Chapter 206

Chapter 206

Hassan and Luna Make the News

Chapter 206 — Hassan and Luna Make the News. #1

With an explosion. Fly away!!

Those were my last words before a deafening roar engulfed my ears.

Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii—

Dung, dung-dung!

Soon, I had the distinct sensation of floating in the air as if my body was suspended weightlessly.

In front of me, unfamiliar letters floated into existence.

“The Night’s Armor has consumed 10 mission points to block lethal damage.”

“The Night’s Armor has consumed 10 mission points to block lethal damage.”

“The Night’s Armor has consumed 10 mission points…”

But soon, the endless stream of text was drowned out by the overwhelming whiteness engulfing my vision, leaving me unable to see anything.

I was surrounded by pure white.

It was as if I were floating in a directionless, purely white void. What was going on?

Was I dying?

For a second, I was scared, but it didn’t seem like my life was in danger. After all, I wouldn’t be able to think so clearly if that were the case.

Indeed, my suspicion was correct.

The blinding white light filling my vision slowly began to recede, revealing the crumbling walls of a dilapidated cavern.

“What in the…”

The first thing I checked was my body.

Were my arms and legs still attached? Were all my fingers and toes accounted for?

Though obscured slightly by the Night’s Armor clinging to me, everything seemed normal—no apparent injuries.

The only minor issue was a faint dizziness.

Of course, that was likely due to the fact that I had just resurrected dozens of Bone Goblins simultaneously. I immediately sent them out to investigate the area.

“Search thoroughly!”

Clonk, clonk.

But neither the grotesque figure of Gogriad nor the individual, Mezaire, who had been possessing its body was anywhere to be found.

“Whoa…”

It was an insane explosion.

On par with the C4 I used to see detonate in the military, a massive storm that I somehow endured without a scratch right in front of it.

Honestly, it feels surreal that I survived unharmed.

Was it because I used all the Bone Goblins as shields? Maybe, but I suspect the Night’s Armor, the new blessing given to me by Lord Nox, played the crucial role.

“Long live Chaos!”

After a long break, I recited an odd chant, causing words to float into the air.

Ding!

“Name: Hassan Lv. 22

Strength: 12

Agility: 4

Stamina: 6

Mission Points: 235/355

Blessings: Blessing of Chaos, Shining Hand, Night’s Armor”

The mission points that were well over 350 just moments ago had dropped into the 200s. This was because the Night’s Armor had consumed mission points to nullify the impact.

I had no idea mission points could be used like this.

I had been seriously debating whether to spend the points to level up, but it was fortunate I decided to save them. If I had run out midway, I might have lost a limb—or worse, my entire life.

“Wow, this is a truly incredible blessing.”

The Night’s Armor.

As long as I have enough mission points, I don’t even need real armor.

Is this what they call a mother-in-law’s love?

There’s a saying that if your wife is beautiful, you’ll even bow to the in-laws’ fence posts. Although, this proverb might not fit the current situation perfectly.

In any case, excitement was clouding my judgment given the circumstances.

The important thing is that I survived. Unfortunately, I was unable to obtain Gogriad’s body, which seemed destined to become a good undead creature.

Left behind were only tattered cloth fragments, dirt, and the remains of the Bone Goblins.

Glint.

After inspecting the area thoroughly, I spotted a shining object amidst the debris, which I picked up.

It was a staff embedded with a rather large crystal orb, the same object that Gogriad had wielded like a club.

Flash.

As I lifted it off the ground, the black crystal seemed to flicker eerily, sending a chill down my spine.

It isn’t a cursed item, is it?

Swish.

At that exact moment, a presence was felt from behind.

Was the Mezaire fellow finally launching a surprise attack now? Was this Phase Two beginning? Just as I was lowering my stance to prepare,

“Is this where Master Hassan is located? By now, Master Hassan has surely defeated the king of the goblins—.”

Through the dusty cavern’s entrance stepped Paranoi, followed by a small group of adventurers from Small Shield.

Oh no, I made a mistake.

My current appearance, clad in the Night’s Armor, unmistakably made me look like a villainous necromancer. The predictable reaction from them was inevitable.

So, I quickly dismissed the blessing and released all the Bone Goblins surrounding me.

Crash.

As the bones crumbled, Paranoi emerged into the open.

“Master Hassan, I’m Paranoi. There was a significant disturbance shaking the cavern earlier—what—”

Before she could finish, Paranoi noticed me and met my eyes upon entering the room.

“Master Hassan, where did Gogriad go?”

“It was me who made him explode.”

“Exploded…?”

Paranoi narrowed her eyebrows in confusion, clearly perplexed because this was not the scenario we had agreed upon.

Then suddenly, she exclaimed “Ah!” as if realizing everything.

“Of course! You annihilated that immensely powerful E-Rank monster without a trace! You are truly ruthless, warrior!”

“Well, it ended up like that.”

Embarrassed, I could only scrape my shoe against the cave floor. That was when noises started to approach from afar.

“Kashia! Kashia, are you there? The rescue team is here! Kashia, if you’re there, respond!”

“There was an explosion. This cavern must certainly contain someone. Find Kashia!”

“What’s going on? Why are there so many goblin corpses here…?”

Apparently, these were the people searching for the lost Iron Tier female adventurer. Could these be her companions, the group with names like Scarge or something?

Thankfully, I could leave the cleanup to them. Although plans got complicated in various ways, I should be satisfied with surviving unharmed and gathering some information. That’s what I was reflecting on when…

The adventurer trembling behind Paranoi, apparently the Iron Tier female knight named Kashia, spoke up.

“Are you Hassan of Samaria of the Mars Guild?”

“And you’re Kashia of Scarge Party?”

“Y-you know my name? You even know which party I’m from? We’re only an Iron Tier party—.”

Kashia brought her hands to her mouth, clearly surprised that I knew about her.

Upon reflection, perhaps this was her first face-to-face meeting with me without a mask. Officially, we were meeting for the first time.

I worried that this might cause unwarranted suspicion, but Kashia’s reaction was unexpected.

“How immensely honored I am. Could it be… were you here to rescue me?”

“Hmm, let’s just say yes.”

As we were calmly talking, a group of armed men suddenly entered Gogriad’s chamber. They all wore swords, shields, and torches, with iron and copper necklaces around their necks.

Were they adventurers from the Minerva Guild?

“Kashia! There you are! And you seem unharmed, surprisingly.”

“You should still check for injuries, though. Regardless—”

They quickly inspected Kashia and then turned their gaze toward me.

“Who are you? What are you doing down here?”

They openly showed hostility toward me. Though I would likely have swung a club myself if I met someone in such a dark cave, still, I understood.

Just as I was pondering how to explain,

“You must stop these unseemly actions against this person! This person entered the goblins’ den alone to rescue me!”

Kashia, wrapped in what looked like a long towel among the crowd of people, spoke up on my behalf.

With that, the group slightly lowered their weapons.

“Are you saying this person came alone?”

“There were nearly a hundred goblin bodies. You mean you killed all of them alone?”

“To be accurate, it wasn’t entirely alone! Master Paranoi was also present—!”

“To defeat more than a hundred goblins alone? Hold on, black hair, black eyes. Moreover, the Bronze Plate of the Mars Guild. Are you Hassan of Samaria?”

“That’s about right.”

“Indeed! Hassan who slays a hundred goblins! Wow, who would have thought there’s a person capable of killing a hundred goblins alone.”

“Your clothes don’t even have a speck of dust. That’s incredible skill.”

Without much explanation from me, they fully believed I had single-handedly wiped out all the goblins in the cavern.

“In any case, seeing you all safe, let’s return!”

“Hassan-dung, I think we should inquire more in detail about this incident when we return to the city!”

…

“Hassan, take a look. The newspaper has arrived.”

Early morning.

Luna was checking the mailbox she made herself. Finally, it appeared she had found the delivered newspaper.

“Hassan, the newspaper came!”

Luna handed it to me, but frankly, I lacked the courage to open it.

“There’s probably nothing to worry about. Journalists wouldn’t fabricate stories that never happened!”

Still, due to Luna’s gentle pat on my back for encouragement, I opened the leather-made scroll.

The first thing I saw was this.

The young adventurers of the Minerva Guild, Scarz, venturing into Goblin dens to solve increasing Goblin problems.

Their journey to rescue a fellow adventurer.

It was a story about the Scarz team—everything from their risky dive into the caverns to rescue their captured comrade to how Kashia, the captured adventurer, survived for a long duration was described.

It was framed as a touching story, taking up significant space.

“Hassan, it’s true that Scarz Party’s story is written here! Is there anything about Hassan?”

“Eh, why are you so interested in finding that?”

Just as I thought that,

“Aah! There’s Hassan’s name written here…!”

I looked at the part Luna pointed to with her finger, and on the next page, I found a story about me written in quite large letters.

A lone Hassan of Samaria slaying a hundred Goblins to rescue a fellow Iron Tier Adventurer from another Guild.

Could the long-standing differences between Minerva Guild and Mars Guild be of no concern to a growing sprout?

“Hmm…”

My name was really in the newspaper. I had heard a lot that my tales, songs, and rumors were circulating in back alleys, but seeing a formal report of my story for the first time felt a bit embarrassing.

“Hassan, it’s really amazing! But, there’s no mention of your battle with the Goblin King.”

“Right, I put my all into that fight.”

“Hassan, was there really a Goblin King there? A big Goblin?”

“Yes, it was there. And I defeated it. Undoubtedly.”

Late last night,

I got into an awkward situation with merchants, journalists, and some members connected to the Minerva Guild gathering in the yard.

They had questioned me about the incident, but since I couldn’t provide detailed explanations, I told them that after defeating the Goblin King, I barely survived a huge explosion.

Even though I had explicitly stated that I had defeated the Goblin King,

The journalists seemed to have focused mainly on how many Goblins I killed and the touching story about rescuing the new group from another Guild, omitting that part.

It was probably because I couldn’t retrieve the Goblin King’s head as proof.

A Goblin King’s story might sound like a tall tale told by children if there’s no evidence, but the large crystal orb in the second-floor room is proof for my story.

“d*mn, I really defeated it.”

“I believe in Hassan. And it’s good that you returned safely—.”

Luna pulled my head close to her in a tight embrace.

Had Luna ever initiated physical contact this way recently?

Whenever I tried to hug Luna, she would reject saying “Hassan, it’s too hot!” because she’s vulnerable to summer.

Thus, it felt touching that Luna was trying to comfort me, and it even seemed like her chest has grown a bit.

Regardless, being able to return safely is a cause for celebration.

When I thought there might be more about me in the newspaper, I turned the pages with trembling hands.

Necromancer Spotted?

A large headline caught my attention. Unable to shake off its intriguing title, I moved my gaze to the article’s content.

Signs of necromancy discovered within the Goblin dens using magical detection.

And as I read further, additional explanations were provided.

Minerva Guild’s forensics team detected significant traces of infernal magic within the caverns and collaborated with the Shrine Knights stationed in the city—.

While I was scanning these words anxiously,

“The followers of cults still seem to be lurking around nearby. It’s scary.”

“Hmm?”

“I don’t know what the world is coming to. Our businesses are just getting on track, and these cultists keep showing up.”

Luna probably feels uneasy about some terrible danger hiding in the city she is settling into.

What would Luna’s expression be if she found out it’s me?

I dared not reveal it.

“Luna, you don’t have to worry. I’m here after all.”

At least, I could say that much. I knew more than anyone that the mysterious necromancer would never endanger Luna’s safety or the safety of the citizens of Sodomora.

“Anyway, it’s fun that Hassan’s name was printed in the newspaper. Hassan, you’re going to become even more famous!”

“Huh.”

Though it wasn’t originally intended, could this also be considered fame? Luna continued flipping through the newspaper, clearly finding it amusing.

“I didn’t know reading the newspaper could be this fun. Is there anything written about me?”

Thus, Luna kept flipping the pages with a rustling sound. Watching her reminded me of when I used to search for my name online.

However, since Luna lived relatively quietly, unless there was a newspaper advertisement, there was little chance her story would appear in the newspaper.

Just as I was about to tell her not to expect too much,

“Ah! Hey, there’s also a story about me here!”

Luna pointed to a small section of the newspaper with her finger.

“Does the newspaper have a story about you, Luna?”

Both Luna and I immediately checked what the story was about. And there we found—

a rather surprising tale.

[Post-Chapter Notes]

On a side note… If we compare Hassan and Luna’s fame to YouTube creators, it’s the feeling of having around 50,000 to 100,000 subscribers… It might be considered famous, and then again, not so famous depending on one’s perspective…!!

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