Chapter 49: A Lucky Man
Allen felt completely bewildered.
Arriving at the Crossroads Inn on the third day after launch, he'd thought he'd moved quickly—preparing to make arrangements before his allies arrived.
But the moment he walked in, he spotted a sellsword knight wearing identical equipment to his own, drinking in a corner. Worse still, when he looked at the man, the man looked back.
Only then did Allen realize the players' starting equipment was a fatal flaw.
In that instant, two thoughts flashed through his mind: kill or run.
Though the bounty had been completed by some bastard, Allen preferred to keep his promise and form alliances with his would-be allies rather than hunt them.
However, he had no way to identify them, and he didn't dare test anyone when he was likely already exposed. He had to either kill or flee.
The next moment, Allen turned and bolted from the inn.
But just as he reached the stables and was about to untie his horse's reins, he was knocked unconscious by a club.
When he woke, he was bound and imprisoned in the wine cellar.
It was already afternoon when Ian returned to the inn. On the way, he checked the previous day's settlement report, which he'd forgotten to review in the early hours.
As of midnight, the remaining player count had dropped to ninety-seven—meaning the first lucky survivor after Ian's two kills had been found.
To Ian's surprise, upon entering the inn, Dennet informed him that another lucky survivor was imprisoned in the cellar.
The man had immediately tried to flee after spotting Ian's bait, so Dennet assured him this was definitely one of the targets Ser Lucien was hunting.
With Dennet's assurance, Ian—suppressing the drowsiness from a mere two-hour nap beneath a tree the previous night—led Roll down to the basement.
Seeing the blond nobleman in fine hunting clothes and the armored knight approaching, Allen was completely stunned.
He'd initially assumed he'd been captured by a player ally for some reason, but he'd never expected his captor to be a native nobleman.
"You seem confused," Ian spoke first.
"Yes, ser," Allen nodded quickly, his face swollen like a melon from the beating, giving him an absurdly comical appearance. "I don't know why you arrested me. I haven't seen you before, have I? Is there some mistake?"
"No mistake. I can tell you why I arrested you, but that'll probably just confuse you more," Ian said with mild amusement.
"It must be a mistake. You must have the wrong person," Allen said firmly. "How many days have I been in this world? I haven't offended anyone!"
The thought gave Allen a spark of hope. At least he's not a player!
"I am a player."
"???" Allen's eyes widened. He looked Ian up and down in disbelief, then turned to stare at Roll beside him, unable to speak for a long moment.
"See? Even more confused now, aren't you?" Ian yawned.
"How can you..." Allen instinctively wanted to ask, but halfway through, he suddenly realized there was something far more important. He immediately dropped to his knees. "I surrender! I surrender to you!"
He glanced at Roll as he spoke. "I wonder if there's room in your alliance. I surrender to you and can join as a Vassal. I'm begging you not to kill me!"
"Vassal? What's that?" Ian asked, puzzled.
"Huh? You don't know? It's a form of player alliance." Allen was speaking when he saw Ian make a silencing gesture and stopped immediately.
"Annie," Ian called in his mind. He remembered that when Annie introduced the game's three major mechanics, she'd mentioned an alliance system, but since he hadn't had any agreed allies at the time, she'd asked if he wanted to skip it. "Tell me about the alliance mechanics."
"Alliance mechanics: After entering the game, players can form alliances face-to-face through the auxiliary system's alliance function. Each alliance can accommodate up to four players," Annie responded immediately.
"Players in an alliance can unilaterally declare withdrawal. The declaration takes effect one day later. After leaving, players can kill their former allies for rewards or quest completion.
Players can also backstab an ally without leaving the alliance. In this case, there's no reward for killing the ally.
Players can enter alliances through two roles—Ally or Vassal.
If an Ally unilaterally declares withdrawal, they lose one-quarter of their current points. Backstabbing an ally costs half their current points.
If a Vassal unilaterally declares withdrawal, they lose half their current points. Backstabbing an ally costs all their points."
"Uh..." Ian listened, then looked at Allen again. "How many points do you have right now?"
"One. One point." Allen smiled awkwardly.
"So this alliance system has basically zero binding effect on you, doesn't it?" Ian laughed.
It's clearly designed to curb alliance-breaking in the mid-to-late game. By then, players typically have hundreds or thousands of points, so losing at least a quarter hurts.
But right now? I've got over ten points, and you have one. Seven hells! If you surrender to me, you're not bound by anything. The only restriction is on me, right?
"Well..." Allen seemed to realize this too. "Maybe the alliance mechanics have weak binding power right now, but I have no strength and no reason to backstab you, right? If I can stick close to you, I'd be thrilled just to survive!"
"Fair point," Ian nodded. But before Allen could breathe a sigh of relief, Ian asked, "But what value do you offer me?"
"My value? I can help you!"
"But as you saw, this inn is full of people helping me, and you were easily caught by them."
"There were six of them! No way I could win that!"
"You shouldn't waste time with useless arguments right now. You should be racing against the clock to prove your value to me, because I could lose patience at any moment." Ian couldn't help himself and decided to teach the man some negotiation skills.
"I'm tied up here! How can I prove anything to you?" Allen couldn't help feeling frustrated. "You'd have to let me actually do something to prove my abilities, right?"
"See? I'm already losing patience." Ian shook his head and drew his sword. "You'll have to use the skills I just taught you in your next life."
Seeing this, Roll grabbed Allen's hair and pressed his head against an empty barrel.
(End of Chapter)
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