Chapter 308 : Greed Island's Shaman and Witch!!

January 25.

Greed Island, second basement level of Limeiro Castle.

The fluorescent light on the ceiling flickered twice with a faint buzzing sound, like a skipping animation frame, making it slightly unsettling.

Abengane, with his tanned skin, was lounging in a chair with a backrest, leisurely flipping through a book titled Shamanic Beliefs and Rituals. Seeing the flickering light, he couldn't help but glance up.

It's about time to replace that tube, he thought.

The fluorescent lights in the Limeiro Castle Basement Lantern Teleportation Point were always on, rarely ever turned off. As a result, they burned out rather quickly.

Since the theoretical cooldown for the Lantern Teleportation had ended on January 10, there was usually at least one person on duty in this room at all times. Today, that person was Abengane.

However, in reality, the room was also being monitored by Dwun, Eta, and Elena. If anything unusual happened, they would be the first to know.

Having someone on duty was just an extra precaution—just in case the Germain squad returned and needed immediate assistance.

Abengane might not always be able to provide the best help in critical moments, but at the very least, he could do something.

He also genuinely enjoyed this way of life.

His current work was divided into three main parts.

The first was contributing to the daily operations and updates of Greed Island.

After months of work, the island had undergone major planned updates and modifications, and the game had now entered its beta testing phase.

The decision to update the game was made in late September last year. Now, at the end of January, about four months had passed.

With a one-month beta test followed by another month of adjustments based on player feedback, Greed Island would soon reopen to the public.

This meant that many beta testers were currently on the island—most of them veteran players.

During this phase, Abengane had altered his appearance and physique to play the role of an NPC—"The Shaman."

This was why he was reading the book in his hands—to fully immerse himself in his role.

His salary was quite generous, so he had no intention of slacking off. Over time, he had also developed a strong sense of belonging to Greed Island.

In the game, as long as players provided him with certain quest items or a set amount of Jenny, he could remove Card Curses from them, or even perform Exorcism.

Of course, the "fee" he charged varied depending on the situation and the difficulty of the request.

Exorcism was undoubtedly the highest-tier service. Only top-tier players or big spenders could afford it.

The second part of his job was training his direct subordinate—Hina, the Chimera Ant.

Like Abengane, she was also an Exorcist and could do similar things. However, she needed to go through a "pregnancy" period to complete the process.

At first, Abengane thought disciplining this seemingly cheerful and innocent "girl" wouldn't be too difficult.

But as time went on, he realized more and more that Hina had a mischievous streak—she was a little troublemaker at heart.

Now that she had taken his place, freely interacting with beta testers in the form of an NPC Witch, who knew what kind of chaos she was causing? 

Just thinking about it gave Abengane a headache.

Strangely enough, however, feedback on the Greed Island Beta Test Forum showed that the Witch was far more popular than the Shaman.

The beta testers seemed to love her quirky and playful personality. After all, she still did her job properly—it was just that she enjoyed teasing or scaring players along the way.

Before long, the testers caught on to her antics and started posting about her in the forum.

Posts like "She's so cute…", "I want her to mess with me", and "My wife!" flooded the boards.

Rather than demanding the Greed Island devs change the Witch's personality, they fiercely insisted on keeping her as she was, claiming it was part of her "charm."

Ridiculous.

Every time Abengane thought about this, he couldn't help but frown.

Are they all masochists?

I just can't understand it.

The third part of his duties was taking shifts at the "Limeiro Castle Underground Lantern Teleportation Point."

Abengane worked here about once a week. He had two days off, and during those three days, Hina would take his place in Greed Island.

Because of this, the beta testers gave him the nickname: "The by-the-book shaman who appears four days a week."

Meanwhile, Hina was known as "The lively and energetic wife who appears three days a week."

Yes, not "witch"—but "wife."

That's just how the beta testers thought. Some of them even deliberately chose to visit only when Hina was around, just to spend more time with her.

Abengane didn't mind. No matter what, his paycheck remained the same. Fewer players bothering him just meant more peace and quiet.

To be honest, he was quite satisfied with his current life. He couldn't understand why Germain and the others were so eager to throw their lives away by venturing into the Dark Continent.

The first underground level of Limeiro Castle housed the "Dark Continent Archive." Sometimes, Abengane would browse the records there.

Even at a glance, it was clear—the Dark Continent was unimaginably dangerous.

He had absolutely no desire to go there. If anything, reading more about it only strengthened his resolve.

Life on Greed Island was pretty good. Here, he had found his place and a future he could look forward to.

Right now, his Greed Island authority level was A-rank, though he was still on the fringes of that rank.

But he knew—over time, he would gradually move closer to the core.

Dwun and List needed him. Granny Linne needed him. Greed Island needed him.

Most importantly, Germain needed him.

Abengane flipped another page of the book in his hands, his mind as clear as a mirror.

As long as he still possessed the ability to remove Nen, he would always have a special place here. Hina could never replace him in this regard.

Especially when he was in peak condition, he could remove two Nen Curses at once—something Hina was currently incapable of.

Unless one day… she somehow had twins inside her.

As Abengane had this passing thought, a faint purple glow suddenly lit up beside him, casting light on his face. The next moment, he felt a ripple of Nen.

He froze for a second before realizing what was happening. Turning his head, he saw a circular formation appear, marking the center of a summoning.

A Teleportation Lantern emerged.

They were back?

Abengane immediately put down his book, stood up, and walked over quickly. As the light faded, two familiar figures appeared before him.

A pointed hat, a black Hunter robe—Germain.

Black-framed glasses, a sweater, and jeans—Shizuku.

They had returned. They were really back.

Abengane couldn't help but smile.

That smile carried a bit of genuine relief—because his position in Greed Island was tied closely to Germain.

If Germain had met with misfortune and never returned, Abengane would still have a place here as a Nen Exorcist, but he would never reach the top.

As long as Germain was alive and returning to Greed Island, his influence remained.

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