A Veteran of Infinite Buffs - Chapter 58

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 58

The Ancient One’s weapon descended upon me in an instant.
It possessed the speed and overwhelming pressure befitting an 80-level opponent.
“Gah! What is this!”
And another problem compounded the situation.
My original plan was to meet the Ancient One’s attack head-on with Sumoq.
But Sumoq had become impossibly heavy and wouldn’t respond.
So I activated an emergency Gale Rush to evade.
Boom!
“It’s a weapon that identifies friend from foe!”
The Ancient One, having destroyed the innocent ground, instinctively tracked my position and charged again.
“Roaaah!”
The mechanism was merciless—trials descended before I could even process the happiness circuit regarding the Ancient One.
It was frustrating, but if I broke here, it wouldn’t be a happiness circuit at all.
“If everyone had this reaction, Seo-gwang would have warned me.”
I widened the distance and quickly drew the wooden practice sword I’d stored in subspace.
“But since it’s me, this is happening?”
“Roaaah!”
This time I could wield a weapon.
Crash!
I felt the difference in strength—I was being pushed back slightly.
The Ancient One before me was clearly specialized in physical abilities.
“Roooaaah!”
Whoosh!
A massive club flew at me with a sound that tore the air itself.
“Gah!”
Crash!
Though it was a simple swing, the power and speed behind the weapon were far heavier and faster than before.
It appeared to possess some ability that grew stronger as the battle continued.
“Interesting. Choosing Sumoq might have been a divine move?”
A summoned creature not recognizing its master.
I was half-convinced this was a special mechanic triggered because I had an Ancient One-related class.
“Right. Better you than some petty rogue. Let’s do this properly. A hierarchy struggle.”
This kind of situation was quite common in the previous game.
The barbarians in the previous game only obeyed the strong.
“Strength against strength.”

[Strength: 209 Agility: 136 Stamina: 109 Wisdom: 23 Luck: 123]
[Eternity: 36 Mana: 6]

Using the Eternal Adventurer’s unique ability, I redistributed my general stats, exchanging 100 Wisdom for Strength.
“Hup!”
BOOM!
I no longer faltered in raw power.

[Strength: 209 Agility: 236 Stamina: 109 Wisdom: 23 Luck: 23]
[Eternity: 36 Mana: 6]

“Agility demands agility.”
This time, I redistributed 100 Luck into Agility.
CRASH! BOOM!
Now I could overwhelm even the speed of my opponent’s attacks.
“Wha—?”
The Ancient One was greatly flustered by my sudden surge in power and velocity.
I pressed the momentum forward, launching a direct strike at the Ancient One’s crown.
“You won’t die from this, will you?”
WHOOOOSH!
My wooden sword struck the Ancient One’s crown with perfect precision.
The blow was so devastating that a massive shockwave rippled outward from the point of impact.
“Grraahhh!”
The Ancient One collapsed.
Even this was honestly impressive.
I had worried it might die and fail to be resummoned.
The Ancient One was still breathing, albeit faintly.
Which meant its stamina was truly extraordinary.
A summon with quite satisfactory performance.
The only drawback was that it didn’t recognize me as its master.
“Huff! Huff! That one’s roughly finished.”
Now it was time to deal with the remaining small fry.
Fortunately, with all my stats now optimized for combat, escape was only possible at my discretion.
“Hey.”
The fundamental principle of rogues was to strike the weak and avoid the strong.
Without this, one couldn’t claim true mastery of the profession.
Fortunately, these professionals wisely prostrated themselves, begging for my mercy.
“Y-yes, sir!”
The grimy crowns of the rogues came into view.
But what I needed wasn’t their heads.
“You have rope, right?”
“Of course! Rope is essential if you want to survive out here!”
“Good. Then tie that one up first.”
“Leave it to me!”
I decided to restrain the Ancient One first.
At least if I neutralized him, I could attempt conversation or whatever else came to mind.
If there was any mechanic related to the Ancient One, the proper approach was to unravel it step by step.
“Boss! This guy is incredibly heavy!”
“Shut up and lift his legs!”
“Heave!”
The Ancient One was naturally heavy, of course.
Maintaining this level of physical mass required consuming an enormous amount of food.
“Done! Legs wrapped! Now lift the torso!”
The Thief Leader’s binding technique was more impressive than I expected.
Truly, a rogue who had transcended the beginner zone.
His unexpected competence sparked several ideas for potential uses.
In the games Mason created, humans were never absolute evil.
Just like reality, they were beings who could change at any moment depending on circumstances and conditions.
And I possessed the most crucial condition for that change: coercive power.
‘Should I try rehabilitating these guys too?’
My journey through Boa Village came to mind.
Whether long or short, it had been quite an adventure, but there I had succeeded in rehabilitating many people.
They had now become reliable allies in the Spirit Tamer Legion and were growing steadily.
I didn’t think rehabilitation was impossible for NPCs.
At the very least, couldn’t I aim for something like a win-win situation?
“Huff! Pant! All bound!”
“Hmm.”
I witnessed a remarkably sophisticated binding technique.
Rather than something independently developed, it bore the hallmarks of modern sensibilities.
“Quite impressive. Who taught you?”
“I learned it from a foreigner we captured as a prisoner.”
I suspected as much, and my suspicion was correct.
This was indeed modern binding technique.
During my playthrough of the previous game, I had even self-taught binding techniques when necessary.
The binding technique the Thief Leader had executed was actually quite sophisticated—the kind that required multiple people working together to complete.
“A foreigner?”
“Yes. Since they are foreigners, after all, it’s best to extract only what’s useful and leave no lingering complications, seeing as they resurrect even after death.”
“Hmm.”
The Thief Leader’s one mistake.
Failing to recognize his opponent before charging in.
Excluding this one flaw, the Thief Gang might have operated for quite some time with reasonably appropriate conduct.
After all, the Belhard Kingdom itself was in a rather turbulent state.
“Fine. I’ll let you live.”
“Thank you!”
“Of course, it won’t be free.”
“Pardon?”
I was now a freelance gamer.
If a rogue’s essential virtue was alternating between strength and weakness, mine was never overlooking any corner that could put food on the table.
“Set your own price for your life. I’ll waive the cost of teaching you binding techniques.”
“Uh, um….”
“What? Having second thoughts?”
“No, sir! I was just thinking about what you might find valuable!”
“Hmm.”
If an NPC hostile to players could negotiate, there were plenty of uses for them.
They weren’t treated as complete monsters, and unlike the previous game, I could bring them under my heel through force.
Conveniently, I had ways to put them to use.
“Here, you lot carry that, and you lead the way to your main hideout.”
“Yes!”
An odd procession began, with a hostage at the front.
Simultaneously, I pondered the usefulness of the thieves, separate from binding techniques.
After all, there was a notable figure in this village worth paying attention to.
‘Should I try approaching by connecting these guys with the Eccentric Merchant?’
The Eccentric Merchant was a mysterious figure who could mass-produce legendary items while accompanied by competent guards.
He was also someone whose interests lay more in commerce than growth.
His legendary item random gacha system was impressive enough to earn even my admiration.
‘If I have them raid and succeed, I profit either way. If they fail, I can still build a connection by adding a spoon to the pot. Not bad at all.’
I didn’t hold a positive view of the Eccentric Merchant to begin with.
The description of the masterpiece doll bothered me.
I thought it was something I could only conclude after directly meeting the child mentioned in the description.

* * *

Before long, I arrived at the Thief Gang’s headquarters.
Located far from Beginner Village from the start, the Mountain Stronghold was quite substantial in scale.
There were about fifty thieves staying here.
“Shall I show you the warehouse first?”
“No. Have your subordinates retrieve the supplies themselves, and bring me any random person to demonstrate binding techniques.”
“How much of the supplies should I….”
“Whatever. Handle it well.”
I’d already confirmed the location of the headquarters anyway.
No matter how many supplies they provided, if it wasn’t enough, I could simply return and strip the place bare myself—so the supplies weren’t particularly important.
“Ah, understood. Hey! Rockman! Come here.”
“Yes, boss!”
This sample was a rather large thief.
“Kneel down. I’ve agreed to teach this person binding techniques.”
“Huh? This person is an outsider, isn’t he?”
“That’s right, so kneel.”
“Ugh…. Understood.”
The Thief Gang clearly had established policies regarding outsiders.
In any case, the large thief called Rockman simply knelt down, and the Thief Leader proceeded to demonstrate the binding technique.
“First, it’s important to simultaneously bind both the ankles and wrists to restrict movement. The knot is wrapped like this.”
“I see.”
Thanks to that, I learned a new binding technique.
Since the Thief Leader himself possessed excellent dexterity, this binding technique would prove useful for a long time to come.
Especially for dealing with the Ancient One.
“I see. Do you have more rope?”
“Yes. There’s plenty in the warehouse—shall I bring it?”
“Yes. Bring it all.”
“Yes!”
Now it was my turn.
Using the rope the Thief Leader had given me, I grabbed a passing thief and demonstrated the binding technique.
“Huh?”
“Stay still. Actually, no—try to resist.”
“Huh?”
I reasoned that practicing binding techniques against a resisting target would build my proficiency even faster.
And the thief I’d chosen indeed put up resistance.
“Boss! Help me! He’s too strong!”
“….”
Naturally, the Thief Leader knew how to exercise good judgment.
He was a professional thief, after all.
Thus, I successfully demonstrated the binding technique while overcoming some resistance.
“Is this the correct way to tie it?”
“Yes! Excellent work! Though I must say, this knot here requires even more meticulous finishing.”
“Ah, I see. Wait a moment. Let me retie it. You resist again.”
“Ugh! Ungh ungh!”
The Rogue resisted on his end, raising the difficulty, while I pressed down on his resistance and ultimately succeeded in retying the knot.
“Yes! That’s exactly it! Truly remarkable!”
“You’re quite capable.”
“Thank you!”
Normally, someone this presumptuous would provoke backlash from other rogues, but the Thief Leader controlled his subordinates well and taught binding techniques expertly.
This was shaping up to be a setup worth entangling with the Eccentric Merchant.
“Listen. I’ve got a decent job lined up. Want to work with me?”
“Really, sir?”
“Of course. I’m generous with useful people.”
“Absolutely! Just give me the word!”
In that moment, a message appeared.

[Magnificent Achievement!]
[You have successfully subdued the Thief Gang!]
[Strength increases by 1.]
[Luck increases by 2.]

A message confirming the Thief Gang’s submission.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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