Chapter 142: Level 500 Arena Quest (2)

At the arena north of Ferrero Castle.

I could go to the arena located in Kotum Castle or Northwood Castle, but I headed to Ferrero Castle’s arena on purpose because I got Blink with zero cooldown in the level 300 only arena quest here.

Although I didn’t know what kind of reward I would receive this time, I kept my fingers crossed that I would get another cooldown removal reward if one was available.

Why? Because it would be the best scenario for me if my Ice Storm’s cooldown could be removed.

However, I shook my head and quickly moved into the arena because I didn’t want to count my chickens before they hatched and I still had the additional 50% EXP buff.

So I was thinking of clearing the quest as fast as possible and hunting back again.

Anyway, it was my second visit to the arena.

A message rang as soon as I stepped in the arena.

You have a level 500 only arena quest II available.

-Currently, you are eligible to proceed with the arena quest II at level 500.

-If you choose to proceed, you cannot log out until the quest ends.

-Do you wish to proceed?

‘Yes.’

When I first visited this arena during the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Closed Betas, I looked around here and there. But now I already knew what the arena was so I chose to proceed straight away.

You have chosen to proceed with the level 500 only arena quest II.

-This is a quest to celebrate you reaching level 500. You can proceed with it only once at level 500, and you must win continuous duels against other users and NPCs randomly allocated to you within the arena.

-You will meet more powerful opponents in each successive round if you continue to win. Your reward will be determined depending on the number of your victories and your consecutive wins.

-Death within the quest does not affect your number of deaths.

-Before you proceed with the quest, you will be moved to the waiting room.

As soon as the message finished, a small space emerged and I felt my body being sucked in somewhere.

This is a waiting area only for those who are proceeding with the level 500 arena quest II.

-Whispering with others here is restricted, and you can’t converse with your opponents while moving to the arena.

-Currently, you have two IDs; Lumen and Asirante.

-You can select which ID you want used during the level 500 only arena quest II.

I knew these restrictions were a countermeasure implemented by the system to prevent any users from manipulating the results by messaging each other and striking deals while in the arena.

I didn’t notice anything strange in the message that forced me to choose my ID, but I opened my mouth right away because I had a similar experience before.

“Let me choose Asirante.”

As soon as I chose my ID, a message rang.

Your first opponent has been decided.

-Gali, an experienced hunter.

As soon as the message rang, I felt myself being moved somewhere again.

I was moved to a real arena.

Looking at the name floating above my opponent, I could tell that he was an NPC.

Shuuuuuuuung!

The NPC Gali started by firing an arrow at me.

But I could tell from my experiences that Gali was very weak because the arrows were flying toward me very haphazardly.

So, I did not avoid them on purpose to check how strong they were.

But, as the weak sound of the flying arrows suggested, they didn’t even stick in me at all.

Of course, I didn’t even suffer any damage.

“Obviously, I heard the first NPC is not a strong opponent, but this guy is too weak.”

I was aware that any user or NPC at level 1000 would not appear in Round 1 because there would be no meaning in proceeding with the level 500 only arena quest if that happened.

However, the NPC that appeared as my opponent was too weak to inflict any damage on me.

What it meant was clear to me. In other words, I was too strong to proceed with the level 500 only arena quest II.

“Ice Spear! Multiple Ice Arrow!”

Puck! Puck! Puck!

So, I just simply used my single-target skills at this experienced hunter Gali.

Gali was unable to withstand my attack, and collapsed immediately, which triggered a message.

You have defeated the experienced hunter Gali.

-Victories: 1. Winning streak: 1.

-You are now being moved to the waiting room.

I cleared Round 1 easily like that.

Next, a series of NPCs appeared as my opponents.

Of course, the result was always the same, namely, my victory.

But I suddenly became curious.

“Are NPCs supposed to appear often like this?”

What I heard clearly before was that I would face an equal number of users and NPCs.

However, NPCs appeared six times in a row, and one did again for the seventh time.

Your 7th opponent has been decided.

-Baldi, a seasoned assassin, has appeared.

As soon as the seasoned assassin Baldi showed up, he immediately disappeared from my sight as if he used Blink. Of course, I wasn’t very worried because he would appear in my surroundings at some point, either to my sides or behind my back.

So, I opened my mouth quietly.

“Ice Storm!”

I used Ice Storm around me.

Puck! Puck! Puck!

“Kueeeeeeeeh”

I heard somebody screaming in pain as if they were hit hard.

“Oh, so you were there!”

I quickly turned around at his painful screams because I heard it right behind me.

If it was a monster, it would charge at me without trying to get out of the Ice Storm’s terrain even if it was wounded, but the NPC Baldi was different. Just like how he disappeared from my sight at first, I could see him quickly leaving the Ice Storm’s terrain. It seemed as if he was using Blink almost continuously.

But I also had Blink.

“Blink!”

I moved straight behind the assassin Baldi. Then I fired Ice Spear and Multiple Ice Arrows at his back.

Puck! Puck! Puck!

The assassin Baldi teleported to different places using Blink twice in a row, but it seemed difficult for him to use it three times in a row because he was finally struck by my attack.

And that was it.

You have defeated the seasoned assassin Baldi.

-Victories: 7. Winning streak: 7.

-You are now being moved to the waiting room.

Of course, the opponents who appeared in each successive round gradually became stronger.

I could confirm it because Baldi could endure Ice Storm to some extent before he left its range.

But that was all. Anyway, when I was moved to the waiting room again, I opened my mouth quietly.

“Alright. Come on, guys! Even if my opponent is an NPC, it doesn’t mean that I can’t keep pulling out successive victories.”

After that, a message about my 8th opponent rang.

At that time in Japan.

Sousuke, a college student, accessed ‘Revival Legend’ to take advantage of the short break he had before he needed to leave for his part-time job.

Of course, Sousuke had no intention of hunting because he had stagnated at level 599 for a while. In fact, he was working as a “level 500 professional hunter” who preyed on those taking the level 500 only arena quest.

So, he maintained his level in the 500s so he was not too far ahead of those users who had just reached level 500.

Of course, he was maintaining level 599, the highest within that level 500 band, to get a little more advantage over them.

As soon as he entered the arena and chose a free duel, Sousuke hoped to face the person who was proceeding with the level 500 only arena quest at that moment because he stopped leveling up for a reason. Why? The reason he did so was simple. If he beat the person who proceeded with the level 500 arena quest, he would gain 5 times as many victory points compared to his opponent. So, whenever he met anyone who was proceeding with the arena quest, he relentlessly attacked his opponent to pull off a victory. Moreover, those who proceed with the level 500 only arena quest did not lose their victory points even if they were defeated. In other words, there were gains, but no losses.

So, Sousuke stopped leveling up at level 599 to collect victory points because there were various items that he could purchase with victory points in the arena.

Of course, if he encountered an exceptionally strong opponent, he would have to lose some victory points that he tried really hard to collect, but he has not suffered any losses yet.

But this time, he thought about something else.

‘Well, since there are many new users entering the arena, I can deal with them like before. But there are also more and more professional hunters at level 500, so I am starting to meet less and less guys who are proceeding with the level 500 only arena quest. Sometimes I run into the other hunters unfortunately. Well, let me buy a title as soon as possible and start leveling up again.’

So, Sousuke confirmed how many more victory points he needed to buy a title, then waited for the one who would proceed with the quest.

As soon as he confirmed the message that his target appeared, he smiled in satisfaction because the fact that his opponent’s ID was hidden meant that his opponent was proceeding with the level 500 only arena quest.

And his victory rate was nearly 90% in battles in the arena.

First of all, their levels differed by 99 levels, and his items weren’t bad. Most importantly, he had bountiful fighting experience in the arena.