บท 38: First experience (2)

His name was Sunghan Kim, and he achieved the maximum level in the first and second closed betas. Chairman Hong regretted scouting Sunghan. Hong wished he had not accepted the man because he was like a cunning viper coiled up in the grass, looking for an opportunity.

Moreover, Sunghan was quite clever at instigating people, so even before Hong began to do something about him, more and more max level achievers of Myongjin Group followed him day by day, so much so that it was difficult to separate him from those that the company took special care of. At this point, it was very likely that those who achieved the maximum level in the first and second closed betas, who the company had scouted by investing lots of money and time up until now, would leave Myongjin to follow him.

Sunghan already began to show his true colors. He demanded that his daughter get married into the Hong family, and threatened to take his max-level followers to China or Daesung or any other place if he didn't accept his demands.

"Sunghan Kim is more of a problem than the Chinese guys."

Chairman Hong's agonies deepened like that. He knew that he needed to remove rotten pus like Sunghan, but there were so many things at stake that he could not put the scalpel onto so easily.

***

Desert ant caves.

Since I decided to declare this my main hunting ground for the time being, I moved freely from Kotum Castle to this place using the Teleport Zone. And I ran into the No 3. ant cave.

Of course, when the boss monster came out, I thought of the No. 5 ant cave, but I changed my mind after I levelled up to 100 because there were many more than I thought.

Some of them even checked out the appearance of the boss monster. So, I got out immediately because I could not drive the hunt freely. My immediate goal was not the boss monster anyway.

Crunch, crunch.

As if they discovered me, the ants showed up, waving their antennae gladly. I also waved back at them. I even forgot that I was scared about the game itself until a moment ago.

Then I began to move here and there like I used to. In fact, I felt the number of less than 20 ants was not big enough for me to handle. When I moved around for 2-3 minutes like that, there were almost 150 ants chasing me. So, I turned immediately and used the skills that had never let me down.

"Ice Field!"

Crunch, crunch.

I saw a land of ice being created instantly before my eyes. And the ants on the ice land screamed and struggled to get out of the ice field.

"Pouring Hailstones!"

Watching the ants struggling to get out, I used Pouring Hailstones. Of course, I could use Ice Blast, so I used both of them alternately. Whatever I used, it would deal a fatal blow to the ants.

Then I attacked the remaining ants outside the caves with other skills.

"Multiple Ice Arrows. Ice Ball. Ice Bolt."

Moving a little bit, I used those skills one by one. That was it.

A message rang almost as if it were announcing the end.

[You have levelled up.]

That message always pleased me.

At that moment, I heard some noise while picking up golden rings and other miscellaneous items that the ants dropped. It was the sound of something breaking through the wind. More precisely, it was the sound of something flying.

Puk!

An arrow was shot into my ribs gently. Of course, it didn't hurt.

Aside from Health, the arrow was too weak to hurt me since I had 4,000 Physical Strength. And then I heard a voice.

"Brother! That son of a bitch is over there! That bastard who gathered all the ants and damaged our party!"

I slightly turned my head to the place where I heard the voice.

And I could confirm the party of eleven who gossiped about me while looking at my outfit when I was moving to the ant caves at first.

I gently pulled out the arrow stuck in my ribs and looked down at it.

I had never been attacked by users like me, including the monsters in all the games I played, including Revival Legend or Forgotten Legend before it was renamed, because I didn't make any room for conflict from the beginning and I apologized first or avoided it if I saw any signs of physical conflict.

At that moment, all sorts of thoughts came into my mind. I also thought about what I should do when faced with this unexpected situation.

In the meantime, the eleven users surrounded me.

"You bastard! You're the guy who was hunting inside the No. 3 ant caves, right?"

"..."

One of them shouted at me, raising his voice. I didn't respond because I was still at a loss about what to do. Then another guy, who seemed to be his friend, opened his mouth, "That's right! I saw him clearly. I can't forget that outfit of his!"

"You bet. He's the same guy! After he ran away, apparently nearly 300 ants appeared. So, we really had a hard time beating them as well as another 100 ants that we were hunting."

I carefully thought about what they said, and nodded slightly because I really had done what they just said. I fired the threatening Ice Field at the charging ants, determined not to allow even a single EXP that I had been seeking for my deleveling.

"Is this guy dumb? Why is he silent?"

The guy holding a shield who was apparently a tank approached me threateningly and quite rudely.

"Sorry. At that time, I couldn't confirm if somebody was near me."

I apologized to them first, like I used to. But this time I felt different; I felt a sense of defiance.

I'd never felt such feelings before. While playing games, I never felt defiant or shameful when I apologized first and gave it a pass even if it was unfair.

Moreover, in this case, it was obviously my fault because I did them damage when they were hunting. But this kind of ill-mannered thing happened too often in games.

Despite that, I felt annoyed.

If they had been soft on me, I would not have felt it. But they first picked a fight with me even before I spoke.

"Huh? Do you think just saying sorry is enough?"

"It looks like this man thinks it's okay to say sorry after he kills somebody. He thinks life is so easy."

I apologized to them for the kind of bad manners that lots of users displayed so often in hunting. However, these guys made a big fuss by making a mountain out of a molehill as if they wanted to fight with me.

Of course, I was not foolish enough not to notice their intention. So, I raised my head and stared at them one by one to figure out their intentions exactly.

Sugil Chung, the healer, as well as their captain, was suspicious of me. Someone like me with items only beginners could wear, came in and out of the ant caves freely. Of course, people like me wearing nondescript clothes and a sword showed great performance in the martial arts or fantasy genre. In some cases, they even appear with one stick.

But unlike them, this was a game. So, it was possible that I could demonstrate abilities that were significantly different from before, depending on each item I wore. Therefore, Sugil could not understand why I was wearing poor low-level items on purpose.

Besides, these were ant caves where Level 300-350 monsters came out in droves.

In other words, even for a man in a shabby outfit, he would have to be at least Level 400 to challenge the cave alone. But what if a man at Level 400 gained golden rings just enough to wear rags? Above all, Sugil was puzzled by this.

Of course, Sugil had seen people deliberately wear corresponding items, pretending to be low-level hunters. They usually appeared in party hunts, hid their levels, and wore items that befitted their levels to move along with their party.