HC:Pacifist | Ch. 129 - Dead Quiet (Patreon)

Roth gulped. He’d almost made a terrible mistake. If he hadn’t noticed that Mario still wasn’t going up after the coast was clear, he would have gone up and walked right into a trap. Gary! He was a rogue and was probably using [Camouflage]. Memories of him and Gary patiently waiting for their targets to appear and springing up from the shadows to slaughter them caused a shiver to run down his spine. It was so like Gary. He loved to run ambushes like this.

Even if Gary was still here, at least Wilson and Xana should have left. That meant that it was still a good time to leave. The person he was afraid of the most right now was Xana. The fact that he now knew that Gary was waiting for him only meant that he had to play all his trumps to escape.

Snake Form!

Around his eyes and on the back of his hands, his skin became harder and split and cracked into scales. The tip of his tongue slightly split, and his neck became slightly longer.

Congratulations! Your subterfuge has reached 300!

You’ve gained [Dead Quiet].

Dead Quiet (Stat Bonus)

Bonus description: You’ve become so proficient in masking your presence that it’s become exceedingly difficult to detect your presence.

Bonus effects: Stealth skills become more effective.

Restrictions: Subterfuge 250+.

You’ve gained [Radioactivity]

Radioactivity (Stat Bonus)

Bonus description: The cells in your body can enhance the toxins you use and charge them with destructive radiation.

Bonus effects: Poisoning skills become more powerful.

Restriction: Subterfuge 300+.

This was why Roth refused to use his ratan or badger forms when crafting. Even though intelligence and dexterity gave him more chances of getting better grades in the items, he wanted to have his racial skills off cooldown to be used as soon as he needed. He rushed to the bathroom to check how he looked. Seeing the scales on his forehead and his reptile eyes, he smiled. Cool. He stuck his tongue out and saw that it had split a little at the end. It was unsettling, but he just rolled the tongue back in.

With this much subterfuge, his camouflage had just become god-like! With this, he was almost sure that no one could see him. He didn’t know how much insight Gary had, but it was extremely unlikely he had enough of it to pierce through his stealth. Just in case, he went to his inventory and pulled out a skill card that had been sitting there.

Would you like to learn [Snake Slither]? [Y/N]

He had two skills he could delete. One was [Ratan Stride]. Since his flag allowed him to have it, he didn’t need to occupy a skill slot with it anyway. Instead, he deleted [Rat Poison], which he didn’t need either.

[Snake Slither] resonates with your [Snake Form].

[Snake Slither] has been upgraded to [Cobra Slither].

Cobra Slither (Uncommon)

Skill description: Snakes are capable of silent, discreet movement. They impart some of their experience onto you.

Skill effects: Improves stealth skills. Makes your steps quieter.

Roth then activated his camouflage.

Camouflage!

Unlike the last time he’d used this skill, now, when he put his hands in front of his eyes, he saw nothing. There was the faintest blur, but it was practically imperceptible. This form was perfect for undercover operations, or, in this case, undercover escapes.

“Hey, Mario! Can you see me at all?”

“No.” After seeing his mask fail against Mario, knowing that he couldn’t see him was reassuring.

“What about your lab scanners?”

“They can’t either.”

“Awesome. That means that I’m ready to go. Thank you for letting me stay.”

“No problem. By the way, I’m almost done with your machine. Do you want it or not?”

Roth deactivated the skill. “What? Weren’t you going to take a month?”

“I was going to, but because of the powerful presence lurking above, I’ve had so much extra time that I’ve been able to get to your machine ahead of schedule. I only need ten more minutes. If you want to wait until then, you can already take it with you.”

Roth checked the clock and shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”

“Since I was able to finish your order sooner, I think it’s appropriate that you pay me a little extra.” Roth gulped. Did NPCs also have completion rates for quests? If so, Mario would finish the quest in half the promised time. That was at least an S-? He looked at his wallet and imagined his hard-earned gold being taken away without mercy.

Roth approached Mario’s workstation and watched curiously as he finished working on the machine. It was similar to a briefcase in size. It had a small slot on the left and a glass sphere on the right. Roth still didn’t have any clue as to what it did. The lights in the briefcase came to life for the first time, and a mechanical buzz rang.

“Look at that. You’re very lucky. The part of the corrupted programming was within my skill to fix. Otherwise, I couldn’t have fixed it.”

Mario has finished fixing [Mysterious Machine].

You’ve given Mario 300,000XP and 50 gold.

Mario has given you [Mysterious Machine].

Mysterious Machine (Consumable)

Description: It’s a miracle that this wonder of technology has survived. It bears witness to the incredible feats of engineering that humans achieved before the Rain of Fire.

Effects: ?????

Requires: Engineer or programmer.

Roth turned the machine over in his hands. It was a consumable, but he still had no idea what it was used for.

“Mario, do you know how to use this?”

“Of course. How would I have fixed it if I didn’t?”

“Can you turn it on for me?”

The alligator’s big mouth twisted into a wicked smile. “Of course! Everything for a friend.”

Novice NPC detected:

Mario, the Alligator Cyborg Plumber

5000/5000 Hp

NPCs Professions: [Programmer]; [Robotics Engineer]; [Tinkerer].

Conditions to hire Mario: revered status with the Cyborg Union.

Would you like to issue a quest to Mario? [Y/N]

Roth clicked his tongue. This item was a bottomless pit! He had to bring it to two different NPCs already and still had no idea what it was used for. Should he risk continuing to invest in it? He’d been waiting for so long to find out what it did. On top of that, the grenades he got from Oli’s hideout were god-tier items. How valuable was this machine, then? Gritting his teeth, he accepted.

You’ve activated a chain quest:

Mysterious Machine (Uncommon)

Pax, the martyr, is stupid and can’t even operate a simple machine. He turns to all wise and mighty Mario, who is willing to assist him for a small fee.

Quest objectives:

Operate the machine for Pax, the stupid martyr.

Rewards:

Pax will reward Mario with 300,000 XP and pay him 50 gold.

Would you like to hire Mario and issue this quest? [Y/N]

It wasn’t cheap! Again, with the exorbitant fee. And why was Mario calling him stupid so blatantly? He forced himself to smile while he accepted.

You’ve issued: [Mysterious Machine II].

“Very well. The machine came charged, making our job several times easier.”

“Charged?” Was this an item similar to the containment cube he got from the Peace Corps?

“Yeah. The energy needed for this baby is no joke. Now, all we need to get it running is a sample.”

“A sample? Don’t you have any?”

Roth’s inventory opened automatically, and all items were greyed out. All but one. An item that had been sitting there since he’d first visited the baroness in the Green Woods.

Mysterious Fur (Consumable)

Description: A hair of unknown origin. It’s gray.

Effects: Unknown.

Was this the sample that Mario wanted? “Something like this?” The item disappeared from Roth’s inventory. Mario grabbed the piece of fur, inserted it into the slot, and pushed several buttons. The machine hummed to life, and lights began beeping everywhere.

“It’s working. Now, all you have to do is wait. You can take it with you.”

Mario has completed [Mysterious Machine II]

You’ve given Mario 300,000XP and 50 gold.

[Level Down!]

Mario has given you back [Mysterious Machine].

What? 50 gold and 300,000 XP for that? And he’d even lost a level. Roth wanted to punch Mario’s smug face but held himself back. The sequence he had input into the machine seemed simple, but if Roth had tried it, he would just be pressing buttons at random. He again inspected the machine.

Mysterious Machine (Consumable)

Charges left 2 of 3.

Description: It’s a miracle that this wonder of technology has survived. It bears witness to the incredible feats of engineering that humans achieved before the Rain of Fire.

Progress: 1%.

Requires: Engineer or programmer.

The machine was working, and Roth still didn’t know what it did. He would soon find out. “Thank you for your help, Mario.” Roth managed through clenched teeth.

“No problem! You’re my friend. The least I can do is give you a reasonable price.”

Roth felt the urge to cough blood. 50 gold for pushing a few buttons was reasonable?

“By the way. Any scales, tears, or teeth you can spare me?”

You’ve been traded 15x[Alligator Tears].

You’ve been traded 15x[Alligator Scales].

You’ve been traded 3x[Alligator Teeth].

Congratulations on completing a trade between [Mario] and [Golden Mountain Inc].

Broker 15000XP; 3%(x75%) of the profit (18 silver); +6 reputation with the crocodilians.

Roth turned around and prepared to leave before he did something stupid like punching Mario. He walked to an elevator different from the one he’d used earlier to come in. That would reduce the chances of bumping into his squad.

Camouflage!

Miniaturize!

He took deep breaths to calm himself down and checked his map, studying the route he would take. It was time to risk it.

*

Gary was lying still as a grave, with his camouflage on. His subterfuge was at 50 right now. He preferred focusing his skillset on damage dealing, but any respectable rogue had at least this much subterfuge. After all, the first stat bonus was indispensable to enhance the effects of stealth.

Slower Heart Rate (Stat Bonus)

Bonus description: By reducing your heart rate, you can erase your presence and be unnoticed by others.

Bonus effects: Stealth skills become slightly more effective.

Restrictions: Subterfuge 50+.

He heard a noise about 50 meters to his right. It sounded mechanical. It could be a gatorbot, but he preferred to make sure. He ran toward the source of the noise. This part of the sewers was flooded, and although his camouflage made him invisible, if he weren’t still, people would be able to see the ripples his steps were causing. He did his best to keep his noise minimal and reached the destination. This is where the sound had come from. There was no gatorbot in sight. What had caused the noise then? Could there be another rogue around?

He scanned his surroundings carefully, paying particular attention to the ripples in the water. There was nothing. He pondered about the implications. The Slayer had always been a berserker or, at the very least, a warrior. Warriors had no stealth skills, but there was a consumable that could mimic the effect of camouflage: [Invisibility Potions]. Only chemists level 30 and over could craft these potions, and the ingredients weren’t difficult to secure, but the recipe was. To worsen it, guilds hoarded many recipes, making [Invisible Potions] go for 30+ gold a pop, even when it only cost one gold to make. It wasn’t far-fetched that a gamer as talented as the Slayer would get his hands on one of those. He searched his inventory and pulled an item. It was better to overdo it than risking missing the Slayer.

Flash Grenade (Consumable)

Description: The chemicals inside produce a powerful burst of light that can blind someone temporarily. The radiation emitted also messes up with camouflage and stealth effects.

Item effects:

Blinds everyone level 40 or less in a 20-meter radius for 3 seconds;

Disrupts camouflage. Disruption is affected by subterfuge of opponent and user’s insight.

This item was even more expensive than the [Invisibility Potion]. Gary had to swallow his pride and borrow money from acquaintances in the guild to get it. He threw it into the air.

A bright ball of light formed in the sewers, casting shadows and revealing Brian’s outline. It didn’t matter. There was no way the Slayer was over level 40. He wouldn’t be able to see him even if he tried.

Gary forced his eyes to remain open. Due to his high level, he was immune to the item’s effect. He looked for signs of a player in stealth. There was nothing. He had to be patient. Patience was an essential trait of a hunter.

Ch. 128 - Close Call

INDEX