HC: Pacifist | Ch. 317 - Breescar and Sandamor (Patreon)

Zin didn’t show up for the rest of the matches. Roth didn’t know if he should feel flattered or worried. After all, if Zin wasn’t participating in the games anymore, he probably didn’t care about being penalized by the moles by being caught PKing him. Just in case, Roth kept his back against the wall and kept calmly observing the matches and playing when called on. 

Compared with whacking against the team of mole elites, playing it out against regular moles was much more manageable. They were snails in comparison with the reigning champions. Roth steamrolled through his second and third matches. 

His performance was only getting better. He got used to the feeling of holding two giant hammers simultaneously and was learning the different strategies used by the mole divers. The outcome remained the same whether the team decided to go with a fast-tempo strategy or to always pop up at random intervals to throw the whacker off their rhythm. Whenever a head popped up from a hole, they received a hammer strike almost immediately. 

When Roth won the third game, he received a very pleasant notification.

46 - Pax | Wormholes - 4

Congratulations! You’ve beaten a Molympic Games record.

Congratulations! You’ve broken a whack-a-mole record!

+100 reputation with all Molians;

You are offered a free level (You can only gain this bonus once per sport.)

Roth grinned. He’d gained his second level in the Molympic Games. Things couldn’t be going better, which worried him. Things were going a bit too smoothly. That and Zin's disappearance uneased him.

Immediately after the semi-finals, Roth was matched against the Gold Diggers again. By the look on their faces, they weren’t at all happy about it. He had to give it to the reigning champions, though. They still marched with determination toward the field, ready to give it their all.

3, 2, 1… Go!

The Gold Diggers stuck to the strategy that had gotten them to the next round: speed and aggression. 

Roth was ready for them. Now that he was more comfortable in the game, he did even better than in the first round. The moles surfaced for the first time, and Roth's hammers came down with precision. 

Since joining AstroTerra, Roth had depended chiefly on his wit and experience dealing with NPCs. This was one of the only moments in the game where he had to summon the reflexes that had turned him into the famous Slayer of New Earth. The Gold Diggers retaliated quickly, their moles darting up and down, but Roth stayed ahead, hammer hit after hammer hit. 

The tension in the room was palpable as the score climbed. The Gold Diggers' fans cheered for their fellow moles to push harder. Every point mattered; every second counted. The Gold Diggers pushed past their limits, but Roth's dominance was evident. His hammer strikes were relentless, and his concentration never wavered. 

The Gold Diggers fought fiercely as the clock ticked, refusing to surrender. They gave everything they had, pouring their energy into each move. They kept giving their all even after Roth had won over 25 points and secured the game. The buzzer sounded, and the final score appeared on the board: Roth 39, Gold Diggers 11.

Roth raised his hammers in victory, the champion of the finals. Even though he had won, the crowd’s applause was targeted toward their kin. Although defeated, the Gold Diggers were celebrated for their tenacity in the face of sure defeat. Even though the biased audience hurt Roth’s feelings, the system notifications soon turned his frown into a brilliant smile.

Congratulations! You’ve won the whack-a-mole competition!

You win 10,000 gold;

You can control the Molian army for one month;

+100 reputation with all Molians;

+5 permanent strength (You can only gain this bonus once);

+20kg weight carrying capacity (You can only gain this bonus once).

Roth read through the bonuses. The five extra strength was a generous bonus, the equivalent of half what he gained from eating the coveted [Power Truffle]. The weight-carrying capacity bonus was also most welcome. He hadn’t received a bonus like this since he’d worked as a garbage man at Antioch. 

The most surprising notification was that he was assigned control of the Molian army. He hadn’t even known they had one. What was a peacemonger like him supposed to do with an army of moles? Even if the old him wanted to lead the moles into battle, what use was there for an army of level 25 to 35 NPCs in a game ruled by players well past level 50?

He waved this question aside. He had no idea how to use the Molian army yet, but maybe he could figure out how to take advantage of this strange reward as he kept winning different sports.

Roth no longer needed the extra weight-carrying capacity, so after putting the hammers down, he returned to his standard form. 

Human Form!

His wisdom and intelligence at full strength would speed up the cooldown timer on his zoomorph forms, which might be helpful later on. The following two rounds wouldn’t require him to get his hands dirty. 

He headed toward the nearest gravel-filled tunnel and dove in. He trudged through the gravel and started heading toward the next arena. At his regular size and without the digging bonuses, Roth had no choice but to settle for a slower form of travel. Up next was the undercover mole competition. 

*

Roth made himself as comfortable as possible in one of the many chambers scattered throughout the undercover mole arena. He was a big fellow, and these chambers were designed for moles, so it was easier said than done. 

There were still no signs of Zin. Something told him that his next opponent would be Eron, the broker of the Usurpers. Eron was a capable and resourceful player. How else would he get into the broker profession and find customers in remote places like the Molympic Coliseum or the swamps? How else would he come onto Zin’s radar?

Moreover, the broker had successfully won undercover mole six months in a row. That kind of consistency couldn’t be easy. His adversary was witty and had much more experience in this sport than him.

Roth took deep breaths. He’d won two games. He had won a lot, and had therefore had much to lose. At least he wasn’t stuck writing the story, which would have been horrible. All he had to do was identify the moles in Eron’s script. Roth checked his friend’s list, sent a message, and obtained a quick response. He smiled. His secret weapon was ready to go.

Like in the other competitions, a window soon appeared, signaling the start of the next event.

Congratulations on participating in this edition of the Molympic Games!

The third sport is undercover mole. Read the script's story and identify which characters belong to each faction.

Roth rubbed his hands, licked his lip, and focused. A story appeared in a system window before him. Probably, somewhere in the arena, the scripter was reading the story aloud in Molian. Without the enhanced hearing from [Mole Form], Roth had to rely on the system window method to follow the story.

The South and the North Kingdoms

A long time ago, in a distant land, there were two great kingdoms. The kingdom of Sandamor, to the south, was famous for its camels, spice, and coffee. To the north was the kingdom of Breescar, with its snow-capped mountains known for its fine ore, lumber, and precious stones. 

For many years, the two kingdoms lived in peace and harmony. The King of the North maintained an amicable relationship with the Queen of the South, and both realms prospered. But in one brutal winter, the King of Breescar fell ill and passed away, leaving his throne to his young, greedy son. 

Thirsty for power and with no mountains left to conquer, the young king set his eyes on Sandamor's vast deserts. The young king was greedy but not reckless. He was afraid of the horrors of an open war. Therefore, the young king recruited three talented younglings and sent them to the desert to infiltrate the Queen of Sandamor's court and weaken the throne. 

For many years, they went unnoticed. They distinguished themselves in their duties and eventually made it into the queen’s inner circle. Even then, the spies remained patient, building up their reputation and earning the queen's trust. Years passed, and the peace of the sandy empire was finally shaken.

It started with raids. Bandits began attacking the caravans and disrupting commerce in the kingdom. The bandits became bolder. They somehow learned the locations of storehouses that should have been secret and raided them. Surrounding kingdoms began incursions into the desert, seemingly aware of the locations of the queen’s army. 

The queen knew something was afoot and set out to find the leaks in her government. She concluded that only her seven most trusted officials would have had the access required to pull off such a level of sabotage. But she didn’t know who to trust. She contacted old friends and connections and heard an old rumor: the King of the North had sent three young spies to infiltrate her court.

It had been years since that rumor had circulated, but what if it was true? What if among her seven most trusted officials, there were three moles? The queen summoned her ministers: Arin, Belin, Cael, Dareth, Erynd, Faelan, and Galen. She knew that among them were the three spies sent by the treacherous King of Breescar. She summoned and questioned them one by one, observing their reactions and listening to their statements carefully.

The first to be called was Arin, the one entrusted to manage the husbandry of the empire. He had piercing blue eyes and a charming smile. He was always hot and sweating, so he carried a handkerchief to wipe his brow. When the queen interrogated him, he said that he suspected Belin was one of the moles.

Next came Belin, a lean, sharp-featured man with dark hair and a calculating gaze. He was a clever strategist who helped manage the army’s logistics. When the queen inquired about Belin’s suspicions, he told her that Cael was the mole.

Cael was called next, short and wiry with quick hands and a perpetually smudged face from manual labor. He was responsible for construction in the empire. When questioned by the queen, he shared his suspicions that the mole could be no other than Dareth.

Dareth was a mysterious loner of average height and walked around, always cloaked, hiding his face. He was the most reclusive and enigmatic of her ministers and managed intelligence. He didn’t point to any of his companions as a spy, but he assured the queen that he was confident that Erynd had lied to her and his colleagues in the past.

Erynd was a handsome man with a roguish grin, sandy blonde hair, and a scar over one eyebrow. He wore a ring on his finger with a beautiful ruby, the likes of which not even the queen owned. He managed the queen’s treasury. He told the queen that Faelan was a traitor. 

Faelan was a respected general, famous for his spear mastery and for owning the Bulwark, a beautiful cedar shield made of wood so hard that not even the sharpest metal could pierce it. He was a fearless, muscular, imposing fighter with close-cropped hair and many battle scars. The queen was at a loss when he said that Galen was the mole.

Galen, one of the kingdom’s chief financiers, was the last one to be heard by the queen. He wore a lavish silk suit and a diplomatic smile and told the queen that he thought Arin was most likely the traitor.

Identify in this story:

Those who belong to the Northern Kingdom;

Those who belong to the Southern Kingdom.

Roth gulped hard as he read this story. How on earth would he figure out who among the seven advisors were the spies?

Ch. 316 - Whack!

INDEX

Ch. 318 - Cheating