Seong-Min, having chosen his trait, opened his status window.

【 Lv. 5 Cha Seong-Min 】

▷ Class: Kabbalah Heretical Monk
▷ Perks: 2/2
[Watcher’s Eye], [Mental Training]
▷ Trait: 1/1
[Meditator]
▷ Skill: 1/1
[Outlaw’s Fist]
▷ Equipment: 0/6
▷ Stats: 0
[Strength 5] [Agility 5] [Spirit 10] [Magic 5]
[Dexterity 5] [Leadership 5] [Affinity 5] [Luck 5+2]

For such an early stage, it wasn’t a bad start.

‘With the Watcher’s Eye and the Divine Raven, I just need to handle things well moving forward.’

After confirming his status window, Seong-Min stopped in his tracks.

In front of him was an old abandoned mine that had now become the Kobolds’ den.

‘The next target will be the Kobold King.’

Bell Gibson, standing at the mine’s entrance, seemed to have picked up on the stench of Kobolds, his expression darkening.

Without saying a word, Bell Gibson stared intently into the dim interior of the mine.

‘This isn’t the smell of just one or two. At this level…’

Seong-Min, standing in the Steelstone Mine where the Kobold King resided, reminded himself of why he had come here.

“Setting aside the extras, the most important items are the Moonlight Shop Membership and the Dragon Urine, which will keep me safe throughout the journey.”

After escaping Kolhen Castle, players could choose from a variety of progression paths.

Of those, over 95% opted to escape Kolhen Province through the snowy valley instead of Valhalla Mountain.

‘But with that route, you could never get the Moonlight Shop Membership or the Dragon Urine, no matter what. That’s the beginner’s route.’

Bell Gibson placed a hand on Seong-Min’s shoulder and shook his head gravely, urging him not to enter the mine.

Seong-Min understood what Bell Gibson was worried about.

“I know. This is the Kobold den you’re thinking of. If we go deep enough, we’ll encounter the Kobold King himself.”

Bell Gibson’s eyes revealed a hint of fear.

Seong-Min, however, was different.

His eyes burned with fierce determination, like the flare of a newly lit candle.

He spoke to the hesitant Bell Gibson.

“If we turn back now, we’ll be killed by the Inquisitors chasing us. They’ve already begun their pursuit.”

Blade & Dragon was no easy game.

It was infamous for its brutal difficulty.

“You don’t want that kind of ending, do you?”

The mention of someone in pursuit stirred up the chat.

[Who’s chasing them right now?]

[It’s the Inquisitors from the cult. If they come this way, you usually die to them.]

[Forget that—aren’t they going to get overwhelmed and die in the Kobold den?]

[ㄴㄴ If they play it well, they can get through. But even a small mistake here means game over.]

Isolated and with no other options, Bell Gibson decided to trust Seong-Min, the one who had freed him from the underground prison.

In reality, there was no other choice.

If they split up and tried to escape separately, they would undoubtedly be caught by the Inquisitors as Seong-Min had said.

Rather than risk that, crossing through the Steelstone Mine and escaping completely seemed like the wiser choice.

Having resolved to follow Seong-Min, Bell Gibson glanced toward the interior of the mine. Seong-Min, in turn, stared into the dark depths, already envisioning their imminent confrontation.

‘Soon enough, I’ll meet him.’

Inquisitor Needle.

A highly skilled Inquisitor who regarded the game’s protagonist as nothing more than a pest.

If left unchecked, he would inevitably harass the protagonist in one way or another—a malignant tumor that had to be dealt with.

‘The sooner you deal with tumors, the better.’

Inquisitor Needle, like the Overseer, was one of the early-game opponents too strong for the protagonist to handle directly.

But that didn’t mean he was impossible to deal with.

Although it wasn’t possible to kill him outright, there were ways to neutralize him.

‘For players like me, so experienced we’re practically decaying, “impossible” isn’t in our vocabulary.’

The smile that followed brimmed with confidence.

---

The once-fierce Overseer now lay lifeless, cold as a corpse.

The bishop, looking down at the body, finally spoke.

“How dare he draw his sword against those who serve God? Even tearing him to shreds wouldn’t be enough…”

Outside, the sound of soldiers fighting continued to fill the air.

But with the Overseer dead, the castle’s soldiers would soon cease their resistance.

The Inquisitor standing beside the bishop spoke up.

“The commotion outside will soon be resolved. Those untrained frontier soldiers are no match for us in strength. And with the Overseer dead, they’ll surrender before long.”

Both men’s focus now shifted to uncovering the Overseer’s intentions.

The bishop urged the Inquisitor beside him.

“Interrogate him immediately.”

Nodding slightly, the Inquisitor drew a small, pointed blade from his robes.

The tool the Inquisitors often used for interrogations was in hand.

“No one can escape our interrogation. The blood will reveal the truth.”

Inquisitor Needle plunged the sharp blade into the nape of the now-lifeless Overseer.

When he withdrew the blade, fresh blood still warm with lingering life dripped from its tip. Bringing the blood to his tongue, the Inquisitor calmly closed his eyes and began reading the Overseer’s memories.

The Inquisitors of the Blood Cross Cult.

Only they were permitted to extract and read memories from their victims’ blood, a practice sanctioned by the cult.

Such was the nature of the Blood Cross Cult.

“What did you see? Does this confirm that the Overseer betrayed us?”

“My suspicions were completely correct. That silver-tongued fraud manipulated the Overseer entirely.”

“What do you mean?”

“He lured the Overseer with the Holy Grail as bait. The foolish Overseer believed he could eventually possess it and ended up releasing him. The existence of the Holy Grail isn’t even confirmed, yet he was swayed by the lies of a con artist. The Overseer was a fool.”

At that moment, a cult soldier arrived with shocking news.

“He’s escaped!”

Hearing this, both men’s expressions hardened instantly.

Of the two, it was the bishop who was most alarmed.

“We can’t let him escape. I’ve already reported to the Holy City that he was killed. If we lose him now, it won’t just be humiliation—we’ll face repercussions!”

Inquisitor Needle also had no intention of letting Cha Seong-Min, who had escaped Kolhen Castle, walk free.

“Leave the matter of capturing him to me. No matter who he is, if I’m the one chasing him, he’ll be caught soon enough.”

“I’ll trust you with this.”

The Inquisitor turned to the soldier who had delivered the message.

“Where did he go?”

“Reports say he fled toward Valhalla Mountain.”

“Valhalla Mountain?”

The bishop interjected.

“That mountain is infamous for its treacherous terrain. They say it’s impossible to survive the yetis that roam there, let alone cross it.”

Inquisitor Needle, who never underestimated a blasphemer, suspected there was more to the story.

‘If he went there, there must be a reason.’

“What’s the situation outside?”

The soldier quickly replied, “Most of the castle’s resisting soldiers have surrendered.”

“Then gather those soldiers in one place. Many of them are locals, so we can question them about Valhalla Mountain.”

---

In Blade & Dragon, ordinary iron was referred to as “Steelstone.”

Before the advent of steel and other superior metals, Steelstone had been widely used, leading to a golden age for Steelstone mines.

However, as new metals were discovered and mining yields decreased, this Steelstone mine also followed the path to abandonment.

And the ones who claimed the empty mine as their home were none other than wandering Kobold tribes.

Eventually, the Kobold King arrived, and the Steelstone Mine behind Kolhen Castle became a den of Kobolds.

Inside the dark mine, Seong-Min advanced cautiously, thinking to himself:

‘If I had Dragon Urine here, this would be much easier.’

In a game like Blade & Dragon, known for its high difficulty, even something as simple as where to sleep was crucial.

But due to the game’s nature, which often forced players to camp outdoors, finding a safe place to rest wasn’t always possible.

That’s where sleeping bags coated with Dragon Urine came in handy.

‘If you apply that to your body or your sleeping bag, most monsters avoid you. I’m not sure why, but apparently the smell of Dragon Urine is just that unbearable.’

And there was only one way to obtain it.

‘The Moonlight Shop Membership.’

There were no dragons in Kolhen Province or Valhalla Mountain.

Even so, Dragon Urine could be acquired here because the membership allowed access to the Moonlight Shop, where it was sold.

And the one holding that membership was the Kobold King.

‘Which means I have to defeat the Kobold King here.’

“It’s too dark.”

Even with eyes adapted to the darkness, it was so dim that progressing further became difficult.

‘There should be a torch around here somewhere.’

Feeling along the walls, Seong-Min eventually found an abandoned torch left at a fork in the path by miners long ago.

‘Just as I thought, here it is.’

As the surroundings lit up, giving him a clear view through the dark mine, the chat that had been quiet due to the darkness also came back to life.

[For a moment, I thought the power went out.]
[ㄷㄷ He even knows the exact location of the torches.]
[What a monster. Gives me chills.]

Ignoring the chat entirely, Seong-Min spoke to Bell Gibson, who was following behind him.

“The deeper we go, the brighter it’ll get. That’s where they’ve set up their base.”

He was referring to the Kobolds.

Hearing this, Bell Gibson nodded in agreement.

While feeling along the walls, Bell Gibson accidentally touched some sticky residue smeared on the surface.

It was unmistakably something left behind by a Kobold.

‘This is definitely a Kobold den. Judging by how fresh this is, it hasn’t been long since it was left here.’

Bell Gibson gripped his blunt weapon tightly with both hands.

Noticing this, Seong-Min gave him a sidelong glance and spoke quietly.

“There’s no need to be so tense. A few Kobolds aren’t a big deal.”

The real problems were the Kobold captains and, of course, the Kobold King who ruled over all of them.

Carrying the torch, the two moved deeper into the mine, their ears perking up at the sound of suspicious noises up ahead.

“Sniff, sniff. I smell humans somewhere.”

At the disgusting voice, Seong-Min immediately extinguished the torch and pressed himself against the wall with Bell Gibson.

Looking sharply in the direction of the sound, Seong-Min saw two Kobolds holding a torch.

“Is it the human we ate yesterday still crying in my stomach? Why does it suddenly smell like humans?”

Scratching its head, the Kobold scanned its surroundings.

But being dull creatures, they failed to notice anything.

“Maybe my nose is acting up.”

In Blade & Dragon, Kobolds were far less intelligent than Goblins, who ruled through their “Royal Blood.”

In short, they were dumb.

The Kobolds, who had been sniffing around for humans, soon lost interest and continued on their way.

Seeing this, Seong-Min quietly followed the two Kobolds with Bell Gibson.

Bell Gibson smashed one Kobold’s head with his blunt weapon, while Seong-Min landed a punch imbued with ki that completely decapitated the other.

• You have defeated a Kobold. Experience points acquired.

After dealing with the two Kobolds, the looting began.

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