HSF 7

Just as the 10-minute time limit ended, the party members moved outside the dungeon. Cheong-hyeon tried to escape by pretending not to hear Jimni’s words and saying goodbye.

“Good work everyone~.”

“Ah, Ittorang! Wait! Please don’t leave yet!”

At Jimni’s desperate call, Cheong-hyeon decided to stay behind in the voice chat. The sound of rapid keyboard typing could be heard from Jimni and Seohee1. They seemed to be plotting something through whispers amongst themselves.

[Guild] Capybara: Good work everyone hehe

[Guild] Ittorang: Good job everyone~

Meanwhile, Capybara, who was reading the room, greeted everyone via chat and quickly ran over to the merchant. Cheong-hyeon also talked to the merchant to sell the obtained ore and was able to earn as much as 8.7 million gold. Usually, even in a well-coordinated party, he would earn around 7 million gold, but 8.7 million was an amount that most parties could only dream of. A very satisfied smile appeared at the corners of Cheong-hyeon’s mouth. The struggles of the past 10 minutes were instantly forgotten.

[Guild] Lucky: Good work everyone 🙂

[Guild] Poten: Thanks for the carry>

[Guild] StrongestSpirit: Good job!

[Guild] bowwow: Good work~

Lucky’s group must have just finished the Mystic Mine as well, as their messages suddenly flooded the chat.

[Guild] Capybara: Oh, you finished at the same time! How much did you earn?

[Guild] Capybara: We got 8.7 million hehehe

Cheong-hyeon was slightly taken aback by Capybara’s bragging about their gold before he could stop him. In reality, the gold earnings from the Mystic Mine differed day by day, so whether it was 8 million or 7 million gold, it wasn’t a huge difference.

The problem was that players of this game often used various content to show off “how strong they were,” and one of those metrics was income from the Mystic Mine. So, while Capybara was simply excited about earning a lot of gold and wanted to boast, to veteran players, that chat could be interpreted as “I earned 8.7 million, how much did you losers make?” This was especially problematic coming from Capybara, who had been excluded from Lucky’s party, making the situation prone to misunderstanding.

“Uhahahak!”

“Hmm…you’re more of a tough guy than I thought.”

“Uh…why? Did I do something wrong?”

“No, no! It’s fine, huk!”

Cheong-hyeon laughed mischievously while worrying about a potential fight. Although Capybara’s words weren’t intentional, thinking about how annoyed Lucky must be felt quite satisfying. Just as Cheong-hyeon prepared to defend Capybara and mediate the situation:

[Guild] Lucky: Our party doesn’t live and die by gold, so 🙂

[Guild] Lucky: We earned just under 8 million.

[Guild] Poten: I envy parties with Knights…ㅜ

[Guild] Seohee1: Even when we’re being casual, we’ve never earned less than 8 million?

[Guild] Seohee1: It seems like there’s a problem with your party, hang in there^^

[Guild] StrongestSpirit: Hehe…you earned a lot of gold, congratulations.

Lucky was clearly gritting their teeth despite using a smiling emoticon. Fortunately, StrongestSpirit managed to defuse the tension before it escalated into a fight. Taking advantage of this moment, Jimni, who seemed to have finished plotting, spoke up.

“Anyway, Ittorang and Capybara, what do you think about forming a fixed party for Mystic Mine runs with our current members?”

“Wow, that sounds great!”

“I’d like that, but…”

An excited Capybara used the rolling animation to tumble around Cheong-hyeon and Jimni. Having been unable to join guild parties and forced to relegate to public groups, Capybara was clearly happy at the prospect of having reliable party members to run missions with in the future.

Cheong-hyeon was also in favor of joining considering the 8.7 million gold earned in just 10 minutes, but he hesitated, seeing through their obvious scheme to persuade him to get a legendary special ring by taking him in their fixed party. He felt the need to firmly establish boundaries to avoid future complications.

“I really can’t get the legendary special ring.”

“If you summon Grack three times, you’d be the first on the entire server?”

“…”

Cheong-hyeon wavered slightly at Seohee1’s words. The glory of a “server first” title was…pointless yet thrilling. Even if it was glory that would disappear the moment he turned off the game, there was something about that sense of accomplishment and pride that made his heart race.

“Why not? You don’t seem that busy anyway.”

“What? I’m actually a very busy person!”

“Your status shows you’ve been playing for 3 hours straight. What’s that about?”

“…”

What could a college student who was done with finals possibly be busy with? Except for his weekend part-time job, Cheong-hyeon had time to spare and spent all day gaming as a result.

For a moment, he considered trying it but quickly gathered his resolve. BioGod had too many things to do even without grinding for a legendary special ring. It would be more beneficial to use that time to level up instead. Besides, the “server first” Seohee1 mentioned wasn’t guaranteed. It was just a possibility. He couldn’t waste a whole week over a success that wasn’t even certain in the first place.

To begin with, he had only survived today’s Mystic Mine because Seohee1 was exceptionally good at healing. If he had been with another healer, he would have died long ago. So even if Cheong-hyeon worked hard to get the legendary special ring, he would only be able to use it in Mystic Mine runs with Seohee1, and grinding in the field for a long time just to earn an extra 1-2 million gold per day didn’t make economic sense no matter how he looked at it.

“It’s okay without the legendary special ring! This was our first time, but our teamwork was great, that’s why I suggested forming a fixed party!”

Jimni stepped in to mediate when the conversation wasn’t progressing. Though her hidden motives were obvious, it was true that their teamwork had been excellent.

“How about meeting at the same time tomorrow?”

“That works for me!”

“Yes, I’m available then.”

“I thought you were busy.”

Cheong-hyeon felt slightly annoyed at Seohee1’s last comment, but before he could snap back, Jimni intervened again. She seemed quite accustomed to defusing these kinds of conflicts, suggesting the frequency of such things.

“Good work everyone~. Dismissed! You, get out quickly, Seo Hee-won.”

“Good work everyone!”

“Haha…good job. See you tomorrow.”

As Cheong-hyeon was exiting the voice chat, the name “Seo Hee-won” caught his ear. Using the number “1” instead of “won”…what terrible naming sense. Cheong-hyeon inwardly criticized Seo Hee-won as he moved to the field to complete his remaining daily missions.

Today’s mission was a request from an NPC villager to catch 300 red monkeys that kept stealing the village’s food. Cheong-hyeon moved to a dense forest and began hunting monkeys.

He was hunting without any issues when he noticed something strange after getting hit by a monkey. After getting attacked, he lost much more health than usual. Only then did he realize he hadn’t switched back to his regular equipment after leaving the Mystic Mine. He removed the special ring and put on Giant Jackson’s Guardian Ring.

While one might not notice what they have, they certainly notice what they lack—and though Cheong-hyeon hadn’t been aware of his increased damage output before, the decrease in DPS was now glaringly obvious. Once he noticed it, he kept feeling regretful.

If only I didn’t have to wear this shackle of a Giant Jackson’s Guardian Ring, I could be so much stronger…

He even considered taking that annoying Seo Hee-won along as a healing shuttle. Looking at his reduced damage output, Cheong-hyeon lost motivation to complete his daily mission. He stopped hunting and moved to a nearby forest untouched by light—a field where dark-attribute mobs called Hungry Wolves spawned.

I made it clear I wasn’t planning to get the legendary special ring, but…if it drops, great, if not, oh well. I’ll just try for about 30 minutes.

Just one minute after Cheong-hyeon started hunting with that mindset, a special mob appeared in the field. Somehow, it felt promising. With gleaming eyes, Cheong-hyeon began the grind to catch special mobs. Then, about two hours later…

“This is ridiculous, I quit!”

In those two hours, he hadn’t seen even a common special ring, let alone a legendary one. After wasting time with nothing to show for it, he regretted not using that time to complete his daily quests instead.

Cheong-hyeon dragged his exhausted body and mind back to the village. He still needed to finish today’s daily quests, but he was too drained to do anything. While standing idle in the village, it occurred to him to look for a new guild.

Cheong-hyeon had tried to develop more attachment to his current guild, but Lucky had completely turned him off. He was determined to leave the guild. Though he couldn’t quit immediately, he needed to start looking for a new guild. Cheong-hyeon began checking guild rankings to find a decent one.

* * *

Last night, Cheong-hyeon ultimately failed to find another guild to his liking. Most guilds weren’t recruiting unpopular classes like Doom Slayer, and the guilds that accepted all classes had disappointing guild levels. Planning to search for guilds again today, Cheong-hyeon logged in an hour before the Divine Mine appointment.

[Guild] [Ittorang has logged in.

[Guild] PuPuding: Hello~

[Guild] Jimni: Hi Ittorang~

[Guild] Ittorang: Hello everyone~

[Guild] Tiramisush: Student Ittorang.

[Guild] Tiramisush: Did you finish your homework before gaming?

[Guild] Ittorang: I’m on break, so no homework^^

[Guild] Tiramisush: Not taking summer classes?

[Guild] Ittorang: What’s that?

[Guild] Tiramisush: You didn’t fall for it ㅎㅅㅎ

[Guild] Ittorang: ㅎㅅㅎ