"Are you out of your mind?"
"Is it that hard?"
"It's not a matter of whether it's possible or not. Just having this means you're forced to wear it."
"But I don't see any clause saying I can't transfer it."
"No, are you not understanding what I'm saying? Or are you unable to assess the situation?"
He couldn't understand the newbie's intentions.
Of course, there are always quite a few people willing to sacrifice themselves.
And if he were part of the rescue team, that would be even more likely (though that was just his own delusion).
However, sacrifice is a strategy in its own right.
Even if the newbie put on this necklace in his place right now, it would only mean one more slave.
"Hey, do you think I'm doing this without a second thought?"
"Uh, well. I suppose not."
"Just let me handle this. Here, take it."
Though slightly uneasy at the newbie's casual attitude, he slowly reached for the necklace.
"I don't know if it'll work."
"We've got to at least try."
"Alright... Gift item."
He spoke the command and gestured into the air.
The unpleasant, crackling necklace around his neck slipped off and slowly moved into the newbie's hands.
"Ah, it worked."
[Received a gift from another player]
[You have obtained @#@!#Accessory!#@]
[Equipment effect activated!]
Along with the message window, the necklace clung to Newbie's neck like a parasite.
"Guh!"
"L-look at that! I told you so..."
He frantically fumbled with his hands, flustered.
Soon, his hands stopped, and his pupils wavered.
"...Did I?"
The black cords that had spread out from the necklace and the crackling static began to subside.
Ding!
[An error has been detected]
[Automatic debugging mode is activated]
[The error has been resolved! Please contact the Seeker World staff if any other issues arise]
After closing his eyes for a while, a notification window appeared before Newbie.
[We apologize for the inconvenience caused by frequent debugging. To ensure smooth gameplay, we are granting temporary admin privileges to '#!#@Newbie'.]
[Level 10 admin privileges have been granted.]
[You have obtained the 'Test Subject 162 Necklace'.]
'Admin privileges? So does that mean I'm sort of like an admin now?'
An admin—literally, a super account that runs the game.
Of course, in reality, they were just employees of the game company, but they were also the ones with the most power within the game.
After all, there have been cases where unscrupulous admins used their own accounts to secretly cause trouble.
Though, of course, it was labeled as 'Level 10.'
"Let's put that aside for now."
The newbie slowly approached the others.
Those who witnessed the miracle began to regain their senses.
"Um, can I do it too?"
"Me too... please."
"Of course. Please come one at a time."
Once was hard, but the second and third times were easy.
[You have obtained 'Test Subject 372's Necklace.']
[You have obtained 'Test Subject 412's Necklace.']
[You have obtained 'Test Subject 932's Necklace.']
...
One by one, those who removed their necklaces and returned to normal began to stretch their bodies, as if their sanity were slowly returning.
Among them, the first man stood up and said...
"I still can't believe it. Am I really free?"
His very gaze had changed.
His previously dull, gray eyes had sharpened like those of a predator.
He slowly began to inspect his belongings.
"Ah, there it is."
It was one of the weapons passengers carried for self-defense.
From among them, he pulled out a light one-handed sword.
He swung the sword a few times in the air to test it.
"Grr! Grrrrrrr!"
Just then, the tiger stood up again and, from inside the cage, let out a threatening growl as it began scratching at the bars.
'What, what's going on all of a sudden?'
As if furious at having been knocked unconscious earlier, the tiger scratched at the cage door like a madman.
Then, the lock on the cage finally snapped.
The beast burst out of the cage and suddenly lunged at them.
"Enough noise."
He swung his sword vertically at the charging tiger.
Whoosh!
A streak of white sword energy, visible to the naked eye, cut through the air.
The tiger, caught in its path, was split in two.
"Phew, my reflexes aren't as bad as I thought."
'Can a person really change that much?'
Time really is a scary thing.
Newbie's eyes widened at the sight of that man who had suddenly awakened.
But that was only the beginning.
The others behind him—the other living inventories.
All of them.
Their eyes slowly shifted as they began to move.
*
Arien at the window and the blue-haired Devotee.
Their gazes met.
That cold, hollow stare remained unchanged.
The Captain drew the crossbow from his back with a dry, precise motion.
No, honestly, it was too big to be called a crossbow.
It was the kind of thing that, if anyone saw it, they'd mistake it for a siege weapon.
Click! Whirrr! Sizzle!
Load, aim, fire.
All of this happened in a mere second.
Boom! Whizz!
Crash!
Arien hurriedly stepped back.
The window where she had been standing shattered completely.
An arrow from the crossbow was embedded there.
A chain was attached to that arrow.
"Go."
"Got it, Captain! Let's go!"
Another Devotee with orange hair dashed out along the chain.
She immediately stepped onto the second floor of the carriage.
"Hello?"
The orange-haired Devotee waved cheerfully and smiled.
Behind that innocent smile, her kick flew toward Arien.
"Ugh!"
Boom!
Arien quickly blocked it with her shield, but her arm began to tingle.
[Piercing damage dealt]
[Lost 5% HP]
She was definitely in a different league from the guards earlier.
In this game world, people often mistakenly assume that since everyone is max level these days, combat power is pretty much the same across the board.
But anyone with even a modicum of knowledge about combat knew better.
Level isn't everything when it comes to combat power.
It depended on your gear setup and the skills you'd mastered.
Beyond that, there was stat allocation, class, personal knowledge and experience, and even what martial arts or sports you'd practiced in real life...
In Seeker World, all of that was tied to combat.
"Ugh, that was supposed to be my trump card. Guess it didn't work after all~."
Just then, the chains rattled, and the blue-haired Devotee climbed up along them.
His blue eyes gleamed as he warned his comrade.
"Don't let your guard down. It's a Level 3 threat."
"Whaaa~?! Why is a big shot like that robbing a carriage? I heard people saying the kingdom would be shaken if anything above Level 3 showed up!"
The female Devotee reacted with a shock so exaggerated it was almost comical.
Her attitude seemed like she was joking, but she was genuinely horrified.
"I guess you know one thing. What on earth are you trying to do with the Bug?"
"Bug?"
"Don't try to fool me. Now that I'm inside, I can definitely sense it. The guy with the Bug is definitely here."
"What… what are you talking about? Why on earth would I want something that dangerous?"
"As expected, you don't get it. I guess I have no choice."
He hadn't expected anything from the start.
It would be easier to debate with a mad goblin than to have a conversation with an outsider (player).
Click! Clank!
The blue-haired Devotee's massive crossbow shifted shape with an ominous sound.
"Battle mode activated. Loading magic suppression rounds."
"Not so fast!"
Arien's chainsaw disc shield flew toward him.
But the orange-haired Devotee caught the disc shield with his bare hands.
"Iron Scale!"
Her hands turned to steel.
The disc shield spun in her grasp before coming to a sudden halt.
Clang! Clatter!
"Huh? Huh?"
As soon as Arien pulled the chain to retrieve it, she gestured into the air with a dumbfounded expression.
From behind, the crossbow fired.
"Damn it."
Arien clenched her lips.
She twisted her body to dodge the first shot, then ran sideways to avoid the incoming bullets.
At the same time, she threw the disc shield along the wall.
"Where are you going! Iron Scale!"
The orange-haired Devotee tried to snatch the disc again, but.
Clang!
"Huh?"
Arien swung her hand once more, changing the chain's direction.
The disc shield altered its trajectory along the chain, struck the wall, and bounced back once more.
The shield soon flew toward the blue-haired devotee with a thunderous roar.
"Gah!"
Clank! Whoosh!
Immediately, countless shrapnel rounds poured out of his crossbow like a shotgun.
After several skirmishes, both sides developed their own objectives for victory.
The Devotee's goal was to close in on Arien and subdue her.
Arien's goal was to dodge the orange-haired Devotee's blocks and take down the blue-haired Devotee, who was handling long-range attacks.
The cat-and-mouse battle continued.
As the fight dragged on, Arien tried to take out the orange-haired Devotee first, but...
Bang! Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap!
"Ouch!"
"Heh~. Did you really think our Captain wouldn't see through your cheap trick?"
"Ugh!"
Whenever Arien attacked the blue-haired Devotee—that is, the Captain—the orange-haired Devotee stepped in.
Whenever Arien targeted the orange-haired Devotee, the Captain stepped in to intercept her.
The battle was still evenly matched, but Arien's side was ultimately at a disadvantage.
The two, whose timing was perfectly in sync, continued to block Arien's attacks.
"Ugh! Iron Fist!"
"Ugh...!"
Damage began to accumulate on the disc shield from the orange-haired Devotee's iron fist attacks.
[Equipment durability has reached a critical level]
[If durability drops below a certain threshold, the equipment will be forcibly removed]
That wasn't all.
The blue-haired Devotee's shooting grew increasingly precise.
"Mira."
"Okay, oh, my captain!"
The moment she dodged, a bullet flew toward the spot she had just been standing.
Even for Arien, damage began to pile up against that near-miraculous marksmanship.
[Damage 1,421]
[Damage 492]
[Damage 1,823]
...
[Lost 2% of HP]
Like clothes getting wet in a drizzle, her HP kept draining away steadily.
That alone wouldn't be so bad, but only bad news kept coming her way.
"Iyob! Slash!"
Clang!
[Part of your equipment has been damaged!]
"Yes!"
Her concentration wavered, causing Arien to be a split-second too slow in retrieving her shield.
Then, the orange-haired Devotee—Mira—severed the chain with a backhand slash.
She was nearing her limit.
"That's some dirty play, seriously."
At Arien's accusation, the two just smirked.
" "Hehe, Captain! They say our control is off the charts, huh?"
"Thanks for the compliment."
A war of attrition was no longer an option.
Arien played her final card.
Her one-handed sword glowed red.
"Flame Enchant. And..."
She pulled out every buff item she had.
The empty potion bottles and herbs she'd used were scattered across the floor.
"Grrrr...!"
Thud!
In an instant, Arien vanished.
"Mira!"
"Ugh! Iron Block!"
Instinctively, Mira crossed her arms and activated her defensive skill.
Whoosh!
"Ugh!"
Even though her entire body had turned to stone, deep gashes were carved into her arms.
She was flung sideways, and he closed in right up to her face, brandishing his flaming sword.
But the Captain was just as quick.
He was a veteran who had hunted players and fixed bugs for decades.
He aimed his crossbow not at Arien, but at the floor.
"Explosive Shot!"
With those words, a flash of light erupted.
The floor shattered instantly, and he fell through the hole.
"Gah! No!"
Arien threw herself forward in a hurry.
The buffs she had acquired wouldn't last long.
Some of them would trigger debuffs once they wore off, so she had to finish this quickly.
But she knew.
That she had been too hasty.
"Damn it..."
As if he knew she was falling, the man who had dropped down was now aiming at the sky.
"Magic Blast Cannon!"
A magical cannon, resembling a laser, pierced right through the carriage's roof.
Naturally, Arien, who was hit directly by that attack, couldn't possibly survive.
*
"Guh..."
[Lost 82% of HP]
[Equipment durability has reached its limit.]
[Equipment has been unequipped.]
She was barely hit by the laser; it was lucky she managed to move backward somehow—otherwise, it would have been an instant kill.
Of course, in front of the two of them, she was practically a corpse.
"It would've been better to just die right there. That's strange."
"Yeah, right? It is strange."
From the Devotees' perspective, capturing the player was far more advantageous than killing her.
From Arien's perspective as a player, dying cleanly and returning to the guild was preferable to being taken prisoner.
But Arien couldn't back down.
'Those guys are definitely going to look for Newbie-nim!'
She simply couldn't back down.
She had brought him here with the intention of saving him; running away now would be like pushing an innocent player into hell.
But if she stayed, they'd both get captured.
'What should I do…?'
Even a veteran rescue team member with years of experience couldn't come up with a solution.
When there was simply no solution to be found.
She had to fight, no matter what.
Arien tried to get back on her feet, but…
[You have been afflicted with the 'Confusion' debuff]
The side effects of the item were starting to kick in.
Just as she was about to stand up and was about to fall again.
"A-are you okay?"
Someone helped her up.
"Newbie? Wait, why?"
"I came to help."
"No, Newbie, you should run..."
Just then, she sensed movement behind her.
And a lot of it.
"How are you guys holding up?"
"My body's still pretty stiff, but I can still handle my share."
A muscular middle-aged man with a deep voice.
When he was an inventory slave before, I hadn't realized how tall he was because he was always hunched over.
In addition to him, countless others who had once been inventory slaves appeared, each holding a weapon.