Disciple Of The Three Kings [EN]: Chapter 9

‘Fall back!’

The party leader, Kim Cheol-ho, rushed forward, swinging his sword.

*Slash!*

The cleanly severed section of the D-grade gate monster, an orc, fell dead on the spot.

‘Kill them all!’

At the party leader’s cry, the other party members also rushed towards the orc horde.

*Slash! Thud! Thwack!*

There was no sense of tension.

The party members were definitely professionals when it came to hunting monsters, and the horde of over ten orcs quickly became corpses lying on the ground.

‘How was that!’

‘You’re amazing as always, bro. But…’

The leader of the newbie party, Ahn Min-hong, said in a small voice.

‘Please give us a chance to step up too. It’s not like I don’t know your skills, bro…’

It was said that Kim Cheol-ho had joined Ahn Min-hong’s party as a mercenary, showing off his excellent skills and becoming close to them.

‘You said you’d help us gain some practical experience this time. That’s why I followed you without telling my dad.’

‘Of course! Don’t worry!’

Ahn Min-hong’s newbie party were all from fairly wealthy families.

Of course, they weren’t from famous or prestigious families, just nouveau riche [newly rich].

Since a player had been born into such a family, the parents naturally invested generously in their children’s growth.

That method wasn’t right.

What was called a ‘bus’.

‘Putting their children among strong players and having them receive experience points.’

The experience points needed to level up a player weren’t simply gained by hunting monsters.

It was determined by how much they participated in combat and what achievements they made in the gate.

But even so.

‘You can still get some experience points by being in the place where monsters are hunted or by clearing the gate.’

That was what a bus was.

Nouveau riche using their wealth to level up their children safely.

But the children tend to get tired of such a process.

They had become players and gained superhuman strength, but how frustrating would it be if they couldn’t even use that power properly?

So, from time to time, those called passengers would join parties of players they had befriended to enjoy the thrill of gaining practical experience.

‘Oh, look, there are three orcs over there. Do you guys want to try catching them?’

‘Yes!’

It was a foolish thing to do.

Even if the bus wasn’t the right method, it was definitely a safe one.

This world wasn’t such a clean and safe place.

‘Haaap!’

Those pure fools were about to realize that.

While the newbie party was hunting orcs, Kim Cheol-ho approached Rowoon and said,

‘The gate will be completely closed in just one more day.’

After a certain amount of time has passed since receiving entrants, the gate closes completely.

It no longer accepts entrants, nor does it open until the boss is defeated.

Like that.

‘Well, I’ll show you around up to the boss room. You can subdue them there. There won’t be any big problems.’

They were kidnapping, but there was nothing to do.

From the start, they hadn’t hired people from the black market because they needed manpower.

They were trying to find a scapegoat.

Someone to take the blame if things went wrong.

The black market had introduced themselves to them as ronin [masterless samurai], and ronin sometimes did things that were no different from the demons of Gehenna [a place of torment].

‘And show them how you hunt. If you keep acting so serious, they might notice something.’

Rowoon just quietly nodded.

* * *

Night of the first day in the gate.

‘Wow! A tent!’

‘Hehe. We’re real players now.’

Even a lower-grade gate took several days to clear, so camping in the gate was almost essential.

But the newbie party seemed to have never even camped properly before, and they were excited about their first camping experience.

‘Let’s set up a watch and go to sleep. You guys shouldn’t stay up too late either! That way, you can get a feel for hunting monsters tomorrow too.’

‘Yes! Understood!’

Even after Kim Cheol-ho’s words, Ahn Min-hong’s party seemed to be full of energy, and it was a long time before they fell asleep.

Soon, it was Rowoon’s turn for the night watch.

Since it was a two-person watch, Rowoon’s partner was…

‘Can I sit here?’

It was the woman who had stood out since they first entered the gate.

‘Suit yourself.’

They had to stay like this for two hours.

‘You know my name, right?’

‘Kang Eun-ha.’

‘Then tell me your name now.’

Rowoon glanced at her.

Kang Eun-ha was an anomaly in Ahn Min-hong’s party, who seemed to have their heads in the clouds.

She acted like Ahn Min-hong and the others, but she never let her guard down.

She acted like she had no experience, but she was quite good at hunting monsters.

‘Rowoon.’

‘Rowoon…? That name sounds familiar.’

‘……’

‘It doesn’t sound like a silver name.’

Rowoon closed his mouth.

*Crackling*.

The sound of the campfire burning.

Was it because she hated the silence?

‘If you’re a martial artist, what level are you?’

Kang Eun-ha opened her mouth again.

‘You didn’t really step up when you were hunting orcs earlier, are you second-rate? First-rate…?’

*Crack*.

‘Or maybe peak? Haha, a peak-level martial artist wouldn’t come to a D-grade gate, right?’

*Glance*, only then did Rowoon look at Kang Eun-ha again.

‘Don’t you know that asking a martial artist about their level is rude?’

‘Oh, is that so? If it’s rude, I’m sorry. But we’re a party clearing this together, so I was curious about your skill level.’

There was no sign of embarrassment in her eyes as she said that.

She knew it was rude, but she asked anyway.

‘Don’t you use weapons? Did you learn the fist…?’

Kang Eun-ha asked more, as if trying to dig something out.

‘I do use weapons. I can confidently say that I use them better than anyone else.’

‘Then why…?’

‘If I use my weapons now.’

*Smirk*.

Rowoon playfully curled up the corner of his mouth.

‘Something uncontrollable will happen.’

‘……Ugh, that’s a bit cringey? Is it like a black dragon or something?’

‘Don’t believe it if you don’t want to. Anyway, I’m not using my weapons because I can’t handle them properly in my current condition.’

‘Ah, I see, you must have suffered internal injuries. That’s why you can’t use your weapons…’

Kang Eun-ha muttered quietly after saying that.

‘He doesn’t seem like a bad person…’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Don’t misunderstand.’

Kang Eun-ha smiled faintly.

‘I heard that there are many scary people among the ronin, so that’s why!’

How long had they been having pointless conversations? The night watch time was already over.

‘It’s time for the shift.’

One of Kim Cheol-ho’s party members.

‘Oh! Night watch!’

One of Ahn Min-hong’s party members came to take over the watch together.

On the way to the tent.

*Bow*.

Kang Eun-ha gave Rowoon a mysterious smile as she greeted him.

Rowoon ignored her greeting and just went into his tent.

Rowoon lay down in the tent.

He couldn’t sleep anyway.

*Smirk*.

‘They’re too transparent.’

He just thought about the conversation with Kang Eun-ha and what would happen tomorrow.

* * *

‘Okay, guys, I’m just telling you in case you don’t know, the gate closes today. If you want to leave, you have to leave now.’

‘Hey! We’re almost at the boss, we have to try the boss fight properly!’

Kim Cheol-ho said subtly, and Ahn Min-hong answered without asking the other party members.

Fortunately, the other party members didn’t seem to think much differently.

‘Yeah! That’s what a real player is!’

Kim Cheol-ho said with a hearty laugh.

Shortly after.

[The gate is being sealed.]

The promised time had come.

‘Okay! Okay! Let’s quickly go to where the boss is!’

Kim Cheol-ho hadn’t revealed his true colors yet.

His intentions were obvious.

‘This isn’t the first time.’

It was clear that Kim Cheol-ho was making a living out of this kind of thing.

His actions so far had shown that, but he also had the experience to not let his guard down until the end.

‘How about you guys try hunting now? We’ll step in if it gets dangerous.’

‘Okay!’

Ahn Min-hong’s party, who were the children of wealthy families.

And the reason why players could be special compared to people from other worlds.

‘Items.’

They were trying to make Ahn Min-hong’s party use any hidden items they had.

As expected, due to Kim Cheol-ho’s subtle goading, a much larger horde of orcs than before attacked.

‘Haaap!’

The orc horde was gradually increasing, and Kim Cheol-ho deliberately drove only as many orcs as Ahn Min-hong could handle, and Ahn Min-hong didn’t seem to suspect anything.

‘Haa! Haa!’

But eventually, the end would come.

Tired from the continuous hunting, Ahn Min-hong’s party was breathing heavily and continuing to retreat.

‘B-bro! I think you need to help us!’

They were surrounded by a horde of about twenty orcs.

‘Min-hong! I’m sorry, but hold on a little longer! There are a lot of orcs here too! I think the aggro went wrong!’

‘That…’

As Kim Cheol-ho said, Kim Cheol-ho’s party was also surrounded by nearly twenty orcs.

There was nowhere left for Ahn Min-hong and the others to run.

In the end, there was only one choice they could make.

‘Fire Strike!’

To take out their hidden items.

They were probably expensive items that their parents had bought them to save their lives once in a truly critical situation.

*Smirk*.

The corners of Kim Cheol-ho’s mouth curled up as he faced the orcs.

*Thud! Thud!*

When Ahn Min-hong’s party managed to clear the orcs with unprecedented firepower, Kim Cheol-ho’s party also succeeded in clearing the orcs.

‘Are you okay? Sorry.’

‘Bro! I almost died! How can you do this when you promised to take care of us!’

Ahn Min-hong also didn’t like the situation just now, and for the first time, he raised his voice at Kim Cheol-ho.

And that was the signal.

‘Hey.’

‘……?’

‘Did we do it on purpose?’

‘B-bro.’

‘We almost died too. Didn’t you see us fighting a horde of twenty orcs?’

Kim Cheol-ho’s eyes turned fierce, and Ahn Min-hong, who hadn’t seen such eyes much, was flustered and had no choice but to back down.

‘Shit. Just because you gave us some money, do you think we’re your dogs?’

‘B-bro, that’s not what I meant…’

‘You little shit. Do you think we’re easy?’

Before they knew it…

*Glance*.

Kim Cheol-ho’s party had surrounded Ahn Min-hong and the others.

They couldn’t hide their panic at the sudden situation and were trembling.

‘B-bro. What’s going on…’

‘Little one.’

Kim Cheol-ho smiled and snapped his fingers.

‘Didn’t your mother and father tell you not to follow strangers?’

‘Web!’

‘Bind!’

Kim Cheol-ho’s party members succeeded in restraining Ahn Min-hong and the others by using items they had prepared in advance.

‘Ha, it’s hard to play along with little kids.’

‘Good job, party leader.’

‘Bro, what is this…’

‘Min-hong.’

Ahn Min-hong, who still didn’t seem to understand the situation properly, Kim Cheol-ho leaned his face towards him and said.

‘It’s because you can’t grasp the situation that you end up like this. Don’t worry. If your parents give us the money they promised, you can get out of here alive.’

‘……!’

Ahn Min-hong didn’t seem to be a complete idiot, and he seemed to have finally grasped the situation.

His face turned pale.

He tried to use the items he was holding, but he had already exceeded the number of times he could use them today.

‘So, let’s stay quiet until your parents give us the money, okay? Hehe.’

‘R-red player…’

Ahn Min-hong couldn’t say anything foolish anymore at the sight of Kim Cheol-ho’s 180-degree change.

‘They say they’ll let them live if they give them money?’

Rowoon scoffed as he watched the scene.

‘That’s not going to happen.’

They had already seen their faces, and they knew their names.

If they went back alive, they would definitely be wanted.

This kind of thing happened often.

Crimes against inexperienced novice players who didn’t know anything.

And the end was always the same.

‘Death.’

If they killed them in the gate, defeated the boss, and closed the gate, no evidence would remain.

From the start, they had secretly decided on their destination, so it would take time for the parents to even find out which gate their children had entered.

An inescapable trap.

People like Kim Cheol-ho were called red players.

Another name for them was.

‘Spiders.’

They were guys who set traps and hunted novice players to rip them off.

‘You just stand here and make sure those guys don’t do anything stupid. They’re still useful.’

Kim Cheol-ho patted Rowoon on the shoulder and said.

Rowoon was still only looking at one person, Kang Eun-ha.

‘What will you do?’

Kang Eun-ha.

*Slash!*

She didn’t betray Rowoon’s expectations.