Chapter 22: Youngsters These Days Have No Honor (Part 1)

I had no idea what sort of commotion that strategy thread had caused behind the scenes.

And even if I did know, I probably would’ve just brushed it off. After all, I was fully focused right now—hunting for a particular treasure chest that could drop a top-tier skill scroll for Shadow Mages.

“Strange… I swear it was around here.”

I circled the area again but couldn’t see any trace of a chest. I stopped, furrowing my brows as I tried to recall the exact detail.

“It was… hidden near something, wasn’t it…”

My eyes landed on a large tree across the way. Curious, I approached and noticed a faint gleam deep within its trunk. I quickly pushed aside a patch of bushes and—bingo—found the chest concealed inside a hollow.

Silvery light shimmered faintly from the box: a Silver-tier Chest.

Usually, chests of this tier or higher were guarded by monsters. This one, however, was one of the rare exceptions I remembered—unguarded, yet valuable. That’s exactly why I’d gone to such lengths to find it.

Normally, only Thieves with the Lockpicking skill could open higher-tier chests. But at this early stage of the game, even they were restricted to Bronze-level boxes.

That included me—just a “newbie thief” created less than half a day ago.

To open a Silver-tier chest under such conditions, I’d need a rare Silver Key—something with an abysmal drop rate. Alchemists could craft them, but no one was high enough level yet.

…Well, none of that was a problem for me.

Thanks to the Heart of Herentis, I used its crafting ability to conjure up a gleaming silver key, costing just 2 energy points.

But just as I inserted the key and reached to open the chest, a chill ran down my spine. Instinctively, I sidestepped—

Thwip!

An arrow slammed into the tree where I’d just been standing.

System Prompt:
Player “DarkNail” and their party have initiated combat against you. You may now respond with justified retaliation.

“Well, well. Quick reflexes,” came a mocking voice from behind me.

I turned around to see three figures pushing through the underbrush: a sword-and-shield warrior, a Shadow Mage, and an archer. Add a healer and you’d have a typical low-tier dungeon team.

I frowned slightly. “I don’t think I’ve done anything to offend the Stormwind Guild, have I?”

Their guild name floated above their heads in bold. It wasn’t subtle. I hadn’t even interacted with them for more than a few minutes earlier, but I guess that was enough for me to be marked.

“You haven’t,” replied DarkNail with a smirk. “Which is why, little miss, if you hand over that chest, we won’t give you a hard time.”

They had been tailing me for a while now, trying to confirm whether I knew where any chests were.

And now that I’d found a Silver-tier one, greed overrode caution—they’d decided to ditch Vice Guild Leader Baimu Senshin’s orders and just take it by force.

“But I worked so hard to find it…” I pouted, biting my lip as my eyes grew misty.

The three hesitated.

Even if they were scumbags, robbing a teary-eyed cat-eared loli would still leave a stain on their conscience.

“Enough talk. If you don’t leave, we’ll send you back to the respawn point for free,” the warrior snapped with a scowl.

“Tch… fine. I’ll remember this! You jerks better watch your backs!”

I stomped my foot and turned away with a “hmph!”

They watched me vanish into the forest with puzzled expressions.

“…That was way too easy.”

“Who cares?” the archer laughed. “Score! A free Silver chest!”

He practically skipped over to the hollow in the tree—only to stop dead in his tracks.

“…Huh?”

The chest was already open. And worse, a faint dark-purple circle was glowing inside the empty box.

His eyes widened in horror.

That… was a Shadow Imprint—a delayed detonation spell used by Shadow Mages.

And that glow meant it was about to explode.

BOOM!
-42

A wave of shadow energy erupted, blasting him backwards and chunking off a third of his HP in one hit.

“What the hell?!”

The warrior and Shadow Mage beside him jumped in alarm.

But none were more shocked than the archer himself. His gear was solid—he wasn’t supposed to take that much damage from one spell. Whoever set that trap had insane magical firepower.

And more importantly…

Who had set the trap?

His answer came moments later in the form of a familiar voice, sweet and clear:

“I did say I’d remember this… But honestly? I prefer settling scores immediately.”

I stepped out from behind a nearby tree, calm and smiling.

They had assumed their sneak attack had interrupted me while opening the chest. What they didn’t know was that unlocking a chest with a key required no cast time.

I had already looted it before they even showed up.

All that sob story earlier? Just an act—to stall for time while I swapped to my Shadow Mage template.

My main class. My specialty.

And in that time, I’d laid a trap.

Pity it only caught one of them.

DarkNail’s eyes narrowed. “What’s that in your hand?”

“Oh, this?” I smiled, raising a scroll. “Here’s a riddle for you. Why does the count go one, two, three, four… six?”

They blinked, confused. “…Why?”

“Because you dishonorable brats skipped number five, that’s why.”

I twirled the scroll once and tore it open.

Boom.

A scorching wind howled from above.

The archer’s eyes went wide. A massive, flaming meteor came crashing down.

-776

The explosion swallowed him whole.

Instant death.

That scroll had come from the Silver chest—Flaming Meteor, the strongest level-20 nuke for Fire Mages. If it couldn’t one-shot a trash mob like him, it didn’t deserve its title.

Was it overkill?

Definitely.

But he messed with me first.

“You little—!!” The warrior roared, eyes bloodshot. Rage replaced caution as he charged straight at me with his sword raised high.