Malphegor
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MoP: Ch. 66
🕑 Added 2025-03-02 17:34:03 +0000 UTC---Viktor's POV---
"We need to quickly move the items inside before those monsters migrate over!" I kept urging everyone.
One of the key issues with controlling the expansion of monsters was that after the death of a nest's master, other monsters could easily migrate to the unclaimed nest and reoccupy the territory to rebuild their own lairs.
I was only temporarily confusing them by leveraging the lingering aura left behind by the giant serpent.
The ten players moved swiftly upon hearing my call.
Even though they were still marveling at the flawless blend of lava pools and jungle, their hands didn't slow down.
They started scavenging the giant serpent's body, stuffing everything—big or small—into their bags.
The remains of the giant serpent on the ground diminished rapidly before my eyes.
I noticed Hedgehog touch the part of the serpent with a diameter of about a meter.
He seemed to concentrate for a moment, then looked confused.
"Huh? Can't store it? But my inventory isn't full?"
At that moment, NeverShowOff happened to walk by and replied in an experienced tone:
"That's how game inventories work. You can't completely rely on the written rules."
"Last time, a player tried exploiting a bug, and they still couldn't store it."
I observed their interaction while watching other players move stones by the shore.
Game inventory worked by categorizing and counting items, not by physical space. Some players had tried to exploit this system before. A single fruit pit might take up one slot, and a whole fruit also takes just one slot.
A branch with multiple fruits hanging from it? Still only one slot.
One player even bought a piece of tough grass cloth, wrapped a bunch of random items in it, and stuffed it into the bag. It only took up one slot. The stored item in the slot was labeled as "a bundle."
However, there was no 999-unit stacking limit for bundles—one slot could only hold one bundle.
Just as the player excitedly prepared to share their discovery on the forums, they realized there were limitations. If the bundle was too large, even if the player could physically carry it, it couldn't be stored in the inventory.
The exact rules of the game inventory had to be discovered gradually by players.
NeverShowOff grabbed the black bone spur on the serpent's head and tried to drag it ashore.
"Good thing I brought two Thornleaf Blades with me. After cutting it into two pieces, you can try again," he said to Hedgehog.
"Good idea!"
The two of them grabbed one of the bone spurs on the serpent's forehead and pulled together with all their might.
After retreating seven or eight steps, they still hadn't seen the end of the serpent's tail.
Hedgehog wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Jeez, could this be some kind of king serpent?! No wonder I couldn't store it earlier."
NeverShowOff pulled out the Thornleaf Blade.
"Never mind, this length will have to do. Otherwise, you won't be able to carry it later anyway."
He inspected the knife and then aimed at the opening between the scales.
The modified, ultra-thin blade slid easily between the serpent's scales.
He exerted force.
Crack!
The Thornleaf Blade snapped.
"..."
"..."
I nodded to myself in approval, marveling at how efficiently players worked, seemingly oblivious to weight limits.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a flicker of firelight and immediately felt alarm bells ringing.
"Stay away from it!" I shouted loudly.
NeverShowOff was just about to turn his head when the flame touched the scales, and a blinding light erupted.
Boom—whoosh!
I teleported instantly.
Before the red light could completely fill his vision, I slammed my skeletal hand down on the explosion, snuffing out the flames.
Everything happened in an instant.
NeverShowOff and Hedgehog stood frozen, eyes wide, staring at me.
"V...Viktor?"
I removed my hand. The scales where it had been were slightly dimmed but otherwise unharmed.
Only a black scorch mark marred the pale white bone of my hand.
I rubbed my fingers, brushing away the black ash.
"I forgot to mention earlier: this is a Level 2 monster, a Flame-Serpent. It's a creature that maxes out its fire-magic attributes. Don't mess around with fire near it."
"Even if it's just the corpse."
I raised my hand, dispelling the barrier I had placed between the players and the serpent.
"If it's hard to transport, you can come to me for help."
With a wave of my hand, several wind blades with a faint green glow sliced through the air.
The serpent's body was neatly cut into one-meter-long chunks.
NeverShowOff snapped out of it. "Oh, okay!"
He quickly closed his gaping mouth, dragged the remaining half of the serpent's body ashore, and waved at me with a grin.
"Boss, there's still more over here!"
I shook my head. "You're way too carefree."
Almost dying, and yet no reaction at all.
I sent several more wind blades flying out.
The two players eagerly carried the chopped-up chunks of serpent meat, dividing the weight between them.
Once they finished storing the serpent's body, most of the nearby items had been collected.
I stopped a few players who were tempted to test if the lava could be transported back to town and waved my hand.
"Prepare to head back!"
The players moved quickly.
Even after my group and I had walked a considerable distance, we could still hear the sound of a large creature moving behind us.
---
Because the players were carrying so much weight, the return trip took significantly longer than the journey there—over two hours.
Of course, part of the delay was because I decided to take a new route instead of retracing our steps.
The new path, while promising, was fraught with strange plants and monster traps.
That spider, which had apparently spent its gestation period somewhere nearby, had laid webs all over the place.
I dismantled three different traps made from the spider's silk along the way.
The players eagerly divided the spider silk among themselves, nearly running out of inventory space.
By the time our group of ten returned to Honeyvale Town, they were practically crawling back.
Their hands and backs were loaded with bizarre species.
Even though the system dulled the physical sensation of exceeding weight thresholds, their bodies were still carrying several times their normal limit.
Alyanne, having received my orders, had been waiting by the giant tree at the town entrance.
I instructed the players to stop in the open space nearby and raised my voice.
"Don't crowd! Line up orderly to settle your rewards with Alyanne!"
A collective sigh of relief came from the group.
"Finally, we're here!"
"This trip was intense. Hurry up with the rewards—I want to post on the forums!"
---Third POV---
Alyanne, clutching her weighing rod, looked tense.
On the way here, she had read her assigned task through the NPC interface.
Her main job was to weigh the serpent's remains for the players.
But…
Her eyes darted to the peculiar plants the players were carrying.
Silverleaf herbs, Thornwood roots, obsidian-spine cacti, dreamshade sage...
And a bunch of things she didn't recognize, all rare finds from the Great Oak Forest.
"You only need to weigh the serpent remains. The other random stuff counts as the players' personal spoils," Viktor explained, noticing her confusion.
After all, this was a special task, so the players needed a unique incentive compared to regular missions.
That way, when a special task came up again, they'd be more motivated.
Anyway, it was just one of those items commonly found in the Great Oak Forest.
Whether it was in the hands of players or Viktor's, it served the same purpose—no difference at all.
Viktor continued speaking in the common language of Aeltia, "After the giant serpents are dealt with, you can process the items players are preparing to sell to the marketplace."
Alyanne nodded in understanding.
Though he often blurted out some strangely pronounced words, she could roughly grasp his meaning now.
So, was that why he had sought her out last night, saying he was going to be away for a while?
Turns out it was to hunt giant serpents?
But giant serpents are highly venomous, and handling them can easily result in injury. Why would a Watcher go after giant serpents?
With this question in mind, she waited for the first player to present their haul.
One, two, three...
As the pile of giant serpents grew taller, nearly reaching the players' waists, Alyanne silently glanced at the small scale in her hand.
"..."
Do all Watcher members have to carry large-capacity storage devices?!
They actually brought this many giant serpents along the way!!!
No, not "they." It was just him.
He carried all these serpents alone.
It was like ten people stealing every single offspring of a giant serpent.
Viktor turned his head, puzzled, with a questioning look in his eyes: "Aren't we starting yet?"
"…" She gritted her teeth. "Right away!"
---Viktor's POV---
Alyanne picked up the obviously undersized scale and resolutely walked toward the pile of snakes. Even if the weighing tool wasn't suitable, mercenaries had their own methods for calculating items entrusted to them.
Her counting speed was incredibly fast.
I calculated the payment: one magicoin per kilogram of giant serpent. On average, each player earned about two hundred coins. For solo players, this was like striking it rich.
Some players, after settling their payments, rushed to the church to log off and brag on the forums. Others crowded around me, chirping about the strange plants they had picked on the roadside.
"Can you check out what this is?"
"Viktor, can this fruit be eaten? Is it tasty? Can it be grown in bulk?"
"I even caught a bug!"
Their chatter made my head spin. Did they think I was a walking encyclopedia? It was time to assert my dignity as a faction leader!
"Identification fee: 20 magicoins."
The noise stopped abruptly.
"Forget it, forget it, not worth it."
"I'll study it myself!"
The once-excited players instantly changed their tune and left without looking back.
Just as expected.
Once everything was settled, I stretched my arms.
"Finally, almost done..."
The players were physically exhausted, and I hadn't spared much effort either, having been busy since last night. Giant serpents were no ordinary monsters. Especially not a well-developed group of them.
I had sacrificed twenty-five days of my lifespan to wipe out the entire group.
"With these giant serpents, this should keep them busy for a while..." I muttered to myself.
I placed a hand on the nearest giant serpent corpse.
A surge of fiery elemental energy coursed under my palm. Such active energy was perfect as a base material for creating new bodies for the players.
Adding in the portion of giant serpents I had brought back earlier, there was enough to make 200 bodies for players.
One more trip, and I'd have enough to host a special event: temporarily canceling part of the death penalty.
Since the players were so eager to hunt goblins together... As their planner, I had to reciprocate.
I drew the Flesh Rebirth circle on the spot, connecting it to the church, and teleported all the giant serpent corpses.
"Anyway, the magic core I just plucked from the Snake King's body shouldn't go to waste."
I casually picked up the now-transparent hexagonal crystal from the circle's center. With a squeeze, the crystal turned to powder.
Magic cores weren't as versatile as ordinary magical minerals; they could only power one-time formations.
I brushed the powder off my hand joints and turned to leave.
Only to find myself face-to-face with three overly cheerful grins.
"Hehe, Viktor~" ProGamer_Daddy grinned widely.
The exaggerated tone gave me imaginary goosebumps.
"If you have something to say, just say it."
Hedgehog's eyes sparkled as he stared at the complex patterns on the ground. "Viktor, you know formations too! Can we learn this?"
I could tell they were thinking this ability to instantly teleport items was way more convenient than game backpacks!
"You'll learn it eventually," I replied.
I wasn't keeping it from them.
With the players' beginner-level skills, mastering basic water, fire, earth, and wind magic was already their limit. Advanced magic wasn't something that could be brute-forced with just ten or twenty points of divine energy.
Apart from earth magic, which couldn't be unlocked for players yet due to certain reasons, their skill set was already quite comprehensive. They even had light magic, courtesy of Luminaris.
My gaze swept over NeverShowOff, ProGamer_Daddy, and Hedgehog.
"Do you also have something for me to identify?"
"No way! An identification fee costs more than half a day's earnings; only a fool would pay for that!" ProGamer_Daddy waved his hands dismissively. "Besides, we can just wait for the official site to update the database and cross-check everything."
"Then why did you call me over?"
At this, the three players started darting their eyes around.
ProGamer_Daddy shuffled closer like a sneaky thief and whispered, "Can we talk somewhere private?"
There were still a few players lingering nearby.
After some thought, I agreed.
---
I followed the three players to the riverside. It was the same place where the Lucky Stars Team had washed spider silk. Layers of silk formed natural curtains, dividing the space into countless sections.
I pulled out a deck chair and lounged on it comfortably.
"Go ahead, what do you want?"
"We want to buy the spider silk you have. Could you give us a discount, please?" NeverShowOff said bluntly.
"Just for that?"
"Yes, just for that!" ProGamer_Daddy nodded enthusiastically, rubbing his hands in anticipation.
"Viktor—no, my dearest Leader! I checked the task station earlier, and the spider silk you brought back hasn't been listed in the marketplace yet. Could you cut us a deal and give us a discount on this kind of material?"
I couldn't help but laugh.
They were trying to do business with me now?
It was true; on the way back, since the players couldn't carry any more weight, I had taken the leftover silk myself. But I didn't expect anyone to notice.
"Calling me over for just a bit of spider silk? That's overkill. If we're going to talk, let's talk big. I have another spider silk deal in mind. Are you in?"
Comments
lohan seibert raimundo
Obrigado pelo capítulo
