MMORPG: Rise of the Peerless Pumpkinmancer

The vengeful players "sneakily" approached the fight. Their weapons were already out, crying for blood as they murmured their schemes.

"Surround the bastard."

"Send him to the afterlife."

"What even happens to NPCs when they die?"

"Who cares! All this guy ever does is bully players."

They were murmuring softly enough not to be heard, but their lips were easy to read. What a bunch of amateurs! Jack lazily stretched, heading toward the 20 of them.

Their eyes suddenly went from the fighting to this unknown individual. Jack was currently wearing a long green robe that hid his features.

"Who the hell are you supposed to be?! Wait, that wolf belongs to the Demon King, right?! It's you!" One screamed triumphantly.

"Me? I'm just the dog sitter….eh, wolf sitter." Jack shrugged.

"?!?"

Their faces couldn't help but twist. Was he joking, or was this true? Had they owned such a strong pet, they would have kept it by their side at all times!

"Tch— Don't play games with us. That Derek guy is following you!"

"Yep, I also do babysitting."

¯_(ツ)_/¯

"….." They stared at the man dumbfounded.

But then a few of them snorted. Why would they be scared of one guy? Heck, even the Demon King himself wouldn't be able to endure their wrath today!

"Get that dumbass!"

Then they all charged together, like one happy family.

Jack had just been healed from his mana issues. Food from the Pumpkin Farm and a few healing elixirs from the general shop had worked wonders.

[Killing intent detected!]

[You can fight back without consequences!]

This time he wanted to try something. How far could he push his limits, only using a few of his most recent abilities?

Fire? Too eye-catching

Cluckinator? Too easy to recognize

Ghoulish Touch? Dark heretical magic.

He had recently learned wind magic and mining. His main attributes were his high strength and magical power. He could combine the two for an explosive new technique!

"Catch this guy! He's super slow and—" The shouting player suddenly froze as a flying pickaxe flew and lodged itself in his head.

- 22

"WHAT?!!" how was the damage so high?!

The unknown man had wind magic swirling around his hands as he summoned pickaxes only to throw them with all his power.

Air resistance? Gone!

Momentum and speed? Very High!

Deadliness? Not as high as the humiliation!

This was the Legendary Pickaxe Hurling Technique!

This could be called a minor miner exploit. The mining skill would increase the damage of pickaxes, even when thrown.

[Unknown Mining Skill Interaction Detected]

[Balance Issue? Analyzing. Please Standby! ]

[Overall Effect on Infinite as a Whole…]

[…Negligible! Have Fun!]

Jack grinned, seeing this. He knew that this would eventually be nerfed if too many started exploiting this. But, by then, he'd have unlocked a dedicated pickaxe throwing skill.

This was the result of his training in the Eternal Mines!

"Sit." The pickaxe-throwing madman spoke to them as one would a dog. But would they simply give up their violent designs that easily? Nope.

"I'm gonna kill him!!!" They charged akin to a wave.

The bystanders saw it all happen flabbergasted. This sure was one…peculiar fighting style. The mysterious man hung around the Living Boulders, using them as cover.

He didn't aggro one or two, but three! Not only was he surviving them, but somehow every time one would try to crush him, it would only block an attack!

All eyes focused on the man relentlessly throwing pickaxes. Could he predict the erratic crushing without even looking?! This was the only explanation.

The worst was that he was still treating his enemies as if dogs!!

"Sit!" — Dying…

"Fetch!" — With their heads…

"Play dead!" — They really were…

What kind of perverse fighting technique was this?! The confident aggressors were about to go insane. They kept screaming at him in anger:

"Come here and fight us like a man! Stop hiding behind the boulders and come out!!"

"Stay strong. He'll run out of weapons soon! Every pickaxe cost a few gold coins!"

"You're right. He's screwed! Don't lose hope!!"

They reassured themselves, their war cries becoming more and more heated. That's when Jack naively commented. "Did you know that you can get a discount if you buy in bulk?"

"B-bulk?!" A nervous player asked.

"Oh, a few hundreds." Jack playfully replied.

Their faces suddenly turned whiter than snow as their hopes were crushed. A few hundred?! They'd run out of HP and players long before he'd run out.

"Fear not. This is obviously a bluff! There is—"

— Splatter! —

The man's head exploding all of a sudden told another story. They could already picture the devilish smile hiding underneath the hood by now.

A few tried to steal the loose pickaxes only to drop them on death. They didn't hesitate any longer and simply ran. Out of the 20 assailants, 7 ran in tears— Or tried.

"Running without apologizing? I'll find you all later!" Jack promised them.

As soon as they heard this threat, they froze in place while Jack turned toward the living rocks. Pickaxes just happened to be the creatures' bane. They were shit out of luck!

For the very first time, the living boulders were seen….running away?! What kind of feat was this! If they could, they would have probably been begging for forgiveness!

The humans, however, did have this ability. They obediently lined up, extremely eager to confess their sins. They started begging for forgiveness for their misdeeds.

"P-please forgive us! W-we were foolish and had a moment of weakness. We won't dare have evil thoughts from now on!" One "eloquently" said through his chattering teeth.

"Tch— My patience is limited with humans. I'm more of a dog guy, you see. That's why—" Jack was about to extort money out of them, but then the man decisively acted.

"Woof!"

"What?!"

"Woof! Woof!" The fool started barking like a dog.

At that moment, everyone was shellshocked, Jack being the first. That's not what he had meant at all! But as he saw the poor man making puppy eyes, he couldn't help but chuckle.

"Pfft— Fine, you can go since you're so earnest." He commented, the man barking in relief as he left.

His companions instantly jerked in shock. Before Jack could place a single word, they were all barking like a dog chorus.

Jack didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he let them go nonetheless. They didn't seem wealthy anyway. He returned to his rock, reading his book as if nothing had happened.

The bystanders were staring at the lone figure with their eyes bulging. Who the hell was that guy?! He had called himself the Demon King's wolf sitter, right?

"Psst— Guys, what if he's actually the Demon King?"

"Unlikely. I have a mage friend, and learning magic is super hard."

"You mean one guy won't be able to learn fire and wind magic at once? Makes sense."

"Sword Genius Derek, Pumpkin Witch, Mighty Moon Moon, and now even an Aggravating Dog Sitter. This is getting out of hand…."

"What about the rumor that he owns a tavern in Sprigfield? One also says he's an NPC in charge of a faction in New Leaf…."

They chattered endlessly, their heads filled with questions. Yet while they were happily babbling, they utterly missed the highlight of this event.

Jack's fight had been highly entertaining, sure, but Derek had been training all this time in the background. Jack gave a radiant smile as his disciple finally succeeded.

The string of numbers above the creature's head suddenly changed.

-1, -1, -1 —> -5, -6, -7

— Slash! Slash! Slash! —

As an NPC, Derek couldn't see the change in damage, but he felt it!

Before, every strike felt like he was hitting an invincible mountain that nothing could damage. Now, his attacks barely worked!

Anyone observant would have noticed that his sword was slightly glowing. There was now a near-invisible coating of mana visible on its surface. This was his will affecting mana!

As he turned toward his master, his eyes were filled with boundless gratitude. He approached, bowing deeply.

"Thank you, master. For now on, I'll be able to use my sword under any circumstances and—"

"Are you dumb? Use your damn pickaxe the next time you fight a living rock!" Jack scolded, leaving his disciple at a loss.

"…." What happened to any weapon is good if the will is strong enough?! Had he done all this for nothing?

"Now that you grasped a hint of Sword Will, just do the same for the pickaxe. Both are shiny tools of murder." Jack shrugged.

Derek froze. Hint of Sword Will?! That's what it was?!

How was his master so calm and collected? This was freaking sword will! It was the main prerequisite to progress further on the path of swordsmanship!

Just do the same?! This sentence was so wrong! Also, since when were pickaxes tools of murder? Why were there some lying all over the place?!

He felt so lost. Perhaps he really was no genius. Had White Eagle made a mistake while appraising his talent?

"What are you brooding for? Time to go deeper." Jack instructed, leading their party amidst a sea of players. Everyone would move aside on their passage.

Rumors of the Legendary Pickaxe Hurling Dastardly Wolf Sitter were spreading like wildfire. The people in the Canyon had especially heard of the offenders' fate.

Was it true? Was it exaggerated? There were many incertitudes, but none dared to challenge him recklessly! Still, this didn't stop the main factions from scheming:

"How about we take the wolf hostage? Blackmailing the Demon king sounds profitable."

"Too little of us, and too many eyes. Just tail them for now…."

As for Jack, he already had his hands full with the rock goblins….