Chapter 271 – The Hoarder (11)
Kiek! Kieeeek!
The Cannibal Monster Human elders were trembling. Their trusted king had fallen. They had no hope of fighting back.
However, even while they were trembling, they didn’t let go of their spears. It was because of the women and children behind them.
Even with the king dead, they wanted to save their grandchildren somehow.
Yeon-woo snorted.
He didn’t feel bad for them. It was survival of the fittest. These beings had just been eating players.
He wouldn’t forgive them just because their positions were swapped.
But he wasn’t going to kill them either. Since they didn’t have any power, he was going to make them build the boat and use them for small errands.
Yeon-woo stretched his hand out to them. The reward that he earned after killing the Cannibal Monster King shined.
[Cannibal Monster King’s Token]
Category: Holy item
Rank: A- (*limited to the 27th floor)
Restriction: The clearance of the Cannibal Monster King. The fear level of the Cannibal Monster Human tribe has to be at least 30. All warriors of the tribe must be decimated.
Summary: The token that the tribe chief leaves behind after becoming king. Because of the tribe skill ‘Blood Connections.’ you can use the connected Monster Portents with it.
However, the tribe must pledge themselves to you.
It was a shining purple bead. The skills of the tribe were contained within it, so he could use it however he wanted.
‘Jeong-woo also made the boat with this. He got it by coincidence, but it was useful. And sturdy.’
Seeing the lifestyle of the Cannibal Monster Humans, he had wondered if they were able to create boats.
‘And bingo.’
The Cannibal Human Monsters were an indigenous species more intellectual than other monsters. Most players didn’t know this, but that wasn’t the case for his brother.
The Cannibal Monster Humans didn’t just eat humans. Rather, humans were a delicacy. They fished in the river when players didn’t show up.
Of course they would be able to create boats. It wasn’t technically a hidden piece, but it was also a hidden piece that you couldn’t find if you didn’t use your imagination.
Hwaaa—
The token of the Cannibal Monster King shined, and the old Cannibal Monster Humans shook their heads as if to reject the binding.
Their hands trembled in rejection, but….
“If you don’t accept it, the ones behind you die.”
The old Cannibal Monster Humans shook at his words.
He would kill the children first. They weren’t just empty words.
Just then, a smarter-looking Cannibal Monster Human stepped forward with heavy steps.
“I-If you promise to save the women and the children, we’ll pledge to the binding…..!”
“No.”
Yeon-woo denied their condition in an instant.
“There will be no negotiations. Everyone accepts the token. If not, every one of you will die.”
The elders looked back at the Monster Portents. The women shook their heads in fear. Even if they became slaves, survival was the most important thing.
He eventually nodded his head.
“…..Understood.”
Ding—
[You have initiated the bind of the tribe. Additional Karma is being provided.]
[You earned the title ‘Guide of Cannibal Monster Humans.’]
[You have succeeded in claiming the 2311st Cannibal Human island as your territory. If you want, you can use it as a base after declaring it your domain.]
The island of the Cannibal Monster Humans as another hidden piece. He could use its inhabitants as slaves and use the land as his territory.
I didn’t know who the creator of the 27th floor was, but they were twisted.
A territory on a stage that you have to escape in 49 days. Did they want us to keep it or not? But it was useful to use it as a secret storage base.
After the stage was over, some people used the islands as their ‘private’ bases.
‘Wasn’t one of Bayluk’s manufacturing facilities located here?’
Bayluk was especially interested in the River of Souls and the lifeforms in it.
Bayluk was interested in poison, so the 27th floor was basically his home. His brother had given the coordinates of the island over to him.
After that, Bayluk didn’t talk about this island at all. When his brother occasionally asked, he just answered that things were going fine.
Yeon-woo thought that he was using the area even today.
He wanted to invade the island and break it apart, but…..
‘There’s no use if I don’t know the coordinates.’
Bayluk had changed the coordinates of the island after a long time. Yeon-woo couldn’t spend 49 days looking through all the islands, and even if he found it, there were probably defenses set up all around it.
‘There’ll be a way for me to find it next time. Or if I use these guys, I can find it.’
Yeon-woo turned away from the Cannibal Monster Humans with regret.
Already bound to the pledge, they were bowing on the ground. They looked like servants meeting their king. Like his Monster Portents, he could feel that they were connected through the token.
Yeon-woo opened Intrenian while looking at them. If he wanted to create the boat, he needed to get started as soon possible.
* * *
The Cannibal Monster Humans started crafting the boat as soon as Yeon-woo ordered them to.
The token of the Cannibal Monster King wasn’t a simple token of a king. It was an authority that could determine whether they lived or died.
To save their children, they had to do everything they could.
The older ones felt tired moving around. They struggled to carry the Spectre Trees, but Yeon-woo didn’t even blink.
Suffering was their responsibility, not his. He didn’t have any reason to pity them.
However, he ordered his Monster Portents to help them for the things that required strength. He couldn’t let his workforce get hurt.
He found players on the island locked up in the village storage room.
“T. Thank you.”
“Thank you so much.”
The players cried as they thanked Yeon-woo for freeing them.
Yeon-woo silently nodded and gave them the canoes that the Cannibal Monster Humans used to get back to the main island.
A few players seemed to want Yeon-woo to help them, but Yeon-woo didn’t say a word to them.
‘I might end up with burdens.’
He had done enough by saving them.
Putting the players who went back to the main island out of his mind, he headed towards where the boat was being created. The Cannibal Monster Humans said they needed about 5 days to make the boat, so he was going to push up that deadline.
Meanwhile, the players arrived at the main island floating on the River of Souls.
Their faces were filled with exhaustion.
“What…..do we do now?”
Their happiness from being saved didn’t last long. They didn’t know what to do from there.
All their items had been stolen, and they only had themselves.
Furthermore, they had been locked up for quite a while, and the time limit was almost up. They didn’t really have any options.
There was only one method left. To be carried by someone onto the next floor.
“…….”
“…….”
They just glanced at each other. No one spoke up first.
They needed to get on Yeon-woo’s good side, but no one was going to step up. They might get hurt. They were too scared of the Hoarder.
In the end, no one moved until they arrived at the shore.
They didn’t even see that most of the forest was destroyed.
Just then.
Swish—
They felt a presence and heard the sound of grass rustling. They all looked in the same direction.
“A person?”
Heidi was leading a group of people there. She also looked surprised by their sudden appearance.
* * *
“So you’re saying the Hoarder got rid of all the Cannibal Monster Humans?”
“Y, Yes.”
Heidi gasped. She didn’t really think he could do it, but he had.
‘Then the shadow monster from back then was also the Hoarder’s…..?’
She didn’t have any evidence, but considering the circumstances, it made sense. It was truly surprising. The shadow monsters that effortlessly killed the Cannibal Demonic Creature were shocking by themselves, but Yeon-woo had even taken on the Cannibal Monster King alone.
It was clear that the Hoarder was more skilled than what was known to the public.
After Orant and Ibrahimovic died, Heidi had searched for survivors in the forest with the rest of Team Trinity.
She didn’t think there would be any survivors, but it was only right to help them if there were.
She wouldn’t be like the 92nd Squad. Her comrades, Dylan and Jun, agreed with her.
The specialty of an Elf was love. It was a cruel Tower, but Heidi still wanted to uphold some morals.
Fortunately, there were quite a lot of survivors. The Cannibal Demonic Humans had just focused on hunting for pleasure, and they didn’t look at prey that was already hurt.
There were about 60 players in Trinity now.
This number was more than enough. The 26th floor had actually been harder. However, they all looked extremely tired.
After jumping over countless hurdles of danger, they suddenly felt tired because it was peaceful.
‘Also, the air isn’t good. It’s making our bodies heavy. Our minds are also becoming weaker.’
Heidi thought that it was going to be truly dangerous if this kept up
Dylan and Jun looked tired as well, but they could still move.
She could also feel their strong determination to get through this stage.
The other members were the same.
So Heidi was going to cross the River of Souls using any way possible. Thankfully, they had the materials from the 92nd Squad, so it was easy to make a boat if they found Charon.
The problem was the other survivors. It was right to leave them behind if they were going to be a burden.
However, she was never going to do that.
‘I don’t want to be like Father.’
Heidi bit her lips thinking of an old memory.
Technically, these 60 people that followed her were all her ‘people.’
She couldn’t throw them away just because they made things harder. Some people might say she was being hypocritical, but she didn’t care.
There was only one way for her to save everyone and get to the 30th floor.
‘We need the help of the Hoarder. But how?’
The Hoarder definitely wasn’t someone who would volunteer to help first.
He had a cold personality and would push people away if they were a bother.
However, with her Fairy Eyes, she knew that Yeon-woo wasn’t an evil person.
He just looked that way because he did things coldly, but he wasn’t a twisted person.
It was easier to convince people like this. She just had to show him that would be helpful to each other.
It all came down to once thing.
The price.
‘We have to make a deal. We can show that we won’t be a nuisance and give the Hoarder something that he’ll be satisfied with. But what do we have? What can we give?’
Yeon-woo had everything. Strength, charisma, and hidden pieces. On the other hand, they only had one thing. Their bodies.
Still, even that was too lacking compared to Yeon-woo’s subordinates.
‘Wait, our bodies?’
Heidi opened her eyes. Then, she looked around.
Before she contacted Yeon-woo, she had to convince them so they wouldn’t say anything otherwise.
She was confident that Yeon-woo wouldn’t reject a deal like this.
[TN: Hello, I will be taking a break for the next two days. When I come back, a new week will be started for the cycle of 12 chapters. This not included in the release rate of 12 per week, so there will still be 12 chaps when the new week starts! Thanks for your support, SLR readers! Y’all are the best. ]