9,998 years until the open beta.
An Kai left the Mage Tower!
The vanished lake reappeared, and the Mage Tower sank beneath its waters, radiating black light...
"Reed, do you think Lord Hanks will come save us?"
"Hah! Forget it! Lord Hanks is wanted by the Shak Kingdom. He's hiding in Chaos City and doesn't dare come out!"
"Sigh... why did Lord Hanks have to go and provoke the Shak Kingdom?"
"How would I know? But one thing's certain: these two damned orcs are about to turn the four of us into food!"
"Fuck! It's all that bitch from the Bukelin Duchy's fault. Of all the places she could hide, she had to pick Chaos City!"
"Life really is unpredictable. To think that I, the illustrious Reed, would end up as orc shit!"
"Sigh!"
"Sigh!!"
"Sigh!!!"
Beside the lake, Reed and his three Warrior companions were each tied to a branch as thick as a person.
The branches were planted in the desert beside the lake like skewers for roasting meat.
Not far away, two burly orcs over three meters tall, their blue-green bodies covered in bulging muscles, were scrubbing a huge pot that reeked of blood.
The two orcs seemed to be in good spirits as they scrubbed, humming a cheerful orc tune in their raspy voices.
Their upward-curving tusks bobbed as they hummed...
Before long, the two orcs carried the large iron pot over to Reed and the others. It was filled with lake water and spacious enough to hold all four of them with room to spare.
Then the two Orcs set down the iron pot, picked up one "skewer" each, and went to the lakeside to roughly scrub them...
"Fucking hell, these two orcs sure like things clean. They even know to wash their food before eating it!"
Reed cursed, watching helplessly as the orcs held two of his companions and swished them back and forth through the water...
Resist?
Reed and the others had tried. The result was that these two orcs, whose detectors showed [Tier Two, third stage], had beaten all the fight out of them with just one punch.
Had they foreseen this moment, they would never have left Chaos City for that doubled bounty!
They had never imagined that the damned First Prince of Booklin would station an orc army in the desert after suffering a setback in Chaos City!
All to blockade Chaos City!
At that moment, Reed hated the First Prince of Booklin more than the orcs about to eat him.
"Huh? Are you trying out some new kind of physical therapy?"
"Did that old bastard Hanks teach you this?"
In the depths of despair, Reed turned to look, hardly daring to believe his ears.
Beside the lake, An Kai slowly approached with a large iron rod in hand, looking like a god in Reed's eyes.
An amused smile played across his face.
At the sight, Reed shouted without a second thought, "Young master! Save me!"
His voice was shrill, as though he feared An Kai might turn around and leave.
Beside the lake, the two orcs stopped rinsing their "skewers."
They planted the branches back into the lakeshore.
After exchanging a glance, one of the orcs pulled a detector from his clothes...
[Tier One, Level One]
The two orcs smiled...
Reed smiled too...
Somehow, this scene felt familiar...
"Who'd have thought more food would deliver itself right to us!"
"Such tender flesh. He's bound to taste delicious!"
"Hey! Boy! That iron rod you're holding looks pretty good. We can use it to stir the meat later."
"Hahaha! Why waste words on him? I've decided. I'm eating him first!"
Though their voices were raspy, the two orcs were loud.
Standing fifty meters away, An Kai heard every word clearly.
Hearing the two nonhumans' arrogant tone, An Kai took a deep breath.
His hands itched for action. Half a year in seclusion had nearly driven him mad!
He glanced at the detector in his hand...
[Tier Two, third stage]
Confirmed. These were exactly the practice targets he needed!
He lightly raised the [Brute Force Staff] and smiled at the two orcs...
"Goodbye~!"
An enormous [Fireball] abruptly appeared!
An Kai gave them no time to react!
The [Fireball], roughly three meters in diameter, radiated scorching heat as it hurtled toward the two orcs!
Before they could react, one [Fireball] after another came roaring in behind it!
"Run!"
Reed roared!
Beside the lake, the two Warriors tied to the branches strained with all their strength and, aided by the shock wave from the Fireball's impact, crashed into the lake!
On the shore, the two orcs only managed a single defensive move against the sudden [Fireball]!
Then an enormous explosion rang out!
The [Fireball] struck!
In an instant, the ground shook!
A crater ten meters across and over two meters deep appeared!
The two orcs lay inside it, barely alive!
Before their eyes, more and more [Fireballs] were about to strike!
On the brink of death, the two orcs had only one final thought...
Despicable human! He actually falsified his detector reading to trick us!
Boom!
Boom!!
The successive explosions made the area look as though it were being carpet-bombed!
An Kai's ferocious assault lasted a full minute!
Only then did he finally vent all the frustration built up during his seclusion!
The [Fine-quality] [Brute Force Staff] truly lived up to its name. With its weight effect, his [Fireballs] were twice as powerful!
Previously, it had taken around two to strip a [Tier Two, third stage] orc of the ability to resist. Now, just one was enough!
As for the forty-six extra [Fireballs], those were An Kai's gift to them...
Reed had no idea how to describe what he felt...
He looked down at the lake water around his feet, feeling as though everything that had just happened had been a dream.
An Kai had been like a turret with ferocious firepower, plowing over the entire area.
Reed had been twenty meters from the lake, yet water now surged around his feet because the terrain had changed...
As for the two orcs...
Not even a scrap remained!
If anyone ever told him again that An Kai was [Tier One, Level One], he would tear their mouth apart!
Even if that person was Hanks!
He... he would still argue back!
Could someone at Tier One, Level One fucking do this?!
An Kai put away the [Brute Force Staff], and his Freezing Spell formed a longsword.
He aimed toward Reed and hurled it.
It neatly severed the rope binding Reed.
Thud!
Reed fell heavily to the ground.
Just as he was about to express his thanks, he suddenly remembered his two Warrior companions who had crashed into the lake a minute ago.
Without even taking the time to untie the remaining Warrior, he plunged headfirst into the lake, which had grown more than ten meters deeper...
Five minutes later.
At the lakeshore.
An Kai lay on his back in the desert, one leg crossed over the other.
Not far away, Reed and his three companions lay spread-eagled beside the lake, panting.
From time to time, they glanced toward An Kai, their eyes filled with awe and fear...
A moment later.
"Had enough rest? If you have, hand it over."
Hearing An Kai's words, Reed, who was still lying on the shore, hurriedly pulled off his Storage Ring and jogged toward him without pausing to think...
He was terrified that any delay would earn him a taste of An Kai's freakishly powerful instant-cast spells!
"My lord, everything belonging to the four of us is in here!"
Looking at Reed's fawning expression, An Kai chuckled. "You know the drill."
Happy New Year, everyone!
May everything go your way, and may your families be happy!
Before you continue