NSE-Chapter 047

Chapter 47

Unorthodox Alliance

‘The room is large and spacious.’

The furnishings were antique-style as well.

At a glance, the room’s owner, himself, must hold a fairly high status.

On top of that, there was 1 more peculiarity. Liquor bottles lay rolling all over the room.

He looked at the mirror.

His appearance hadn’t changed at all.

The Skills and Stats in the Status Window were the same as well.

‘Hmm…….’

First, grasping the situation took priority. After gesturing for Whitey to hide, Kim Min-woo looked at the door and shouted.

“Hey, is anyone there?”

“Oh my! Young Lord, are you awake?”

The door slid open, and a fellow who looked like a servant at a glance bowed his head and offered a greeting.

“I’ll have breakfast ready right away…….”

“Never mind. You, close the door and come over here.”

“Y-Yes……?”

“Hurry!”

When he said it with a glare, the fellow hurriedly closed the door and ran over.

“F-Fifth Young Lord. W-What is it?”

Fifth Young Lord, huh.

He was clearly someone of high standing, it seemed.

“You. Your name.”

“……It’s Sam, sir! Jang Sam! It’s been almost a year since I started serving you, Young Lord! How could you not know my name……”

“My memory is hazy.”

“……Pardon?”

“I think it’s because I drank too much yesterday.”

At those words, Jang Sam tilted his head.

Soon, seeing the liquor bottles rolling in the corner of the room, he nodded with a sour look.

“Explain to me roughly what you know about my situation and this place. Even a simple account will do.”

“Umm…… well…… this is the Unorthodox Alliance, sir.”

[You obtain the Keyword ‘Unorthodox Alliance’.]

Jang Sam continued his explanation.

The Unorthodox Alliance.

An organization uniting the Unorthodox Sects.

He, the Fifth Young Lord ‘Baek So-cheon’, was said to be a hidden child of the man called the Unorthodox Alliance Master.

“The Alliance Master had been searching for you all along, and a year ago he finally found you. After that, you came here to the Unorthodox Alliance, Fifth Young Lord.”

“If I rolled in overnight like that, my situation must not be very good?”

“Uh…… well…….”

“Speak honestly.”

“Since you came here, Young Master, you haven’t shown anything…… ah, there is 1 thing, though…….”

“What is it? That I drink well?”

Nod.

Jang Sam nodded.

“Yes. Your attainment in Martial Arts isn’t high, and, well…… since you’ve shown yourself to be idle all year long, now people just accept it as that.”

So the feeling was that he was too pathetic for the others to even be wary of him?

Well, that might not be bad?

“Sam.”

“Yes, Young Lord.”

“You said this was the Unorthodox Sects.”

“That’s right, sir.”

“Then, do people just let it slide even if I raise corpses?”

“Corpses? Ah, you mean Corpse Puppet Art or Necromancy, sir?”

“Well, something like that.”

“Of course, sir? The Righteous Sects might mind, but the Unorthodox Sects don’t care about such things at all. Even the Demonic Cult would let it slide, I bet?”

His Class here was Necromancer.

In a martial arts world, he wouldn’t have been surprised to be hunted down as a man to be killed just for summoning Skeletons.

‘Is that why my start was set in the Unorthodox Sects?’

At least that was a relief.

If he had been treated as a public enemy even among the Unorthodox Sects, all Skeleton summoning would have been sealed.

Let’s sort out the situation.

He had become a high-status young lord of the Unorthodox Sects.

The name was Baek So-cheon, but it felt like his own skin was laid over it.

‘Well, that happens fairly often in Gates.’

He let this slide.

Be that as it may.

Judging by the look of it, he seemed to be treated as a total brat.

‘So?’

What did he need to do from now on to clear the Gate?

He recalled the Gate’s name.

‘B+, War of the Stars.’

It seemed to say that the successful guys were supposed to clash with each other.

Fight the other 4 young lords and raise his standing?

Be recognized as the successor?

Or there might be some other way to clear it.

“Sam.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“Any big incidents lately?”

“……Big incidents?”

“Yeah. If anything comes to mind, say it.”

“If it’s that…… it would be the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, of course?”

[You obtain the Keyword ‘Dragon-Phoenix Gathering’!]

“The Dragon-Phoenix Gathering?”

“Yes. All the rising stars of the Righteous, Unorthodox, and Demonic factions gather and clash. It’s held once every 100 years, sir.”

Ooh.

This, I can see an angle.

“What’s the standard for being a rising star?”

“The Demonic Cult, the Martial Alliance, and our Unorthodox Alliance each designate 10 people. Then they’re properly recognized. As successful rising stars.”

“I’m not among them, right?”

“……Of course not?”

“What would it take to get in?”

“You’d have to show something, wouldn’t you?”

Aha.

Got the rough idea.

Then.

Jang Sam asked carefully.

“Um, surely you’re not planning to take part in the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering too, Young Lord?”

“What, I can’t?”

“N-No. You can, but…… getting designated now might be very difficult, wouldn’t it……”

“Why?”

Jang Sam said, scratching his head.

“Well…… our Unorthodox Alliance uses a point system, sir.”

“Points?”

“Yes. The Unorthodox Alliance hands down mission sheets. Achieving one of them raises your points. It’s been that way since a year ago.”

“Then there must be guys who’ve already piled up lots of points?”

“……I suppose so? The First Young Lord has already passed 10,000 points and holds an unshakable 1st place, sir.”

“How many points do I have?”

“……0, of course?”

What a mess.

“How many does the guy in 10th place have?”

“The Fourth Young Lord is in 10th place with 3,800 points.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Everyone has been carrying out missions with burning eyes since a year ago. Wouldn’t catching up to that be absurd……”

Jang Sam said carefully, watching his mood. He nodded.

‘Well, it takes this much to be B+.’

It was a Gate with even higher difficulty than catching that Apostle. He hadn’t thought it would be an easy one at all.

Of course, even if he didn’t do that Dragon-Phoenix Gathering or whatever, there would surely be a way to get out.

Because there was a magical escape device called the Middle Zone.

‘But…….’

There was no reason not to take part in the tournament.

If he had been going to give up that easily, he wouldn’t have attempted the first clear in the first place.

‘As expected. These Dorim bastards were hiding all the information.’

He recalled what the Dorim Guild Master had said.

Right after the clear.

He had explained that this was a stage related to martial arts.

‘He never went into this level of detail.’

The Dragon-Phoenix Gathering?

He hadn’t even let the word dragon-phoenix pass his lips. He had just spilled that they took on a mission from one of the martial world organizations and cleared it after heaving and hoeing with the Guild members.

There was no way they obtained that ring from something so trivial.

‘They must have participated, without fail.’

He figured the reward was something obtained after posting some meaningful result there.

“Just in case, though.”

“Yes?”

“If I beat up the Fourth Young Lord and win, do I get points or something?”

“……Pardon?”

“I’m asking if showing I’m stronger than someone with points lets me gobble up all their points.”

“N-No? Then there’d be little point in accumulating points……?”

“Aw, shucks.”

“……Young Lord. As your Jang Sam, I will say a word out of loyalty. Even for excessive self-regard, that much……”

“Stop. Don’t offer it.”

“……Yes, sir.”

Jang Sam immediately sulked. That was none of Kim Min-woo’s concern.

“So, I doubt a tournament that big is held for nothing. What are the prizes?”

“3rd place receives a rare material. 2nd place receives a precious Martial Art. And 1st place receives……”

Jang Sam’s eyes instantly turned serious.

“1st place receives?”

“……I’ve only heard it as a rumor, sir. Ascension. They say they give something that could be a clue to Ascension.”

“……Ascension?”

Kim Min-woo’s eyes narrowed slightly.

He had heard this word before.

When he had entered the Gate swarming with Orcs.

―Snort! Fools! How could you forget the name of the one who performed the Ascension Ritual!

It was one of the things the Shaman Bektar had said. He had said that Mutakta went off to the heavens, and the Orc Kingdom was utterly ruined.

The same name.

There was a very high chance of some connecting link.

“Ascension, huh. You mean you could even shed mortal form and ascend as an immortal or something?”

“I don’t know well, sir. However, there is 1 thing all martial artists know.”

“What is it?”

“The one who obtained the clue to Ascension always reached the position of Number One Under Heaven. That’s why it’s an item that invites a bloodbath……”

“……A bloodbath?”

“The Dragon-Phoenix Gathering is a tournament that becomes truly real only when it ends. Because a great war that summons blood begins. The reason is simple, sir. The clue to Ascension. Who in this world wouldn’t covet it?”

“Wait a second.”

He raised a hand.

“Speak, Young Lord.”

“If it’s such an amazing item, it’s not something the 3 factions would put up as a prize. Who exactly is giving it?”

“Heaven bestows it.”

“And the 3 factions hold the tournament to obtain it?”

“Yes. If they don’t hold it, there is no reward at all.”

He narrowed his eyes.

This looked like it would be far trickier than expected.

“With an item that precious, even a super-master like the Unorthodox Alliance Master would covet it, right?”

“Of course, Young Lord? The rising stars who take part in the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering do not go to obtain the clue to Ascension.”

“Then?”

“They take part to offer the reward to those above, and obtain much in return.”

“……Do the 2nd and 3rd place winners offer up their rewards too?”

“No. They don’t covet even that. Only the clue to Ascension is like that. But there’s nothing to resent. If you offer the clue, each organization grants a reward more precious than 2nd and 3rd combined.”

Aha.

So whoever wins the 1st place prize has it taken away without fail.

“Then the First Young Lord will offer up the reward too, if he gets 1st place?”

“Yes. He will have finished talks with the Alliance Master. You are the same, Young Lord. If you take part by getting into the top 10…… the Alliance Master will make you an offer.”

The structure was really interesting.

“Right. Setting that aside. That means the moment someone takes 1st place, the 3 organizations go to war.”

“It will probably be so this time as well.”

“……How does anyone survive?”

“Haha. Young Lord. You needn’t worry too much about that.”

“If our Unorthodox Sects win, the Righteous Sects and the Demonic Cult will gang up on us. Do I look like I wouldn’t worry?”

“All 3 accept that level of damage when they hold the tournament anyway. Besides, the 1st place winner actually doesn’t become a target.”

“Because he offers the reward to those above?”

“Yes. That’s why, rather, it’s common for people to charge in aiming for the 2nd and 3rd place rewards. There aren’t many madmen who’d go after the Unorthodox Alliance Master, the Martial Alliance Leader, or the Heavenly Demon, are there?”

“Do you know what the clue to Ascension is said to look like?”

“By rumor, it’s said to look like a round bead. About this size?”

“I see.”

He got the rough idea.

First, the Dorim Guild Master hadn’t taken 1st place.

He could be certain.

If he had taken 1st place, it was 1 of 2 things. He either offered up the clue to Ascension, or he escaped the Gate without offering it.

‘Neither makes sense.’

What if he had run off without offering it?

The clue to Ascension or whatever it was.

They said obtaining it was an item that lets you talk of being Number One Under Heaven. If so, there was no way the future Dorim Guild Master’s strength would be only that much.

What if he had offered it?

He would have gotten plenty of rewards of all kinds. Even so, the Dorim Guild Master’s skill was dismal.

‘He didn’t use any special Martial Art either.’

It wasn’t the 1st place prize, the clue to Ascension.

It wasn’t the 2nd place prize, a Martial Art.

‘Then did he get the ring’s material from the 3rd place prize?’

It felt like he had gotten a rare material and somehow crafted the ring.

‘If a mere 3rd place prize is that good…….’

The 2nd or 1st went without saying.

They must be tremendous rewards.

‘The clue, I’m taking it.’

Offer this precious treasure to some higher-up?

No such process existed in Kim Min-woo’s brain.

Good things must be monopolized.

Without fail.

‘First…….’

Getting the qualification to participate was the top priority. It seemed he had to find out what exactly those missions were first.