One SSS Affix per Level: My Novice Club Can Slay Gods!

The two remaining traffickers climbed back to their feet, covered in dust and wearing expressions of shock and fury.

As they watched John slowly emerge from the alley, they instinctively took half a step backward.

John rested the wooden club on his shoulder and tilted his chin at them.

The two traffickers exchanged a glance.

A vicious light returned to their eyes.

There was no escaping now.

They might as well fight to the death.

"Kill him!"

They raised their blades and charged simultaneously.

John did not move immediately.

He spread his legs, lowered himself into a half-crouch, and raised the wooden club high above his head with both hands.

[Overcharge activated.]

[Current Charge Stacks: 1... 2...]

The two traffickers drew closer.

One step.

Two steps.

Just as their short blades were about to strike John—

The wooden club came crashing down from above.

It moved so quickly that it left an afterimage behind.

A faint dark-red aura appeared around the club.

Thud!

BOOM!

The charged strike erupted together with Cleave.

Both traffickers were struck by the shock wave. Their bodies flew several meters backward before slamming heavily into a stone wall beside the street.

[-3,672!]

[Damage overflow!]

[Ding! You have defeated two Lv. 5 Human Traffickers while underleveled. Bonus EXP awarded: +200!]

The entire street fell silent.

Everyone stared at the man standing there with a wooden club over his shoulder and nothing but a pair of White Briefs covering his body.

For a moment, no one knew which part of the scene they should be more shocked by.

John ignored their stares.

He crouched down and began collecting the spoils.

Eight coin pouches.

Along with a pile of miscellaneous Common-grade equipment.

He stuffed everything into his spatial inventory.

[You have obtained 10 gold coins.]

[You have obtained Worn Short Blade ×6.]

[You have obtained Worn Leather Armor ×4.]

[You have obtained Crude Leather Boots ×3.]

[You have obtained Inferior Healing Potion ×5.]

John’s mood immediately improved when he saw the ten gold coins in his inventory.

According to the game’s publicly announced exchange rate:

1 gold coin equaled 100 silver coins.

1 silver coin equaled 100 copper coins.

And 1 gold coin was worth 1,000 US dollars.

John dusted off his hands and prepared to leave.

Just then, the crowd suddenly parted.

The heavy sound of hooves approached from the far end of the street.

Clop.

Clop.

Clop.

A formation of armored cavalry slowly drew closer.

Their warhorses were covered in black scale armor, white steam billowing from their nostrils.

The riders wore silver-gray helmets, and the castle emblem of Blackstone was engraved across their breastplates.

As soon as they reached John, the cavalry spread out and surrounded him.

The players nearby immediately became restless.

"They’re here! The town guards are here!"

"That guy’s about to get arrested, isn’t he?"

"Getting on the NPCs’ bad side ten minutes after launch. Impressive."

"It must be a hidden storyline! This is definitely a hidden storyline!"

John looked around at the mounted soldiers and kept the Novice Club resting on his shoulder.

A moment later, the knights suddenly moved aside.

A female knight dressed in silver light armor leaped down from her horse.

She was tall and slender, and every movement was clean and precise. Long silver-white hair flowed from beneath the back of her helmet, while a slender sword hung at her waist.

John glanced at her and was just about to explain.

"I think we can talk about—"

Shing!

A flash of sword light erupted.

The female knight did not waste a single word.

She drew her sword and thrust.

The slender blade tore through the air, heading directly for John’s chest.

John’s pupils contracted.

No procedure at all?

He instinctively raised his Wooden Board Shield.

Clang!

The slender sword struck the shield.

A crack instantly split across the wooden board.

The sword tip pierced straight through it, stopping just short of John’s chest.

The tremendous force numbed his entire arm and forced him half a step backward.

A sharp pain immediately spread through his arm.

[HP -60!]

[Current HP: 90/150.]

The corner of John’s mouth twitched.

Damn it.

The advertisements had claimed the game offered one-hundred-percent realism.

He had assumed that meant realistic scenery, touch, and smell.

Apparently, pain was realistic too.

The surrounding players immediately erupted.

"This is bad! The NPC captain attacked him personally!"

"All right, all right. He had fun killing people earlier, and now the authorities are here to punish him."

"Getting surrounded by the City Guard ten minutes after launch? That takes real talent."

"I hereby declare that Briefs Bro has entered the prison expansion before the rest of the server."

The female knight gave John no time to think.

Her second strike had already arrived.

This thrust was even faster than the first.

John’s gaze hardened.

The Wooden Board Shield clearly could not withstand another blow.

He withdrew the shield, tightened his grip on the Novice Club, shifted his footing, and charged directly toward her.

A nearby player cried out in disbelief.

"Is he insane? He’s trying to block a sword with a piece of wood?"

Clang!

The next moment, the Novice Club collided violently with the slender sword.

A deafening crash exploded in the middle of the street.

Sparks scattered through the air.

A flicker of surprise appeared in the female knight’s eyes.

She had expected the battered wooden club to be sliced in half.

Instead, not only did it remain intact, but it struck her blade like a heavy iron pillar, forcibly knocking the sword off course.

At the same time—

Cleave activated.

BOOM!

An invisible shock wave erupted from the point where the weapons collided.

The female knight felt as though a massive boulder had suddenly crashed down upon her from above.

Crack!

The stone tiles beneath her shattered.

One of her knees slammed heavily into the ground.

[-300!]

Several deep dents appeared across her silver light armor.

The surroundings instantly fell silent.

Every player stared with wide eyes.

"Did I... just imagine that?"

"He used a novice wooden club to smash an NPC knight captain onto her knees?"

"That captain has to be at least Level 30!"

"What kind of club is that?"

"No idea, but it definitely isn’t a respectable club."

John did not stop.

He gripped the club with both hands and raised it again, preparing to deliver another strike.

The female knight suddenly lifted one hand.

"Stop."

John’s club froze in midair.

It was less than half a foot above her head.

He narrowed his eyes.

"You attack when you feel like attacking, then tell me to stop when you feel like stopping?"

The female knight did not answer.

She slowly rose to her feet and removed her helmet.

Beneath it was an extraordinarily beautiful face.

Silver hair.

White eyes.

Cold, striking features.

Against the bleak gray skies of Blackstone, she looked like the only patch of untouched snow in the entire world.

She studied John.

Her gaze first settled on the Novice Club in his hands, then drifted down toward his White Briefs.

She remained silent for a moment.

"So the multicolored light in the plaza earlier... that was also you?"

John nodded.

"More or less."

The female knight gave him a long, searching look.

Then she placed her right fist over her heart and bowed respectfully.

"I am Irina Frostsilver, Captain of the Blackstone City Guard."

"The people you just killed were human traffickers belonging to the Black Fang Gang."

"They have operated near Blackstone for the past three months, abducting children, refugees, and undocumented individuals before transporting them to the black altar in the southern district or the underground mines."

"The City Guard has been investigating them for a long time, but we were never able to catch them."

"Thank you for contributing to the safety of Blackstone."

The corner of John’s eye twitched.

Thank you?

He glanced at the Wooden Board Shield that was still losing durability, then at the wound she had just stabbed into his arm.

Blackstone certainly had a unique local way of expressing gratitude.

Irina acted as though she had not noticed his expression.

She raised one hand.

A knight immediately stepped forward and handed John a package.

"This is a small token of appreciation from the City Guard."

The next second, a system notification appeared.

[Ding! Congratulations! You have completed the hidden quest: Wanted Criminals!]

[Quest Rating: Excellent.]

[You have obtained 500 EXP!]

[You have obtained 5 silver coins!]

[You have obtained B-rank equipment: Squire’s Set!]

[Current EXP: Lv. 3 — 700/800.]

John’s eyes immediately lit up.

Five hundred experience points.

Five silver coins.

And a complete set of B-rank equipment.

Suddenly, that sword thrust did not feel quite so painful anymore.

It even seemed rather friendly.

The surrounding players, however, were already staring with eyes red from jealousy.

"A hidden quest?!"