Chapter 19: 19

Max Talent Player

Chapter 19: Nightmare (2)

This place, the first forked path, was called ‘Nepalas’ Path’.

In the Tutorial Dungeon’s setting, ‘Nepalas’ was the name of one of the first gods, and a ‘ring’ previously cherished by that god dropped in the first forked path. It had a random chance to drop. If you were lucky, it could drop after one kill, but it could also take a long time.

‘In any case, the total time it takes to collect all seven items is about the same.’

If it took a long time in the 1st forked path, it would take comparatively less time in the 2nd.

‘This one was… average, I guess?’

It didn’t feel particularly slow or fast.

Now that we had the ring, we were finished here. I turned without hesitation.

“Oppa. There are more black yaks in the corner over there… We don’t have to hunt them?”

“Nope. Black yaks don’t give much EXP.”

The greatest efficiency in the least amount of time—that was the basic principle of Playing. Black yaks weren’t all that cost-effective. They weren’t very difficult to kill, but the EXP they gave was too low compared to the time it took.

“Let’s go. We’re going to the 2nd path.”

The order wasn’t really set in stone, but there was an implicit clearing method that Players agreed on. Countless people had cleared the ‘Seoul Station Dungeon’, and a strategy had formed naturally according to their experiences. Normally, when soloing this dungeon, you went in order from path 1 to 7.

We left the first path and went into the second.

* * *

So Yoohyun and Seo Joohwan’s group entered the 1st forked path. Joohwan made a sound of admiration.

“Wowie…”

There were black yak bodies everywhere. Seeing as only their horns were sliced off, it seemed their horns were their weak spot. There were a ton of dead black yaks, at least thirty of them.

“It looks like someone has already passed through this place,” someone remarked.

“All the way down… Oh, there are some black yaks over there.”

There were still black yaks left. What did that mean?

“I don’t see any dead Players. That’s gotta mean they ran away.”

As far as they knew, only two Players had entered ahead of them. It wasn’t strange that they had fled after hunting this many black yaks; it was possible they had run low on stamina.

“They definitely ran away,” said Joohwan with certainty. “How about kicking things off by killing those guys to stretch our bodies a little?”

The group began to fight in their own way.

* * *

* * *

They kept hunting ‘black yaks’ in the 2nd path as well. In ‘Dyugo’s Path’, the item ‘Dyugo’s Necklace’ dropped.

Hyukjin shrugged. ‘We had good luck this time.’

They only had to kill four black yaks before the item dropped. Sunhwa had picked up on his intent, and upon seeing him pick up the item, she quipped, “Are we going to the 3rd path now?”

Killing black yaks wasn’t the important thing. Getting those items was what was important. She gained an understanding regarding ‘key items’.

“Let’s go.”

Slightly different monsters appeared on Delansha’s Path. They looked basically the same as black yaks, but they were purple in color. These ‘purple yaks’ were about 1-2 levels higher than black yaks. 

“Sunhwa. You take the lead.”

“M-Me?”

“Yeah.”

Sunhwa inched forward. Hyukjin walked behind the petite girl. Just then, something came hurtling their way.

“Kyaa!”

Something crashed into Sunhwa’s forehead with a clack before falling to the ground.

“It’s alright. You won’t die.”

“W-What was that just now?”

“A horn.”

“A horn?”

“Yeah. A horn shot by a purple yak. They’re basically ranged attackers.” That was why he put Sunhwa in the front. “You’re sturdier than me, so it’s better for you to get hit than me.”

“O-Oppa! Kyak!”

“Don’t worry. See, you’re not dying.”

It was true. The purple yak horns couldn’t damage Sunhwa at all.

More ‘purple yak’ horns came shooting towards them. Still not completely used to Playing, Sunhwa screamed every time, even though there was zero impact to her body. After a while, the two of them heard a notice.

[You have killed Purple Yaks.]

[EXP acquired.]

[13 Coins acquired.]

Sunhwa was somewhat slack-jawed. She simply stood and took some hits, but the purple yak croaked all on its own. Without understanding the reason, she continued walking forward and spotted the ‘purple yak’ bodies on the ground.

“These guys die after shooting their horns twice.”

Realization dawned on Sunhwa. “E-Even so, did you just use me as a shield?”

“Yeah. You’re a tank, aren’t you?”

“S-Still.”

“Well, even if you die, it’s you who’s kicking the bucket and not me, so whatever,” Hyukjin said, cracking a joking smile. “Right then. Go forth, my amazing Miss Tank.”

To Players, things like age or gender weren’t important. Only their class, stats, Guardian, and skills were important. Sunhwa had far more ‘tanking ability’ than Hyukjin. If each Player had a ‘total score’, his number would be far higher, but she would have the higher score when it came to ‘damage tanking ability’.

Surprisingly, Sunhwa seemed to be moved by his offhand comment.

“I’m amazing?”

“More than expected, I guess?”

She looked happy for a moment, but her expression soon turned strange as she mumbled, “It’s true I’m a tanker, but…”

She really wasn’t used to it. This oppa who used her, a 14-year-old, very petite kid, as a shield… could she really believe in him? Of course, she did believe him. She did, but still, something about it made her feel a little unsure.

Hyukjin chuckled. “Get your head on straight. You’re not just a 14-year-old kid. This is a dungeon, and you’re a Player.”

When Playing, everyone had to do what they were good at. He didn’t put Sunhwa in the front just because he didn’t want to get hit by purple yak horns. He had recognized Sunhwa’s talent early on, and as long as he didn’t intend on throwing her away and would continue to walk forward with her in the future, she had to get used to experiences like this. Hyukjin spoke jokingly in order to help her relax, but this was absolutely not a joke. In fact, making her take the lead like this was also a good thing for Sunhwa’s growth.

‘I may know all the strategies, but there’s no doubt about it. Playing is dangerous.’

With the danger came a need for everyone to be faithful to their own roles. Rather, they had to be good at their roles. That was the correct thing to say.

‘Delansha’s Bracelet’ was the item that dropped from the 3rd forked path, ‘Delansha’s Path’. They had collected the items from three out of the seven paths.

“We’re just leaving the rest of the purple yaks, right?”

“Yeah.”

“It seems like the purple yaks give a lot of EXP, though…”

“I know.”

Purple yaks were certainly foes that gave a lot of EXP. With a good tank like Sunhwa around, killing them was also easy.

“Is there… a reason why you’re leaving them?”

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That went without saying.

“Do you think we’re the only ones who came in here?”

Sunhwa didn’t understand what those words meant. In her eyes, Hyukjin was an ‘adult’ who knew a great many things, and she thought it was only natural for her not to understand all the words of an adult.

Hyukjin shrugged and walked back. 

“We have to leave those guys here to slow down the small fry.”

Because if the past repeated itself, Seo Joohwan had definitely entered the dungeon.

* * *

So Yoohyun and Seo Joohwan’s group killed all of the black yaks in the 1st fork.

“There’s nothing special around.”

Kim Hyukjin had already acquired ‘Nepalas’ Ring’. The only reward that could be gained now from the 1st forked path were the EXP and Coins gained from hunting ‘black yaks’.

Joohwan scowled. “They’ve got frickin’ good defense, but give shit EXP.”

Yoohyun nodded. The cost-effectiveness of black yaks was the worst.

“If we hadn’t known that the horns were their weak spot, we might have had a really tough time.”

“Still, as expected of the Tutorial Ender, you’re indeed outrageous. If someone like me were to get hit by that fist of yours, they’d die in one hit,” said Joohwan, making idle chatter.

“I think we’ve killed everything here, so shall we go to another path?”

Not a single person even thought of trying the kind of Playing Hyukjin had shown, where he was basically ‘soloing’. After all, they had seen the horrors of Jongno not too long ago. Because they remembered the Tutorial Field, where 145,000 out of 150,000 had perished, neither Yoohyun nor Joohwan were able to consider moving on their own.

There weren’t many bodies in the 2nd fork, only four. The fact there were some dead monsters meant that someone had hunted here, but there were still many living black yaks. However, there was no Player body. It was at this point that Yoohyun began to feel that something was a little strange.

‘What is it?’

Did the Player who was in the 1st path go into the 2nd one before running again? It was difficult to figure out. While he was thinking, Joohwan said, “For now, let’s catch ‘em.”

They caught all the black yaks remaining in the 2nd pathway. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them, Hyukjin acquired the ‘Athenia’s Necklace’ from the 4th fork, ‘Athenia’s Path’, and the ‘Zenith’s Cudgel’ from the 5th fork, ‘Zenith’s Path’.

When Hyukjin and Sunhwa were in the 6th path, Yoohyun and Joohwan’s party went into the 3rd. There, both Yoohyun and Joohwan finally caught on. 

“They didn’t run away; they left them,” said Joohwan, scowling.

“I think so as well.”

“There must be key items for clearing the dungeon.”

Joohwan felt slightly incensed. He couldn’t be sure whether the mystery Player left the monsters here on purpose or not, but he felt a spike of irritation knowing that there was someone stepping far ahead of him.

‘Who the hell is it?’

He was with the Tutorial Ender, So Yoohyun, so who would dare to step ahead? While leaving only small fry for them to deal with, no less.

Yoohyun looked serious. “Let’s just leave the monsters and go to the other paths.”

While they were discussing, Hyukjin got the ‘Victoria’s Shield’ from the 6th path. Yoohyun and Joohwan’s party followed right on his heels.

In the end, they all came face to face in the 7th forked path.

* * *

Even before we entered the 7th forked path, I knew other people would come looking for us.

‘That was slower than I expected.’

To be honest, I thought we would meet at around the 6th path, but they were a little slower. They were certainly still beginner Players.

‘Figures. From their point of view, this is all completely new to them.’

They were different from me, who had the strategy guides memorized by heart. I’d seen the Seoul Station Dungeon strategy video on Youtube probably close to thirty times. From the very beginning, our starting points were different.

Sunhwa and I met the other Players in the 7th fork.

‘Fist King So Yoohyun.’

I immediately activated Eye of Perception.

[Player]

Name: So Yoohyun

Age: 20

Level: 17

Class: –

Guardian: –

State: Gladness / Surprise

Disposition: Neutral / Just / Generous / Narrow-minded

Summary: Debt-Repaying Magpie

His level was 17, a very outstanding number. There was something other than his level that shocked me.

‘What’s with his disposition?’ Neutral and just were fine, but… ‘How can he be both generous and narrow-minded at the same time?’

Was Eye of Perception broken? The results were clear, but I didn’t quite understand. I didn’t actually think Eye of Perception’s analysis was wrong. It must be that when it came to some things, So Yoohyun could be very generous, and in others, narrow-minded. His summary was ‘Debt-Repaying Magpie’, in reference to the Korean folktale of the magpie that gave its life to repay its debt to the farmer who saved its chicks. It wasn’t a bad summary.

‘So Yoohyun isn’t the important one right now.’

That man who had a strange smile on his lips while looking at me, I knew him.

‘He still looks young, but…’

He was as young as the Fist King.

[Player]

Name: Seo Joohwan

Age: 21

Level: 16

Class: –

Guardian: –

State: Lust / Displeasure

Disposition: Evil / Violent / Fake

Summary: Violent Pedophile

We were still in the early stages of Playing, but even though he had just come out of the Tutorial Field, in my eyes, he looked rotten to the core.

‘So we meet here.’ I had expected it. ‘Seo Joohwan.’

Later, there would be a massive organization called ‘Nightmare’. It went by the alias ‘Demon King Army’. Seo Joohwan would be one of the famous lieutenants of that Demon King Army.

‘What a disgusting summary.’

He was the first ‘evil’ alignment Player I was meeting, though he hadn’t completely blackened yet. Even so, I needed to exercise utmost caution when dealing with him.

‘If Seo Joohwan moves as I expect…’

It could just so happen that today, I would have to fight him to the death. I had already foreseen this situation and had come prepared.

‘If we truly end up fighting… the one who will put their life on the line won’t be me, but you, Seo Joohwan.’

Just then, I saw him opening his mouth. His first words were rather unexpected.

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