Chapter 05
Other than the trees around the village being shattered, the village itself was unharmed.
The trees I neatly cut down with the laser cannon became firewood for the beginner village this winter, and I even got praised for it.
“Ugh-cha.”
While the villagers excitedly sorted the firewood, I dug up the hidden crystal in the village.
“This is supposed to be something you only find at the very end of the story.”
But it didn’t matter—I was going to take it later anyway, so why wait?
While the village chief was preparing a party to show off, I quietly got ready to leave the village.
After all, the food in a low-level village was predictable.
Since even the food had level restrictions, there was no way the newbie-level village would serve anything tasty.
So I had just grabbed a few pieces of bread and thrown them into my inventory.
“Adventurer!”
I recognized the voice. It was Ken.
I couldn’t help but smile. Oh, right—Ken was here.
He was the only person in this village worth helping.
Ken was panting as if he had run from far away.
“Leaving the village?”
“Yes.”
“Without enjoying the party…”
“I’m not really into that kind of thing.”
I scratched my cheek.
I couldn’t possibly tell this kind-hearted NPC, “Your village is low-level, so the food will taste awful. That’s why I’m leaving.”
“I see. Then could you take this with you instead?”
Ken handed me a small pouch of cash.
Mr. Ned hadn’t bought much in-game currency, so this was perfect.
Seeing my pleased expression, Ken smiled.
“I heard cash is a big help for adventurers.”
Well, not just adventurers, but I didn’t refuse anyway.
“Thanks.”
“No, thank you. Honestly, I wasn’t confident I could handle all those monsters. I’ve only recently learned the sword.”
I hadn’t realized Ken even had that background in the game.
Uneria—it may have seemed poorly made, but it was better designed than I thought.
So in the original story, Ken had only just learned the sword and still insisted on defending the village, only to lose his left arm?
Wow.
I also remembered that if you follow the story, by the time you return to this village to collect the fifth crystal, you could see Ken’s grave.
Apparently, someone told me about it—a rough, wide stone with just [Ken] faintly engraved on it.
In other words, Ken dies somewhere while the adventurer is breaking the story.
Unbelievable.
“You have to stay healthy.”
Feeling a sudden pang of sympathy, I grabbed Ken’s hands with both of mine. His face turned red.
“I will, definitely. Until I can repay my gratitude later.”
Being alive is the way to repay, good NPC.
Leaving Ken—the rare, helpful NPC—I departed the village.
After leaving, I planned my next move.
First, level up as fast as possible, leave the beginner zone, and meet Mr. Ned.
Normally, leveling up would take forever, but…
“Mind if I borrow some stuff, Mr. Ned?”
I held the legendary-grade weapons Mr. Ned had bought.
“Wow… I never thought I’d see these in person.”
He had bought everything imaginable.
Even the “Thor’s Sword” was in his inventory—something I had always wanted but never found on trading sites.
Originally called “Resalator’s Sword,” its lightning effect made players call it Thor’s Sword.
Items with special effects were rare, and swords with paralysis effects were even rarer.
It was so expensive some joked you’d have to sell a house to buy it—hence the nickname “House-Selling Sword.”
The Thor’s Sword released lightning on every strike, adding magic lightning damage to enemies.
And now, with the paralysis effect?
“Whoa…”
Just imagining using it made me marvel.
The paralysis effect immobilized monsters like stone, stopping them from bouncing away.
In short, just holding this Thor’s Sword with paralysis made it feel like Thor himself was raining down lightning attacks.
“A Thor’s Sword with paralysis… and there’s only one like it on the server…”
Mr. Ned… how much money did you spend?
The amount was too scary to even think about, so I stopped.
Anyway, if I didn’t level up with this overpowered gear in my inventory, I’d be a fool.
Mr. Ned had to level slowly due to equipment restrictions, but I had no level limits.
“Sorry, Mr. Ned, I’ll be using this for now.”
No doubt Ned was happily using the same items himself, unaware of the swap.
Still, I’d have to suggest swapping items quickly when we met.
Carrying several “House-Selling Sword”-level weapons in my inventory was tempting, but also overwhelming.
[Uni / Lv. 98]
Thanks to that, leveling went smoothly—I had already increased 91 levels.
“I don’t want to do the main story, but I guess I have to.”
I sighed, thinking about that cursed village chief.
That afternoon, I arrived at Terrivan Castle—the first impressive town Uneria beginners would see.
“No mount…?”
Surprisingly, Mr. Ned hadn’t bought even one, so we were stuck walking.
Normally, my original character would have flown on a dragon or giant bat, covering this distance in minutes.
“Welcome to Terrivan Castle!”
I ignored the guards’ greetings and entered the castle.
As I remembered, the second main story quest started here—normally accessible around level 5.
“There should be an NPC in the inn or somewhere.”
Probably some bard.
In the story, the Uneria continent is sinking, all because of the crystal in my inventory.
The main story is to gather all the scattered crystals, open a portal to another world, and throw them in to save the continent.
The bard is the NPC who starts this part of the story.
A familiar trope—the storyteller bard.
“There you are.”
Sure enough, wrapped in layers of dusty robes, the bard muttered suspiciously in the inn’s corner.
“Could you play me a song?”
I prodded him, and he immediately reacted—typical NPC.
“You wish to hear my song?”
I nodded and handed over some coins.
He was notorious for refusing to speak without payment.
“Ah-hum.”
Of course, after receiving coins, he finally started talking.
He’d probably tell me about the crystals. I crossed my arms, bored.
“…The legendary warrior Ned split the ground with his bare hands…”
Until he suddenly mentioned a familiar nickname.
“Huh? Who?”
“The legendary warrior Ned split the ground with his bare hands, destroyed dungeons, and saved people.”
“Wait… Ned? As in that Ned?”
When I showed interest, the bard assumed I was a fan and went on in detail.
“Well, up in the north of the continent…”
The beginner village was in the west.
Far to the north, a frigid archipelago existed.
When it got cold, the area froze, connecting to the main continent.
Then, strong monsters from the north would descend on humans.
But now, Ned had cleared them all—bare-handed, without weapons.
“Wow… amazing…”
I murmured without emotion.
Of course. With my specs and equipment, Ned could do it.
But something seemed odd.
“Why are you there?”
Even my character had completed the main story.
Did Ned get a new main quest since he dropped here too?
Then why wasn’t he in the beginner village? Why the far opposite side of the continent?
“Ah…”
Looking at the Medica Empire uniform in my inventory, it made sense.
He started in his original nation, the Medica Empire—not the western Alaban where I started.
Poor thing, unaware of Ken’s kindness.
“Also, a terrible sense of direction…”
Anyway, I had a rough idea of Ned’s current status, smashing stuff wherever he went.
The problem: since Ned didn’t know the story, he probably didn’t collect the crystal on the northern island.
Someone like me, who knew the story, would grab the crystal early.
“Got it.”
So at least I knew I had to head north.
Thanks to Ned, no monsters would come from the north for a while—but until I got the crystal, stopping monster spawns was impossible.
I glanced at a mailbox in the corner.
GM Neria… probably didn’t guide Ned through the main story either.
Is that how they treat newbies? Huh?
“Wait a minute.”
I crept toward the mailbox.
Since it’s in-game mail, I could send messages to Ned as long as I knew his nickname.
Even if GM Neria was incompetent, they wouldn’t leave Ned stranded in the game world without any notice.
Then they must know that my character had swapped.
“Wonder if he knows how to check mail?”
I touched the mailbox and opened the window.
If this works, I might even be able to finish the story early.
After all, if I just save the continent, does the route really matter?
