Chapter 16 : Grudge and Favor

'Hoo......'

Along with the Orb of Water, Aichuwong's items alone were a sufficient reward for this journey, but thanks to the continued forced march, I even gained a new trait.

It meant that my hardship was not without reward.

Especially since the Endurance trait was related to stamina, which is the basis of everything, it was definitely not a bad thing to have.

'That aside......'

Amidst the settling dusk, the sight of Winter Castle standing tall in the raging blizzard was like something out of another world.

The torchlights shining through it felt like beacons of salvation guiding me.

However, that sentiment did not last long.

“Halt! Identify yourself!”

As I reached the castle gate, the captain of the guard on top of the gate looked down at me and shouted.

It was the moment I, who had been lost in a dream, finally returned to reality.

“Returning from leave.”

The captain of the guard, who was still on duty despite the late hour, looked at the leave certificate I presented and spoke.

“Vell Blackwood, return confirmed. If you were any later, it would have been desertion.”

The captain of the guard said, laughing heartily as if joking.

“That’s a relief.”

“Go on in.”

Desertion.

Considering Edric's personality, he might have overlooked a slight delay, but it was impossible to know how military law would be applied in a place like Winter Castle, which was always on a war footing.

Because, as the military always is, it was a place where irrationality was more rampant than rationality.

In any case, I was finally home.

Seeing that I had such thoughts despite having been enlisted in Winter Castle for only three days, it seemed today had been quite arduous.

“Ugh…….”

Having finally returned inside the castle gate, I headed towards the barracks used by the 4th Special Task Force.

Every step I took felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

But I had too much to carry to collapse here, so I exerted superhuman mental strength.

If I didn't have either the power of the Orb of Water or the strong mind granted to me by the Postponer of Ruin, wouldn't I have collapsed before even returning to Winter Castle?

Arriving at the barracks, I first headed to the office of Edric, the 4th Special Task Force Commander, to report my return from leave.

Knock, knock-

“Come in.”

Despite the rather late hour, Edric was just as he always was.

Normally at this time, one would expect him to take off his combat uniform and change into more comfortable clothes, but it seemed such a thing was hard to hope for in Winter Castle, which was always on a war footing.

“Did you have a good trip?”

“Yes.”

“I'm glad you returned safely. Are those the businesses you went outside Winter Castle for today?”

Edric said, looking at the bundle of luggage I had practically dragged along.

It was the equipment and belongings that Aichuwong had possessed.

“Yes. That's right.”

The Orb of Water I obtained this time was a sort of trump card for me.

No matter how much Edric was my superior, it was best to keep it hidden as much as possible if I could.

“Hmm, I see. You've worked hard. You may go and rest now.”

“Yes. I will change my clothes and return the borrowed items immediately.”

“Do so.”

No matter how much it had been diluted by wading through the blizzard, a faint smell of blood still remained on the equipment Aichuwong had been wearing.

A person of Edric's caliber couldn't possibly have failed to notice that fact, but for some reason, he didn't point it out.

‘Did he feel there was no need to?’

Whatever the case, it was a good thing for me.

If Edric had questioned me about it, it would have been a bit annoying for me to answer.

After reporting to Edric, I headed to the barracks.

As I returned inside the barracks, I saw the members of the 4th Special Task Force.

I thought they would all be half-dead from the harsh training, but contrary to my expectations, the faces of the 4th Special Task Force members were perfectly fine.

“Ah, you're back.”

Conlan was the first to acknowledge me.

“You said you went outside Winter Castle, and you came back with a lot of stuff dangling all over you. Did you steal it from somewhere? There shouldn't have been any suitable places for that.”

“I killed and took it.”

“When you say it like that, it doesn't sound like a joke. Well, it doesn't matter though.”

Just in case they would ask all sorts of questions about the things I brought, I tried to bury the truth within the truth, but Conlan, being a former criminal, simply brushed off the words "killed and took" as if they were nothing.

Or maybe he just took it as a joke in the first place.

“By the way, it seems today's training wasn't very tough?”

Normally, they should all be dead tired after training ended, but not only Conlan, but Albino and Alicia as well, looked perfectly fresh.

For me, who had spent the day in utter misery, I couldn't help but find that sight somewhat irritating.

“We rested today. The commander said to rest since we were short one person and yesterday's performance was good.”

“What?”

“Oh, and he said we're starting basic physical training again from tomorrow. Did he say we're doing horseback riding training too?”

“…….”

I felt a little wronged, but I brushed it off, thinking this must be Edric's way of leading a special task force full of criminals.

The important thing was that I had obtained the Orb of Water and returned safely, wasn't it?

‘Plus, there was an unexpected gain too.’

Along with Aichuwong's equipment, I even got a new trait.

I would have to take a closer look later, but not only Aichuwong's equipment that I had already checked, but the value of his other belongings was also by no means low.

If I organized them properly, it would be a great help to me, who was practically penniless.

Since Winter Castle was a huge fortress, there was naturally a bustling market within the castle, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to visit it once if I had the chance.

‘That aside…….’

After roughly organizing my luggage, I changed my clothes, immediately returned the officer's equipment I had borrowed from Edric, and then left the barracks.

My destination was the giant bonfire within Winter Castle.

The reason I was forcing my body, which felt like it would collapse at any moment, to go there was partly to warm my frozen body, but there was another, bigger purpose.

‘It's about time I start utilizing the power of the Orb of Water.’

Currently, the Orb of Water could not exert its full power due to the severe cold of the northern region and the demonic energy emanating from the Demonic Realm.

But what if I could temporarily resolve the severe climate with an external force?

The original power of the Orb of Water could be partially unleashed.

The bonfire burning brightly before my eyes could be said to be the minimum condition for that.

Because here, the chill that was suppressing the power of the Orb of Water would also subside a little.

As if to prove it, the chill from the Orb of Water in my bosom began to disappear little by little.

Although it couldn't fully recover its power with just a brief bonfire because it had been exposed to the cold of the Demonic Realm for too long, it was able to temporarily recover its strength.

[A slight warmth is transmitted to the 'Orb of Water'.]

[The chill of the 'Orb of Water' is temporarily alleviated.]

With that, the chill harbored by the Orb of Water temporarily disappeared, and the power contained within the Orb of Water began to gently seep into my skin.

[The power of the 'Orb of Water' seeps into the user.]

[The 'Orb of Water' heals the user.]

The true power of the Orb of Water is to protect and simultaneously heal the user.

As that true power was partially unleashed, my body, which had been in a mess, began to gradually recover.

Also, the recovery of torn muscles had one more meaning.

The muscle growth time, which would have originally taken much longer to grow, was shortened to an amazing degree.

Just like now.

[Vitality enters the weary body, and the torn muscles grow.]

[Stamina increases. (+1)]

[1 → 2]

My stamina stat had actually increased.

Originally, it would have required much more effort to raise a stat, but due to the power of the Orb of Water, the growth was tremendously accelerated.

‘Hoo…….’

As the stamina stat is the basis for all other stats, once you raise it, it never betrays you.

I could already feel my body becoming somewhat lighter starting from this moment.

It didn't end there.

[The torn muscles recover and grow.]

[Strength increases. (+1)]

[1 → 2]

My strength stat also increased.

Well, the strength and stamina stats were generally about the difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercise, so it was common for them to grow together.

‘At this rate, I'll be able to raise my physical stats much faster.’

That was because, by using the Orb of Water, I could dramatically shorten the recovery time, which is the most important process in muscle growth.

‘Well… the process of tearing the muscles will still be painful, though.’

That was something I had to endure.

‘Let's take a look.’

I checked my information for the first time in a while.

──────────────

Name : Vell Blackwood

Level : 1

Stamina : 2

Strength : 2

Mentality : 2

Traits : [Postponer of Ruin(EX)], [Weapon Summon(??)], [Endurance(D)]

Arts : [Swordsmanship(F)]

Magic : ─

──────────────

Although I only had three stats, all of them had finally reached 2.

Considering the power of the Orb of Water and the effect of the Endurance trait, it meant that my physical ability had improved incomparably to before.

‘Good.’

All the work was done.

I headed back to the barracks.

Now, it was really time to sleep.

***

I woke up at dawn.

Despite being so tired, the fact that I couldn't easily fall back asleep seemed to be because I had too many thoughts.

Or maybe it was thanks to the Orb of Water quickly recovering my fatigue.

“…….”

The unexpected encounter with Aichuwong brought me a great deal of thoughts.

It was about the anonymous bulletin board.

Until now, I had viewed the anonymous bulletin board as a slightly different world.

People who shared certain emotions with me at the moment, but who were unlikely to be practically involved with me.

At the same time, people who were far away.

However, this encounter with Aichuwong clearly reminded me of that fact.

The users beyond the anonymous bulletin board were beings who could very well pose a threat to me in reality.

Of course, among them, there might be those with whom I could build a good relationship, but statistically, those who were not would be overwhelmingly numerous.

This was especially true in cases like the newbie hunter ghost story circulating on the anonymous bulletin board.

‘Aichuwong said the newbie hunter was just a ghost story, but… well.’

Of course, it could really be just a ghost story, but I began to think that perhaps the newbie hunter itself might not be a single person but an unspecified number of people.

When someone reveals their identity on the anonymous bulletin board, an unspecified person from within the anonymous bulletin board seeks them out.

There was a possibility that such incidents overlapped to create a single ghost story called the newbie hunter.

‘Of course, it might not be true…….’

In any case, the very fact that such a grim ghost story was circulating within the anonymous bulletin board held a great deal of meaning.

‘There are people who target other users.’

Whether it was a single person or multiple people was not that important.

What was important was the fact that there were clearly people with such thoughts.

In particular, through the incident with Aichuwong this time, I came to know for certain that the ■■■ Fragment was the Ascension Stone Fragment.

As seen in Newdeulbak77's speculative post, there must also be users who want to collect Ascension Stone Fragments.

‘If someone were to target me now, it would be difficult to survive.’

No matter how much I had the Weapon Summon trait and now even the Orb of Water, there was a high possibility that these things would not work against real powerhouses.

Unlike the natives of this world who do not know about guns, users know what guns are.

In other words, it meant that for a powerhouse above a certain level, it wouldn't be too difficult to see the muzzle and dodge the bullet's trajectory.

Or the bullet itself might not work.

‘The best way is not to expose myself on the anonymous bulletin board, but… would that really be enough?’

What if someone hears a rumor about me and comes to Winter Castle?

Perhaps that's why, but I suddenly became curious.

Could there have been someone who held a grudge against me back when I was actively playing World of Justice?

What if such a person is looking for me now?

Of course, I looked completely different now from when I used to play World of Justice, but it was still true that I was curious.

[Connecting to the anonymous bulletin board.]

Seeing is believing.

I immediately connected to the anonymous bulletin board.

-PrayingForShutdownDay344 : When the hell is this crappy game shutting down? F*cking hell, seriously.

-PleaseGiveMeMoney : Is there anyone who can lend me just 10 silver? I've been starving for 2 weeks...

-Anonymous55 : Bored.

Leaving behind the usual useless posts on the first page of the bulletin board, I immediately shifted my gaze to the search.

[Title Search : Cain]

Cain.

The nickname I used when I played World of Justice.

When I searched for it, surprisingly, quite a few results came up.

-Luna : Does anyone remember Cain?

-Anonymous23 : Is Cain here too?

-SpeculativeHeadcanon3 : Isn't Cain the newbie hunter?

-Anonymous12 : There's a possibility Cain is the newbie hunter ㅇㅇ He was famous for his crappy personality. He just killed anyone who got on his nerves.

-Anonymous1 : Doesn't seem like Cain is here. If he were, he would have killed everyone and taken all the fragments by now.

It seemed that because of the things I had done while playing World of Justice, there were many posts that were close to backbiting.

At the time, I had dismissed them as the ramblings of losers, but now they were posts I could no longer ignore.

But among the posts, one nickname in particular mentioned me a lot.

To be exact, they were looking for me.

-Luna : Has anyone seen Cain?

-Luna : Is Cain-nim here?

-Luna : Looking for Cain-nim.

For some reason, a chill ran down my spine.