oh. Can we let those folks go?”
“Understood.”
Clang. Screech.
Senior Valefor Wasabi opened the iron bars.
The thieves watched me with shock on their faces, asking how this could happen while keeping their mouths shut.
“It’s a thank-you for granting us enlightenment! I’ll let you go once, so please don’t shame the Thief Guild and live long and healthy thieves!”
“If we step out of here, I feel like I’ll be stabbed by that kid!”
“If there’s trouble with the involved parties, you should reach an amicable agreement, right? I’ll cheer you on. Fighting!”
I pulled out cheerleader tools from my backpack and jumped up, cheering away.
“What’s that? It’s so cute! I want to do it too!!”
“Do you want the red one?”
“I want the gold one!”
“You shout while jumping like this. Hang in there, strength!”
“Hang in there, strength!”
“Let’s go, fighting!”
“Let’s go, fighting!”
With Tito, holding the gold tool, jumping on the left, and me with the silver tool on the right, one of the thieves found the courage to stand up.
The spirited thief timidly walked over and faced Jiang in front of the bars.
Screech. Clank.
Then he closed the bars and locked them again.
“We’re just going to live here. From today, this is our home.”
Oh no.
I was disappointed that my cheer was in vain and stuffed the tools back into my backpack.
sigh.
Kids these days just can’t cut it.
No challenge, no competitive spirit.
I thought if they showed some guts, they might try to protect themselves from Jiang’s attack at least once, but they were so pathetic that all thanks I felt evaporated.
“What will happen to those people from now on?”
“They’ll be used as test subjects in the Death Field Maze.”
“Eh? Isn’t that already running at a hardcore level?”
“There are records indicating that a few challengers who stubbornly refused to use the forced return button got eaten in the Death Field, needing verification on exactly which segment challengers die.”
Hieeek! “You were going to take us there?! Senior, that’s so mean!”
Tito screamed, but the senior tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand Tito’s reaction.
“You three are the guests with the highest probability of overcoming this Death Field. I’m not quite sure why you’re so afraid.”
“Eh? Why us…? Is it because we’re too pretty?”
The senior chuckled in response to Tito’s overly optimistic question.
“The Death Field Maze was created under the guidance of Professor Sadako. She mentioned she took extra care during production because she thought her students might visit someday.”
“…”
For a moment, I understood Tito’s feelings.
This was the scariest ride to enter yet.