The Demon King is Unfathomable
Chapter 23: Reeling in a Big One

A few adventurers staggered out of the Northpeak Shaft’s entrance.

All of them were so relieved to have survived an ordeal that they could kiss the ground beneath them, including the strongest Jack. They nearly lost their lives and became undeads for good.

Looking at the setting sun, Rue murmured, “I can’t believe it… We actually survived.”

‘Though we ended up betraying Lord Saint Sisto…”

But again, it was not as if they were devout believers with noble souls.

They wouldn’t reincarnate into an aristocratic clan in their next life just because they were faithful anyway, so they might as well enjoy their current one.

Jack didn’t say a word. He was thinking whether it was worth making a deal with the demons.

He wasn’t so naive as to think he could ascend to heaven after death, but dealing with the demons was different from dealing with the pirates.

…but it was not as if he had a choice anyway.

As long as there was enough distance between them, a Copper-tier necromancer could easily subdue a Copper-tier warrior.

And that fellow, as someone who had subdued the entire Silver Scimitar, was possibly at Steel-tier or even Platinum-tier. He would be courting death if he hadn’t struck a deal with him there and then!

But now that the necromancer had leverage over them, they were now on the same boat.

A young man carrying a short bow looked at Jack and asked, “What about Chris?”

He was the only one who still remembered they were here to rescue Chris.

Jack eyed the cavern behind him before coldly remarking, “Didn’t you see Bant? I bet Chris’ dead too.”

It was regrettable, but he had already done everything he could.

Ultimately, the two of them were ultimately business associates who got along. The most he could do for her was to collect her corpse and bury her after he got closer to the necromancer. There was nothing else he could help her with.

Looking at their leader’s grim face, Rue softly asked, “What about the kidnap? Are we still doing it?”

Jack pondered about it and shook his head. “…We’ll give up on that. The reward is too high; there must be something off. The client also has quite the background. I heard he’s one of the fief lord’s people.”

Duke Campelle hadn’t been feeling well recently, presumably due to his ailing age.

There was word on the street that most god elects, other than the Ors Empire’s emperor, had rough later years.

The client neglected to mention who the kidnapping target was despite having promised a generous reward. This left him with an ominous feeling. He also thought that it would be best to avoid risky trades for the next few days given that he had just cursed at Saint Sisto.

On that note, that necromancer surprised him.

He thought that fellow would request hard-to-source, illegal items, but he made an order for weapons and tools instead. Being a necromancer’s intermediary was also a job that warranted the death penalty if caught, but it was still not as risky as kidnapping a noble.

All he had to do was to ship the goods to the abandoned inn then scour the horse stable’s straw heap for treasure.

He had plenty of subordinates who could do this work. There was no less riskier trade than this.

Jack walked up to the carriage but suddenly halted. He directed warning eyes at his fellow comrades and said, “No one is to divulge what happened today, got it?”

The crowd hurriedly nodded before making solemn vows on that.

“Got it!”

Jack nodded his head in satisfaction. He leaped onto the carriage and patted the coach’s shoulder, a gesture that the latter could leave now.

‘Actually, that is a good idea. Why have I never thought about that? Rather than have these faithless criminals swear on Saint Sisto’s name, it is more effective to record them swearing to the Demon God. As long as I have the recording in hand, it would be as good as grasping them by their balls.’

The more Jack thought about it, the more ingenious he thought this move was. A normal human would have never thought of something as psychopathic as this!

‘I should buy some record crystals. I’ll eventually be able to use them…”

…

In the mining shaft, Youyou watched the adventurers leave as she murmured reluctantly, “Demon King, are we going to set them free just like that? Shouldn’t we at least imprison them?”

Under the shadows, Roan stroked a crystal as he slowly replied, “Youyou, not all cages are visible. This is called reeling in a big one. Look and learn.”

He had just ordered a hundred swords, spears, bows, daggers, leather armor, and shields each.

The players had obtained a huge amount of equipment from the ratmen, but those were low-quality, cannon fodder equipment that could barely be used. The purchased equipment would be much more useful.

This would also allow him to fulfill one of the promises he made in the previous update—having a store for players to spend their hell coins on.

That should elevate the gaming experience.

Other than weapons, Roan also purchased tools like hammers, nails, and pliers.

Now that they were almost done clearing the ratmen in the mining shaft, it was time to spend some effort designing his domain. Not all players were passionate about fighting; some of them just wanted to quietly do their own stuff. The tools were for the latter players.

Of course, Roan could have entered the city himself to purchase the goods, but there were downsides to that.

On the one hand, he lacked the connections to source for affordable, quality goods.

On the other hand, a foreigner bulk purchasing weapons and armor was bound to pique the fief lord’s vigilance.

Thus, it was more effective to entrust this matter to those from the underground street.

As long as it wasn’t too much, Roan was fine with his partners pocketing money from the transactions. Trading with a necromancer came with risks, so it was only right to compensate them accordingly.

On that note, he harbored high hopes for that sharp-witted fellow.

Back when he first arrived at Thunderbuzz City, he had seen how pious Saint Sisto’s worshipers were as Duke Campelle and his knights marched victoriously down the streets… Their faith was not one that could be shaken with just a few terror incidents.

If Roan wanted his name to be known throughout Thunderbuzz City, he had to start working from its weakest link, namely the underground street.

…

Meanwhile, most of the players were gathered around the pit near the demon king domain to loot the ratmen’s carcasses..

A tail was worth 100 hell coins.

Most tails had fallen into the labyrinth, but there were plenty lying around the pit for them to collect. The skeleton soldiers diligently worked while humming an off-tune harvesting song.

Only Fecespool was squatting before a pile of ashes, flipping through them as if searching for something.

Some skeletons were just wired differently than the others.

Dogshit, who was returning from the ‘boss room’, noticed him and walked over out of curiosity. “What are you looking for?”

Fecespool tried ignoring him, but Dogshit was stuck to him like a stubborn chewing gum and was simply too much of an eyesore. Annoyed, he replied, “I don’t know what it is too, but it’s shiny and looks valuable.”

“Shiny?” Dogshit was confused. “What is it?”

“It’s this thing.” Fecespool opened his palm to reveal several ink-green crystals.

Dogshit’s eyes widened. “Huh? Diamonds?!”

“Nah, more like magic crystals or something. They were hidden near the neck area. I found them by coincidence,” Fecespool said. “Only dead skeleton players have it. Those buried in the dirt don’t have them. It’s a pity there are no NPC stores yet, so I don’t know how valuable these things are.”

Little did Fecespool know those things were really magic crystals. They could be exchanged for money in the Adventurer Guild, serving as the second biggest source of income for adventurers aside from completing missions.

However, the magic crystals dropped by skeleton players were of the lowest quality, so the Adventurer Guild wouldn’t offer much for it—not even a copper coin. After all, summoning a skeleton soldier cost only 1 faith.

But of course, players wouldn’t know these things.

The soulfire in Dogshit’s eye sockets suddenly flickered as he thought of something incredible. “Hold on… If we collect magic crystals from player corpses, doesn’t that mean that we can endlessly farm magic crystals by continuously killing ourselves and reviving?”

Fecespool was taken aback.

“Holy shit, you are a genius!”

They might be unable to sell these magic crystals now, but who knew what the future had in store? They would be rich if these things could be sold for hundreds of hell coins in NPC stores later on!

The two of them exchanged looks and understood each other’s intentions.

“Shall we stockpile?”

“Of course!”

While they were discussing who should die first, an ink-green notification suddenly popped up before all the players.

【a.0.2 Update Notice: New Currency System!

1. Reworking the Revive System!

With the exception of ‘Monster Siege’ events, players will now lose 20 contribution points upon death. (The amount of contribution points deducted may differ depending on the race and level. Check our patch notes for more detailed information.)

2. Friend and Party System Update!

You may add in-game friends and communicate privately with your newly-acquainted brothers and sisters now!

3. Possession System Update!

Equipment purchased through NPC stores will be registered under the player. Looted equipment can also be registered in NPC stores, but there will be a processing of 10% of the equipment’s estimated value.

Registered equipment can be listed on the official sales platform.

Other players are also forbidden from taking registered equipment that aren’t under their name. Players who have their registered equipment stolen by another player can report the matter, and the game administrator will take action against the violator.

Also, do note that there will be penalties for maliciously destroying other players’ registered equipment, as well as compensation for retrieving other players’ registered equipment. Check our patch notes for more detailed information.

4. NPC Store Update

NPC stores will be introduced in three days. Equipment blueprints have been updated on the official site.

Also, NPC stores will be hiring players as sales assistants, and they will receive their salary in hell coins. We welcome lifestyle players to join our ranks~

5. Increasing the Closed Beta Player Count to 500!

We are opening applications again! Interested players should register as soon as possible!

PS: Our game doesn’t support ID change at the moment. For your gaming experience, please think thrice before keying in your username!】

Fecespool and Dogshit froze as if they were struck by lightning.

Of that long system notification, they only saw the first subject and immediately lost their mood to continue reading.

‘There is now a death penalty of 20 contribution points! There’s no need to farm anymore!’

“Fuck!”

“This bug fix arrived too timely!”