Chapter 81 …
“Damn, I really need to do something about this mana.”
Since he’d decided to raise Jihad as Zeke, he needed to either increase the total mana pool or massively boost recovery.
It was far too much potential to let go to waste.
If only Guardians could use mana potions…
Maybe it was for balance, maybe just part of the game’s design, but mana potions had almost no effect on Jihad.
Thanks to that, the potions he’d gotten from Linda back in Raven were still sitting unused.
Not that Dohyun—who already had ridiculous specs—was short on mana anyway.
Well, at least I got something out of this.
He was satisfied after properly confirming Jihad’s potential.
Jihad, however, clearly wasn’t.
Judging by how dejected he looked, shoulders slumped, the earlier sneaky grin he’d worn was nowhere to be seen.
Riza…
It’s okay, Eliza. This is just how it is for me. I’m just the pack mule anyway… Honestly, maybe I wasn’t born to be Zeke—maybe I was born to be Doh’s errand boy.
Riza!? Riza!
I want to be alone for a bit, Eliza.
Riza…
Eliza looked pitiful as she fidgeted beside him.
Shaking his head, Dohyun decided to go along with what Jihad wanted.
“Eliza, want to try your other ability?”
Eliza had two traits.
One of them hadn’t been checked yet.
He figured now was as good a time as any.
Riza… Riza!
Eliza’s head snapped up and she hopped excitedly.
After sneaking a glance at Jihad—and receiving a nod of approval—she scampered over and thumped her chest.
Riza!
“What did she say?”She says… follow her.
“Oh? You’re coming too?”Yeah.
Riza!
Jihad suddenly cut in, seemingly recovered already.
It stung a little to fall back to pack-mule duty so soon after trying to prove himself, but he clearly hated being alone more.
Dohyun let it slide.
Swish, swish—
Grinning widely now that Jihad had joined, Eliza scanned the surroundings.
She was looking for a suitable target.
Right on cue, she spotted a massive silhouette beyond the fog and hurried toward it.
Following behind her, they found an orc sitting on a rock, resting.
Whether it had been separated from its group or wandered off didn’t matter—being alone made it the perfect test subject.
Her ability isn’t as strong as before, but she thinks it’ll work on these guys.
“Oh? Then give it a shot.”Riza!
She says even a small wound is fine—just injure it.
“Got it.”
Apparently, the parasite ability only worked on wounded targets.
Which made sense—most infections and parasites in reality also entered through wounds.
Balance-wise, it was reasonable too.
[Thousand Forms transforms into “Assassin’s Dagger.”]
Shuak—! Thunk!
“Chwiik!?”
The orc jerked in shock as the suddenly flying dagger lodged into its thigh, stumbling and falling over.
Did it die?
Dohyun checked just in case.
The creature was groaning and writhing—it had simply been startled by the sudden burst of damage.
He hadn’t even used Striking and had chosen the lowest-attack dagger form. Good call.
Riza!
Eliza didn’t miss the opening.
Ssss—
Without giving the orc time to notice, she smoothly approached the wound and inserted her webbing.
[Eliza’s trait “Parasitism” activates.]
[Attempting to parasitize the orc.]
So that’s how it works.
He’d expected her to physically crawl inside and struggle around, but the process was far more technical than he thought.
Well, no matter how small Eliza was, she was still a living creature.
If that fluffy white body went inside, there was no way the host wouldn’t notice.
Pyuuk— fyuu—
After pushing the webbing deep inside, Eliza suddenly stopped.
A few seconds passed.
[Eliza has successfully parasitized the target.]
At the message, the writhing orc froze.
There wasn’t any flashy effect.
Only the orc’s left hand—once swamp-green—had turned pale white up to the wrist.
Riza! Rizariza!
Congratulations, Eliza. I knew you could do it.
The orc—no, Eliza—looked thrilled to have succeeded in one try.
Everything was fine, except for the fact that such a vicious face paired with that cute voice was incredibly mismatched.
Apparently, parasitism didn’t copy the host’s voice.
“Still, the change is smaller than last time?”
Glancing at the left hand, Dohyun asked.
Orc-Eliza answered brightly.
Riza! Rizariza!
She says it’s random and even she can’t control it, Master. But on average, the lower the target’s rank, the smaller the change.
“Oh?”
That was actually well-balanced.
Honestly, at a glance, it was impossible to tell whether this was a normal orc or a parasitized one.
Most players didn’t stare at an orc’s left hand during a hunt anyway.
And since it was the left hand, gripping a battle axe naturally covered it.
Riza!
Apparently, it wasn’t just from a human perspective.
In fact, Eliza boldly started walking toward the group of orcs beyond the fog.
“Uh—wait, Eliza—”
“Chwiik? Chwik.”
Dohyun stopped mid-warning.
The orcs who made eye contact with Eliza simply looked away as if nothing was wrong.
Some even chattered at her casually.
But when she ignored them, they quickly lost interest and left—showing no hostility.
“Chwik? Chwiik!”
Instead, their attention shifted to Dohyun.
They spotted him late and immediately tried to charge.
And at that moment—
Thud!
“Chwiik!?”
The charging orc suddenly got smacked on the back of the head and looked up in confusion.
Nearby, the only one present was the orc they’d seen earlier.
“Chwiik…?”
What the—did you just hit me?
The creature stared at Eliza in disbelief.
In that opening, Dohyun dashed forward and finished it.
[You have defeated an Orc.]
[You obtained quest material: Concentrated Orc Blood.]
Riza!
“Yeah. Good job, Eliza.”
This time, Jihad didn’t even need to translate.
Pointing at herself and shouting—anyone could tell she was saying, I did good, right?
Eliza beamed at the praise.
With that ferocious face smiling, she honestly looked like a kidnapper right before snatching a child.
Dohyun turned his head instead of praising her further.
But there was a smile on his lips.
This is better than I expected.
Parasitism’s effect was stronger than he thought.
Even with the conditions attached, it was solid—and once applied, the duration didn’t seem short.
Whether Eliza simply had a large mana pool or the skill consumed no mana, he wasn’t sure.
Jihad seemed to be thinking the same thing, judging by his bitter expression.
…You’re better than me, Eliza.
Riza?
Yeah. At least you’re useful. I’ll go pick up items or something.
Riza? Rizariza!
From Jihad’s mana-starved perspective, Eliza’s strengths must have hit harder.
Still, his expression wasn’t too bad—he seemed half-joking.
It looked like he’d mostly come to terms with things.
Eliza does have great impact.
Even now, her flustered denial was pretty funny.
If they really had lived together before, they probably used to mess around like this all the time.
Riza!
After the chatter died down, Eliza shouted boldly.
Dohyun naturally looked to Jihad.
Jihad translated smoothly now.
She says she’ll patrol and take care of anyone trying to ambush you—so hunt comfortably.
Riza!
Eliza nodded eagerly in agreement.
Dohyun chuckled.
Honestly, ambushes wouldn’t have mattered much—but the thought was endearing.
“Alright. I’m counting on you.”
Riza!
Roger!
“You don’t have to translate that.”Roger!
Watching Eliza run off into the distance, Dohyun gripped Thousand Forms again.
Concentrated blood obtained so far: 2.
He still needed 48 more.
Considering how many he’d already killed, he’d probably need another 150–200 orcs.
Actually, given his luck, maybe even more.
Either way, it didn’t matter.
[Monsters near Brion defeated (278 / 1,000)]
Well, clearing the main quest along the way isn’t bad. Levels aren’t rising much anymore anyway.
Whatever happened, he’d finish before reaching a thousand kills.
Scanning the area for his next prey, he soon spotted two orcs standing in the fog.
They hadn’t noticed him yet.
If they won’t come to me, I’ll go to them.
Just as Dohyun grinned and began to transform Thousand Forms—
“Uwaaaagh!?”
“…?”
Huh?
A sudden shout rang out from behind.
Both Dohyun and Jihad froze and tilted their heads.
Was there another player back there?
Before the thought fully formed, his head instinctively turned.
And then he saw—
[Guardian “Eliza” has taken damage from Player “Duke.”]
[Player “Duke” initiated the attack. Self-defense is recognized.]
[Killing the target will not increase Karma.]
“…Huh?”
A message he absolutely did not expect.
* * *
Duke was an open beta player who had started the moment God of the New World launched.
He’d built his standing over more than a year—one of the so-called early vanguard players.
Naturally, he had confidence in his skill.
His ranking barely clung within the top 100,000—but in a game played by a billion people, that was enormous.
By percentage alone, that was the top 0.01%.
Rankings weren’t a perfect measure of skill, but they were certainly correlated.
It was a standing he could boast about anywhere.
The man who had broken into the realm called “ranker”—
That was Duke.
Damn it.
It was both his pride… and his sore spot.
The pride of becoming a ranker in the world’s biggest game—
and the despair of hitting a wall he couldn’t climb.
Those two emotions constantly stirred inside him.
No matter what I do, I can’t climb higher. What’s wrong? What am I missing?
Even after pouring every bit of money he earned as a ranker into the game, this was his limit.
His rank wouldn’t budge, like it was nailed in place.
It wasn’t just the number.
He could feel it—his actual strength and standing had plateaued.
What the hell is the problem? No one invests more than I do!
Others spent money casually.
But he was different.
While others put in effort level 1, he poured in level 5.
At least, that’s what Duke believed.
The people he hung around with were all complacent, satisfied with their current positions.
But Duke invested both effort and money without hesitation.
And yet—
he still stood shoulder to shoulder with people who invested nothing.
…No.
Barely keeping up was the more accurate description.
Only through this level of effort could he remain beside his peers.
If he relaxed even slightly, he would’ve fallen out of the top 100,000.
In other words—
this was his limit.
He just refused to admit it.
If I can’t climb higher… I’ll start over.
Some would call it foolish.
No—beyond foolish, outright stupid.
But Duke hated stagnation more than anything.
More precisely—
I can’t stand seeing people worse than me above me.
No matter how he looked at it—
he was better.
His control was better!
Yet they stood above him, and the gap kept widening in real time.
Duke believed the reason was Traits and God Draws.
Because among rankers, he was one of the few—
a spearman with an Evolution-tier god and an ordinary trait.
Damn it… If I’d known, I would’ve rerolled until I got something good back then.
Now everyone understood how important traits and unique abilities were.
Grinding for them had become the norm.
But back in his day, it wasn’t like that.
Starting early and getting ahead had mattered most.
As a result, only the monsters with insane talent and money were thriving—
while people like him hit a hard ceiling.
It was unbearably unfair.
So Duke made a bold decision.
He deleted his character and started over.
Shit… I screwed up.
