Chapter 13
They said we'd get them quickly, but I never imagined they'd hand them out like this.
In Demlock, you absolutely had to speak to NPCs one-on-one to receive quests...
'Is this also the power of AI?'
NPCs possessed intelligence not much different from players.
Since they'd be giving quests to players anyway, bothering to hand out requests one by one must be just as tedious for them.
I was momentarily dumbfounded by such an innovative method, but I didn't dislike it.
Why would I dislike something that saves time?
"Whoa, awesome, I got a quest!"
"Wow, so good. Don't even have to wait in line."
"Dante is a real man, I approve. Now this is a game!"
"Let's hurry and get all the quests then go hunting!"
The players seemed to share the same thought as they hurriedly left the hut.
Do-hyun was among them.
After quickly receiving the essential quests that followed, he obtained a total of 3 quests.
[Collect Goblin Hides]
[Variant Goblin's Blood]
[Mop Up Goblins]
All of them were quests that could be done alongside the goblin cleanup.
Now the preparations were complete.
Passing through the main gate at the city's outskirts and stepping out into the field, a lush forest unfolded.
And above it, densely packed countless goblins and players.
"Looking for party members!"
"Anyone want to collect hides together!"
"Looking for people to stay together until level 12. Two spots left right now."
Among them were some players attempting solo play, but most were looking for parties.
Since following the strategy guide up to level 12 would be faster and safer in a party anyway.
Do-hyun, who had been observing his surroundings, also pulled out a sword from his inventory.
[Old Iron Sword]
[Grade: Common]
[Description: An old iron sword given to players who have completed the tutorial.]
[Level Requirement: 1]
[Equip Restriction: Swordsman class]
[Physical Attack Power: 40~60]
[Durability: 50 / 50]
An iron sword given as a tutorial reward instead of the crude sword.
The stats were unimpressive, but for level 1, this was more than enough. It was certainly much better than a crude sword.
'I want to test various things too.'
Especially since he had gained so much.
Just as he was about to search for goblins to hunt—
"Excuse me."
A man spoke to him.
He was quite large but had a gentle impression, carrying a thick wooden shield.
Making eye contact, he gave an awkward smile and quickly spoke up.
"I see you just got here, we have exactly one spot left, would you like to join? You'd have the same quests anyway. Oh, you did get all three essential quests, right?"
"Yes."
"Then let's party together. We're going to push until level 12, and a 4-person party is the standard rule."
Behind him, two more players approached.
A young man of relatively small build, and a young woman with cute features and bobbed hair.
"That's right! There's party bonus experience until level 12."
"Let's hunt together."
The party members each added a word of persuasion, and Do-hyun had no choice but to nod.
'That's true.'
The beginner city Arde.
True to its name, this place was generous with beginner support.
From quest acquisition difficulty to monster numbers and respawn rates. Everything was convenient enough, but the best benefit among them was the party bonus experience.
A system that supported parties of up to 4 players below level 12.
With this benefit receiving bonus experience, the experience gained from hunting became virtually no different from solo play.
As long as the contribution of participating in the kill was recognized, experience was even settled for monsters that party members hunted.
'There's also an abundance of monsters.'
That was the reason why there were particularly many players forming parties here.
Not partying here would be foolish.
The beginner city Arde was truly an extension of the tutorial, just as the strategy guide stated.
Seeing this, it really was a different game from Demlock.
Benefits? Adaptation?
Demlock had none of that nonsense.
It was a game that threw you into enemy territory from the start and told you to find a town on your own.
'Then again, that's why Demlock players are all playing combat classes in God of SE.'
Do-hyun chuckled and answered.
"Sounds good. Let's party."
"Nice! Good call!"
"Phew... we really needed a melee dealer, thank goodness."
"I'm telling you, why did we all have to pick ranged classes?"
"A man's an archer, duh."
"It's virtual reality, what could be more exciting than using magic? I really wanted to try magic."
They welcomed him with bright smiles upon his acceptance.
They appeared to be in their early twenties, and whether they were friends or not, they got along well.
Hearing their conversation, Do-hyun glanced at their weapons.
'One archer, one mage, one tank...'
Now that they had formed a party, they must have lacked a melee dealer and approached Do-hyun seeing him carrying a sword.
Their excitement at finally completing a party reeked of untouched newbie energy.
"I'll send a party request then."
"Sure."
['ShieldBest' has requested you to join the party.]
[Would you like to accept?]
Upon pressing confirm, a semi-transparent hologram window floated up on the lower left.
['ShieldBest's party is formed.]
[Party Leader]
- ShieldBest
[Party Members]
- MiganTtakdae
- YubinKkyung
- Kaiser
True to game nicknames, they were quite distinctive names.
Names that clearly revealed what class they wanted to play. Do-hyun wasn't the only one who reacted to the nicknames.
"Oh? Kaiser?"
ShieldBest reacted upon seeing Do-hyun's name.
'Ah right, I heard there are many Demlock players among the rankers.'
Most of them kept their names from the Demlock era.
Even if it was forgotten now, reacting to the name Kaiser was only natural.
However, it was slightly different from the reaction Do-hyun had expected.
"Oh, Kaiser. You're a Kaiser fan!"
"Kaiser? Who's that? Is he famous?"
"Yeah, he is. Rank 1 from the Demlock era. You know God of SE was based on Demlock, right? Because of that, the hardcore fanbase is quite thick."
"Still, Kaiser fans are rare these days, must be a true fan. Even naming yourself Kaiser."
"……."
The party members chatted casually without even considering that Do-hyun might be Kaiser.
They treated Kaiser like some relic of the past that had faded into history.
At their reactions, Do-hyun scratched his head.
'...Well, this is right.'
It would be a lie to say he hadn't secretly expected something, but this was Kaiser's current position.
Still, having a thick fanbase was some comfort, if it could be called that.
'But if what they say is true, there might be a lot of people with the same nickname as me.'
Perhaps a situation could arise where he partied up and a party member was also Kaiser.
Wondering how it would feel to meet a fake Kaiser, Do-hyun chuckled, and by then ShieldBest, having finished preparations, shouted out.
"Alright then, shall we go hunting?"
"Let's go hit level 12 quick!"
"Let's go!"
The real hunt had begun.
* * *
The prey was found quickly.
Goblins were everywhere, so there was no need to go far.
The group positioned themselves in front of five goblins gathered together and took up their positions.
"I'll take the front first. Kaiser, you can stand next to me and serve as a sub-tank and dealer. Migan and Yubin, deal good damage from the back."
"Got it~ I'll pin Migan right in."
"Yeah! Leave it to me!"
ShieldBest commanded well for his first hunt, perhaps because he had studied hard.
It was a truly textbook hunting position. Nothing distinctive, but that made it the most basic positioning with no flaws to find.
'Not bad.'
That was why Do-hyun followed along without complaint.
Satisfied, ShieldBest nodded proudly, gripped his shield, and slowly advanced forward.
The moment the distance between them and the goblins reached about 4 meters.
Kikik? Kik!
The goblins that had been standing peacefully reacted and swung the daggers in their hands.
Typical aggressive monsters that attacked first when someone entered a certain range.
It was something that would fluster a beginner, but ShieldBest calmly raised his shield and blocked.
He didn't stop there, pushing upward and swinging his shield.
Thwack!
['ShieldBest' has inflicted a status ailment on the Green Goblin.]
[The Green Goblin is stunned for 1 second.]
"I used Bash! Everyone attack!"
It was Bash, the basic skill of shield weapons.
Only a 1-second stun, but in combat, 1 second was more than enough time.
Hitting a moving enemy was difficult, but a stationary enemy was no different from a punching bag.
"MiganTtakdae!"
"Here I go!"
MiganTtakdae fired arrows and YubinKkyung launched mana bolts as if they'd been waiting.
When the Green Goblin fell instantly under focused fire, the goblin comrades nearby were startled and charged in.
Kirik! Kiek!
Kiiiek!
The target was none other than ShieldBest.
They were expressing their anger at losing a comrade toward ShieldBest, who was closest.
He urgently raised his shield and blocked as best he could, but even so, he was a level 1 player who had just changed classes.
It was inevitable that he was outmatched, and he started getting pushed back little by little.
"Ugh... this is tough, kill them quickly!"
But in YubinKkyung's case, her only attack method was mana bolt.
While it had a short cooldown of 8 seconds and was powerful, it was currently on cooldown and couldn't help at all. The arrows from MiganTtakdae alone had their limits.
What they needed now was a melee dealer.
Taah! Seogeuk-!
Kieeeek!
When Do-hyun quickly approached and slashed a goblin that had lost focus, the creature foamed at the mouth and charged at him.
It had taken significant damage while off guard and deemed him a threat.
But Do-hyun ignored it and struck another one.
Thwack!
Kiek!! Keke!!
Enraged, the goblins charged at Do-hyun, but with perfect timing, ShieldBest landed a 'Bash'.
['ShieldBest' has inflicted a status ailment on the Green Goblin.]
[The Green Goblin is stunned for 1 second.]
While the one struck on the back of the head momentarily froze, arrows flew forth.
Though not all of them hit, arrows were embedding into arms and legs.
With aggro divided and disrupted from both sides and arrows flying from behind, the goblins were in complete chaos.
"Kaiser, nice!"
It was only natural for ShieldBest, who had an easier time thanks to this, to flash a thumbs up.
At this rate, they'd finish them smoothly...
[You have defeated a Green Goblin.]
[You have defeated a Green Goblin.]
[Through contribution distribution, 'ShieldBest' obtains the Green Goblin's hide.]
"...Huh?"
ShieldBest momentarily paused at the two goblins that died much faster than expected.
Now that he thought about it, attacks had also stopped coming.
'What?'
Sensing something was off, he lowered his shield and saw it.
Do-hyun standing on top of the two fallen goblins, and all the goblins' aggro drawn to him.
"...What is this."
Why was the aggro on that man who had only tapped them once, instead of himself the tank or the ranged dealers?
This situation could only mean one of two things.
Either he had an aggro skill, or he had poured in瞬间ally unbalanced burst damage.
At below level 10, having an aggro skill made no sense.
'...Then that means the one or two hits that guy landed dealt more damage than all of us combined?'
Enough to draw all the aggro?
...Did that make any logical sense?
While his brain was freezing up trying to understand the incomprehensible situation—
"B-behind!"
"...Huh?"
Snapped back to his senses by MiganTtakdae and YubinKkyung's shouts, ShieldBest turned around. At the same time, his eyes widened.
Reflecting in his pupils was green skin.
Kiruk, Keruk!
Kekeke!
It was a group of no less than ten Green Goblins.
"...Crazy."
When there were still three remaining, ten more were coming?
No, they hadn't even encroached on their territory, so why were goblins suddenly swarming in?
That question was resolved the moment he saw their appearance.
"...Arrows."
A familiar arrow was embedded in one of their arms.
It seemed a few stray arrows that MiganTtakdae had excitedly fired had headed toward them.
It was an accident caused by the sheer number of goblins in the vicinity.
'Damn it, this is why I was trying to hold aggro and hunt carefully!'
They had a habit of not attacking unless someone came within 5 meters.
That was why you could hunt safely even with many goblin groups around, but there was one special situation where even these creatures reacted.
When hit by a ranged attack.
Only then would they charge at the player who attacked them, regardless of how far away they were.
"S-sorry... I think I shot wrong. I'm really sorry. I'm sorry, Kaiser. Ah... why am I like this?"
"No, what do we do? Should we run?"
MiganTtakdae, the cause of the situation, was pale and rambling, while YubinKkyung was stomping her feet in panic.
As the party leader, ShieldBest needed to give orders.
But no matter how much he had mastered the theory, this was his first real combat too.
Let alone imagining such a catastrophe on his very first real battle, he couldn't make a quick judgment of the situation.
"Uh..."
Kiruk! Keruruk!
While he stood there blankly for a moment, the goblin group had already closed in to close range.
Only then did ShieldBest snap fully back to his senses and shout urgently.
"We can't kill these. I'll stun them, so run—!"
But before his order could even be fully given.
Tat!
"W-what!"
"W-what the...!"
Along with the sound of something kicking off the ground, something quickly brushed past him.
A swordsman with black hair flying behind him.
It was Kaiser.