Chapter 62: Alfredo’s Revenge

Exitra watched carefully for an opportunity.

Alfredo was standing far too close to the bandits.

‘If he gets surrounded, even I might have trouble getting him out of there.’

And after the last attack, the bandits had entered full alert.

A surprise attack would have been best, but now that they were on guard, an ambush had lost its meaning.

And there was one more concern.

“If they’re not complete idiots…”

“You! If you don’t come out right now, I’ll kill this one where he stands!”

“As I thought…”

The bandit chief pressed his blade against Alfredo’s neck.

He had taken a hostage.

He had realized who his opponent was and chosen the most effective method: a hostage.

— [Wow! What a filthy move!]

— [His personality is garbage!]

— [He’s holding the younger brother hostage?! With a blade to his face?! Bastard!]

— [Come at me, I’ll knock out every single tooth in your mouth and make you get implants!]

“Haa…”

The very thing Exitra feared had happened.

The man wasn’t as stupid as he had hoped.

“Not coming out? If you don’t…!!”

The bandit chief was ready to slit Alfredo’s throat at any moment.

Exitra had no choice but to leap down from the tree, landing in the center of the bandit camp.

“Haa…”

Seeing Exitra reveal himself, the bandit chief bared his teeth.

“So it’s you after all…”

Even with Exitra in plain sight, the bandit chief did not lower his guard.

Until he knew the truth behind the attack that had severed his subordinate’s wrist, letting his guard down would have been foolish.

‘There has to be something hidden. I need to be careful.’

He was cautious—extremely cautious.

Exitra frowned, finding him irritating.

‘As I thought… a troublesome guy.’

Before his regression, Exitra had read about this bandit chief.

On the outside, he looked like a hulking brute who only used his strength, but in reality, he was different.

‘He actually thinks things through.’

And he was careful.

That was why he rarely showed any openings.

‘When the monkey appeared earlier, I suspected this might happen… but seeing him in person is different.’

He was someone Exitra had only ever read about in strategy guides.

“So you’re the one who cut off my subordinate’s hand…”

The bandit chief’s eyes darted around, bracing for another attack.

‘No openings at all, huh?’

Exitra glanced around.

The bandits were spread out, weapons raised.

They were keeping a deliberate distance, moving with caution.

It seemed they had been well-trained for situations like this.

Bandits were usually seen as simple and reckless, but these were different.

Especially their chief—he was on another level.

‘I could use a spirit, but…’

Summoning a spirit would give him an advantage, but if he tried that here, the bandit chief would immediately cut Alfredo’s throat.

‘I can’t risk losing him… I have to be careful.’

“Don’t try anything reckless. You understand, don’t you?”

The blade pressed tighter against Alfredo’s neck.

A thin line of blood slid down his skin from the sharp edge.

One wrong move, and he could die instantly.

‘Think… I need a way… a way…’

Exitra racked his brain.

‘Should he try persuading the chief?’

‘But would that even work?’

He could use his Weakness Detection skill to find and strike at the man’s flaw, but if the chief panicked and lashed out, it would be over.

Just then—

-Ukkkikiki!!

The monkey appeared, leaping down from the trees!

It was the same one that had stolen the serum earlier.

-Ukkkikik!

The monkey landed squarely on the bandit chief’s shoulder.

“Ha! So you’re back, Monkey. But why are you empty-handed?”

The bandit chief tilted his head, clearly unaware that the monkey had already been caught once by Exitra.

At that moment, a sharp gleam lit up Exitra’s eyes.

Finally, it was time to use the device he had placed on the monkey.

Exitra flicked his finger slightly.

The hidden mechanism on the monkey activated—quietly and invisibly.

“Now then…”

Exitra turned his gaze toward Alfredo.

“Revenge should be carried out with your own hands, right, Alfredo?”

“I… I agree.”

“Hm?”

Sensing something wrong, the bandit chief looked down.

And in that instant, his world turned upside down.

“W-what?!”

The sword in his hand vanished, and his head was severed in a blink, falling to the ground.

The last thing he saw was Alfredo’s eyes, filled with pure contempt.

***

The bandit chief was slain in an instant.

Alfredo, gripping the weapon tightly, glared at the other bandits.

“You… every single one of you… I’ll kill you with my own hands!”

Alfredo’s frenzy exploded, and he charged.

Exitra’s ambush had failed, but Alfredo’s ambush was flawless.

The most dangerous man, the bandit chief, was already dead, and the rest of the bandits were so shocked they couldn’t react properly.

“Die!!”

Alfredo’s assassin speed overwhelmed the bandits.

He struck before they could regroup, making sure they had no chance to fight back.

He had learned the hard way what could happen if they gathered, so this time, he finished them swiftly.

Without their leader, the bandits were no match for him.

“Well… I guess I can just sit back and watch.”

Exitra watched Alfredo tear through the bandits.

Judging by how things were going, there was no need for him to step in.

— [I’m freeee!!]

— [Wait, wasn’t the brother still tied up??]

— [Yeah, but suddenly he wasn’t. What happened?]

“Ah, that? That was thanks to the monkey.”

Exitra pointed at the monkey trembling beside the corpse of the dead bandit leader.

[Sungi Sungi~ Monkey~]

[Turns out the monkey was the X-Man all along lol]

[Wait, what did you even do to the monkey?]

“Ah, right. When I retrieved the serum from that monkey, I set up a little device.”

Exitra grinned as he pulled out a seed.

It was something he had obtained by chance when he caught the monkey.

When he had extended the vines to grab it, the seed must have stuck to him from somewhere.

“I used Wood to give it a command in advance. When I send a signal, it performs a specific task.”

[Broken as hell!]

[Spirit Mage nerf needed ASAP!]

[Wait, if you can do that, then you don’t even need to summon spirits??]

“Yes, I tested it out and it worked. But there are limitations. There’s a time restriction. If the monkey had shown up even a little later, the device would’ve been useless.”

— [Wow, that’s busted…]

— [Open wide! Here comes the nerf!!!]

— [But honestly, it’s only busted because Ex is the one using it. Try it yourselves.]

— [Nope~ Not doing it! Never touching Spirit Mage lol]

— [Such hypocrisy lol]

The viewers had a point.

In that situation, Exitra could have simply slit the bandit leader’s throat.

But he couldn’t—not in that state.

“It’s tough. Since I wasn’t actually summoning a spirit, the strength was weak. At best, it could only cut through ropes.”

[Yeah, if it could slice through a neck, that’d be total balance collapse…]

[Guess the devs aren’t completely brainless.]

[True, otherwise you could plant seeds everywhere and turn it into a massacre.]

“Right. And I can only give one command at a time. Once that command is completed, the seed is useless.”

So at that moment, the only thing Exitra could do was cut through the ropes binding Alfredo.

And that turned out to be the best possible choice.

Look.

Alfredo was safe and now he was rampaging, releasing all the pent-up resentment he’d been holding.

And then—

***

[Quest “Kidnapped Alfredo” has been cleared.]

[You have gained 5 Points.]

[Achievement unlocked: “Little Brother, Here I Come!”]

[Achievement unlocked: “Blood is Thicker Than Water! I Will Save Him!”]

[Achievement unlocked: “You Can’t Lay a Hand on My Brother!”]

The quest was cleared, and multiple achievements were unlocked at the same time.

[User Dongsamo has donated 200,000 won.]

<Exitra, well done. You saved my little brother!>

[Ooooh~ Little bro is flying high~]

[Aww, so cute~ Little bro can do whatever he wants~]

[He’s so happy lol]

“Haha. Dongsamo, thank you so, so much for the 200,000 won donation!”

Because he had saved his brother, he received a massive donation of 200,000 won.

Several more donations followed as well.

“Thank you all for your support. I’ll make sure to put it to good use.”

Exitra smiled brightly and then opened his status window.

***

[Name: Raiders Exitra]

[Title: Official Successor]

[Class: Spirit Mage]

[HP: 2,000/2,000]

[Spirit Power: 6,300/8,000]

[<Stats> Strength: 15 Agility: 15 Stamina: 20 Wisdom: 5 Spirit Power: 80]

[Points: 8]

[Including the 3 Points he had obtained earlier, he now had a total of 8 Points.]

[Exitra distributed them as follows: +2 Agility, +2 Stamina, +4 Spirit Power.]

Then he closed the window and looked around.

“Looks like it’s almost wrapped up, right?”

Alfredo quickly finished off the remaining bandits.

Not a single one was left standing.

All of them were dead.

“Haaah…”

“Huff…”

Alfredo’s breathing was rough.

He had pushed himself too hard, moving with overwhelming speed to ensure every enemy was killed.

“You alright?”

“Y-yes… I’m fine, brother.”

Even in a situation like this, Alfredo couldn’t bring himself to say “hyung.”

Exitra shook his head with a small smile.

So stubborn.

But that was cute, too.

“Are you hurt anywhere? Want me to heal you?”

“No… I’m fine.”

Alfredo’s face twisted in frustration.

Once again, he had ended up relying on Exitra.

And what annoyed him even more was—

‘I knew he would come. No…’

“Did I… actually trust that he’d come for me…?”

He muttered softly to himself.

Though he didn’t want to admit it, the truth was that being captured had been humiliating and degrading.

But he hadn’t been afraid.

‘Why?’

Because he was certain he would be safe.

And when Exitra appeared, only one thought crossed his mind:

‘Of course.’

Deep down, he had never once doubted that his brother would come for him.

“Tch…”

“Still, after being rescued, don’t you think a ‘Hyung~ thank you for saving me!’ would be nice?”

“I-I never asked you to save me!”

Alfredo snapped his head away.

But perhaps guilt pricked his conscience.

After all, no matter how he looked at it, Exitra had saved him.

Watching Exitra out of the corner of his eye, he muttered, “B-but… it’s true that you saved me. So… thank you.”

[Oh my god! Little bro is adorable!]

[What is this tsundere act??]

[Ah, my heart…]

[Ugh, I think I’m getting arrhythmia…]

[Haaah… it’s totally possible now.]

“Adorable, really.”

Exitra chuckled softly and looked around.

The corpses of bandits littered the ground.

And in the corner stood a warehouse.

Exitra’s gaze sharpened as he stared at it.

“Looks like this warehouse just lost its owner.”

His lips curled upward into a sly grin.

Alfredo let out a quiet sigh.

‘Here we go again…’