Chapter 27

I had Sword God walk behind me.

In the darkness, where you couldn’t see an inch ahead or even make out expressions, I felt a hand clutching my thin, transparent top.

“I think there’s a trap. Just follow me.”

“…Okay.”

I heard nervous footsteps following behind me.

I carefully followed only the golden arrow.

Winding, branching paths.

The moment I imagined what would happen if I strayed even a little from the Golden Light, a cold sweat ran down my back.

I couldn’t tell what would happen because I couldn’t see, but maybe because of that, the things I could only imagine felt even more suffocating.

Still, thankfully, the golden arrow did not betray me.

“Is it a maze trap?”

“I don’t know. It might just be a pointless test.”

After walking for a while, a problem arose.

“Oh.”

The golden arrow grew thinner.

And fainter.

I stopped walking.

Thump.

“Ouch.”

Sword God, who had been following me without thinking, bumped her head into my back.

“Hmm.”

‘What happens when the golden arrow ends?’

I had come this far thinking this was the end of the trap, but the darkness still hadn’t ended.

After a moment of thought, I touched my necklace.

“Lucky Domain.”

Wooong-

The necklace vibrated, and a brilliant Golden Light illuminated the darkness.

A golden domain bloomed in the emptiness.

As the world lit up brightly, the scenery hidden inside the darkness was revealed.

“……”

It was a cliff.

Other than the ground the golden arrow pointed to, the entire path we had walked from the entrance of the dark forest to here was a sheer precipice so deep I couldn’t see the bottom.

“Please turn off the light.”

“……?”

When I turned my head slightly, Sword God was still clutching the back of my clothes as if she still couldn’t see anything.

I shut my eyes.

‘Let’s not look down.’

Fixing my gaze only on the golden arrow, which had become even clearer within Lucky Domain, I forced my trembling legs to move.

Thankfully, the narrow cliff path didn’t last long.

About 30 meters.

The moment I stepped onto the broad ground at the end of the cliff, all the tension left my body and I dropped to my knees, collapsing flat against the ground.

“Hoo.”

“I can see.”

At the same time, Lucky Domain disappeared, and the pitch-black darkness vanished as if it had been washed away.

The path we had taken, which should have been part of the trap, was no longer visible. It was just ordinary ground connected to the edge of the dark forest.

“Are you okay?”

“Actually, the path here was an incredibly deep cliff. You couldn’t see it, Sword God, but I did….”

“…Coward.”

“……”

I wanted to clear up the misunderstanding, but there was no way to do that now. And it wasn’t like I had time to bother with it anyway.

“Wow.”

The scene unfolding before my eyes.

What I saw after passing through the trap was so astounding that there was no room to fuss over such a trivial misunderstanding.

‘I found it.’

I knew at a glance.

The flowers blanketing the forest, their beautiful petals blooming like freshly fallen white snow, were the Garden of Life Cale had been looking for.

[Flower of Life (Rare)]

[A single stalk of life that bloomed in the Land of Death. It contains the power to suppress death and make life bloom.]

“Jackpot!”

There were no Monsters in the flower field besides the flowers.

A dark forest no one wanted to enter.

So that Golden Light mixed into the brilliant arrow pointing here had meant this!

“Is it something good?”

“Ah.”

Seeing Sword God ask so casually, I finally came to my senses.

‘There are two mouths to feed.’

I hurriedly hid my delighted expression and scratched my head.

“I was mistaken. I thought it was wild ginseng, but it turns out it’s just some useless flower.”

I should’ve come alone and left her to fight the undead elite knight.

How was I supposed to get rid of her?

Should I send her back outside?

After thinking it over, I let out a sigh and confessed.

“This is a Quest ingredient for the NPC who gave me the leather that turns you into an orc, no, a goblin. I think it’ll sell for quite a lot, so let’s gather it carefully and split it fifty-fifty.”

Wasn’t this fate too?

I had been seeing her ever since Moina Forest, and with Sword God’s skill, we were bound to cross paths again someday.

‘Let’s not lose trust over a small amount of money.’

With that thought, I made the offer while shedding tears of blood inside.

“You can have it, Oppa.”

“Pardon?”

“I don’t need it. You helped me catch the elite knight, so you can have everything here, Oppa.”

“…Still.”

At her tone, utterly free of regret, and at the sight of her simply admiring the pretty flowers, I moved without refusing.

What if she changed her mind?

I hurriedly gathered the flowers.

It was such a vast flower field that carefully digging up each flower took a long time.

“Whew. I think I got them all….”

It felt like coming here had really been the right choice.

A smile wouldn’t leave my face at the thought that I might strike it big again in this undead invasion Quest too.

“Now, to get out….”

I had been planning to head back with light steps.

“…Hmm?”

At the center of the flower field, a single streak of Golden Light shooting up into the sky caught my eye.

It was like a beam of light piercing upward toward the heavens.

“Is it below?”

No, it wasn’t light pouring down from above.

It was surging up from below.

I began digging into the ground.

The soil was soft, so it came apart easily even with my bare hands.

I dug for a long time, searching for the source of the Golden Light.

A pure white glow seeped out.

And mixed within it was a brilliant Golden Light.

“What is this?”

Was some truly special wild ginseng buried here?

Filled with anticipation, I dug even more earnestly.

Then a single bracelet buried in the ground revealed itself.

“Huh?”

It wasn’t wild ginseng.

It was an item far more precious than wild ginseng.

[Innate Luck (Mythical)]

[A bracelet containing the authority of the Goddess of Fortune. It holds a unique Divine Power that constantly creates luck in its surroundings.]

[● Luck +100%]

[● Divine Power +20% within a 20m radius]

“A real jackpot!”

A holy relic.

I had found the needle hidden somewhere in the vast Land of Death.

===

“Does that even make sense?”

Team Leader Kim Chanwook, who had been enjoying the lazy afternoon with a cup of coffee, frowned deeply.

Beside him, a team member busy with work stared intently at the computer screen.

“Team Leader, can’t you go watch that in your office? I’m busy.”

“No, how does this make any sense? Fine, let’s say he found the Garden of Life by following the arrow thanks to his Class. But why is there a Mythical-grade holy relic inside it too?”

“Well, according to the lore, the only way the Flower of Life can bloom in the Land of Death is through Divine Power, which is the same as the power of life. Maybe that item, Innate Luck, was releasing its own Divine Power and filling that role?”

“…Forget the in-game lore. Why is the table being perfectly set right in front of the user Han Youngwoong? Even a novel would get criticized if it were written like this.”

“Should I ask Lucky?”

The team member replied without a hint of emotion, as if he were already used to this, and that only made Team Leader Kim Chanwook pound the keyboard harder.

“…Ah.”

“Ah, what?”

“Aren’t you busy?”

“I wish I was. Tell Lucky to give me some in-game authority.”

“You should do that yourself, Team Leader.”

The team member’s indifferent attitude irritated him even more.

The team leader shouted at the team of around ten people.

“Is everyone really okay with this? Doesn’t this seem strange? You’re all professionals who’ve worked in the game industry for over ten years. Doesn’t this situation seem seriously strange? This isn’t The Truman S— or something. All the luck is being laid out for this one user, Han Youngwoong. Is this right? Is it really okay to run an online game like this?!”

“I believe there is a problem.”

“I’ll submit a request to Lucky for sanctions.”

“Team Leader, by the way, how about a team dinner tonight?”

“……”

If they had been fresh-faced rookies, it might not have been like this.

Frustrated by the complete lack of communication, the team leader went into his office and looked at the screen again.

On Team Leader Kim Chanwook’s monitor, he could check in-game information from a third-person perspective.

The scale of the Land of Death.

Even the information for the hidden map inside it.

He could see just how enormous the Land of Death was and how difficult it was to find something there without any clues.

That was why he could feel in his bones just how much of a cheat this was.

“The golden arrow. What the hell is that? It’s too overpowered.”

Han Youngwoong already had two Mythical items.

On top of that, he had one Legendary and one Unique.

Watching him not even bother with lower-grade items, he cheered for Sword God, who was beside him.

“Take it! You need to split it!”

Strictly speaking, they had found the Garden of Life thanks to Han Youngwoong, but since they had come together, he shouldn’t be able to swallow a Mythical-grade item all by himself without any discussion.

He desperately hoped Sword God would claim a share.

– You can have it, Oppa.

– Is that really okay?

– I don’t need it. You said it’s necessary for your Class, right?

– That’s true, but I feel too bad.

– Then do something for me.

– What is it…?

– A duel!

===

“…No, why is she giving it away for free!”

His last remaining hope shattered completely when he saw Sword God hand it over to Han Youngwoong without the slightest lingering attachment.

===

It would’ve been a little awkward to return with Sword God’s goblin leather one-piece torn, but thankfully, the ordinary undead didn’t seem to notice anything especially strange.

They occasionally looked our way as if they smelled some odd human scent, but maybe because we were moving together, their stupid brains didn’t seem to recognize us as human.

We were only able to breathe once we arrived in front of Hanimo Castle, and before the tension had even faded, Sword God drew her sword.

The expression visible above the goblin leather looked unbelievably excited.

“A duel!”

“Are you serious?”

Nod.

Was she obsessed with dueling?

Why did she keep asking me, someone who didn’t even have proper control, for a duel?

Still, since she had promised to give me everything from the Garden of Life to the holy relic inside it without interfering, it was hard for me to go back on my word now.

“You can’t kill me. If I die, my character gets deleted.”

“It’s a duel.”

“……”

I pulled out the Boing Hammer.

It wasn’t my first time fighting a user, but against Sword God, my body felt strangely stiff.

She was small.

Yet the rigid composure radiating from that small frame made her hard to approach.

Was it really okay to hit such a tiny body?

The guilt that came from how cute she was, and at the same time the memory of the incredible movements I had seen in Fantasia Life and the clean attacks she had used against Monsters right before my eyes, made my whole body tense.

While I was hesitating, Sword God moved first.

The one relief was that Sword God wasn’t in her real appearance, but in the goblin leather.

It looked like a tiny, grotesque goblin waddling as it ran at me.

I moved and dodged.

“Snort.”

At the same time, the Boing Hammer I swung flew quickly toward Sword God’s body.

It wasn’t some arrogant idea of aiming for a vital point.

I just focused only on hitting her somehow, right now.

Whoosh-

Sword God planted her feet and twisted her body slightly to evade.

Her eyes, locked precisely onto the hammer, followed the rapidly flying attack and dodged it.

At the same time, I failed to see the stabbing attack that came in and let it land.

Stab-

“……!”

Even though it was only a light stab, more than 10% of my Health dropped.

Her attack power was almost at the level of a Lizardman.

Had she always been this strong?

Startled, I retreated.

But even as I backed away, the sword followed.

As if a magnet were pulling it.

As if it wouldn’t allow even the slightest distance.

‘This won’t work.’

I realized that trying to hit her with the Boing Hammer from a distance wasn’t something Luck alone could solve.

I needed a movement that would break Sword God’s prediction as she watched and dodged.

I had to use my strengths.

So instead of taking another step back, I stepped forward.

“Hyaap!”

With a shout, I grabbed Sword God’s shoulder and pulled.

Startled by the sudden change, Sword God still shifted her center of gravity backward and retreated in that brief instant, trying to keep the distance.

She twisted her body, trying to break free, showing her resourcefulness even in that split second, but unfortunately, when I firmly grabbed the torn part of the goblin leather at her shoulder and yanked, her small body was dragged straight into my arms.

“Eut.”

“Got you.”

‘I can win!’

Hope and a sense of accomplishment blinded me.

Holding the goblin in place, I swung the Boing Hammer wildly.

No matter how skilled Sword God was, she couldn’t dodge the Boing Hammer flying at her while her body was pinned down.

Boing!

It was fine if it didn’t burst in one hit.

Boing!

Boing-boing-boing-boing-boing-boing-boing!

“…Ah!”

The desire to win.

The moment I saw Lucky Attack trigger, I thought, ‘Oops,’ and let Sword God go.

But in her place, only a limp goblin that had Logged Out remained.

(T/N : WTH. So its auto log out if its win by duel?)Chapter 27