novelraw Chapter 184: Rookie King
Chapter 184: Rookie King
【Your ally Hathaway has used a Three-Star Healing Card on you. Your severed arm has been reattached — but for the next month you must exercise caution: no strenuous effort, no combat.】
【Your ally Hathaway has used a One-Star Life Potion on you. You will recover a cumulative 200 HP over the next hour. However, because your wounds struck vital areas, you may require a full month of rest before making a complete recovery.】
【You participated in combat against a Final Boss. In this engagement, you dealt 27% of the damage to the Grand Witch Luna and 17% to the black-robed Witch Mixi, while your overall contribution to the entire battle exceeded 30%. Your performance is deemed exceptional and satisfies the criteria for Rookie King. You have successfully claimed the Rookie King title.】
【All rewards pertaining to you are being calculated. The proceeds will be consolidated into the Rookie King settlement package. Settlement is underway and may take up to one hour. Please wait patiently.】
A few lines of text flickered past, and George felt the bleeding gradually slow. The Life Potion Hathaway had administered seemed to carry some kind of quiet magic — dragging him back from the edge by the last possible inch. Not quite whole, but no longer dying. Something approximating emergency surgery performed by very capable hands.
"Why did you fail?"
George asked, genuinely puzzled. The settlement was underway — the Rookie King condition was met, and he could leave this world. But Hathaway still had every reason to move fast, link up with Ron, and take Kakh City. Why was she saying she'd failed again?
Hathaway's expression was distant, somewhere far away. A long silence before she let out a quiet exhale.
"Why do you think I came here to assassinate the Grand Witch Luna? Why did I order Little John to sacrifice himself and delay the black-robed Witch?"
"Why — isn't it because only the Mad Baron is left now?"George was struggling to follow. This was the part that made the least sense to him.
Hathaway gave a bitter smile. "Didn't you notice? When Priest Joseph issued the Temple Mission, there was no bounty for killing Luna. I even told you at the time — the gods of this world wanted to preserve her."
"But that was not something that could be allowed. We cannot let the gods of this native world absorb Luna's power — because that power doesn't belong here."
"So it had to be eliminated, by any cost necessary. Even if my Four-Star Lord mission couldn't be completed — it had to be eliminated."
"In truth, Night Owl had foreseen this moment. So she gave me two Five-Star Divine Concealment Cards. I used the first to assassinate Hathaway. The last one was held in reserve for Luna."
"If we had been able to kill the Grand Witch through conventional means, the final Concealment Card would have been clear profit — the title, Kakh City, and the card: three prizes in one hand. When I first arrived, my ambitions were exactly that large."
"When I got here, I immediately saw that you weren't someone easy to handle — so I went straight to the most foolproof method available. I needed to control the entire situation. I needed to slow down the household's development rhythm. With you as Head of Household, you wouldn't have been able to hold Ron in check — but you know how that played out. Of all the luck, running into someone like you."
"Assassinating Hathaway would have only nudged the storyline slightly faster. But the trade route you opened turned everything into a runaway locomotive."
"What followed needed no explanation. The gods of this world used a small nudge to expose Joffrey's camp. From that point on, I had no real options left."
"So over the past seven days, I had Little John conduct daily reconnaissance runs toward Kakh City. The Grand Witch Luna isn't stupid — once she realized Little John was patrolling repeatedly, she only needed a small effort to confirm we were planning a direct assault."
"She wasn't afraid of us. Killing us and taking our cards would only make her stronger. But she was afraid of the Priest. She had imprisoned Priest Joseph by controlling the Mad Baron — she didn't even dare face the Priest directly. That's why Joseph had remained alive through months of captivity."
"Every time the Mad Baron came near Priest Joseph, he would experience brief moments of clarity."
"So the Grand Witch Luna understood clearly — she would lose this confrontation. Unless she could strike first and overrun Joffrey's camp. But she also feared that without her presence, the Mad Baron would break free, or that we would seize Kakh City. Her strength was still too limited. Her corruption magic could only convert a handful of soldiers into Fallen ones each day — a slow rate."
"So, after weighing all of it, ambushing and capturing a few scouts — taking their Profession Cards — was the best available option for her."
"But she couldn't catch Little John. He had a Two-Star warhorse — when it counted, he was simply too fast to hunt. So she had no choice but to wait patiently. And I took advantage of that waiting window to use the Concealment Card in advance and hide at this location. Because I knew — and Luna knew — that when the army moved out, a scout element would be sent ahead."
"And that's the environment in which Little John volunteered to be bait. To pin down the black-robed Witch. Against an adversary that cunning, at that level, the only reliable approach is to walk into the trap yourself."
"Of course, I compensated him adequately. Night Owl will also compensate us both once we return from this mission."
"So even if you hadn't assigned him to the southern face of the hill — he would have gone there himself. He spent two of his own Profession Cards to earn you and me the final window we needed."
"In the end, everything worked out. I'm sorry I didn't tell you any of this in advance — your Blood Raven pet would have had a significant probability of sharing that secret outward."
"In a way, putting you in command of the scouts was also the key step to drawing out the black-robed Witch Mixi."
"That's essentially the whole of it. With the Grand Witch Luna dead, Mad Baron Mark will have his sanity restored. Priest Joseph can confirm that the fault lay not with him — so Kakh City, by narrative logic, remains his. I no longer have any story-appropriate basis to attack Kakh City. I have failed. Ron failed even more completely — in truth, he was forcibly cleared out three days ago. The Ron commanding the army now is the real Palace Knight Ron, sent by the royal family."
"So in a way — killing the Grand Witch Luna here, before the army even reached Kakh City, was actually the best possible outcome. Otherwise, even if we'd defeated her and killed the Mad Baron outside Kakh City as originally planned, securing the city for me afterward would have created all kinds of complications — which in turn would have made things difficult for Night Owl."
"Then why did you put Fila and two mercenaries in the scout team instead of Creed and Parya? Weren't you afraid things could go wrong?"
George asked. That part he still didn't understand — had this gambler not been worried about failure?
Hathaway raised two fingers. "Two reasons. First, I do trust your capability. Someone with a realistic shot at the Rookie King title doesn't have weak combat ability. Period."
"Second: three days ago, when Ron was forcibly settled out, the royal-appointed Ron took over everything. Creed and Parya were folded into the combat order of battle — not the reconnaissance element. I no longer had any authority over them. But you, Fila, Shelt, and Li Zhengxing had only joined later — minor mercenary roles, low status. That left some room to work with."
"And to be clear — assigning you to the scout team was entirely Little John acting on his own, fabricating orders."
"In the end, I gambled correctly. That's how it is. Farewell — and remember: I am the Witch Hathaway."
As she spoke, a gust of wind touched her — and Hathaway dissolved into countless motes of light, scattering before George's eyes.
Then, one by one, he saw the others. Somehow both near and impossibly distant.
Little John gave him a small, quiet smile — and was gone. Fila wore an expression of deep dismay; she had genuinely lost out on this one. Carson, Roddy, Creed, Parya — some expressionless, some offering a nod. All departing one by one.
Last of all, seven strangers appeared in the distance. A woman among them held a sleeping infant. They looked around in bewildered confusion. The young man at the front wore a contemplative expression — some underlying reluctance in it — but in the end he let out a long, slow breath.
Without question, every player in this world had been forcibly removed.
Only George remained — and only at this moment did he notice someone walking toward him. The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs — Night Owl.
"My lord!"
George pushed himself upright as best he could. This was the head of Internal Affairs — he could not afford to be careless.
Night Owl smiled. She looked George over for a moment before speaking. "There's no need to be so formal, and no need to rush. It's been one hundred and thirty-two years since this place last produced a Rookie King — so the settlement process will be a little slow. But rest assured: what is yours will not slip away. For now, if you have any questions you've been wanting to ask, this is the moment to ask them freely."
"Also — this space currently constitutes the boundary layer for leaving this world. You're entirely safe here. No need to hold back."
"Thank you for your guidance, my lord. There's — there actually is something I'd like to ask. I want to understand how I should plan my career path going forward. Do you have any advice?"
George asked with genuine sincerity. Everything within the Rookie Mission world was finished now — messy ending and confused middle notwithstanding, he had to look forward.
He wasn't about to ask why it had been worth sacrificing Hathaway's Four-Star Lord mission to eliminate Luna, or why the native world's gods could not be allowed to absorb Luna's power. Some questions were not his to ask.
He had to understand his own place. He could only go shoulder to shoulder with figures like Hathaway and Ron within the structured, rule-bound environment of a Rookie Mission. Outside of that — he still needed to keep his head down.
So asking Night Owl, the head of Internal Affairs, right here and now — that was exactly the right move.
As expected, a trace of genuine appreciation flickered in Night Owl's eyes. "As for your career path — I think you already have a fairly clear sense of the direction yourself."
"For those of us working in service of the great Six-Star Lords, the first Profession Card cannot be changed. Any profession with a Destiny Grid over 20 — erasing it would be self-sabotage. Look at your three current profession Destiny Grids: they're in good shape. You've worked your way toward a solid path on your own. Going forward, for your fourth card — you could choose either the Cavalry Card or the Scout Card. Both are valid options. The specifics depend on your own preferences."
"But if you're asking me personally — I wouldn't advise going to Four-Star too quickly. After crossing into Four-Star, the difficulty increases dramatically. Without sufficient foundation, the most likely outcome is ending up as a Four-Star mercenary or a Four-Star peddler. Take that profiteer Sophie, for example — do you think she chose that life willingly? No. It's because after she hit Four-Star, she had no depth, no team, no distinguishing strength, no territory. The only paths open were peddling and mercenary work. But in her Rookie Mission, she was actually a standout Lord-class player who ranked fifth on the Rookie List."
"Has she never applied for the Three-Star Lord mission?"
George's attention sharpened. Fifth place on the Rookie List was genuinely impressive.
"Of course she applied. But after failing three times, the rules kick in. If you fail three times — your Woodcutter Card, for instance, gets downgraded to Two-Star. Your existing Destiny Grid takes a loss of at least a third. That is the price."