Vol 1 Chapter 61

Surrendering their bodies to the light, when they opened their eyes again a moment later, Kapros was faced with an impenetrable flood of bustling people. The dense blue roofs and streets filled with people were enough to make his mind go blank. In the VT era, even in busy areas, it wasn't possible to see so many people, so seeing such a sight in the game brought forth spontaneous admiration.

"It's amazing."

As Kapros muttered while emerging from the port, Kran laughed loudly.

"Don't you ever look at the homepage? Tolang is famous as a commercial city."

"...It's also famous for having many people with the thief job."

Yu-wan added, lightly placing his right hand on the scabbard on his left. It was a flawless defensive posture. Although there were few occasions to realize it because he usually spoke as little as Kapros, Yu-wan surprisingly knew the minute details of Mist as well as Kran did.

"I didn't know."

Kapros looked around the entire city with a refreshed feeling.

The most noticeable thing here was the large river visible far to the right. The area near the ships built on the massive riverbank was as bustling as the port. True to its reputation as a city of commerce, the city overflowed with vitality, mixed with an unusually large number of shops and stalls, and customers trying to use them.

"One hundred top-grade potions for five thousand gold! No more worries about solo play with five thousand gold!"

"Buy skill books! The most popular combination skills recently discovered! Train well and you'll be rich in no time!"

"Recruiting mercenaries! Mercenaries who want to participate in the guild war between the Lionheart Guild and the Silver Rod Guild in three days, come to the Tolang Mercenary Introduction Office here! We'll pay you a hefty daily wage!"

"Guild wars are already active."

Kran scratched his head as he looked towards the mercenary recruitment area. Kapros remembered seeing information about the guild system being updated in the advertisement he had seen before and nodded.

Currently, Mist didn't support much of the war-related content familiar from other games. It seemed they were thinking of starting with guild wars and gradually building up, since it was still the early stages of the game's launch. For Kapros, who had no reason to join a guild, guild wars were like stories from another world, but seeing people being recruited to participate in guild wars was interesting. He suddenly realized how much he had been immersed in magic alone all this time.

As they were sightseeing, obviously looking like first-time visitors, suddenly a loud noise came from behind, and people's attention turned in that direction.

"You thief! Give me back my item!"

"A thief has to steal to level up their skills, what can I do if you didn't guard it properly?"

The shouts between the chasing user and the fleeing user rang loudly in their ears. However, only they continued to watch this scene, while others turned away indifferently. It seemed that there really were many thieves, as Yu-wan had said.

"I was going to help, but they disappeared."

Kran, who was diligently maintaining his righteous paladin concept, frowned and crossed his arms. He seemed quite disappointed.

"So we've arrived in Tolang, but... where's the exact destination, Kap?"

"Destination..."

Kapros opened the map window once again. The blinking red dot was located a bit south of Tolang. But considering the previous case, it seemed better to first find out if there was a dungeon in the south rather than going blindly.

"A bit further south from here. We should find out if there's any dungeon in that direction."

"That sounds good."

Yu-wan nodded.

"Then... oof!"

In the middle of speaking, Kapros suddenly collided with an incredibly sturdy armored man walking in front of him and fell down.

"Kap!"

Next to Kran, who cried out in surprise, the man who was standing proudly opened his mouth with a shamelessly indifferent face.

"This pickpocketing method is getting old, isn't it?"

He was an incredibly tall man, to the point where the first thought that came to mind was how truly big he was. Even with a large greatsword tied to his back, the fact that the person was noticed before the sword showed his presence was certainly impressive. Thanks to his solidly built body like an athlete and the scar crossing his jaw, he exuded a very strong wild aura.

"What kind of rude talk is that? Apologize!"

Kran shouted angrily, but the man showed no sign of tension as he picked his ear and blew on it. It was an action that seemed provocative rather than just relaxed.

"Wasn't it? Never mind then. It's a bit much to apologize to a man who can't even get up on his own, unless he's a child. You were the one who wasn't watching where you were going in the first place."

At those words, Kapros got up on his own without taking Yu-wan's outstretched hand. He was angry, but it wasn't worth getting into a fight over.

"Yes. You're right. I'm sorry."

"Kap..."

Kran showed an expression of unacceptability, but the man who had collided with Kapros laughed loudly.

"Oh, unexpectedly good-natured. I'm curious, take off that hood."

The man pulled off Kapros's hood before he could even realize it. It was an amazing ability, considering Kapros hadn't even been off guard.

Clang!

Simultaneously, Yu-wan's sword rushed in quickly, but it was caught by the man's hand, making only a dull metal-clashing sound before stopping.

'Blocking a sword with one hand?'

Looking closely, he was wearing gloves like gauntlets that covered the back and palm of his hand with metal. Even so, the fact that he had so easily blocked Yu-wan's sword, of all people, was no ordinary feat. Even Yu-wan showed a glimpse of surprise.

"Why are you all so quick-tempered?"

After releasing Yu-wan's sword as if handling a toy, the man looked at Kapros.

"You seem fine yourself, but choose your friends more carefully. They're too overprotective."

"..."

Seeing Kapros's dumbfounded expression at a loss for words, the man grinned. His eyes meaningfully scanned Yu-wan and Kran, who were full of wariness.

"But you know, when I see guys like that, I always want to give them a taste of their own medicine. Hmm... Alright. Excuse me for a moment."

And he lowered his shoulder and ostentatiously kissed Kapros on the cheek. This time, even though Kapros was tense with the intention of absolutely not allowing any approach, the man's movement was too fast and smooth to block.

"W-w-w-what are you doing!"