Taming Master

* * *

“This place, Erebos...! ”

A vast, dark grey land.

and the magnificent landscape unfolding over it.

Erebos, the land of darkness that he first discovered on his ferry, was quite different from what Ian had imagined.

‘I thought it would feel like the land of darkness that the Rich King ruled……. ’

White snow and gloomy weather all over.

Lots of skeletons all over the place.

The Land of Darkness, ruled by the Rich King, was truly the Land of the Dead.

But Erebos, now spread out in front of Ian's eyes, felt completely different.

It's like taking a black and white photo of a beautiful forest that's common in Colonare. ’

Black and white photo.

Erebos' landscape was literally in black and white.

Clouds and sky that float in the sky, including trees that rise on the earth.

Even the color of the flowers that bloom in splendor.

The brightness and tone were different, but they were all made of black and white.

Because of this, only the color of Acheron, the river of mourning, was the most noticeable of all the landscapes in front of Ian's eyes.

Fart, fart!

Along with an awkward friction sound, Aaron's ferry made of cowhide docked by the river.

Ian then slowly stepped out toward Erebos as if he had been seduced by something.

As he waited, new system messages began to ring out in Ian's eyes.

- Tyring!

- I can feel the dark energy of the dead.

- You've arrived at Erebos in the Dark Lands.

- You discovered Erebos for the first time in the Dark Lands.

- 200,000 Reputation.

- You cannot receive EXP and item drop rate buffs because you are 'dead’.

- * State's *

- * You can exercise physical power in the commandment even in the ‘Dead’ state.

- * Even in the ‘Dead’ state, you can still be attacked in the Commandments.

- * When all of your HP is depleted from the "Dead" state, you will fall into the "Soul Rest" state. (Rest of the Soul: You will not be able to access the game for a week and your transcendence level will drop one step. The transcendence level does not fall below 1.)

Ian's gaze, as he quickly read the system messages, began to tremble.

It was because the "rest of the soul" penalty was unimaginable when all the life was depleted from the dead.

‘This……. If I make a mistake, it's gonna be a big one. ’

In fact, the penalty for transcendent level 1 down is hard to feel right now.

I have never accumulated transcendent experience beyond the experience gained by defeating the Rich King as a group.

The only reason Ian was so freaked out was the brutal no-access penalty of 'a week.’

‘The penalties per day are big enough, but a week……. ’

Now Kailan is ranked # 1 in Japan's South Korean server ranking.

If he were to receive this‘ peace of soul ’penalty, his financial loss would have been truly astronomical.

In fact, if you play to make money and mind, it was Ian's namebellow that would generate a billion dollars a day.

But Ian was more afraid than that financial loss…….

‘If we don't get to Kailan in a week, we might get bored and die. ’

Just not being able to play Kailan.

It was the nature of the penalty itself.

‘It may or may not happen, but if it becomes inaccessible for a week, should I go on a trip with Harin? ’

Ian, who had a brief dark imagination, soon returned to reality, shaking his head.

Ian and Harin were a happier couple to travel within Kailan, even if they were on vacation.

After escaping the Reminder, Ian looks back and waves to Aaron.

“Hey, thanks for letting me borrow your boat. See you next time! ”

With a sunny look that doesn't match the afterlife, Ian even said goodbye to the boatman.

Ian then took a hard turn and began to move.

No, I tried to move.

“Ouch!”

However, I felt an unknown power, and I couldn't leave a step behind.

- Caron the ferryman casts the Dark Bound.

- He's paralyzed.

“ ……! ”

Two lines of instantaneous system messages, with a distinctive feeling of full-body energy.

And at the same time, both feet are tied together.

Ian faced a situation he had never thought of, and he was embarrassed.

What the hell is going on? ’

A drop of cold sweat flowed down Ian's back.

I didn't know why, but if he was hostile to himself, it was truly a huge crisis.

If one of them is wrongly struck by Caron, the level of transcendence 25, he may become a state of rest for his soul.

Behind Ian's back, looking at his head as he made all sorts of assumptions, he began to hear his sharp voice.

And there seemed to be some anger in his voice as well.

“Where are you just going? ”

“Yes?”

“I'll pay you for the boat. ”

“Paying…… for a boat……. ”

Ian was in a hurry to open his inventory, although he wasn't sure what was going on.

Whatever the cost of the boat is, it's better than being beaten to death by Carron here.

But there was another disaster before Ian's eyes.

- Tyring!

- Inventory cannot be opened while in 'Dead’ state.

“ ……! ”

At this point, even Ian started incontinence in his mental health.

"Oh, what am I supposed to do...?" ’

Ian became almost anxious to cry because he was embarrassed.

At that moment, fortunately, a light of salvation appeared in Ian's eyes.

- Tyring!

- Karon the ferryman demands it.

As a ‘dead man’, you arrive at the command system, you board the boat of Caron and cross the river of mourning Acheron.

However, in order to board the ferry of Aaron, it is the law of the commandment to pay a fixed boat wage.

But you got on Carron's ship without pay, and now you have to pay for arriving in Erebos.

In three hours, get five Death Coins and return to Carron.

If you do not comply with his demands, you will be pursued by Karon.

Quest Difficulty: F +

Quest conditions: A user who uses Caron's ship without paying for the boat.

Timeout: 180 minutes

Reward: Combo Quest triggered.

Increased Amity with 'ferryman Karen’.

* If you decline the quest, Caron the ferryman will ‘hostile’ you.

* If the quest fails, Caron the ferryman will ‘Hostile’ you.

After confirming the quest, Ian was embarrassed and relieved at the same time.

‘Phew, F grade for difficulty...' This is hard to remember, isn't it? Have you ever had this level of difficulty? ’

I was baffled by the horrific penalty of being hostile with Carron, but after checking the difficulty of the quest, I was able to put a stop to it.

‘Yeah, well, let's just get this quest over with and don't take any other quests. ’

In fact, Ian was not willing to proceed with the quest when he was' dead ’.

It was because you couldn't get practical rewards like EXP or items in this state anyway.

Ian's plan was to roam the vast areas of the system for three days and gather as much information as possible.

So, as soon as I got to the commandment system, I sent it back like a chasing death lion.

However, in the case of the quest given to him now, it was as if rejection itself was impossible.

In fact, from Ian's point of view, we should be thankful that the difficulty was not too great.

After a quick decision in his mind, Ian nods at Aaron and opens his mouth.

“Oh, of course I'll pay for the boat. I was thinking otherwise, heh heh. ”

It was Ian who said without putting a drop of saliva on his mouth, he did not hesitate to speak a sound that was not in his heart.

‘If it's a quest to perform anyway, you should definitely take out the reward. ’

It was a rather abstract reward for 'intimacy with Karen,' but Ian's game philosophy was to take one more point.

And Ian's transition worked well, and Aaron's voice, who was a little young, fainted slightly.

“Hmmm, I didn't think you'd run away without paying for the boat, but I did warn you in case you didn't notice. ”

“Well, I see. ”

“The boat wages are only five dollars. You can bring them here to Death Coins, the currency of Erebos. ”

- The Dark Bound status condition has been lifted.

- Movement speed is back to normal.

As soon as he finished answering, the system message rang, and then the dark energy that was wrapping Ian washed away.

But Ian can't immediately move back inside Erebos.

I didn't know how to complete the quest.

“By the way, Karen, ”

“Speak.”

“How do I get five Death Coins? ”

And when he heard Ian's question, he immediately gave the answer as if he had waited.

Ian's question was, of course, the first dead man to come to the commandment.

“A 15-minute walk down the forest path in front of you now reveals the city of the dead, Tanatos. ”

“I see.”

“There is a small purple grove to the southwest of Tanatos village, where you can get coins easily by selling rabbit hide. I'll give you a piece of hide, so you can sell five bunny skins in total. ”

“Wh-where should I get a p-piece of hide? ”

“That's not harder. If you walk along this forest path, it'll be rabbits everywhere. ”

Ian, who had heard the story so far, frowned and reacted reflectively.

“Yes, I understand. I'll be back as soon as I can. ”

“Good. Three hours should be enough, right? ”

“Of course! I'll be right back. ”

“Yes. I'll rest here for a while. ”

The content of the quest itself seemed too easy.

‘Yeah, well, that's just a quest for grade F difficulty. We'll just grab the rabbit and skin it off. ’

Ian, who split up with Carolon in a pleasant way, hurriedly started walking along the forest path.

While it may seem easy on difficulty or quest content, it is also a quest that takes a limited amount of time and is unsure of which variables will work.

But not long after he began to move along the forest path, Ian realized that his thoughts had just been completely wrong.