Taming Master

* * *

Kailan's NPCs can be divided into two broad categories.

First, relatively one-dimensional functional NPCs that are always in place.

Secondly, active NPCs, who have AI as a user, play within Kailan's worldview, and change roles over time.

And these active NPCs are extraordinary beings that don't normally exist in other games, and they hunt like users and level up.

Of course, since growth is slower than the user, but moderately level up, the environment is also designed to evolve to suit the user's content progress in areas or dimensions where active NPCs are heavily herded.

The village that had an average NPC level of between 50 and 60 at the time of the first release of Kailan has now reached almost 300 levels over the years.

Most NPCs are active NPCs, especially in the case of 'middlemen’ where the top users are currently competing.

And that was known only by looking at Ian's "medieval" field in Yongcheon.

At the time Ian was active, it was hard to find even the transcendent 70 levels in the middle of the sky, but now there are a lot of NPCs with more than 100 levels.

‘But Dratocus, which is over 130 levels beyond transcendence...... must be the top NPC in the five generations. ’

Ian guessed Dratocus' location roughly within the glacial family, based on all of this.

In doing so, he thought he could accept his own sufficiently eccentric request.

And the result was very successful.

Eventually, Ian's bait was commissioned by Moon Dratocus and returned to the "Legion of Darkness."

- Tyring!

- Dratocus, the Icelander, has accepted your request.

- When the quest conditions are met, 1.3 million Medium Contribution Points are automatically deducted.

…… shorthand…….

After exactly half a day, Ian came back with the answer he wanted.

That's why Shaia Bongxi was frozen again.

“You're here earlier than I expected. ”

- It didn't take very long.

“Okay, so why? ”

- He's got a temper.

“My personality is more urgent than urgent. ”

- In a situation... … a situation in the spirit system?

“Yes."

- I don't know why you're helping the Spirit System like this...... Good. Let me explain.

Dratocus' story was quite long.

Since the Mechanical civilization entered the Shaia peak, it started with what route it took to take this place.

Among them, there were many stories unrelated to the ‘conclusion’, but Ian listened carefully to all the stories.

After all, it was all about information related to the history of the machine civilization, and ultimately, it was about quests.

‘I think the crack has opened up somewhere in the Shaia Mountains...' ’

But after all of this, the crucial reason the Shaia Mountains were frozen again was very concise.

And Ian had to be surprised to hear about Dratocus.

The place that came out of his mouth was a very familiar place.

- So the final attack by the forces of darkness is the Valley of Life.

“The Valley of Life……? ”

- Yes. The Commander of Darkness himself...... sealed up the Sanctuary of Life deep in the Valley of Life.

“ ……! ”

- So if you want this Shaia peak to regain its vitality, you have no choice but to unlock the Sanctuary.

The Valley of Life was a place that Ian had no choice but to know.

It is the place where I rescued the Ancient Spirit 'Procrastination’ and found the ‘Ruins of the Holy Spirit’ with her help.

The place where the Judgment Sword of the Holy Spirit rested on Ian's back was also the valley of life.

‘Quests continue like this again. ’

And Ian was forced to take a sigh of relief in his current situation.

If he hadn't met Dratocus a little later, it would have taken him at least a week to find out.

‘The slower I am, the greater the chance of the Spirit System losing...... If I had, I would have had to blow up the entire Epic Hidden Quest. ’

However, it was not yet a relief.

Finding the cause did not create a solution, even knowing the solution could not have been easy to succeed.

Fortunately, Dratocus knew more than Ian expected.

“The Seal. How do I turn it off? ”

- I didn't get to that, but they probably used a dark magic reduction device.

“Dark…… Magic Recovery Device? ”

- Yeah, I saw you use it the other day to seal the spirit system's natural magic.

The Magic Reduction Device was a machine with the function of its original name.

It was the crystal of a mechanical civilization that reduced all kinds of magical power to mechanical power.

But Ian, who was listening to this story, suddenly had a question.

“Then how come I've never seen such a device before? ”

- Hmm…? What's that supposed to mean?

“So far, I've reclaimed several elemental mines occupied by machine civilizations. But I couldn't find this magical retractor anywhere. ”

We have seen many times before that machine civilization exploits the power of the Spirit System, but we have never seen this machine before.

But Dratocus' answer was simple.

- I don't know exactly…… but I've heard that Magic Reduction Devices are extremely valuable to machine civilizations.

“Yes...? ”

- They say it's much more efficient than the traditional way of using natural magic.

“ ……! ”

- Maybe that's why you didn't see it.

Ian nods, listening to Dratocus.

If that's the case, then I understand.

So Ian now asked him the last most important question.

“Anyway... so... we just have to break it to break the seal? ”

- No, you're yelling at me.

“ ……? ”

- If you touch it wrong, it could destroy the sanctuary of life.

“Huff... Then how do I break the seal?" ”

- I don't know.

“Hurl.”

- Except maybe Girdin, the mechanical engineer in the dark.

“The mechanical engineer of darkness? Girdin?”

And the moment I heard the answer to that question,

- Tyring!

A new system message appeared before Ian's eyes.

- The conditions are met.

- There is a new quest.

- You received the quest ‘Dark Mechanical Engineer Girdin (Epic) (Combo) (Hidden)’.

…… shorthand…….

Ian then quickly opened a reflective quest information window in front of his eyes.

* * *

- Tyring!

-All conditions of the quest have been met.

- You have successfully completed the ‘Blood Moon Kill (Hidden) (Epic)’ Quest.

- You have gained 30,000 Reputation.

- You won the 'Gem of Blood’ item.

…… approximate……

-There are new quests associated with it.

A luxurious hoodie and cloak in black with thin embroidered gold thread.

As the man rises from his seat, his dark military shoulder is exposed to the outside.

“This concludes the transaction. ”

“Yes.”

“Then you've got your stuff, right? ”

“Of course. One moment, please. ”

A gorgeous armor embroidered with ornamental splendor was revealed under the lamp, but the man's face was still hidden in the darkness.

The hood on his head was also a hoodie, but there was an unknown black energy in it that covered his face.

A man in a black hood with an unusual energy at first glance.

His identity was Jonathan, an assassin ranker for an American server.

‘This quest was not easier than I thought. If I go back to the Node, I'll hear Luto yell at me. ’

Jonathan thought of "Ruto," who has long been the guild's prime minister, shaking his head with a big smile.

If Ruto knew where he was on the quest right now, that would be huge.) I had to listen to the nagging.

‘I didn't think I'd make it this far... but what can I do?' Hidden Quests are more important. ’

This is the Lacatorium where Jonathan is now.

It was also Rutan, the most populous city in the city.

And the reason for this is very simple.

If Jonathan was a user of the Magic Faction, there would be no problem in Rutan, but he was a ranker of some kind in the Human Faction.

And now there's an all-out war between the spirit system and the magic system.

The risk of Rutan was much higher than in the past.

Ian was so vigilant that he could hardly compare to the days of Lutan.

But Jonathan had no intention of escaping the Lacatorium until the end of the quest.

‘When a man starts a quest, he has to see the end. ’

The reward for the quest was paid proportionately because the risks were enormous.

Moreover, he was the best assassin in his class, and he was also confident to pull myself out even in the most dangerous situations.

Because of this, the risk was like his daily life.

‘There's no way to give up a matching quest in the middle. Yes, of course. ’

And as Jonathan was thinking about things, he started hearing small footsteps from the outside.

After a while, a transaction of sorts with him (?) came back to the room.

Quee-!

“Here you go, Jonathan. ”

The NPC approaches Jonathan, carefully pulling something out of his pocket and handing it to him.

And it was an old piece of parchment that felt like a trace of time.

“Are you sure about this? ”

“Of course.”

“Good. Good to be clean. ”

Then Jonathan, who received the parchment, smiled with a cheerful expression.

To get this seemingly insignificant piece of parchment, I've been completing quests for a short walk on the wire for the past summer.

- Tyring!

- You won the 'Dark Keep Secret Map (Legendary)' item.

- You won the 'Secret of Ancient Combination (Hidden) (Epic)' Quest.

"Great. One last quest at last...!" Just clear this...! ’

As I read the newly acquired quest information window, Jonathan's smile became darker.

Then, looking at him, the NPC standing in front of him lowers his head slightly.

“I'll be going now, Jonathan. My master is waiting... ”

“Yes. Good work. ”

“Then I wish you luck. ”

After greeting him, NPC opens the door and walks out, Jonathan steps toward the couch in the corner.

It's a secret place that no one else knows about.), so I was planning to think more about my quest attack plan here in a safe place.

But after a while.

“ ……? ”

Jonathan opens his eyes and is appalled.

Obviously, not long ago, no one was sitting on the couch.

‘Oh my god...! Who else knows about this place? ’

Jonathan, who swallowed a dry saliva once, slowly pulls out the sword that was in his waist.

Shhh!

He then took another step forward and opened his mouth with a calm voice towards being in the dark.

“Who are you? ”

“ ……. ”

“What is the purpose here? ”

And the next moment, Jonathan was even more surprised.

“Phew, I couldn't find it. ”

“ ……? ”

“You almost got your quest stolen, didn't you? ”

“What do you mean! ”

It was because the mysterious man who came out of the darkness taught him exactly what parchment he had in his hand.

“For what purpose... Hmm, that thing in your hand? ”

“ ……? ”

“Is that the secret map to the Dark Keep? ”

“H-how did you...! ”

The man comes forward, grinning and reaching out for Jonathan.

“Give it to me.”

“What?"

“If you don't like it, yes. ”