'Talented, cool, rich'—those were the words the guild mbers, who were unaware of the behind-the-scenes struggles surrounding the acquisition of the Pirate King's treasure map, used to describe Aswa.
As the door to his room shut tightly, muffling the raucous noise from outside, Aswa felt an overwhelming urge to scream. The secret he harbored was not just the guild's financial ruin—he was broke too.
"Hehehe, talented, cool, rich. Sounds great. I guess I'll have to disappear for a while—at least until I manage to get the treasure out of the Pirate King's secret tomb. Only then will I dare to step foot in the guild with pride again."
With that thought in mind, Aswa began packing the essentials into his bag. Once ready, he silently jumped out the window of his private quarters.
.....
Chang Long, Siegfried, and their pets could barely stand. This was the aftermath of their battle with the horde of parasitic bean beasts. At first glance, these creatures seed harmless—especially with their flimsy vine-like roots. This deceptive appearance had led Chang Long's group to underestimate them, believing they were insignificant foes. That mistake had brought them to their current battered state.
"T...They're vicious,"
Siegfried muttered, as he and Chang Long were using his sword as a crutch to keep themselves upright. Their pets, Kitsune and Lycanth, fared slightly better thanks to their superior agility, which allowed them to evade the parasitic bean beasts' attacks more effectively. Kitsune spewed flas to clear a path for his master, who hobbled along like an old woman.
The sun had set hours ago, yet they had not made significant progress. The large swarm of parasitic bean beasts had continued to block their path, employing bizarre thods of attack such as grappling their victims. Initially, Chang Long had thought their grappling was peculiar and harmless. She had tried pulling the seed-like heads and bodies off herself, only to cry out in pain when she realized the creatures' root-like tendrils had pierced her skin and were draining her life force. The second one that lunged at her was not so lucky; she cleaved it in two ruthlessly with her sword.
Now, with Kitsune who was breathing fire to clear the path, Chang Long, Siegfried, and Lycanth could finally breathe a little easier. Lycanth helped pull the parasitic bean beasts off Siegfried and Chang Long, the process was excruciating, almost the peak of pre-mortem agony. Blood sprayed from their wounds as Lycanth ripped the thing off, shocking both Siegfried and Chang Long. They shot a glare at Lycanth, who seed to respond with an expression as if to say:
"Hey, this is the best I can do. What else do you want?"
With their remaining puny strength, they followed Kitsune up a stone staircase toward the pavilion they had spotted earlier. It took them several grueling minutes of climbing before they finally reached their destination, completely spent. Siegfried collapsed onto the ground, abandoning any pretense of dignity. Chang Long chuckled at the sight and, despite her exhaustion, attempted to step past him to rest further inside. However, whether due to her own weakened legs or tripping over Siegfried's outstretched leg, Chang Long fell flat.
Thuddd! Chang Long's head landed squarely on Siegfried's chest, jolting the young man out of his peaceful nap. His eyes shot wide open as the air left his lungs in a painful gasp, tears welling at the corners of his eyes. He could not even manage a single word. With difficulty, he pushed himself up, angered and confused about what had just happened. But when he saw that the heavy object crushing him was none other than Chang Long—who had fallen sound asleep from sheer exhaustion—Siegfried froze, utterly bewildered as if caught under a spell. He started to worry about what to do next. Chang Long might not take kindly to waking up in his embrace. Yet, Siegfried himself was too drained to move."Eh, I'll deal with it if she gets mad tomorrow..." he muttered groggily. His eyelids grew heavy, and soon he drifted off again with a small, contented smile on his face. Nearby, Kitsune, Lycanth, Devi-chan, Hisa-chan, Alice-chan, and Heaven stood watching the two sleeping figures with expressions of disapproval.
"Do these two think they're alone here or what!"
Devi-chan grumbled irritably. Kitsune and Lycanth, however, had already wandered off to find their own spots to sleep.
"Unbelievable. Devi Jones, your heir is totally unreliable. Look at her, already cozying up to my heir again!"
Heaven fud, clearly agitated. He worried that Siegfried, smitten with Chang Long, might not fight her earnestly during the battle for the Pirate King's throne—or worse, let her win outright without a struggle.
"What did you say, Heaven? My girl flirting with that weakling? (Alice-chan stifled a laugh.) She's stronger than him, this man had the nerve to pass out before my heir,"
Devi-chan retorted hotly. The two continued bickering until Hisa-chan, shaking his head in exasperation, floated away to admire the moon. He could not help but wonder if there would ever be a day when Devi-chan and Heaven stopped arguing.
.....
Kimhant, the Cat-Faced Angel, was enjoying a lively celebration in the VIP room of Apsorn Restaurant alongside four trusted friends. They laughed heartily, indulging in luxurious dishes to commorate one major success that had already brought them imnse satisfaction—and to anticipate another, equally thrilling venture soon to co.
"Unbelievable. What did you even auction off to get 31 million!"
Gallapangha, one of Kimhant's friends, asked excitedly.
"Don't be so clueless, Pang. Right now, there's only one thing in the ga worth that kind of money,"
quipped Maine-kun, who was sitting next to Gallapangha. His eyes sparkled with admiration for Kimhant, who had suddenly beco a tycoon in the ga. More importantly, they were all about to embark on a grand and daring venture together.
"By the way, where did you even get sothing like that, Kim? With your level and, uh... your lack of combat prowess, you didn't acquire it on your own, did you?"
Asked Starfish, Gallapangha's younger twin sister, a cold and straightforward woman.
"I just happened to stumble across it lying in front of . I didn't do any dangerous quests or anything like that,"
Kimhant replied truthfully.
"Seriously! Kim, my goodness. Why'd you auction it off then? You should've kept it. I bet the treasure in that tomb is worth ten tis what you got from the auction!"
Muen-chan exclaid in shock. Thankfully, they were in a VIP room; otherwise, the entire Apsorn restaurant would have known who auctioned off the Pirate King's treasure map.
"Hehehe, as you all know, I'm not great at combat—though I've gotten a bit better now. I'm currently training Felon to be an excellent bodyguard. (Kimhant said, glancing at Felon, who was gracefully stabbing atballs with a fork. The sight nearly made him burst out laughing. Felon had stuffed so many atballs into his cheeks that he looked like a chipmunk, and now he was struggling to breathe. Cat-Faced Angel had to slap Felon's back, sending atballs flying out of his mouth. Felon sat panting beside the bowl of atballs.) Anyway, I thought auctioning the map was the best choice. It's fun to have a Pirate King we don't know for a change."
Maine-kun, Gallapangha, Muen-chan, and even the usually cold and blunt Starfish, along with Cat-Faced Angel, stared at Kimhant in astonishnt.
"You're saying you want a Pirate King you don't know?"
Gallapangha asked, his tone was a mix of excitent and disbelief. He could not believe how much his friend had grown in influence since their last in-ga encounter.
"Well, not completely unknown. I've got an idea of who's in the running,"
Kimhant admitted with a sheepish smile. He had not ant to let that slip, but he trusted the friends around him, so he thought this should not be a problem.
"Then tell us who. We've been dying to know and trying to figure out who's got the best shot in a fight. Right now, everyone thinks it's either Demos or Siegfried from Pendragon since there's a tomb on the Starting Island, which is where his guild is based. But beyond that, we're clueless,"
Maine-kun said eagerly, his eyes shining. The rest of the group looked at Kimhant with anticipation.
"Alright, alright. You're right that both Siegfried and Demos are heirs to the Pirate Kings. But Siegfried did not find the tomb on the Starting Island. That was Mas... er, Chang Long. Another heir is soone nad Crown, though I only know him through a friend of his,"
Kimhant explained. His answer, however, was so brief it left the group disappointed.
"Wait, that's it? You've got to know more than that. If you know Chang Long found the Starting Island tomb and not Siegfried, then you must know where the other tombs are,"
Muen-chan pressed, and everyone felt the sa, their eyes once again fixed on Kimhant expectantly. anwhile, Felon had returned to his atballs.
"I only know about two. The tomb Chang Long found is on the Starting Island, and the Pirate King she t was Devi Jones. The other tomb Siegfried found was on the volcanic island north of Europa. To access it, you have to complete the quest from the Magic Map Reader. Uh... The Pirate King Siegfried t was nad Heaven, and he's an elf."
Kimhant explained to his ever-curious friends.
"And..."
"Let's wrap this up. We still need to visit the Player Service building. Hurry up and finish eating. I want our association to take shape as soon as possible. At least, we need a na first. If we wait until the new patch arrives to establish it, things will get chaotic. Guild wars will likely break out after the patch launches, and prices will skyrocket because of the conflicts. We need to set up the association and lease a building before costs start to soar."
Kimhant quickly shifted to a more serious tone, hoping to avoid further questions from his friends. Everyone promptly resud eating, their plates emptying at an alarming pace. They realized they had not actually eaten much earlier. anwhile, Felon sprawled across Kimhant's lap, utterly drained (from eating too much) and promptly dozed off.
"What's our association's na, Kim? Have you thought of one yet?"
Starfish asked while spooning a mouthful of cold corn soup.
"I've got it! Our association will be called The Professional Reporter's Association!"
Kimhant declared with firm voice and sparkling determination in his eyes.
"Oh wow, that's bold of you, Kim. If the Journalists and Writers Associations catch wind of this, our newly founded association will be dood!"
Maine-kun exclaid, wide-eyed.
"Relax. We won't make it public until we've grown and gained so influence. Trust , it won't be hard. I've got so good backing to support us,"
Kimhant replied confidently before digging into his food. He had learned from his ti with Felon that he needed to eat quickly; otherwise, Felon would finish his portion and then try to snatch Kimhant's food too.
.....
Aswa walked leisurely along a narrow path winding through a vast golden adow. He was heading toward the border between Longshan City and Kirisakura City to retrieve the infamous map—the very cause of both his and the Dark Horse Guild's financial ruin, where he served as guild leader. On the way to Kirisakura's territory, Aswa encountered soone he knew. They exchanged glances but did not speak. The other man seed even grumpier than Aswa, his expression sour and brooding the entire ti.
"Kyuutarou, what are you doing here?"
Aswa called out in a relatively cheerful tone. After all, spending 31 million coins was not entirely a loss.
"Kyuutarou, my aunt's foot! My na is Q—just Q! Nothing else!"
The man shouted back, clearly fed up. Every ti they t, Aswa added sothing to his na, and it seed Aswa especially enjoyed calling him Kyuutarou—likely because it was the na of the protagonist in one of his favorite comics.
"Always in a bad mood. Who's gotten on your nerves this ti!"
Aswa replied casually, unfazed by Q's outburst. This kind of reaction was typical whenever Aswa teased him.
"Hmph. Like you don't know. Anyway, what are you doing here? Don't tell this is guild business."
Q replied with a question, not wanting Aswa to pry in to his business.
"Oh, You're heading to pick up the Pirate King's treasure map you won in the auction... Pretty rich, aren't you?"
"Yeah!"
Aswa responded in a more professional tone, his deanor shifting to caution. Despite knowing Q for a long ti as one of the first-generation players in Adventure World Online, they were not close enough to fully trust one another. After all, even soone like Demos, who seed decent at first glance, had turned out to be a hellishly evil. Compared to Demos, Q was far less ruthless and more trustworthy, but that did not an greed would not compromise his principles at the ntion of treasure. If Aswa were to face off against Q, he was not entirely confident it would be an easy victory.
"Well, let's part ways here. I have business in Longshan City,"
Q said curtly, cutting the conversation short. He had sothing pressing on his mind, sothing far more troubling than Aswa calling him Kyuutarou.
Aswa shrugged, and the two went their separate ways as if they were strangers. Q's tense deanor left Aswa sowhat curious. Although Q was naturally a serious person, this ti he seed more stressed than usual. As Aswa walked forward at a leisurely pace, Q had already vanished from sight.
Dismissing his curiosity about Q, Aswa doubled his speed. He was on his way to et with the branch manager of the Suvarn City bank to retrieve the Pirate King's treasure map—sothing he believed should have been his from the start. He also hoped to uncover who had put the map up for auction. Aswa was convinced it had to have been soone from the Doom Star Guild.
The impressive speed of Aswa's movent drew astonished glances from players in the area hunting beasts in groups. Naturally, Aswa took so pride in this. He pushed thoughts of financial ruin out of his mind, focusing instead on the treasure that awaited him in the Pirate King's tomb.
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