The Healing Solaris Cleric

Chapter 40: The Smell of Capitalism (1)

Kai blinked with a dazed expression.

Saint of Glendale? Affinity of Helik? Fame... Benevolence stat?

A flood of messages appeared; it was too much to take in at once.

As if enchanted, Kai naturally opened the title book.

[Saint of Glendale]

Rank: Special

Description: A title given to one who has saved people with a sincere heart and has earned their respect.

Effect: +10 Dignity, Skills that utilize Holy Power are 10% more effective. (This effect persists even when title is not equipped.)

"Saint..."

Kai repeatedly said the word to himself and thought about it. Though it was a short word, its weight seemed enough to burden Kai's shoulders. At the same time, he noticed the NPCs looking only at him.

...This isn't a bad feeling.

He was being recognized by someone for his good deeds! It was a touching emotion he felt for the first time since his transition to a Solaris Cleric. It was especially an invaluable experience for him since he always faced negativity in reality.

By the way, what's with this sudden Dignity stat?

Kai opened his stat window to check the effects of the Dignity stat.

[Dignity: A stat that allows one to project their presence to others.]

"Umm... So, it essentially increases the sense of presence?"

Whether that was the case or not, a new stat was always welcome.

***

"Mom! Dad!"

"Rody!"

"My baby!"

A touching real-life story of a family reunion that couldn't be watched without tears! Kai watched Rody's family reunion with a pleased and proud expression. The other villagers also expressed warm wishes upon seeing this.

"Wow, Rody's love for his parents is special."

"A fourteen-year-old kid entering the forest by himself to find his parents. He’ll become big later on."

"Sigh, I wonder what my kids are up to."

Their envious tone made Rody's parents, Redy and Tanya, proud.

"I’ll make you something delicious when we get home."

"No no, mom, it's okay. Just live long, please."

"Haha. Honey, when did our son become so mature?"

"Indeed. Haha."

As they emitted an aura of a happy family, Kai led the villagers out of the dungeon.

"Huh?" Kai squinted as he exited the dungeon. Someone was waiting for them at the entrance of the nest. "Hugo?"

It was Hugo, the Archer who had requested revenge from Kai. Moreover, he was standing with three players who appeared to be his party members.

As Kai showed a hint of caution, Hugo raised his hands to show he had no hostile intentions.

"Oh, I didn't come with any bad intent." Hugo and his companions politely bowed their heads. "Thank you for fulfilling our unreasonable request for revenge. We came to express our gratitude."

"...Oh, well, I benefited a lot from it too."

Kai turned his head away with an awkward expression when they bowed their heads so low all he could see was the backs of their heads from above.

They probably don't know I defeated Fermi, do they?

Neither Hugo's party nor the Crimson Fist guild would have expected it. It wasn't common for a solo player to defeat a boss based on skill alone.

Hugo glanced behind Kai and asked, "But who are those people behind you...?"

"They are residents of Glendale who were trapped in the dungeon."

"Oh! I see. More importantly..."

"There, there they are!" Someone's voice interrupted Hugo's words.

Everyone's gaze turned toward the direction of the voice.

"The Crimson Fist guild."

Kai looked at the newly arrived group with an indifferent expression. He had expected their appearance, which was why he was so nonchalant about them coming toward him. Also, as he had expected, the master of the Crimson Fist guild he had met in front of the quest board was with them.

The guildmaster looked at Kai from head to toe. "Hey... Isn't he the funny guy we met in the square? Did you guys seriously...?"

"Well, that is... Things weren't good at the time! We lost because we were ambushed while hunting."

Duncan began making excuses with a red face.

"Even so, to have taken down four of you in one place... Seems like his skills aren’t so bad, huh?”

The Crimson Fist's guild master cracked his neck and stepped forward. He pounded his fists together in the air and looked down at Kai arrogantly.

"I'm Jeok-Kwon, the master of the Crimson Fist guild. You thought my guys were cute, did you?"

"They’ve actually gotta be cute for me to think that."

"Hah, true. I guess they are kind of ugly." Jeok-Kwon licked his lips as if he had found amusing prey. "You're interesting, but unfortunately, you've messed with the wrong people. How dare you touch my guys."

"Sorry, but it was them who touched me first."

"So?" Jeok-Kwon asked as if he didn't understand what was wrong. "The strong are forgiven for anything they do to the weak like you. That's the basic principle of society, survival of the fittest, that has been passed down since ancient times."

"Really?" Kai gripped the handle of his sword, his voice cold.

At that moment, Hugo stepped in front of Kai.

Kai tilted his head in confusion. "What are you doing...?"

"Leave this to us."

"Pardon?"

"We've been waiting here from the start to prevent those guys from taking revenge on you."

Hugo smiled when he saw how touched Kai looked.

"Even though it's a connection within a game, we couldn't just ignore the favor we've received."

Hugo and his party members drew their weapons, shaking their heads.

"Because of this idiot, we're going to die twice. Just my luck." One of the party grumbled with feigned annoyance.

"Well, let's hunt hard again after the death penalty is over."

"Will it take about a month to repair the equipment?"

Their attitude seemed too calm for people facing death!

What are they relying on that they’re so confident?

When Kai objectively assessed it, Hugo's party was weaker than the Crimson Fist guild. Not only were their levels lower, but they also had fewer members. To make matters worse, having already died once, if they were unlucky, they could have dropped their equipment!

And they still came for me despite that?

Kai blinked blankly. Hugo's party was the first of its kind Kai had met since playing the game. They truly were gamers who knew loyalty and were a bit sentimental!

"Well, we can't buy you too much time. About ten minutes at most."

Hugo and his colleagues acted as if death was no big deal. But for them, nearly level 60, dying wasn't as light as they made it seem.

Their XP would drop, and if unlucky, their levels or equipment could drop too.

Yet, they chose to accept all those penalties just to repay a favor!

"Hmm..."

Kai felt a dry taste in his mouth and shook his head.

After hearing that, how can I go alone?

Just as they knew loyalty and came to protect him, Kai also knew what loyalty was. Therefore, Kai took another step forward, blocking Hugo's view.

"Excuse me, I can't see ahead."

"It seems you didn't fully understand our intention..."

"Oh, I understood perfectly well. The problem is I understood too much." Kai drew his sword, and continued saying, "Do you know what division of roles is?"

Hugo's party blinked in confusion.

"No offense, but objectively speaking, it's highly likely you'll lose. Am I wrong?" Kai asked.

"That's... correct, but..."

"Right? So, let me propose a solution." Kai, without looking back at Hugo's puzzled party, pointed behind him with his thumb. "I formally request that Hugo’s party safely escort the villagers back to Glendale on my behalf."

"W-wait! Are you saying you'll die in our place?"

"Who's dying?" Kai turned around, looking as if he was ready to hear some nonsense.

"But if you stay here alone, you'll undoubtedly die."

"Don't worry and go. And check the community video forum in about two hours."

"Video forum? Why would we..."

Kai, while pushing Hugo's back, who was puzzled, said, "What would be a good search keyword... Ah! That's it." Kai smiled, having thought of something. "Getting Schooled. That would be interesting."

***

After pushing Hugo's party to leave, Kai's attitude changed drastically. The ones in front of him were thugs who hunted other players and snickered. Personally, they were the type of trash Kai hated the most. Therefore, he intended to go all out from the beginning.

"By the way, you wouldn't know why my nickname is Jeok-Kwon, do you?"

"Why would I care?"

As Kai responded indifferently, Jeok-Kwon sneered, "When I was young, I was deeply impressed by a cartoon that said crimson... is three times faster!"

Jeok-Kwon's figure suddenly darted forward without warning. His tremendous speed even elicited gasps from his guild members!

"Wow, that’s our guild master!"

"Hehe. The result of equipping items with Strength and Speed stats."

"I bet he could even take down a level 70 player with PK."

...Indeed.

Kai nodded to himself without even knowing it. Just as they said, Jeok-Kwon's movements were not something a level 60 player could show.

But, the same goes for me.

Kai's figure blurred. Using a burst of Supernova, his movements became incredibly fast.

"What the!"

"L-last time we fought, he wasn't this fast!"

The Crimson Fist guild members gaped at Kai's speed. They had just a three-day death penalty, and during that time, Kai had leaped to greater heights. Hoarding all the XP to level up, and the newly gained 30 points of Benevolence stat were the reason that was possible.

"Th-this can't be!"

But the one most astonished in this situation was Jeok-Kwon, who was facing Kai.

How am I outpaced in speed!

He had purchased all his equipment focusing on either Strength or Speed stats to achieve his current velocity.

Yet I can't even react to his movements?

Then, a sword thrust out from behind Jeok-Kwon, who was stunned.

***

"Ah, no customers again today," Vance, a player known as a merchant, sighed deeply.

Having changed his profession to a merchant, he was waiting for non-existent customers while setting up his display stand in the city square.

Should I browse the community again today?

A merchant had to be more sensitive to information than anyone else!

On days like today, when Vance had no customers, he would browse the community to gather information that could potentially make money.

"Let's see, is there any news today?"

Unable to find anything new, Vance scrolled through the post lethargically, but then a post caught his eye. It was a post that was trending in real-time.

"Huh? What's with this title? Crimson Fist Getting Schooled?"

The video, uploaded anonymously, was rapidly gaining views and likes despite having been posted only a short while ago.

What could it possibly be about...?

Unable to suppress his curiosity, Vance clicked on the video.