The 31st Piece Overturns the Game Board

“Dieeeeeeee!”

“Khrugh… Khuaaargh…”

SLAAAAAAASH!

Drip… Drip…

It was hell on earth.

Pure hell.

There were probably better ways to describe what the Rock Molars were going through, but the important thing right now was whether they were able to calm the situation down or not.

‘There wasn’t.’

The Potion of Madness wasn’t omnipotent.

Because they drank it around midnight, the members of the Rock Molar tribe would likely return to normal around noon.

If they were able to somehow separate and quarantine the members, they could minimize the damage.

‘But that’s going to be a bit difficult.’

Because the problem for the leaders was that all of the Rock Molar Tribe drank the potion.

There were a few members who were able to resist the potion somewhat but the majority of them were brandishing weapons, killing each other.

There were many too many trolls to handle.

‘And it’s not like that’s the only thing they have to be worried about.’

When you want to rattle someone, it’s much better to consecutively create small incidents, instead of having just one big incident.

Seol used the time that the leaders were helpless from the Potion of Madness incidents to ambush the treasure house and sow distrust between the leaders.

And now, Seol had arrived at the place where the next step in his plans would take place.

He was at the youngest of the 5 brother’s, Magata’s, house.

Magata, the Dirt Shaman. He was also the leader of his own faction.

He, whether it came to personality or strength, was evaluated as the weakest of the 5 brothers.

Seol used the loose security to easily break into his house.

Creaaak…

Magata’s face froze when he opened the door and saw Seol inside. It seemed that Magata knew someone had broken into his home before he saw Seol.

“...So it was you.”

[Magata, the Dirt Shaman, has discovered your identity.]

[The Potion of Camouflage’s effect is canceled.]

[The potion’s lingering effect has changed your physiology.]

[You now completely understand Troll Language 1.]

[Troll Language 1 is now added to your Talents.]

A human wielding a shining staff.

Seol’s shameless face only helped to bring out Magata’s inner beast.

It was clear that he was under considerable influence from the Potion of Madness.

Magata’s eyes glowed red.

“So you were the one who fouled up my tribe, human!”

- That is correct.

- You know, the troll has a fair point.

- In troll culture, they call people like Snowman a ‘crafty ass bitch’.

- Woah, that’s surprising. Humans say the same thing.

- Crafty = Smart

- So it’s a compliment!

Seol first checked if he was in the right home and then nodded his head.

Slide.

Karuna, the Moonlight Knight, jumped out of Seol’s shadow.

“Kill him.”

Karuna nodded.

Slaaaash!

Karuna’s Moonlight Sword rushed toward Magata with a brilliant glow.

“Krhuoooo!”

Clap!

Magata clapped his hands together and when he did, a large mound of dirt soared out from beneath his feet.

[Magata used ‘Mud Wall’.]

Rumble Rumble Rumble!

Slash!

Cut! Slash!

Karuna calmly slashed at the mound of dirt but was unable to overwhelm Magata with it.

“Hahahahahaha!”

Thud.

Magata felt like he could handle his opponents because they were weaker than he anticipated.

He then concluded that it would be better to come out strong and overpower his opponents because it would strengthen his position in the tribe.

He thought that he might even be able to push out Jamad as the strongest of the 5 brothers with this accomplishment.

Rumble Rumble.

One by one, Magata’s troll soldiers of dirt started to enter the battlefield.

Karuna, though he was fighting well, was unable to overpower Magata.

At this rate, Seol wasn’t going to be able to quickly take down Magata.

In the end, an elite monster is still an elite monster.

- What the hell… Was the Shadow Summon penalty that bad?

- Wasn’t he supposed to just stomp Magata?

- He misjudged it, RIP. The 5 brothers are all going to group up at this rate.

As the number of Magata’s soldiers increased, Karuna hurriedly switched to the defensive.

“Kahahahaha!”

Magata got excited thinking about how he would prove his strength by tearing the limbs off of his foe.

Magata stared at Seol, the summoner, with glowing eyes for that reason.

But…

Seol only returned a cold gaze. He wasn’t in a panic.

‘I confirmed as much as I could with this. As expected, nothing changed.’

Karuna was facing Magata with purely his stats and basic swordsmanship so far.

And almost like he was trying to prove that he was holding back, Karuna’s body started to glow with the moonlight.

[Karuna has entered the 1st Stage of Soaring Moonlight, Crescent Moon.]

Fwoooosh!

Karuna, while in the middle of combat, started to build up moonlight.

It meant that he achieved a state where the more he moved, the stronger he got.

In the Forgotten Moon Ruins, Karuna was at his most dangerous state when his armor had fully absorbed the moonlight. When you took that into consideration, it was clear how different Karuna would become compared to the beginning of the fight.

Slash!

Slash!

The Moonlight Sword shone more brilliantly than before.

Karuna’s sword slashed through the dirt soldiers like it was a lightsaber.

“Wh-what?!”

Magata was caught off guard, but quickly tried to cast another spell.

But…

DAAAASH!

Karuna did not permit him to complete his spell.

Karuna instantly slipped past the soldiers and reached Magata. The Moonlight Sword’s light shone brightly.

Fwoooosh!

Slaaaaash!

“Kuaaaargh!”

Magata’s left arm was cut off at the shoulder.

With that, the battle was practically over.

Slash! Slash!

Splatter!!

Magata’s two legs met the same fate as his left arm.

Summoners had to be prepared for that outcome once they gave a swordsman distance.

Karuna had only taken in a little bit of moonlight but he was already too quick and violent for Magata to handle.

“Ku-kuaaargh…”

Magata thought to himself.

Even though I was defeated easily, wouldn’t my brothers be able to defeat this disaster if they combined their strengths?

“Haah… Haah…”

Why couldn’t they have combined their strengths sooner?

But in truth, Magata already knew the reason why.

It was because Magata’s brothers were not brothers by blood.

They were nothing more than competitors who kept each other in check while pretending to be brothers.

Seol approached Magata.

Just like how death was quickly approaching him.

- Karuna is so fucking strong… I’m hyping hyped…

- You said hype twice…

- So where did the people who thought he was going to lose go?

- That swordsman is cheating >:( That shaman got fucked TT

Magata realized that it was too late for him. He resolved to do what he had to do.

Point.

Magata pointed at Seol with his finger.

It was to cast a curse.

It was a curse that worked only on the summoner, not the summon.

“A grudge? I won’t let you.”

And just then, Magata’s grudge spell activated.

[Magata, the Dirt Shaman, has casted a grudge on Snowman.]

[Snowman feels lethargic.]

[Snowman’s Strength and Dexterity will be reduced by 50% for a week.]

Magata’s grudge was a curse that reduced the target’s strength and dexterity.

But strength and dexterity weren’t that important to Seol who was a summoner.

And that was precisely the reason why Seol aimed for Magata first.

‘You’re normally supposed to share this curse with the party members.’

Normally, you investigate the village and acquire information about the grudge curses.

And after that, you try to defeat the 5 brothers while trying to make the class who is least affected by each curse take on each curse.

That was the normal, traditional way of taking on the 5 brothers.

If Seol’s party members were all alive, he would’ve just taken them down one by one and used this method instead of doing the side quest.

‘But thankfully I was still somehow able to come all the way here.’

Magata looked at Seol who still had an indifferent expression on his face after getting cursed by him. He left his final words for him.

“M-Magata’s brothers.. Kuku… will… get their… revenge…”

Thud…

[You have gained experience.]

[You have defeated Magata, the Dirt Shaman.]

[A ‘Rock Molar Offering’ has been generated.]

[You have satisfied the Adventure Objective.]

[If the Remaining Time runs out or if you choose to take your reward, you may choose to finish your Adventure here.]

And like that, Magata drew his last breath.

Seol laughed and said, “Your brothers, huh… It’s going to get a lot busier here though?”

Seol lit Magata’s house ablaze before preparing for the final battle.

Blaze!

If any of the brothers’ close aides has half their senses, they would likely come here and confirm Magata’s corpse. And that would also reach the leaders’ ears.

* * *

When the leaders heard that Magata had died, Seol was boldly at the center of the village.

“Kuaaaargh!”

“Die! Dieeee!”

“Krgh… Karg…”

Seol disregarded the smell of smoke and blood all around him and entered a house.

- Is something good happening?

- What the fuck do you mean it’s a fire.

- I don’t know about anything else but his mental’s at least Tier 1 LMFAO How is he just walking around like nothing’s going on?

- But isn’t the Adventure over? Why isn’t he leaving?

- No one knows so that’s why we’re all watching.

- I’m pretty sure there are already people who cleared the Adventure and left.

- They only did the minimum required though.

Seol went toward a small cauldron that was located at the center of the house.

- What’s going on? I think he’s trying to do something?

- That’s impossible! Potion of Madness again?

- Potion of Madness again? That’s too much.

When Seol reached the cauldron, a notification popped up.

[You are able to cook here.]

- Huh? Cook?

- Right now?

- Come on. No way he’s going to cook.

Seol brought out various ingredients and even a few things that looked like medicine.

- I never knew he was such a family man.

- Is he hungry?

- So what does the cooking talent actually do?

- Absolutely nothing. It’s worthless compared to other talents unless you have a recipe.

- ???: Sheesh, is he going to drink mana?

Seol lit a fire and cooked the ingredients in a specific order.

Even though Seol hadn’t eaten all day, he wasn’t doing this because he was hungry.

[[Moon Seed]

Quality: Special

Recommended Level: 1-5

Weight: 0.1kg

Bonus Effect: You could consume this in a variety of ways. The effects of it are unknown.]

Seol looked at the seed for a second before throwing it into the cauldron.

The ‘Moon Seed’ was an item that he acquired in the Forgotten Moon Ruins.

It was typically eaten after cooking it and Seol knew exactly how to cook it.

‘The last fight’s going to be difficult even for me so even if it’s a bit of a shame, I have to use it for the volatile skill.’

Though the Moon Seed had various effects, it was split into two main effects.

The first effect was permanently increasing your stats and the other was gaining a volatile skill.

Volatile Skills, unlike regular skills, were skills that were a one-time use only.

But in exchange, those skills were extremely strong. They were often used to break through difficult situations.

Fssss…

[You have finished cooking.]

[You have made a Vegetable and Special Seed Stir Fry.]

[Beginner’s Luck activates.]

[It smells great. The dish was a success.]

[Your Spirit permanently increases by 1.]

[You have been inspired.]

[You feel like you will be able to come up with a recipe the next time you come across a new ingredient.]

[Your cooking skills have slightly improved.]

Seol picked out an appropriate bowl from within the house and ate the food voraciously.

Because it wasn’t seasoned and mostly made of vegetables, it was quite bland.

- Why did he suddenly cook?

- Is this right?

- That’s strange… Is this really the stream I was watching?

- I’m sure there’s a reason he’s doing this TT.

And when Seol finished his bowl, a message popped up.

[You had an excellent meal.]

[Moon Seed’s Bonus Effect activates.]

[You are able to use 'Moon’s Stage', a volatile skill, for a day.]

- …Huh?

- He got a skill from food?

- I think I’m going to go insane! I think I’m actually going to go insane!

- How the hell did he know about this?

- ???: See? You just have to shut up and watch.

A bunch of messages came after that.

[‘Breaking News’ has donated 200 Madness!]

[I just checked the guidebook. Moon’s Stage is an AoE spell that gives a buff to those that have the moon attribute and a debuff to everyone else. What the fuck. I never thought I’d see this.]

- Where did the balance go?

- I mean if you think about it this was part of the highest rank reward from the last Adventure…

- And volatile skills can only be used once a day! Or was it only one time?

- It’s basically an ultimate skill sheesh

‘It really was a good decision to pick Cooking as my talent.’

There’s always a reason why an experienced player chooses something.

Among the various talents available, Cooking was not only one of the most accessible talents, it also gave a variety of effects. That’s why players who wanted their characters to be all-rounders often picked the Cooking talent.

Obviously, there was the recipe system to consider but there was no way Seol would only know a handful of them.

‘And it’s an easy to grow talent as well. Since it becomes that much better the more it grows…’

There’s also the fact that food is one of the necessary physiological needs. Seol was more satisfied with Cooking’s effects than he thought he would be.

Finally, Seol had finished his preparation.

Seol left the house and quietly went to the tallest point of the Pointy Mountains, the top floor.

If the brothers heard the news, they would most likely be there. All Seol had to do was draw it to a close.

“It’s time for the finale.”