The leader went by the name of Katan, a former mercenary.
It was well known that mercenaries were at least level 130.
< The city is threatened by bandits!
The bandits of the Vasly Mountain are planning on receiving a huge payout.
Unless they are exterminated, danger will lurk outside the gates of City Olth.
Defeat all bandits!
Difficulty: D
Reward: Treasures stashed by the bandits.
Quest Restriction: City Quest.>
A quest appeared for all the players in the city.
“Wow, how can you clear them out?”
“This makes no sense. Seriously…”
“Is this land cursed? In a few months maybe, but this is impossible right now.”
“This would not be doable even for entire kingdoms, much less our small city.”
The players complained.
It was difficult to say when one would encounter those bandits near the mountains.
Even the top players in the city including Seasoned Crab could not hunt them down.
“Do I have to leave Olth?”
“I think the capital city of the Aidern Kingdom is a good choice. Maybe we should all group up and head over there!”
“What about the remaining players?’
“Well, they’re on their own.”
Many players were seen conversing at pubs and fountains about plans to leave the city.
The incident became so well known to the public that it was referred to on the news as the Tragedy of City Olth.
However, the Idern Kingdom recruited soldiers and organized an army.
It was an elite force of 2000 soldiers led by Knight Batemir.
“Citizens of Olth, hear me! Our forces will exterminate the bandits, so do not worry!”
The players were allowed to freely join the army for battle and earn some contribution points.
“That sounds fun.”
“Darn… That’s a turnaround. No tragedy could taste this sweet.”
“What happens if you accumulate enough contribution points?”
“I don’t know. But it can’t be anything bad. No other regions have had this kind of quest, yet!”
“The kingdom does something after all.”
The players accepted the quest with excitement and so did Seasoned Crab.
The experience of doing a quest alongside royal soldiers was rare.
Two days later, the army marched and over 1800 players from Olth joined the task.
Almost anyone over level 25 had joined.
“March to the home of the bandits!”
Knight Batemir opened the gates and led the soldiers to the region occupied by the bandits.
“Are we fighting today?”
“Yeah. It’s apparently two to three hours away.”
The players followed with a light heart.
‘It can’t be what I think it is…’
Seasoned Crab became a little anxious once they started to ascend through the mountains.
The force was composed of around 2000 soldiers and 2000 players; about 4,000 in total.
It was four times the number of bandits, but he was worried about the steep terrain with lots of trees and boulders.
‘This spot looks like a classic example of an ambush. It will be dangerous if they attack us now.’
Seasoned Crab only thought this but did not speak up.
‘Someone else other than me will come up and say it.’
No one could ensure someone else’s safety, but they all had trust in the army.
It was when they got to the midpoint of the mountain.
Psh-sh-sh!
From the left, sounds of arrows could be heard.
‘Damn. It really is an ambush.’
Seasoned Crab instinctively lowered his body.
No arrows reached that far back, but those soldiers and players standing closer were hit.
“Agh!”
“Arrows.”
“What. What’s going on?”
Seasoned Crab watched a considerable number of players die and disappear in grey light.
“It’s an ambush. Defend!”
Knight Batemir shouted.
The soldiers even in the midst of panic lifted their shields high, but the players did not.
They jumped to hide and ran to the back only to be shot down.
“Take cover!”
They finally recovered their senses and hid behind rocks, but about half the players had died.
“My health points…”
“You’ve been poisoned. Who has a cure!”
“We need a cure, hurry!”
The players hit by the arrows died out quickly.
The warrior class players held on with their armor but soon died as well.
Poisoned arrows!
The players refrained from hunting poisonous monsters.
Such monsters were tricky to hunt no matter how low their level and they did not offer worthwhile items as drops. Therefore, no one would have carried any antidotes and there were only a handful of priests.
The players in hiding watched the army get annihilated from afar.
Poison arrows continued raining down and huge boulders rolled down from top of the mountain.
The army had formed a tight formation against the arrows. This proved disastrous as they were flattened by the boulders, sustaining heavy losses.
“Hahahaha. The ragtags of Idern set out to catch me, Katan?!”
The leader of the bandits, Katan!
He stood on the advantageous terrain and shouted, boosting the morale of the bandits.
Batemir, who witnessed this scene, stood up.
“For the honor of Idern!”
His choice was to charge recklessly!
With him in the center, about 30 elite soldiers climbed towards Katan.
“Fire!”
The arrows cut through the air towards the easy prey.
The soldiers turned into hedgehogs as they fell to the ground.
“Ugh, damn it all!”
Batemir, too, did not close even half the distance before losing his life.
Seasoned Crab stared onwards, jaw-dropped.
“…”
How reckless of a battle this turned out to be.
With their leader dead, the army was routed and completely wiped out. Next would be the players who were still hiding.
***
The extermination force failed and the players of City Olth decided to transfer locations.
“This place is cursed after all.”
“We are done for. Let’s go to another great city of the Idern Kingdom.”
“I heard the Haven Kingdom is good as well. Maybe the Britten Alliance too.”
“Anywhere is better than here.”
The players left the gates, never to return.
The failure of the extermination force was broadcasted in the news and no players started in Olth anymore.
“What? When did this happen?”
The players who made a mistake in starting out at City Olth were regretful about their decisions. When Seasoned Crab revived and logged in again, the atmosphere was dead.
He heard the players who were in the army talking among themselves.
“I lost my shield. I’m done for.”
“I heard a ranger by the name Elec lost his bow. Seriously though. Do the losses have to be this big when you die in game?”
“I heard it is because we died to bandits.”
Seasoned Crab also checked his equipment and his longsword was gone.
The sharp longsword on which he had spent half of his money!
The sword he treated most affectionately and used at the hunting ground was long gone.
‘This is the worst. The city is in a bad shape…’
But for Seasoned Crab, he had other weapons.
Many items dropped as the soldiers died from the arrows.
The bandits were shooting arrows from afar and did not approach. After a short period of time, anyone could pick up these items.
‘I’m gonna die anyway.’
Seasoned Crab did not wait for his turn to be killed by the bandits as he tumbled over the ground and got closer to the soldiers. The soldiers did not attack him since he was part of the force. That was one of the best of his decisions in his life.
He picked up whatever item he could reach and he scavenged several suits of leather armor, three common iron swords, a bow and a dagger.
The iron swords are ordinary, being worth around 4 gold. Then he turned to the last item.
“Identify!”
Tatan’s Dagger: Durability 35/35. Attack 5-39.
The dagger is coated in a paralyzing poison.
Paralysis and pain will be applied 3 seconds after receiving a cut.
The tip and blade are very sharp and painful.
Poison dagger!
‘I bet I can get at least 15 gold for selling this item at the shop.’
He did suffer a few losses but he thought he could recoup some of them.
Seasoned Crab was also on the brink of leaving City Olth after looking around.
‘I wonder, was this quest really possible?’
He was suddenly intrigued.
The extermination force was wiped out, which was ultimately a failure.
‘What if someone was eager enough and suggested using scouts to discover the bandit ambush beforehand?’
With the level of gear on the knight and soldiers and the difference in overall numbers, a battle in melee against the exposed bandit group would have led to an entirely different scenario.
They had lost because they were caught unprepared. But there could have been a very good chance for another outcome.
‘I only followed absentmindedly and waited for this battle to unfold. While no battle is won before it is over, I believed that we would win for certain.’
Looking back, he had too many regrets.
‘Is there no chance to make it up?’
Seasoned Crab pondered deeply for a long time.
Then he conducted two days of experiments.
The region where the bandits had settled was near the city of Olth and those regions were mapped out by the adventurers and shared on the internet.
‘The bandits are spread out over a large area. There are plenty of forests and large boulders that can provide good cover. Even if they are on patrol, it would be hard for them to prevent infiltration.’
Due to the terrain it was very difficult for an attacking army to fight against the bandits. But on the other hand, a small detachment could easily infiltrate their encampment and launch a decapitation strike..
‘The quest is still ongoing. Plus I have a poison dagger.’
Seasoned Crab, though it was reckless, planned to infiltrate and take care of the bandit group all by himself.
‘If it goes south, I’ll just run. This is a better option than following the extermination force blindly.’
***
He purchased a few pieces of equipment from Olth.
The players and merchants sold what they had left so they could travel only with light gear.
He purchased black cloth and leather.
‘This is crude, but it’s better than nothing.’
He first wrapped his shoes in cloth and tried walking.
‘Good. It creates almost no sound.’
He sewed with his own hands and crafted a cloak with patterns of leaves as camouflage.
‘Alright. Let’s do it.’
< To be continued… >