Chapter 22: Friend Of Monsters

At that surprising sight, Paul was startled by a hand that grabbed his from behind without any presence and turned around.

Ah, he saw a familiar robe and mask.

It was Khan.

‘I told him to wait, but I guess he came looking for me because I was taking too long.’

Thinking it was good timing, Paul stepped back and said.

“Um, it seems we’re a bit later than the original departure time… Shall we set sail now?”

“Ah? Ahh! Oh my, look at me! Hey! Is everyone on board?!”

“Really, Captain! We’ve already finished preparing!”

“Oh my, well… I’m sorry. Alright, alright, let’s depart now!”

As Paul stared blankly at the captain who was hastily moving away, he failed to see that Khan’s eyes, standing behind him, had turned green for a fleeting moment.

By the time Paul turned his gaze to Khan, they had returned to purple.

Khan tilted his head for a moment.

‘Why am I here?’

Then he saw Paul and remembered that he had come looking for him while waiting.

“Phew, that’s a relief… If Khan hadn’t come, I would have been stuck here all day. Ugh, that person talks so much, my head hurts~!”

“…”

Paul held his head in both hands and walked to a corner.

Khan was a little puzzled, but it soon didn’t matter, so he quietly followed behind Paul.

Due to the characteristics of the Flora region, most of the people on the ship were NPCs.

The only people who looked like players were the group Captain Roland pointed to when he was talking about the explorers and a few merchant players who were accompanying the Kooker Company.

Poooooo—!

Before long, the sound of a horn echoed several times, announcing the departure.

The sailors pulled up the anchors they had lowered onto the ship.

It was just as the ship was leaving the pier.

A person was running quickly from a distance.

“Waaaaait a miiinute! Me too! I’m getting on too—!”

A ship isn’t a taxi, so would it stop just because he shouted like that?

People just stared at this ridiculous situation in disbelief.

And the sailors clicked their tongues at the absurd request.

“Take the next ship!”

“No! I can get on!”

The next ship.

The man became desperate at the thought of having to take a ship that would come a day later in game time, and in reality, a ship whose arrival time was unknown.

But the ship was moving away faster than the man was running, even using a skill.

“What a waste of effort.”

“Alright, alright, everyone back to your positions…”

The sailors who were watching shook their heads and were about to go about their business.

Whizz!

That would have been the case if a hook the size of a human head hadn’t suddenly flown in.

Thwack! Clank—!

The end of the hook, attached to a rope, was roughly caught on the ship’s railing.

A murmur spread through the people as they wondered what was happening.

All eyes were on it.

Soon after, the man who threw the hook jumped onto the ship, riding the rope connected to it.

Thud!

“Phew… Safe!”

…That person is 100% a player.

Only players would do such reckless and thoughtless things.

“Hey, what on earth is this!”

“I couldn’t wait for the next ship!”

“Even so…!”

One of the ways to distinguish between players and NPCs in <Arcana Chronicles> was that kind of behavior.

Most players, unlike NPCs, did not die, so they often did fearless things without hesitation.

For NPCs, death meant the end of life, but not for players.

Of course, the level down was scary.

But there were not a few people who didn’t mind if they could sacrifice it to get a more beneficial result.

In <Arcana Chronicles>, the higher an NPC’s rank and recognition, the more clearly they recognize that players are different beings from them.

To them, players were special beings chosen by the gods to protect the world.

But other than that, most ordinary NPCs couldn’t distinguish players.

For reference, high-ranking NPCs commonly refer to players as [Sprouts of Heroes], but ordinary NPCs simply call them [Adventurers].

“You’re doing something that could get you in big trouble! What are you going to do about this? The ship is scarred like this!”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’ll compensate you. I was in such a hurry…”

“Follow me!”

Watching the player who was running after the fuming sailor, Paul turned his body.

After moving to the end of the ship with Khan, he sat down leaning against the railing, slyly wrapped his arm around one of Khan’s arms, hooking it with his own, and rested his head on his shoulder.

In that state, after giving Khan his name, he had been so excited that he forgot, and after coming down the snowy mountain, he had been so busy running away from the guard that he had temporarily forgotten to look for the quest reward.

‘First, I got a title, and the rest was the next chain quest, right…?’

‘I gave him a name, so a new quest should have arrived, but that’s strange…’

The one at the very top of the quest list was the one he received as a general quest, [Roland Pamp is Itching to Talk!].

Cancel, cancel this!

Paul repeatedly pressed the abandon button at the bottom of the window.

Disappear, disappear!

Khan, who had been laughing pleasantly, called out to Paul, who was suddenly furiously pressing the air.

“Paul?”

“Uh, huh? It’s nothing!”

Paul shook his head to indicate it was nothing.

Such windows were only visible to players.

NPCs also knew about and used skills and quests, but it wasn’t visible to the eye like it was for players.

Quests were delivered by word of mouth or written on parchment, so the mechanism was somewhat understood, but Paul had once wondered how they knew how to use skills.

Naturally, he wasn’t the only one with such a question.

So someone had asked an NPC once before.

At that time, the NPC said they just knew.

They said it was something they knew as naturally as breathing.

In the end, people just decided to think of it as a game-related allowance.

Paul skimmed over the canceled quest and checked the new title he received as a reward.

[Title: Friend of Monsters]

Grade: S

• Monsters feel a sense of favorability towards the one with this title.

• Excluded from the attacks of pre-emptive attack-type monsters. (However, companions are not included.)

• It becomes slightly easier to have conversations with intelligent monsters.

‘Friend of Monsters…’

It seemed this result was due to his past actions and the similar titles he had.

Among the titles Paul had, there were many with ‘Friend of ○○’.

It was a natural result, if you think about it.

Paul liked this title.

‘Friend of Monsters’ was similar to ‘Friend of Goblins’, but the difference was that it made all beings called monsters, not just goblins, feel a sense of favorability.

Should I say it’s worthy of a unique quest reward?

The effect is just amazing.

For Paul, who had no interest in fighting, it was truly a perfect title.

Just as he was about to close the window in satisfaction, a system message rang.

Ding!

[System: You possess multiple titles similar to [Title: Friend of Monsters]!]

[System: The similar titles are merging, and the grade of [Title: Friend of Monsters] is increasing by one level!]

[System: Congratulations! You have obtained your first [L] grade title!]

[System: Fame greatly increases!]

‘Can similar titles merge like this?’

‘I didn’t know that.’

Well, ‘monster’ was not a word that referred to a single type, and although the titles he had were all different in kind, when put together, they also became the title ‘Friend of Monsters’.

Paul checked the title again.

[Title: Friend of Monsters]

Grade: L

• Monsters feel a greater sense of familiarity towards the one with this title.

• Excluded from the attacks of pre-emptive attack-type monsters.

• Conversations with monsters become easier. You might even be able to avoid or resolve fights through conversation.

Not much had changed.

‘Is this a good thing?’

If he could resolve things with monsters through conversation, he wouldn’t have to fight.

Of course, this was a thought that only a player like Paul, who didn’t care about leveling up, would have.

Paul quickly equipped the new title.

‘I should try talking to a passing monster later!’

***

Currently, Paul was dying.

[System: You have been afflicted with [Status Effect: Motion Sickness].]

“Ugh… I’m going to die…”

It was because of none other than motion sickness.

He was fine when the ship first set sail, but for some reason, the currents got stronger, and he ended up getting the motion sickness debuff faster than usual.

Paul, who was lying down with Khan’s lap as a pillow, was on the verge of death, clutching his dizzy head.

‘This d*mn motion sickness!’

Paul groaned and held his head.

‘Is it because of my level? Is it because of my level?!’

<Arcana Chronicles> implemented even such useless things so well.

Not just on ships, but on any kind of mount, there was a certain probability of getting motion sickness as a status effect.

If you got it, your vision would shake, and you would feel nauseous and like you were about to throw up.

But this was a little different from the existing debuffs.

To be precise, it could be called a penalty according to race.