Praise the Orc! Chapter 12:
Chapter 12 – User Hunters (1)
Stella questioned Ian, “What the **** was that? How did you do that?”
“Let’s see… I just became an orc vegetable seller . ”
“This is nonsense…”
It was like a scene from a short-story . If she took a video and posted it on the Internet, it would be a wonderful video that would instantly become a phenomenon . Ian pondered before speaking, “I didn’t think about becoming an orc with my head . ”
“Then?”
“I asked myself: What if I weren’t the human Jung Ian, but actually an orc vegetable seller? What would I do in this situation if I were an honest orc vegetable seller?”
He wasn’t from Earth, but a living orc in the world of Elder Lord .
“Then I just acted accordingly . ”
“Like a role player…?”
“Role player…”
Ian laughed .
“I just became my character . ”
Stella started thinking .
These things were common sense to the rankers of Elder Lord, who had the ambition to climb up . They played Elder Lord sincerely! The system followed the user’s assimilation rate . Everything changed according to how immersed they were, and their subsequent actions . Even if the people speaking had the same confidence and gestures, the world of Elder Lord responded differently depending on their mindset and assimilation rate .
The man called Ian had a strange feeling about him; this person really enjoyed Elder Lord .
Stella nodded . “I see, I just realized something . By the way, is your real name Jung Ian? Are you Korean?”
“Yes . ”
“I thought you were a foreigner after hearing the name, ‘Ian’ . ”
“Haha . ”
In Elder Lord, one could meet users from all over the world . Thanks to the sophisticated state-of-the-art interpretation system, all of the users spoke a universal language in Elder Lord, regardless of their nationality . Ian forgot this fact since the communication was so natural . In fact, both Grom and Stella could be foreigners .
Stella smiled at Ian and said, “I’m a Korean . ”
“Aha, I see . ”
“Register me as a friend, I’ll contact you often in the future . ”
Ian only had Grom registered as a friend at the moment . Ian accepted Stella’s friend request and now they could send and receive messages to each other .
Stella asked, “How long have you been playing Elder Lord?”
“Around two weeks in reality…?”
“Really?”
Stella’s eyes widened as she nodded .
“I see . In the future, Ian will become big in Elder Lord . ”
“Me? It’s nothing . This is just a hobby . ”
He was just doing this because of his little sister . But now it seemed like he was enjoying Elder Lord more and more .
“Well, that’s is good . Isn’t your assimilation rate pretty high?”
“Assimilation rate?”
“In the status window . ”
“Wait a minute . ”
It had been a while since he looked at his status window . Ian checked his status window .
[Status Window]
‘Friend of Farmers’ Ian, Orc Apprentice Warrior
Level: 4
Achievement Points: 80
Assimilation: 56%
Abilities:
Orc’s Strength (Common)
Orc’s Recovery (Common)
Orc’s Greatsword Technique (Uncommon)
Warrior’s Fighting Spirit (Uncommon)
His assimilation rate was slightly higher than before . It started at 50% and was now at 56% .
“I have 56% . ”
“Omo, really?”
“Is that high?”
“It’s pretty high . It’s a great assimilation rate, especially since you just started . Mine is between 30~40% . ”
“Aha…”
“Rather, the higher the assimilation is, the more painful and realistic the game becomes . Therefore, there are a lot of people who deliberately lower the limit . ”
That’s why it was painful when he fought . Ian nodded .
He hadn’t cared so far, but there was a details option in his status window . With this, he could put a limit on the assimilation rate or modify his title . He could also determine the approximate proficiency level of his skills . Orc’s Strength and Orc’s Recovery were close to reaching the Uncommon grade .
The rate of assimilation was left with no limit and his title was ‘Friend of Farmers’ .
After talking more with Stella, he discovered that her level was much higher than his . In Elder Lord, the level didn’t necessarily mean strength because it depended on achievement points and skills . This allowed players of various occupations to enjoy Elder Lord, rather than just fighting .
Stella mentioned her trump skill, ‘Negotiating Eloquence’, which was at the Special grade .
“Please tell me if you have anything you want to buy next time . This skill is very strong when it comes to bargaining prices . ”
“You couldn’t sell a few vegetables . ”
“That…uh…I can’t say anything but… Ian is strange . ”
She checked the time . “Oh, I made a promise to someone, so I need to disconnect . Today was nice . Thanks for everything, you really surprised me today . See you again . ”
“Yes . Then let’s meet another time . ”
“Ah right, please receive this . ”
She handed a bandana to Ian . It seemed to be a worker’s bandana with the mark of the Blacksmith Company in the corner .
“Use this . ”
“…?”
“It isn’t good to be a user in Anail, especially as an orc . ”
“The mark can only be seen by users . ”
“That’s the problem . ”
Stella shrugged . “Users are scarier than NPCs . ”
“…?”
“Oh, I am late . I really am going now . Then bye!”
She went into the store and disconnected in order to avoid attention . Today, he met a new friend in Elder Lord . This was why people played Elder Lord . Ian smiled happily . Then he suddenly realized .
“Wait . The quest reward…?”
He had forgotten about the reward as he was talking to her . Was this the influence of her Negotiation Eloquence skill? Next time they met, he would have to ask for it .
He wore the bandana . He quite liked it, he looked like a trendy orc with a fashion sense .
Ian headed towards Thompson’s house, where Hoyt was currently at, with a spring in his step . However, there were shadows peeking at Ian .
“That orc…he’s a user right?”
“That’s right, there’s a star on the forehead . ”
“Huhu, isn’t he one crazy bastard?”
“That crazy **** is perfect for us . ”
“It is great . Shall we hunt an orc today…?”
Whispering in the alley, a white star like Ian’s shone on their foreheads .
***
It was dark . The night sky of Elder Lord was also beautiful . The stars from reality shone brightly in his virtual world . The galaxy, a group of stars that became a heavenly river in the sky .
Ian hummed as he looked up into the night sky . If the stars were like little children with shining eyes, the moon that shone calmly upon the world was their mother . The clean air cleared the atmosphere around him .
Ian wasn’t surprised when three humans appeared from an alley, as he had heard them approaching . However, he hadn’t lowered his head due to the beautiful stars .
“Hello Orc . ”
The weapons in their hands were dully shining in the moonlight . The first thing that popped into Ian’s mind was a name .
“Derek?”
They looked at each other and shrugged .
“I have no idea who that is, but just die quietly . ”
They didn’t seem to be Derek’s followers . Ian looked around, they were in a place with no people . This was the best place to attack someone .
“Orcs are a great source of achievement points . ”
“He is easy to catch because he is a user, and it also raises proficiency . ”
“Kikikik . ”
The three of them surrounded Ian, who stepped back and calmly analyzed them . It was an unexpected incident, but Ian’s head quickly entered combat mode . It was as natural as breathing for him .
He quickly figured out the enemy’s information .
The tall, slim man wielding a spear was the ranged type to keep Ian in check . The other man, who was in the back holding a staff, was a support magician in the rear . The light-bodied woman who held two short swords was a close combat fighter that would disturb his field of view with dizzying movements .
“What are you looking at?”
Ian didn’t respond to their words . He focused on predicting the flow of the battle and figuring out how to take the initiative . This moment would decide the outcome of the battle .
The man with the spear would stop Ian while the woman would distract him . While Ian dealt with the other two assailants, the magician in the rear would bombard him with spells . It was a familiar attack formation based on raid tactics . He needed to disrupt their rhythm .
Ian’s first priority was to catch the defenseless magician . Ian purposely acted frightened .
“Excuse me…what will you do…?”
The woman burst out laughing .
“Look, he’s so cute when he is frightened . ”
“You used to act like this when you were attacked by knights…”
As they laughed among themselves, Ian immediately struck . They weren’t in an attack posture and hurriedly raised their weapon towards Ian .
“Eh eh…?”
There was a short gap in their combat power in the short moment that they weren’t ready for battle . Ian rushed like crazy and thrust his greatsword at the spear and swords . They stepped back to take an attack stance .
However, Ian ignored them and kept rushing . The magician was temporarily left unprotected and exposed to the orc warrior, his eyes clouding over in dismay .
Ian laughed . Ian’s sword slashed his neck before the magician could even lift his staff . His head flew through the air .
“Kyaaak!”
The woman screamed at the sight of blood . Ian kicked the body of the magician who had lost his head . He had died before even using magic once .
[Congratulations! You have made the man who attacked you pay the price in blood . ]
[50 achievement points have been acquired . ]
[Your level has risen . ]
[An explosive power was momentarily displayed . The skill, Orc’s Strength (Common), has evolved . ]
[Orc’s Strength (Common) has been upgraded to Orc’s Superhuman Strength (Uncommon) . ]
“No, that, he was clearly a user…”
“What user? This…”
The man and woman stepped back . This wasn’t what they expected .
Users were weak . Apart from their combat power, their mental strength was also weak . They were modern people . They couldn’t become immersed in realistic battle, where blood and guts oozed out . Therefore, most of them were passive in combat, making it possible for user hunters like these people to exist .
However, Ian was different . He was a man who lived in a reality that was as cruel as Elder Lord . A dead body wasn’t able to stop him . No, it only made him more brutal .
Ian smiled as he recalled Hoyt’s teachings . That’s right . The fear of the enemy was his own strength .
As the **** orc smiled, the two people backed away in horror .
“Hey, hey, we, we were wrong . That isn’t a user . It doesn’t seem like it . ”
“I saw it!”
“Ah, I don’t know . He’s wearing a bandana . I was mistaken, what kind of user is that?”
They fell into confusion . Ian was still a beginner . He had felt it when he hit both of their weapons when they weren’t ready . Ian wouldn’t have an advantage in the fight against them .
However, they were already gripped by fear . Ian approached as they fell back while raising their weapons .
“Ah, I don’t know . Fight! Kill him first!”
“Uwah!”
The man thrust his spear . Ian moved his body and avoided it . He tried to dig into the gap, but the woman came up to Ian with her short swords . Two wounds occurred on both sides of Ian’s body .
“We can deal with him . ”
“We’ve killed a lot of users . We can do it!”
Formidable . Their movements were practiced . How many users had they killed to move in sync like this? Ian’s face distorted .
Ian remembered one of his skills . Orc’s Recovery . It was an orc passive skill that healed the injuries after a considerable amount of time .
Okay . He didn’t want to see the enemy’s face filled with confidence anymore . He would erase it .
Ian avoided the spear while focusing on the woman’s movements . He revealed a gap around his abdomen, as if it was a mistake . The woman responded immediately . She came in deep and aimed her swords with a shout . At that moment, Ian struck back with the greatsword instead of defending his body .
Puok .
Jeeeok .
Their attacks crossed . Ian had a dagger stuck in his belly, while the woman’s torso was split in half .