Chapter 22

Level Up IlDanSimPanGwan – Chapter 22 (22/227)

Chapter 22: Quinnze Blonde (5)

“Wait, are you really gonna kill me? Don’t you know if you kill another user in the city, the guards will drag you away? And it won’t end well for you either…”

Tricksi said sharply with a bit of attitude.

She felt she needed to step up her game when it became clear he wasn’t planning to let her go easily.

But Ail wasn’t so easily intimidated.

“Who do you take me for… Retaliatory attacks against someone who committed a crime first have zero consequences. I’m fully aware.”

“That’s…”

His words left Tricksi momentarily speechless.

Her amateurish attempts at manipulation had only made the situation worse.

“Just give me one chance, please! I’ll really never do it again. Right? It’s just because I don’t have any money…”

Tricksi tried using a sweet, coquettish tone.

Having grown up hearing how beautiful she was, she was used to men falling all over themselves for her.

But obviously, Ail wasn’t impressed in the slightest.

“Alright then, let’s just die.”

[A sentence of execution by burning has been passed!]

“Burn… Burning?”

A system message appeared before her eyes, making her jump in surprise.

‘Now that we’re doing burning, there’s nothing to set on fire though…’

Ail paused briefly to consider this.

He debated whether he should head to the shop to get some proper firewood and kindling when additional messages popped up.

[Please designate the location for the execution platform.]

Catching on quickly, Ail pointed at a spot on the floor and clicked the message. Instantly, a tall wooden pole sprouted from the ground, surrounded by piles of straw.

‘This is definitely good material for starting a fire.’

Ail smiled, finding the whole thing rather amusing.

While he was busy exploring his new skill with interest, Tricksi standing right there was trembling with fear.

“H-Hey, what are you doing!”

“You didn’t choose, so I did. Let’s go ahead with the burning.”

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a blazing torch appeared in Ail’s hand.

Ignoring Tricksi’s struggles, Ail effortlessly lifted her up and tied her securely to the pole atop the straw.

Realization hit her hard – she had seriously messed up.

“Hey, you psycho! You’re not letting me go!”

“So why did you steal another user’s money?”

“It’s just part of the game! Thieves steal, big deal!”

“I know it’s part of the game too. In fact, it’s a very important main quest.”

Changing his tone completely, Ail smiled as he spoke.

If she was playing the role of a thief stealing things, then he was simply fulfilling his role as an IlDanSimPanGwan burning heretics.

Moreover, this wasn’t just casual gameplay – it was crucial content that would boost two of his exclusive stats, far more valuable than anything she could offer.

Crack!

Picking up the flaming torch again, Ail slowly approached the hay, savoring her reactions.

Tricksi struggled desperately but couldn’t break free from the sturdy wooden post.

This didn’t feel like some half-hearted threat – it looked like he genuinely intended to burn her alive.

Not just any normal death, but actual execution by burning. Tears welled up in Tricksi’s eyes as she screamed:

“Hey, wait! Just hold on!”

The advancing hand holding the torch finally stopped, giving Tricksi a chance to think fast.

There was no way she was going out like this – being burned alive was considered one of the worst deaths in Warode.

She absolutely couldn’t take on all the death penalties alone.

“I’ll return the money I stole! Isn’t that what you want? I’ll give it back, so let’s not make enemies unnecessarily. Alright?”

“The money you stole… That’s not enough.”

Stroking his chin thoughtfully, Ail pretended to consider.

After all this trouble, there was no way he was settling for just getting the original amount back.

Some extra compensation was necessary. He even glanced at the torch meaningfully while thinking about it.

Growing desperate, Tricksi forced out her reply:

“Fine! Double… Since it was my fault.”

Unlike other games where players respawn instantly after dying, life in Warode was precious.

Every death came with severe penalties that made even players who knew it was “just a game” treat their lives as real ones.

Especially since she had gotten herself into the hands of a notorious lunatic who was about to subject her to the infamous execution by burning, Tricksi was now in quite a serious predicament.

“Hmm…”

After considering for a moment, Ail slowly nodded.

Double the stolen amount would be a hefty 60 shillings.

With such a reward, forgiving her wouldn’t be so bad.

“That’s reasonable.”

“Phew, at least you’re reasonable. Now untie me already.”

“Not until you pay first. How do you expect me to trust you after already getting betrayed once?”

Holding his longsword, Ail freed only one of Tricksi’s hands.

“Hey… You better keep your promise, right? If you take this and still kill me, you’re no better than trash…”

“I always keep my word. Unlike certain people.”

Ail declared confidently.

For a moment, Tricksi hesitated as she looked at him.

Even though they weren’t acquaintances, something about his face, voice, and mannerisms seemed trustworthy.

“Damn… Fine. Here.”

Reluctantly, Tricksi pulled a coin pouch from her robes.

After opening the bag filled with silver coins and confirming the amount, Ail nodded.

It was indeed 60 shillings.

“Now untie me already.”

“Just a sec… Oops, my mistake.”

Ail dropped the torch accidentally.

Whoosh!

The dry straw caught fire almost instantly, shooting flames high into the air.

It was burning so fiercely it was as if oil had been poured on it. The intense heat rising made even Tricksi, who was still processing what happened, feel dizzy.

“Hey! You bastard!!”

“Sorry.”

Ail apologized sincerely.

This was absolutely unintentional.

His hand had just slipped.

* * *

[Heretic executed!]

[Carried out designated punishment according to ‘Sentence Pronouncement’. Skill effect doubles stat bonuses.]

[Goddess Favor +0.31% (Current 52.38%)]

[Light Church Contribution +70]

[Faith Stat +2]

[Madness Stat +2]

Apostle-exclusive skill ‘Sentence Pronouncement.’

If the punishment declared through the skill is successfully carried out on the heretic, the increases in Faith and Madness stats gained from executing heretics are doubled.

Though it required incapacitating them first and carrying out the specified punishment, it was an incredible skill that allowed growth twice as fast as regular heretic hunting.

Moreover, both Favor percentage and Church contribution increased significantly beyond normal levels, making it incomparably superior to any other growth-oriented skills in Warode.

[Burning Execution grants Judge attack power increase of 10% for 60 minutes. (Max 24 stacks, time stacking possible)]

And it didn’t stop there – a system message appeared before Ail’s eyes.

Even though he was already inside the city and couldn’t use it immediately, executing the heretic granted him a 60-minute attack power buff.

Depending on the method of execution, various buffs were available.

Though regular monsters in hunting zones couldn’t be designated as heretics or blasphemers, 60 minutes was a decent duration and stacking was possible. This would definitely prove useful if any problematic users showed up in the hunting zone.

When he first heard it was an Apostle-exclusive skill, he didn’t know what to expect, but this was far beyond impressive.

Even cheap low-level skills that added without affecting maximum skill limits would be sought after by everyone willing to pay for them. Getting two of these for free was a tremendous advantage.

‘And the profits are good too.’

Checking his current funds, Ail smirked.

Not only did he receive double the stolen amount – 60 shillings, but also additional loot from killing Tricksi.

Even if the items didn’t sell for much, he had earned at least over 1 gold. He was almost grateful to the thief who had specifically targeted him.

“But how to clean up…”

Ail muttered looking at the burnt remains of the execution platform.

Setting a fire on a perfectly fine rooftop in the middle of the city had created quite a mess.

Trying to destroy evidence, Ail attempted to remove the post used to tie up the pickpocket, but a message appeared saying it couldn’t be recovered within the set time.

At least the fire didn’t spread outside the execution platform due to systematic restrictions, preventing a major blaze.

However, people below started looking up upon hearing screams and seeing black smoke rising from the roof.

Sensing others approaching, Ail quickly moved to leave before anyone reached the rooftop.

“Eh… It’ll work out somehow.”

* * *

“Man… This is insane.”

A man lying on his stomach in a dorm room muttered while staring at his laptop screen.

Hearing this, his friend rolling around beside him raised his head curiously.

“What? What? See something interesting?”

“Take a look yourself.”

The man turned the laptop screen toward his friend.

On the screen was a post from Warode’s community forum, with several photos attached.

“What… What is this…”

Rubbing his eyes, the friend leaned in closer.

At first glance, it looked like a crowd gathered on a rooftop. But in the center of the crowd was the charred corpse of a player on an execution platform.

Even more shockingly, this had happened in Quinnze Blonde, the city famous for its beauty, in the Esmaier region.

Currently, this incident was creating a huge stir on the local incident board.

“Isn’t this the work of those crazy Goddess-followers?”

“Yeah, only the Light Church would do something this extreme.”

“Wow… Even for them, I didn’t think anyone would be this insane…”

The friend stared blankly at the screen, his jaw dropping.

In Warode, with its massive population, all sorts of strange concepts like fanatics and murderers ran rampant. But nobody expected someone to actually set up a grand execution platform in the middle of the city and carry out a burning.

What drew the most attention was the scorched mark beneath the execution platform.

The darkened emblem of the Light Church, clearly etched into the floor beneath the burned remains, combined with the victim’s corpse to leave an unforgettable impression on everyone who saw it.

Considering the effort put into meticulously drawing the emblem on the floor after burning a player alive, it was evident how deeply devoted this person was to Lu, the Goddess of Madness.

Of course, Ail himself hadn’t given any thought to the markings. They were simply a result of the ‘Sentence Pronouncement’ skill activating, but to those unfamiliar with such skills, there was no way they could know that.

“Do I have goosebumps? Man, I hope I never run into someone like this…”

“Seriously… If I ever meet someone like that, I’m smashing my keyboard to force a logout.”

The two men shuddered dramatically.

Unbeknownst to Ail, rumors of the mad heretic judge were spreading far and wide.