---

The fight ended surprisingly anticlimactically.

“Oh no! How could I possibly lose the mercenaries I went through so much trouble to recruit…!”

The otherworlders brought in adventurers who were merely A-rank.

Well, it wasn’t exactly fair to say they were just ‘A-rank’…

Still, two A-rank adventurers should have been able to handle themselves a bit better. The otherworlder who brought them was at best a B-rank.

As a result, the adventurers lay before me, cold corpses. I decided to keep one otherworlder alive for information extraction.

Since they were aiming for my life, I showed no mercy.

‘…I’m quite surprised.’

Of course, they didn’t just rush in without any plan. Life is precious, after all.

They must have had one ace up their sleeve.

And that ace was Holy Water.

‘I didn’t expect them to just throw Holy Water at me…’

To me, Holy Water was akin to a sword of calamity.

When used during a Rampage, it acted as a thanks-for-passing-the-pain buddy.

However, using it normally would weaken my power and serve as a debuff item.

They must have been aiming for that when they threw it at me.

But there was one thing they overlooked: the effects of Holy Water aren’t that dramatic.

If you drank it directly, maybe you’d feel something, but just throwing it and having it touch the skin?

It would only make me feel slightly weakened. It wouldn’t affect my ability to move much.

And that minor difference wasn’t enough to bridge the gap between us, which is why they died.

Anyway, now that the battle was over, it was time for the interrogation.

Without saying a word, I jabbed into the thigh of the otherworlder.

Thud!

“Ugh…!”

His face contorted in pain. Even though I had minimized the impact, it didn’t mean all the pain was gone.

I looked at him and said,

“Then… shall we have a little chat? I heard something about a bounty; what’s that all about?”

“Ugh… Ah, there’s money on your neck…”

Starting off by stabbing him had worked; he spoke up faster than I expected.

In a very awkward polite manner, no less.

He said that about a day ago, he saw on the Adventurers’ Guild bulletin board that there was a bounty on my head.

It seemed the knights couldn’t move on their own, so they were throwing money around to try and capture me.

After hearing that, I felt a bit curious and asked,

“Did you come all this way just for the money? With just these two guys?”

“I-I’m sorry. The bounty was so big I think I momentarily lost my mind…”

“How much were they offering?”

“About 5 million gold…”

“5 million?! That much?”

I momentarily gaped. 5 million gold was a staggering amount.

You could stay in a tavern for years with that much money.

Even when converted to the otherworld’s currency, it was similarly immense. According to Chaerin, the exchange rate is about 10 won per gold.

In other words, my life was now valued at around 50 million won to them.

‘What the crazy…’

Once I realized that, I cursed inwardly.

Indeed, it made sense why they’d want to ambush me. I frowned.

What a coincidence that such trouble happened just after returning home…

It’s already been two months since my identity was compromised because of Dantalion. It’s frankly remarkable that I hadn’t faced any reckoning until now.

As I pondered alone, the otherworlder I had captured spoke up.

“Um… could you spare me? I’ve got so many items with me… It’d be a big deal if I died.”

And hearing that, I couldn’t help but grimace.

It was a long-awaited feeling of contempt for the otherworlders. After targeting my life, what? He just didn’t want to lose his items?

Now that I think about it, this guy hadn’t shown any grief over the deaths of the mercenaries he brought.

Even if they had no ties, his view toward people was thoroughly rotten.

Well, for him, this place was probably just a game, so it wouldn’t matter if someone died or not.

His view of me was undoubtedly that of an NPC rather than a human.

Thanks to that, processing him was easy.

After all, his pain tolerance was diminished, so I could poke at him a bit without worrying.

“Ugh…!”

Just like that, he turned into particles of light and faded away, leaving only the items he dropped behind.

It looked like quite an expensive hammer. I licked my lips at the sight.

‘If only he’d dropped some Holy Water…’

I had asked him about the Holy Water as well.

I wondered how he managed to acquire such a rare item in a drought.

But the answer I got was terribly disappointing. He simply said he had bought it out of curiosity long ago and was only using it now.

“Ugh.”

In the end, I still didn’t get the Holy Water I longed for.

If that were the case, I might as well have scraped some off the floor.

‘When on earth is that Dantalion going to die…?’

At the very least, once he’s gone, the supply of Holy Water will open up again.

Just then, while I was lost in thought, a familiar person ran up from the other side of the forest.

“Yor! It’s a disaster! A big one…!”

It was Yoo Chaerin. Upon spotting me, she rushed over anxiously and said,

“Right now, there’s a bounty on your neck… Oh?”

But that was only for a moment; soon she froze, staring at the two cold corpses lying at my sides.

I casually replied to her,

“They put a 5 million gold bounty on me? I already knew.”

I didn’t really want to find out like this, though.

*

It didn’t take long to calm her down, as I was surprisingly relaxed about the bounty on my head.

‘It feels like I’m in some kind of webcomic character now…’

I was even able to entertain such trivial thoughts.

5 million berries is probably just the worth of some goons. I still had a long way to go.

After all, I had once fled the Empire as a child and even had a sketch made of me.

A fuss like this was something I had expected.

Of course, I still felt some sense of urgency.

“What are we going to do from here?”

After clearing the corpses, Chaerin asked.

“Hmm… For now, we should just wait.”

To be honest, my course had not changed.

I would live my life normally and deal with any intruders.

I already had most preparations made. I had found a hideout to escape to, and there were secret paths dug out in the cave too.

All I could do was set traps near the house…

It was frustrating, but there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t just willy-nilly go deeper into the layers either.

But I was confident. I could deal with most intruders without much trouble.

The only worry I had was…

‘There’s an extreme shortage of Holy Water…’

It wasn’t just because the Rampage was painful.

What if people burst in right after a Rampage A?

Or what if some pursuers picked up the scent of blood and tracked me down?

Things could go really south. Having some extra Holy Water was crucial to evade such scenarios.

Of course, consuming Holy Water wouldn’t grant me strength either, but at least it would keep my mind clear.

But thanks to that filthy Dantalion, I couldn’t find any.

“Ugh…”

I let out a sigh and said to Chaerin,

“For now, if you see any Holy Water in the market, definitely get it. No matter how expensive it is.”

“Ugh, I wish I could, but it’s just not visible…”

With those words, she turned and returned to the forest.

…And fortunately, I got a chance to acquire Holy Water not long after.

And in quite an unexpected way.

A few days later, another uninvited guest visited my cave.

“Wow, we finally meet.”

But this was a rather peculiar uninvited guest.

She was around 170 cm tall, taller than most women, with very long, violet hair.

With a slender figure, her expression was slightly fierce, giving off a strong vibe.

Overall, she was an extravagant-looking woman.

Yet, all that was merely a side note about her appearance.

What struck me the most was that she had come alone.

Moreover, she was anotherworlder, and there was even a stream running alongside her.

I quickly turned on ‘Player’s Eye’ and checked the chat.

[Wow, it’s Yor!]

[Wow, 50 million won!]

[Hanbyeol, don’t you think she’s gonna lose anyway? Do we really need to fight?]

[Let it be. This kid has been on cloud nine lately because he’s been getting pampered from all directions.]

[Once again, a talent-challenge, truly.]

[Noona, be careful not to get hurt! T__T]

[Our noona will definitely win! Quickly get rid of that demon’s minion!]

[Ugh, I really want to beat up these ridiculous fans;;]

The chat was buzzing, indicating that she must be quite a popular streamer.

Her purpose here seemed clear.

Since I had to play host, I seized my spear and said to her,

“Did you come looking for my life? But with such a shabby number of people?”

“Hah, I’m hearing all sorts of nonsense from an NPC. Worry about yourself. I’m more than adequately prepared.”

With that, she drew out her swords—two enormous scythes.

Ready to charge, she flashed a smile and continued,

“Let’s see… Holy Water works wonders for a manifestor, right? You should be a bit nervous. I have plenty of Holy Water.”

At those words, I couldn’t help but respond with a bright smile.

“Is that so?”