CHAPTER 52: CH 52: RETRIBUTION

A huge fire blasted the incoming duo, and they were taken by surprise. They tried to get out of Ai’s firing range, only to fall victim to Cane’s trap.

"What they-"

The shooter whispered as he died at Cane’s hands. The other person got too close to Ai and was blasted away.

[1X0: I’m watching you.]

[Shura: Oh Wow-! Those people did not stand a chance.]

[TheOneTruePanda: Check for the drops. You should always make sure to check for it. Especially for the quick-time drops]

Cane quickly opened his inventory to check what he had gotten. And sure enough, he had a quick-time drop from the system.

As the name suggests, a quick-time drop was something that could be claimed as an ’extra reward’ after a task. It was not guaranteed, but it had a good enough chance to be dropped randomly.

[You have obtained a potion ingredient - common rabbit hair X10. Due to the amplifier role, reward is being recalculated.]

The drop was not big or special, but a reward was a reward nonetheless, and it made Cane feel better.

Ai looked happy as well since she had gotten to try out her spell, and it seemed to be working. While she was distracted, Cane decided to address his new audience, especially the new people in the chat.

"I want to thank all the new supporters who decided to check me out and me out. Your support means a lot to me."

He told the viewers, and the chat went too fast for him to keep up with. He was able to catch one or two messages, but no more than that at any moment.

[KingKitten: Just so you know, common rabbit hair is often used as an ingredient in real world medicine... I think. I read it somewhere]

That was... a rather insightful thought to read. But ultimately, it was nothing related to the game, and Cane needed to get back to it.

"Once again, thank you for all your response. I promise I will not die that easily."

[mastermanking: You better not...]

Cane relaxed a little now that the threat was gone, but he clearly did that too early. As soon as he and Ai returned to the village, they were attacked by the same people who had attacked him before.

Now they were faced with the same people as before—fighting space.

"Cane, should we lead them outside once more?"

Ai asked as she clutched her staff again. Her presence made the two players in front of them frown and become far more cautious than before.

Cane took a few seconds to think before he shook his head.

"Alright, let’s lead them out of here."

Cane told Ai seconds before someone threw something at the two players. The players turned to look at who it was, only to see an NPC.

The kid looked angry and did not stop throwing rocks at the two.

"H-How dare you try and hurt Ai and the hero. You are not welcome here. Go and never come back."

"Y-You little shit—"

The NPC child looked startled as he tried his best not to flinch. He was determined to hold his ground.

The player took one step toward the NPC, but another NPC appeared behind the first... and then another, and more kept coming.

It did not take long for the place to fill up with villagers who began throwing rocks at the two players.

"You are not welcome here—!"

"How dare you do that to our hero?"

"You should be banned from our village."

The more the villagers stood by Cane and Ai’s side, the more violent they became.

"H-Hey—! Stop it. We are here to save you! We’re with the traders and we... darn it—! We need to get out of here. I’m beginning to lose HP."

"Should we kill the NPCs?"

"No way—! That would be too much. We don’t want to get that modifier—"

Cane took advantage of the situation and killed the first one. The second one tried to escape, but the villagers took care of him.

This was one of the most pathetic ways to ever die in this game, and somehow, these people had achieved it.

Once the villagers successfully ran those players out, they turned toward Cane with a reassuring glance.

"Don’t worry, hero. We will make sure you do not have any trouble with these people. You can count on us for everything."

The NPCs assured him and Ai, and Cane felt grateful for their help... not that he needed it. He would have been just fine had it come down to a fight.

"Don’t worry about it. You both are our treasured guests and also the hero our chief has granted a title to. We could not let you get attacked just like that."

The NPC told Cane, and just before he was about to thank him, his system dinged.

[You have qualified for the reputation system. Your current reputation is 100. Please do good deeds to increase your reputation. (Note: 100x Multiplier won’t apply for reputation reward)]

Cane was surprised by the sudden message and also honored.

Reputation was a stat that only opened if a player reached a certain affinity with certain NPCs. But since all those NPCs were in the main quest of the game, he had given up on ever earning it.

But he had still found a way around it, and he could not be more grateful.

Meanwhile, the two he had killed were suddenly transported to the nearby village, and they gritted their teeth. They were angry that not only had they been belittled, but also driven out of the village for no reason.

"That fucking man... how dare he do this to me? I am going to expose him all over the internet..."

One of them gritted his teeth, but the other quickly snapped back to his senses.

"Don’t be a fool. What would you even say? That you attacked Cane and died because the NPCs liked him? It’ll be better to bide our time and come up with a plan first."

They both looked sour, but then they noticed Canari Rubert not too far away. And suddenly, they had a plan.