Single Stat System - Chapter 52

Budoy, who saw the incoming group of knights, grabbed the chance to stay away from Sakim. He pushed Sakim away from him as he said coldly, “Hmph! You’re lucky this time.”

He didn’t even wait for the other party’s response as he hurriedly blended himself into the crowd so that he wouldn’t be responsible for taking care of Sakim.

Of course, Budoy wouldn’t say anything he had seen to his companions. After all, he knew full well that he would only be laughed at by them if they ever learned that he was afraid to a mere E-rank. Since that was the case, he decided to just let them learn themselves what kind of a monster they had bumped into. He was just hoping that the moment they realized that that guy was actually a wolf in sheep clothing, with the lots of them, they could still subdue him even somehow.

But then, other than this guy, there was still a bigger problem that they needed to take care of. So until then, until they finish dealing with these knights that just arrive, Budoy thought that he would let Sakim live a little more longer.

Sakim, on the other hand, was speechless seeing the reaction of that bandit. But seeing as well that the attention of the bandits wasn’t on him anymore, Sakim only sighed. He stayed within the group of bandits and watched what would happen next. He was thinking that this could be a good show. If both sides collided against each other, and then all of them died in the battle, then it would definitely be a huge gain for him. Just by thinking how many scraps could he possibly pick from their battle when both groups were annihilated, could only make Sakim smile inwardly.

“Oh? What kind of perverted wind brought you here?” On the other hand, the bandits’ leader spoke and walked forward when he saw the incoming group of knights. His voice filled with mockeries as his subordinates laughed out loud. It appeared that they weren’t even afraid if they were caught bullying someone.

But well, they knew as well that bullying someone in the broad daylight wasn’t the only reason how did they attract these knights to come here. But who cares about that? It was not as if they weren’t accustomed to fighting them from time to time, no?

The knights, of which they didn’t pale in comparison with numbers compared to the bandits, tried their best to ignore the other party’s insult. The captain of the group who was in the very front unsheathed his sword against the other party as he said coldly, “We are here to catch every one of you at all cost.”

“Haha, how many times did I already heard those words from you? But you still failed to catch us.” The bandits’ leader laughed coldly. Even his subordinates laughed with him. After some time, the bandits’ leader raised his hand making his subordinates halt their laugh. And then he said, “Besides, this is not even Zone 7, what kind of reward will you even get if you ever catch us?”

“You guys caused so much ruckus by sending many wild monsters here in Edge Of The Forest. Do you think we will just sit idly and watch many new Players complaining to us?” The knights’ captain spoke coldly. It appeared that they were really so eager to catch the other party this time.

“So that’s how it is…” The bandits’ leader grinned. “But we didn’t do it on purpose. We were only trying to find someone. But who would expect that the monsters from the other area would run away upon seeing us? You could only blame those monsters for being cowards, not us.”

“Whatever the reason, it still didn’t change the fact that you caused so much ruckus.” The captain responded coldly as he commanded, “Attack!”

“Hmph! You brought this upon yourselves,” The bandits’ leader harrumphed coldly as he too commanded his troops, “Attack!”

And then the two sides finally collided against each other. Blades met blades and armors. Elemental skills met, collided, and exploded. The fight became chaotic with war cries and flurried steps that could be heard everywhere.

And Sakim who was left alone in the middle of the road was speechless seeing the fight. What kind of dog fight was this? Sakim didn’t even want himself to get involved with this mess.

He thought that it would be an interesting fight between knights and bandits. But seeing the situation now, it seemed like he was watching a brawl between high schoolers. Sakim could only sigh deeply watching them. Perhaps, he should just go away and ignore them before they implicate him in this dog fight?

But come to think of it now, hearing the bandits’ leader, it appeared that they were the ones that brought the wild monster he met before in the area. And from the looks of it, just like what he’d guessed, if there were any other wild monster somewhere, it would cause casualties to the other Players. And this resulted in those guys in the knight’s armor making a move to seek justice.

Although the bandits already said that it was just an accident, why did he feel that it was intentional? Perhaps, the knights also felt the same way.

And also, what was Zone 7 that they were talking about? Was that some kind of function in this world? Sakim pondered seriously as it appeared that there were still a lot of things that he needed to learn in this world. And while his curiosity was leveling up thinking about the wonders and mysteries of this world, Sakim could only smile slightly as he felt that it was a kind of exciting. Being reborn in this kind of world wasn’t really that bad.

So then, the fight went on. Many among both groups had their members become injured and were lying on the ground. Some could still crawl to the side so that they wouldn’t be trampled upon in the middle of the battle. Some of the bandits and knights were unlucky enough to die in the battle making both parties became even more furious.

The battle went on and on for a couple more minutes until finally, only the bandits’ leader and the knights’ captain were left standing. Everyone else was either dead or lying weakly on the ground.

And Sakim, upon seeing this, had his heart beating in excitement. At first, he was just thinking on a whim for both parties to suffer. But who would have thought that in the end, both parties really suffered? Was he really that lucky enough to collect all the scraps in this dog fight? If so, then he should praise the Bathala[1] above for being considerate.

“This time, it’s really either of us will live and die!” The bandits’ leader bellowed furiously. After killing or injuring all of his subordinates, there was no turning back anymore as these knights deserved no forgiveness.

“And you will definitely the one who will die!” The knights’ captain bellowed furiously. After killing or injuring all of his subordinates, there was no turning back anymore as these bandits deserved no forgiveness.

And the two rushed at each other as they finally delivered their finishing blow with a sword slash. Both of their attacks hit each other when they went past each other. After which, the two of them simultaneously dropped on the ground seemingly lifeless.

“…” Sakim was yet again speechless. All of them really died? Or even if some of them didn’t die, they were already half-dead. Was there really such a coincidence in the world?

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[1] Bathala Bat-ha-la means “God”.