BXBX NOVEL Chapter 149 : Village of the Tired. (2)
‘Guard?’
Altair looked at the man who had suddenly come to their living quarters.
His black hair was the prominent feature.
But since she couldn’t determine their real strength from their outwardly image, she could only somewhat guess where this man was positioned in the village in terms of strength.
‘I need to be careful. We’re...The weakest of all here.’
The one thing Altair had felt on the way here.
They couldn’t see anybody who was weaker than them.
‘Well, that’s to be expected.’
The bigger problem was that their living quarters was located in the deepest parts of the village.
These words of the guard captain, Karim, weren’t wrong.
Since the deepest part was the safest.
But the deeper they went in, the more nervous she had felt.
The worst thing was the expressions of the people.
The village was divided into three different sections.
Unlike the bright and happy expressions of the people on the outskirts that they had seen at first, the expressions of the people in the inner parts weren’t all that bright.
Hellum started to explain while looking at Hansoo and Altair’s group.
“You guys have two options.”
“What is it?”
Hellum explained the options very simply.
“You can be a guest or a resident. It is your choice whichever one you choose but once you do you will not be able to change it any way you want.”
“...What do you mean?”
Hellum continued to explain.
“First, becoming a guest. If you become a guest then we won’t stop you from leaving. But there is a time limit to staying here. You cannot stay here more than 3 days.”
Altair frowned at these words.
“Three days?”
Hellum chuckled.
“You should be thankful that it’s that much at least. Do you think that this is a charity? Running this place isn’t free.”
Oasis, a village built in the midst of the Ceasefire Zone.
Just because it was the Ceasefire Zone did not mean that it was peaceful.
Though it was hidden, the perception of the beasts was very well developed and they were in constant collision with these beasts.
The fact that somebody was being protected meant that somebody else was working hard and protecting them.
“This first choice isn’t that bad either. You see we still treat our guests pretty well. We still have that much humaneness. At least to humans.”
They would not those who are just visiting the village shoulder any responsibility.
They could just leave after taking a break.
And they would even give basic survival information about this place so they wouldn’t get killed off in an instant.
Though it was just 3 days, the true value of this was not that small.
“We will even supply you information to get to the next zone, . Be thankful to Clementine. If Clementine, the adventurer from the 2nd year, hadn’t set up this village then this whole thing wouldn’t exist in the first place.
Altair made a confused expression at Hellum’s words.
‘Clementine? Who is that?’
They had heard about Eres, Keldian and the others.
Since the names of these people were widely spread in the lower Zones.
But the name Clementine, this was their first time hearing it.
But unlike Altair, Hansoo heard that word and muttered quietly to himself.
‘That’s a name I haven’t heard in awhile, really.’
A name he could not forget.
“The second choice is becoming a resident. But once you become a resident you won’t be able to leave whenever you want. For 6 months at least. You will need to fulfill your duty within these 6 months.”
Once you become a resident you would gain a lot of benefits offered by the village.
They could eat in the safety of their homes and even receive nice weapons.
But they would need to do their duties.
The responsibility of sustaining the village and defending it.
Altair slightly frowned at these words.
Though it seemed to a free choice, the answer had been chosen already.
‘...I won’t be able to leave this place in just 3 days.’
The beasts here felt strongly like a small group of elites.
Of course there might be some weaker beasts that they could get some runes out of.
Since they had met quite a few on the way.
But when they fought with those things the stronger ones would hear the ruckus and appear as well.
She would probably get massacred not long after she left this place.
‘Damn. No choice. Eh, 6 months isn’t that bad at least.’
She would need to use this place as her base to become stronger.
She would be able to go onto the next zone in about 6 months.
Hellum seemed to have guessed Altair’s motives as he chuckled and spoke.
“It seems everyone is willing to stay here. Good. Then you are all residents from today on. You can rest now.”
‘Well, I won’t need to talk about the ranks anyway.’
The ranks were only important to those who decided to stay longer than 6 months anyway.
The ones in front of his eyes would disappear soon so there wasn’t a need to explain.
The moment Hellum was about to leave.
Hansoo, who had been quiet this whole time, suddenly spoke out.
“I heard something quite amusing on the way over here.”
“...What?”
Hellum frowned.
‘He shouldn’t have been able to hear anything.’
Detection skills existed.
And of course there were also skills that interfered or stopped these detections.
And learning that skill was a necessity in this place, the Yellow Zone.
Since there was nothing good about their personal information being leaked out.
Every conversation they had was being blocked by detection disruption skills.
‘...Is his perception abnormally good or something?’
The disruption skills would only block detection skills.
If it was somebody who had amazing hearing then they might’ve been able to hear a few things.
Hellum’s expression slowly turned colder.
‘He didn’t hear something that he shouldn’t have right?’
If this guy heard about the offering then he would need to block this guy’s mouth here and now.
Since it’ll become tiring if the other offerings hear this guy’s story and get shaken.
But Hansoo spoke something that was much more different than his expectations.
“I just think I’ll be better as a hunter than a farmer. I’m applying for a promotion.”
A farmer’s activities were extremely restricted.
He would not be able to finish his prep with just that.
‘Huh? He heard about that?’
Hellum’s expression turned into one of shock and then turned condescending.
‘There’s a guy digging his own grave despite us being nice to him.’
Hellum pondered for a moment and then chuckled as he spoke.
“Well whatever. Come this way.”
Hellum dragged Hansoo towards a place and then shouted towards Altair’s group.
“You come too. Since we’ll need to explain about it eventually.”
“...”
Altair pondered for a moment and then nodded.
Since intel was power.
‘I need to learn as much as possible as I can within a short time.’
Soon Altair’s group and Hansoo started to follow Hellum.
Along the road they had come on.
Beyond the deepest location of the village and to the outskirts of the village.
...............................................
Hellum started to briefly explain the details.
‘Tsk. Tedious.’
But since it was something they had to explain to all newcomers, it was a bit unfair to not do it now.
“If you decide to be a normal resident then you will become a farmer.”
“Farmer?”
“Yes. You call the ones who grow crops without being in much danger farmers right? That’s the rank. You’re in charge of dealing with the weaker beasts, increasing your strength and bringing in the necessary food and materials into the village.”
“...Without much danger?”
Altair replied.
How the hell would they be able to hunt and gain things to eat when stronger beasts rush over when they fight with the weaker ones?
Hellum chuckled at those words.
“Yeah, that’s why the hunter rank exists.’
The Hunter rank.
People who have stayed in the village as farmers for 6 months fall into a crossroad choice again.
Either they get kicked out.
Or they can stay by fulfilling the duties of a hunter.
The job of the hunters was very simple.
Dealing with the dangerous beasts that would be of danger to the farmers around the village.
This was why they were hunters.
“So this is why they stay in the outermost part. Since they need to stop the others from getting massacred if strong beasts charge in.”
“...It doesn’t really seem like a place where one can just eat and play.”
“Does this place look that laid back to you? This Zone?”
Roaarr!
“...I know that it’s not.”
Altair frowned as she heard the loud roar of a beast beyond the wooden walls of the village.
‘In conclusion, one needs to work really hard in order to stay in this village.’
If one person out of the 100 decide to do nothing then more pressure is applied onto the others.
They had to choose one of two options.
Either work your worth or get kicked out.
“Well. According to the rules it should be 6 months before you get promoted but if you are already strong then it’d be a waste to keep that person down there. This is why the promotion system exists. Heheh.”
Hellum smirked while speaking.
Altair frowned at that smirk.
‘Well, that’s obvious.’
The level that one could reach after 6 months of fighting is not something a newbie could reach.
‘But...Is there really a need to go up to the Hunter rank?’
The fact that the job was given to the strong meant that it was that much more dangerous.
It didn’t really seem like there was a reason to become a Hunter.
But even before Altair could work out her question inside her head.
“We’re here. This is the place the Hunters live.”
The area where the happy and vigorous people were living that they had seen from above the fence.
‘This place really does have a much better atmosphere than the inner parts.’
While Altair was looking around the surroundings.
Hellum brought somebody who seemed like he was at the Hunter rank and was roaming around a wooden building.
“Keron, come over here.”
“What? Why?”
Keron complained for a bit but then made a content expression as he saw Altair standing behind Hellum.
“Oh, if it’s work then you’re very welcomed.”
‘...I can’t win.’
Altair felt cold sweat running down her back from the aura of the man who was looking up and down herself.
6 months of difference.
At least.
She knew ever since the lower zones, 6 months was a huge difference.
But Hellum blocked that Keron.
“Stop. It hasn’t been 3 days. Your opponent is over here.”
“...Damn. 3 days? Then they seem to be the newbies who recently came. Anyways, what opponent?”
Keron, who had glimpsed over Altair’s group with a worrisome expression, was filled with questions as he saw Hansoo whom Hallum was pointing towards.
And then muttered to himself from befuddlement.
“Promotion? With a newbie? Isn’t this going too far? Even if our strength isn’t that great these days, this kind of trick...”
Hellum replied abruptly at those words.
“2nd level free pass to 2 Farmers. With a 2 day limit.”
“Oh, Okay then that’s quite a bit of profit.”
Though the two days were quite short of a time, he could just use them to let off his annoyance at the brat in front of his eyes.
‘For a newbie to be this arrogant...’
Altair frowned as she looked at the man whose attitude changed in an instant.
Not from the man’s change of attitude but due to a word that she didn’t really like the sound of.
‘...Free pass?’
This was not something used on other humans.
‘Something is twisted here.’
Altair slowly started to feel uneasy.
...............................................
The village was divided into three sections.
Near the wooden wall that divided the first and the second section.
Ekidu looked at the newcomers from the outpost tower built on the highest location there and then frowned.
‘Promotion? This Hellum guy, what the hell is he doing...’
In one week these guys would become offerings anyway.
Why was he playing around with them?
‘I told him to treat them well...’
She knew that she was being a hypocrite right now.
But playing around with them like that was simply going too far
‘...I need to stop that. Ugh, this is tiring. I really need somebody who can take over the position of the village leader. I should not have taken on this position.’
The choice of saving a large amount of people was not always the correct one.
And that fact had always bugged Ekidus and weighed down her mind.
Ekidus, who didn’t really know of the situation unfolding below, frowned slightly and then jumped down from the outpost.