1st Place In The Ranking Is A Villager

1st place in the ranking is the villager

- Volume 4 Episode 14

14. To hide the shadows (1)

The players wrapped in shadows stretched like black cloth were lifted up and started to move.

Concenu also carried the players one by one on each shoulder, and Hoya had Badu use a giant shoe, carrying infants and Doban on them.

Watching the two of them lift up and move like droopy corpses was a little bit like that, so it was an action I chose.

"It should be here."

They laid the players in a place where monsters did not respawn in the distance.

"I'm going to tell a story now... but it's going to be a bit long, so I'd like to change the location."

At Consunu's words, Hoya was a little worried.

No matter how safe this place was, he couldn't immediately follow Consannu with the two of them in a stunned state.

If he did, Hoya was not at ease.

There was such a thing as a strange sense of responsibility.

"Can I hear the story after confirming that these two are awake?"

"Okay. Then please come to that place earlier. You must never come alone."

Concenu put on the mask again and disappeared from the seat.

After a little while, the infant jumped up from his seat.

"Awk! It hurts terribly!"

"Woke up?"

As soon as he got up, the infant, who was stroking the nape of his neck as if there was still pain, looked at him at Hoya's words.

"Are you okay?"

"Huh? Uh."

"How long did it take you to faint..., an hour?"

The toddler was astonished when he checked the time through the watch on the interface.

The maximum duration of stun known so far was 30 minutes, twice that time lying in bed.

"Ugh...,"

Not long after, Doban woke up.

Doban got up and asked Hoya and Yooa if they were okay with the same as infants, and Hoya awkwardly replied that it was okay.

The explanation would be lengthy if he let him know that he wasn't the only one being stunned.

"By the way, did you see anything?"

"...I've only seen black."

"You can't even follow your eyes... how fast are you?"

Fast enough to be legendary.

Hoya thought only to himself.

As time passed, the other players came to their senses one by one.

"What are you going to do now?"

"What?"

"A black man."

He was rumored to be so strong and fast.

He can't follow movement with his eyes, so he can't block attacks.

He would face the same situation if he went to see him without any countermeasures.

First of all, we needed a way to avoid being stunned.

"Should I take the potion I ate during Natalie again..."

That's expensive....

When the toddler was thinking about such a thing, Hoya spoke up.

"Isn't it better to end it here for today? There's no way right now."

Hoya had to go see Consannu.

However, if he suddenly left his seat saying he had a job, he was more likely to ask what was going on, even if he didn't know the class.

He was told to never come alone, so I'm sorry for the two of them, but first I needed to get away from them.

"Hmm..., yes. Access restrictions are slowly approaching, and if you buy a potion, it will be over immediately."

A toddler who was getting up to go to the auction house to buy a potion stared at Hoya, who was sitting still.

"Aren't you going?"

"Where?"

"Auction House."

"Oh, I'm fine because I won't faint because of my title."

At Hoya's words, the infant's eyes lit up.

"What? Really?! Are you completely immune?"

"Well, yes."

"It's pretty envy..."

Even if it was limited to stun, it was really surprising that he was completely immune to status ailments.

But following the surprise, a strange thing suddenly flashed through his head.

"Wait a minute, didn't you just say you were stunned?"

"uh?"

The toddler opened her eyes in a half-moon shape and looked at Hoya in front of her nose.

Hoya felt a cold sweat running down her back.

I inadvertently made a mistake.

how do i do this.....

"......"

Hoya chose to run away.

He reverse-summoned Badu and ran as fast as he could, using the buff for his agility.

A child's voice could be heard from a distance behind her, but her details were not heard.

YooA asked again in a whisper, but Hoya replied that he suddenly remembered something urgent.

He thought it was too much of a lie, but all he could think of right now was this.

* * *

Hoya returned to the place where he and Consanu had met.

No one was seen there.

There were no players and no conservators.

There was only silence around.

"Hello."

While Hoya was puzzled, a man came out of the shadow as before, and approached Hoya and greeted him.

"Hey, where's Conservon...?"

"The younger sister is moving to prevent the advent of adventurers. So, inevitably, I have to wait instead of the younger sister."

He asked Hoya to go to their village first and then wait for Consonu.

Waiting for him in the village was fine, but Hoya had one problem.

“I will soon be using up all the time I can be here today. I think I should go there as soon as I get to that village.”

"That's right."

The existence of a limit on the number of hours a day can be accessed that exists to prevent excessive play by players.

NPCs accept it as Eve's blessing as a limit on how long adventurers can stay in this world for one day.

Hearing Hoya's words, he nodded and guided him towards their village.

He followed him and moved to unexplored frontiers.

Surprisingly, the monster was not approaching at all.

Although I could feel a slight presence around them, they were slowly moving away from them as if they were avoiding something.

As I followed the guide for a little longer, I saw something like a black wall between the trees.

As we got closer, the wall was in the form of a dome.

The black man who was guiding Hoya slightly waved his hand in the air in front of the dome, and a hole was created in the dome where only people could pass.

"Come this way."

Hoya followed him as he entered through the hole in the dome and moved into it as well.

Going deeper through the dome, there was a house built in the shape of a ger of nomads amongst the tall trees.

There were a few people outside, all with black hair and black fingers.

The one who had brought Hoya took off his mask and said:

"Welcome to the village of the Grim tribe."

"Toyun-nim. Who is that hyung next to you?"

As Hoya followed him into the village, he approached a child who looked less than ten years old with bright eyes.

Starting with the child's words, those nearby recognized Hoya's existence one by one.

Then, in great surprise, he ran towards him.

It was certainly surprising that someone outside of their own clan other than Consonu had entered their village.

However, the underlying reason for their great surprise was that a child of their own clan, who had not yet grown up and could not control their desires, was approaching him.

"Hello, bro!"

"Mmm, you can't eat it!"

They knew what the current situation was, but Toyun, who just stood by him, was savage.

Why don't you stop!

Toyun knew about Hoya from Kun Seonu in advance, so he didn't bother to block the child who came close to him, but the situation was different for others.

He didn't know about Hoya, so he didn't want to bother him, so he ran to his child with all his might.

But the child's feet were already in Hoya's shadow.At that moment, Hoya's shadow flickered slightly and a system message was sent to him.

[The shadow is eaten.]

[HP decreases by 1%, MP decreases by 1%.]

[The shadow is eaten.]

[HP decreases by 1%, MP decreases by 1%.]

⋮

[HP decreases by 1% and MP decreases by 1%.]

[Permanent status ailment 'Shadow Disease' threatens you.]

[Resisted due to the effect of the title 'Resident of the End of the Earth'.]

I think I've had a similar experience before....

For some reason, in Hoya's mind, Hieros' face came to mind.

"Hey! Mom has always said it before! It's not okay to eat human shadows!"

"Ha, but... Hehehe, heh heh!"

The child burst into tears, but the child's mother did not care and urged her child.

It stopped after Toyun informed the child's mother that Hoya had the same powers as Concenu and she checked Hoya's fingers.

The child's mother was greatly relieved that Hoya's fingers did not turn black.

* * *

The Grim tribe was a name for a tribe that feeds on shadows.

All of them, without exception, have black hair, black eyes, and black fingers.

They were being treated as demons in their former home because they could survive by eating shadows without eating meat or vegetables.

If they only eat shadows, people would just accept them as a peculiar race.

There are some races that can survive without food, such as spirits.

However, if they eat people's shadows, they will be treated as demons because they will cause symptoms to the subject.

A 'shadow disease' that occurs in all people who have been given more than a certain amount of shadow by the Grim tribe.

The act of eating the shadow of the Grim tribe was no different than eating the power and life of the target.

If you get shadow disease, your body will gradually turn black from the tips of your fingers and toes.

The Grim did not only eat human shadows.

Therefore, in order not to spread the shadow disease, they used natural shadows such as non-living things and trees as their staple food.

The shadow of a person was a concept close to a special kind to them, but they were able to endure the desire.

However, the children who had not yet grown up could not stand the desire.

The shadow disease, which spread little by little through the children, forced them to hide very deeply.

However, only Consannu, who did not suffer from shadow disease, treated them as human beings.

So that's what he told Hoya, who logged in the next day, that they had moved along with the conservator when he left his hometown.

"Shadow disease is also a status ailment. Although it is a type that cannot be healed by holy magic."

In order to cure the shadow disease, it was necessary that the Grim tribe who ate the shadow of the subject had to return their own shadow as much as they ate it.

Therefore, it is not completely incurable.

But for people, the fact that they made them sick was more important than the fact that they were curable.

Concenu was able to communicate with the Grim tribe without hesitation as he had achieved a state of invincibility even before becoming a resident of Ordo, but there were no others.

It caused Consenu to leave his hometown.

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