Chapter 16

Level Up IlDanSimPanGwan – Episode 16 (16/227)

Episode 16: Apostle (3)

“What do I do about this…?”

Ail, hiding behind a rock, muttered to himself.

He had been gradually approaching the building where the Archer was supposed to be while dodging arrows.

But thanks to the rampaging Tregawl, he’d ended up quite far from the initial building, and the terrain was horribly disadvantageous for him as a melee fighter.

Even if he sprinted at full speed, constantly dodging arrows along the way would drain his stamina and focus, making it highly likely he’d fall before reaching the target.

And even if he somehow made it safely, if all the Users in that building were working together, Ail—already low on health—wouldn’t stand a chance.

The safest choice, logically speaking, would be to retreat.

But he couldn’t just leave those guys alone and run away.

“These bastards are already learning all the wrong things…”

Ail gritted his teeth.

Those low-level noobs needed a proper lesson on what happens when they recklessly start Player Killing. It wasn’t just about protecting innocent bystanders—it was also why he couldn’t turn his back on the ones who’d betrayed him.

Of course, deep down, it was more personal than that. He really wanted to beat the guy who shot an arrow into his shoulder until he turned into mush.

And if he ran now, he’d have to hand over the loot from the boss monster he worked so hard to defeat.

Having solo-killed the Tregawl gave Ail newfound confidence in his skills. Surely not everyone in that building would gang up on him, right? With his superior skill, he figured he could handle whoever remained.

Still, one thing puzzled him.

“Why aren’t the arrows coming anymore…?”

Thinking the Archer was probably setting up some obvious timing-based attack, Ail kept his guard up—but the lack of attacks seemed excessive.

Too much time for just a feint…

Suspicious, Ail suddenly bolted straight ahead. Still, no arrows came flying.

“Maybe they didn’t flee… but something must’ve gone wrong.”

A smirk crossed Ail’s lips.

* * *

“Die!”

The burly man swung his dagger with menacing intent.

But his blade only slashed through empty air.

With a mere flick of her body, Lisa effortlessly dodged the attack and struck the man’s head with her long staff.

“Ughhh!”

The guy, already reeling from multiple blows to the head, stumbled backward, barely conscious.

The Archer who had shot an arrow at Ail earlier pulled out a dagger as a secondary weapon, trying to fight back, but no matter how hard he tried, his strikes never landed.

“Damn it! How is this possible!”

This was humiliating.

Never in his life had anyone ever called *him* bad at gaming, yet here he was getting utterly toyed with by someone whose level and gear weren’t much better than his own.

If that was all, he might’ve grudgingly admitted superior skill—but the biggest insult was that his opponent was supposedly a Healer!

Being outclassed in a one-on-one battle against someone who should’ve been focusing on healing others dealt a crushing blow to his pride.

Not to mention, nearby onlookers started whispering amongst themselves.

“Whoa, is this real? I’ve never seen an Archer get beaten by a Healer before.”

“You think recording this video would make us some cash?”

“Shut your mouth…”

SMACK!

While distracted, Lisa’s staff connected again, sending the Archer sprawling onto the ground.

His HP bar, once nearly full, had dropped below 40%. Worse still, the overwhelming sense of humiliation threatened to overwhelm him.

In a panic, the man fumbled through his inventory for a potion, desperate to drink it.

Of course, anyone with half a brain knew Lisa wouldn’t let him.

Her staff swung fiercely, striking his hand and knocking the potion bottle out of reach.

“Grrr… Who ARE you? Are you part of that guy’s party?”

“Nope. We just met today.”

“But why interfere?! There’s loot involved!”

“Even so, unprovoked PKs are kind of…”

“SHUT UP AND FIGHT!”

The man lunged forward with his dagger.

Frustrated by their prolonged conversation, he decided to settle things once and for all. As expected, his attack missed entirely.

SWISH! SMACK!

Lisa spun gracefully, delivering another devastating blow to the back of his head with her staff. Unable to maintain balance, the Archer flew off the edge of the building.

THUD!

Crashing to the floor below, the Archer instantly died, logging out with penalties applied.

“What the hell…”

As the arrows stopped mid-fight, Ail cautiously approached the scene, finding the dead Archer lying there.

He suspected something unusual happened, but never imagined the guy shooting arrows at him would end up dead right in front of him.

“Users around here aren’t exactly known for having scruples…”

Curious about what transpired upstairs, Ail wasted no time heading toward the building.

On the dilapidated rooftop, six users stood awkwardly, while a woman scratched her head nervously.

The atmosphere felt strangely tense, filled with discomfort.

Approaching Lisa first, Ail quickly learned what happened and thanked her sincerely.

He hadn’t expected her to take matters into her own hands—not only verbally dissuading them, but outright killing the offending player.

Even more surprising was the fact that a Healer took such direct action. Likely, none of the people present anticipated this outcome either.

Occasionally, these kinds of unexpected events occurred when either the opponent was extremely inexperienced or the person facing them was exceptionally skilled.

Whether Lisa fell into the former or latter category remained unclear.

“Oh! So it was you who healed me earlier too, Lisa-san? Thank you so much. Things were pretty dangerous, but because of you, I managed to succeed.”

“No, no, I only healed you briefly at the end. Watching from afar, I was truly impressed by how amazing you were doing a solo raid, Ail-san.”

Lisa complimented him genuinely, clearly moved by his performance.

At that moment, other users nearby chimed in awkwardly.

“Well, we’ll head back to hunting then. Sorry for misjudging you earlier as rude.”

“At least you’re fine despite dealing with those PK scumbags.”

“Yeah, lucky break.”

Despite hearing everything from Lisa, the other users—who had initially ignored the situation—now shamelessly acted like nothing happened.

Since they didn’t directly assist in the PK attempt, they probably thought they were in the clear.

Some of them kept shifting their eyes nervously and fidgeting, hinting they might escalate things if pressed further.

Six players total—a mix of regular monsters and human opponents. This wasn’t something Ail could take lightly, especially during this crucial early growth phase.

Creating unnecessary friction could lead to trouble later. For all he knew, some of them might have hidden connections or guilds backing them. And if they harbored serious grudges, hiring assassins wasn’t out of the question.

Though unlikely at Level 15 due to financial constraints, plenty of players splurged on assassination contracts regardless of whether they were casual or hardcore gamers.

The exchange between real-world money and Warode game currency was practically seamless, contributing significantly to the game’s booming economy.

‘No point stirring up conflict unnecessarily… Might as well let this slide…’

Just as Ail prepared to step back, a system message appeared before him.

[‘Light Judge Lu’ expresses strong displeasure towards ruffians.]

[Sudden quest acquired!]

[Kill all six Users (0/6).]

[Upon success: +300 Church Contribution, +2.2 Faith stat]

Ziiing!

An ominous mark of Heresy appeared above the users’ heads.

It seemed the Goddess wasn’t pleased with their treatment of her Apostle, Ail.

Their post-incident behavior probably didn’t help either.

“Guess I have no choice…”

Smirking, Ail drew his sword.

“Lisa-san, can you heal me right now?”

“Ah… Yes, yes, absolutely.”

Lisa nodded, raising her staff to cast a healing spell on Ail. Not only did she use an instant recovery spell to fully restore his health, but she followed up with a sustained healing effect to keep his HP topped off.

Without saying much, her dual-layer healing approach and subtle retreat before combat showed impressive awareness for someone at this level.

“What… What is this?”

“Are you serious right now?”

Startled, the users hastily armed themselves.

But Ail simply chuckled, gripping his weapon loosely as he responded.

“Looks like our Goddess enjoys carbonated beverages…”

[System Alert: You’ve encountered Heresy!]

[Passive Skill: Blade of Hatred activated!]

[All damage against Heretics increased by 25%!]