Desire (Mogma) - Chapter 25

‘The only thing I can use is the Heavenly Demon Thousand Star Bombardment.’

He thought of that while he ran directly towards the wolf. If it is necessary to use it, he would use the Heaven and Earth Splitting, but it will limit him to some cases where the situation is not favorable. Now that his expertise which he only disclosed are Bloody Heart Explosion and Thousand Star Bombardment, he decided to stick to it.

It is not that bad to say that I chose the energy drain—.

It may have been trivial for him to disclose his energy drain instead of revealing his Bloody Heart Explosion Technique. And oh it’s also okay for him to lie about his absorption method. It is used to increase the attack power by learning professional techniques, or to increase the attack by increasing the strength of the energy drain or the absorption method. In the end, it will be the same for others who don’t know what’s going on.

However, he decided to hide the energy drain. His energy drain is equal to the number as his spleen. As it is like a Strong Ki Technique.

‘This game is not so friendly to the players.’

Although Daisy is receiving a party request,it confirmed how badly Ajin concentrated on the game. He can see the names of the party members, but that is all. There were no details like level or physical strength on the status. He was so shocked internally. Party play huh. He had experienced raiding against big monsters in PC games and Single games. Of course, in the case of single games, one will party with an NPC.

None of the games he had ever experienced has been this unfair. The inability to know the health and detailed condition of his party member is fatal to the party play. Especially to the Healer. The healer must exert more MP and had to decrease in physical strength while constantly checking the health of a party member due to the nature of its role. If they don’t work properly, the tanker dies, and the tanker’s death leads to annihilation of the party. If it is party play in an ordinary game, healer will be proven to exist by watching the party’s tanker and remove the curse that makes it ill.

But this game is different. In order to check each other’s condition, one must keep an eye on the other and see the flow of the fight like who gets attacked by the monster, and the one who attacks. She has to check it over and over again.

‘The healer must be pissed off.’

The healer, who had been complacent with a comfortable system so far, will probably abandon it due to the lack of contribution. Ajin glanced at nervous Lina, who was holding the wand behind her. Can I trust her? No, I won’t believe her. Ajin doesn’t trust everyone except himself in the first place.

‘It will end well anyway. If the condition is not disclosed, my energy drain can be used.’

He decided not to trust Lina the healer, and just restore his stamina consumed through energy drain. It seems like we are going to be on each other’s side.

“Lina, heal!”

Haguro shouted as he was being attacked by the pack of wolves and was in the middle. Lina responded immediately. She then lifted her wand and uttered something gently and then a light came out the wand. Ajin glided along the direction and drew letters. There was a burst of light that wrapped Haguro.

‘Communication is important.’

Ajin thought as he swung his fist at the wolf that was preparing for an attack on the outside. There were a number of statuses that can’t be checked as a chi, so they have no choice but to communicate with each other in the form of shouting. In order to do that quickness, composure and probably trust with each other? This party is not that bad. This is his first time to be part of this kind of party, and they are hunting together for the first time, but Ajin likes this kind of scenario. Before they started this game, they met in the virtual reality community and built friendships with each other. They had matched each other’s positions with party play in mind. Being acquainted with a stranger is not better than having a social relationship with the concept of improving.

‘I don’t intend to butt in.’

Punch! The fist he wielded smashed the wolf’s head. He thought that he should control his internal strength along with energy drain control. Being familiar is okay, but the problem is the adjustment of power. He looked at a wolf rolling on the ground. Hmm. The power is stronger than he thought. Well , all of Explosive Heart Attack, Blood Stream Technique and Heavenly Demon Art had doubled in terms of power. Now that he has done this, they had no choice but to reduce his power? He clicked his tongue.

‘It’s not a lack of internal strength.’

Rather, it’s overflowing. He recovers his strength by always operating his bloodstream technique. Even if he attacks with all his might, he will end up having plenty of experience. But the problem is, the people around him will put their attention to him. His level is Level 16. No matter how high his skill level is, he must coordinate it with his level. He has to compromise or else he will be suspected.

He didn’t mean to betray them right now just like he did to Sake. Because there is no reason for him to do so. But no matter how much he did it, he didn’t want to expose himself to the fullest., but it would be troublesome if they questioned him for no reason due to his offensive power. His strength is due to Heavenly Demon. So to be precise, it is due to his relationship with Raconda, who had the authority in the village, and Heuk Seolhyang, a leader of Magic Sect. She is like a main source for Ajin. He didn’t have the slightest desire to share this with others. Even if they question him, he will only keep his mouth shut.

It’s better if he doesn’t do anything that can be questioned.

“We are getting faster.”

After all the wolves had fallen, Haguro took a deep breath and said that. He had scratches and bites around his toenail and there were teeth marks on his armor.

“Because we have one more dealer that’s why. I’m glad I invited Ajin.”

“I agree with you. He is pretty incredibly aggressive for Level 16.”

His expression went dark when Haguro said that due to surprise. Not within expected range, huh? Ajin smiled faintly as he watched the two evaluate him. They have heard him hunting wolves as a solo player. He hid his satisfaction due to their theories.

“What about dropouts?”

Leaving his satisfaction, Ajin decided to ask something realistic. This game doesn’t drop items even if they catch monsters. They had to get the items by dissecting the monster itself. While the monster’s body is abandoned for rapid growth for hunting so far, the case is different for party hunting. In other words, he can’t focus for himself alone.

“The most expensive deal is leather, though… it’s a bit hard to skin it so we will just pull out its teeth.”

Daisy said. Ajin nodded silently. Perhaps this part aims for fast hunting rather than making money in hunting. It is somewhat in line with him.

“Just pull out the fangs.”

Daisy said, while she is pulling out the fangs out of the wolf’s mouth. It would be difficult in reality to pull out these kinds of animal’s teeth in only bare hands, but this is a game and this body is an avatar so the status is elevated in accordance to their level. Other than that, there is an enhancement of the skill. With a bit of strength, the wolf’s fangs were pulled out neatly.

“Wolf fangs can be sold for 50 gold each at a local store. Leather is accepted in blacksmith. They sell it for 200 gold at the lottery. Once I have collected all the teeth, I’ll go back to the town and make a deal. I’ll do the splitting in accordance with the number of the party.”

With that, Ajin handed over the pulled fangs to Daisy. He can’t trust Daisy just like that. Though I know there is no reason for her to lie just in case. A desire for money? Of course he can’t overlook it. But why does she have to lie just by monopolizing the wolf fangs?

“Then let’s go a little deeper. We’re new here, so we might meet another party here.”

Daisy said, then Haguro moved again with it’s big shield, not wasting time. At this rate, it may not be bad to join the party in the future.

“I am 21 years old.”

Daisy grinned as she approached Ajin’s side who was silently walking. With her words, he glanced at her.

“I live in England. What about you Ajin-ssi?”

“I am Korean. I’m 24 years old.”

“Oh, so you’re the oldest among us? Me and Haguro are of the same age, while Lina is 20 years old.”

“May I call you brother?”

Haguro said that and smiled back at him while taking the lead. Perhaps they wanted to keep him at the party. He nodded after thinking about it for a while.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Hunting silver wolves for solo play may not be that bad, As a result of dealing with it, although there were a lot, it is not that difficult to catch it. But he can’t insist on playing solo forever. After all, if he plays this game, no matter how hard he plays solo, there will be a time when he has to join a party in hunting. It is not that half bad to get used to party hunting just in case.

“Please speak freely. I am much younger than you.”

“Well…if that’s what you want to. Though it’s a little awkward.”

He laughed faintly and scratched his head. He naturally dropped his manner afterwards. Haguro nodded and had a placid smile.

“I am not yet comfortable here. You said you were Korean, right? I live in Japan.”

“I-I am from Canada.”

Lina hesitantly answered. Daisy chuckled as she wrapped her arm around Lina’s shoulder.

“Let’s all talk comfortably. Can I call you Ajin oppa?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Ah really. Please don’t use honorifics.”

In English, there is no honorific in it. However, conversations in virtual reality are not based in linguistics but rather through brainwaves. That’s why Daisy understands Ajin, who has English as her native language.

“Okay–okay, I got it.”

“That’s right, oppa. Speaking of which, why don’t you keep having parties with us in the future?”

Daisy said as she approached him silently.

“It’s a little too much for me to say, but our party is quite good. We’re close and our skills are not that bad. The only thing is, our level is average…”

Daisy drooped her shoulders, whispering the end of her speech. Then she opened her eyes widely, and raised her voice again.

“That’s level! We can raise our levels if we hunt even more. Ajin oppa’s level is low, too, right?”

“—I don’t think level is that important.”

Ajin answered honestly. Daisy laughed as if she knew the answer and poked Ajin at the ribs with her elbow.

“Right? Right? I’m not going to ask you in detail, but Ajin oppa’s skill level is pretty high right? I instantly knew when I saw you fighting.”

Ajin smiled vaguely instead of answering.

“That means we are as well. In fact, our level is also due to our focus in raising our skill level, and not because we’re weak. Hey, oppa. We’re all on level 21, and if we get 25, we’re going to move to another hunting ground.”

“What?”

“At first I thought of the Silent Forest. I was also thinking of going to the port city across the Silent Forest. Ajin oppa you know what? Luke’s party.”

‘Luke.’ Ajin’s body flinched due to the name she mentioned. There’s no way he doesn’t know. How can he forget when he was one of those bastards who gave him his first death in this game? Ajin clenched his fist, while thinking of Luke’s participation and made him blown away.