Chapter 6: Teamwork Triumph

Thus began the combined attack of Kang Juho and Kim Seokju.

They had been working together for a long time.

Although it was virtual reality and not perfect, it was enough to render the Stone Fox helpless.

-Squeak…

Thud!

Soon, the Stone Fox collapsed with a weak scream.

[Level Up!]

“Hold on, let me allocate some stats.”

Kang Juho said to Kim Seokju after seeing the message and opened his character window.

Character Name: Kang Juho

Nationality: Paraville Kingdom

Class: Beginner

Level: 7

Experience: 2%

Health: 1000

Mana: 200

Hunger: 77%

Strength: 25

Agility: 10

Stamina: 20

Intelligence: 10

Bonus Stats: 5

The bonus stats given upon leveling up are 5.

Currently, Kang Ju-ho was investing in Strength and Stamina alternately.

And this time it was Stamina’s turn.

‘Let’s invest in Strength.’

However, Kang Juho invested all his bonus stats into Strength.

He hadn’t been hit even once in the previous battle.

And even if he did get hit, his 1000 Health was enough to withstand it.

Investing in Strength to kill quickly was more helpful for his growth speed.

He could invest in Stamina later if needed.

Kang Juho closed the character window and checked the drop window.

– Stone Fox Claw 1

The dropped item was the material item ‘Stone Fox Claw,’ the most expensive item dropped by Stone Foxes.

‘I wonder when the auction house will open.’

Kang Juho, who acquired the claw by pressing the confirm button, thought of the auction house.

The virtual ‘Earth’ did not yet have an auction house open.

In other words, cash transactions were impossible.

No, to be precise, it was possible.

You could use external trading sites.

However, Kang Juho had no intention of using trading sites.

There were many scams, and the trading process was too cumbersome.

He could hire someone to make the purchase for him, but the auction house would open in two weeks with an update anyway.

There was no need to pour money into it for two weeks, and Kang Juho eventually decided to wait.

“Hyung, we need to move a bit?”

“……?”

Kang Juho looked at Kim Seokju with a puzzled expression at Kim Seokju’s words.

“They’re all on alert.”

“Ah……”

And Kang Juho could understand what he meant at Kim Seokju’s following words.

Stone Foxes do not have a group characteristic.

So they don’t care even if their kin are attacked.

However, that means they don’t participate in the battle.

They just enter a ‘watching’ state without participating in the battle.

And the ‘watching’ turns into ‘alert’ the moment their kin dies.

In the alert state, they attack even if you just make an attacking motion.

Only magic could make a preemptive strike in the alert state.

The Stone Foxes around them were already in an alert state, glaring at Kang Juho and Kim Seokju.

If they attacked in this situation, countless Stone Foxes would rush at them.

No matter how good their teamwork was, it was impossible to face so many at once.

“Let’s go.”

Kang Juho took the lead and moved forward.

Fortunately, the alert range of the Stone Foxes was not wide, and one by one, they began to release their alert.

After a while, all the Stone Foxes released their alert, and Kang Juho stopped walking.

“Let’s do it like before.”

And he said to Kim Seokju, approaching a Stone Fox lying down and sleeping in front of him.

“Yes!”

The moment Kim Seokju’s answer was heard, Kang Juho swung his iron sword.

Slash!

-Squeak!

The Stone Fox, who had been sound asleep, was startled by the sudden attack and woke up.

Slash!

-Squeak!

In the meantime, the iron sword struck once again.

The Stone Fox, who had been attacked once while sleeping and once while waking up, quickly retreated as if to assess the situation.

And showed its teeth at Kang Juho.

Of course, it didn’t attack with its teeth.

The Stone Fox jumped and swung its forepaws.

Kang Juho retreated and swung his iron sword.

Clang!

The Stone Fox’s attack was blocked by Kang Juho’s iron sword, and Kim Seokju participated in the battle as if he had been waiting.

Slash! Slash!

The Stone Fox met its death without being able to do anything, just like the first Stone Fox, due to the continuous combined attacks of the two.

***

Character Name: Kang Juho

Nationality: Paraville Kingdom

Class: Beginner

Level: 9

Experience: 97%

Health: 1000

Mana: 200

Hunger: 51%

Strength: 40

Agility: 10

Stamina: 20

Intelligence: 10

“If we catch that one, I’ll be level 10 too!”

Kang Juho, who was looking at the character window, looked at the Stone Fox in front of him at Kim Seokju’s words.

Kang Juho’s experience was currently at 97%, so he could reach level 10 and change his job if he caught just one more.

“Let’s go.”

Kang Juho closed the character window and took the lead as he had been doing.

And at the same time as arriving, he swung his iron sword at the Stone Fox.

Kim Seokju, who had been waiting, participated in the battle after Kang Juho’s attack struck three times.

At first, there was a slight awkwardness in their teamwork.

However, after several battles, there was no longer any awkwardness.

It was perfect teamwork.

-Squeak…

Thud!

[Level Up!]

Soon, the Stone Fox fell, and the level-up message appeared.

“Good job!”

Kim Seokju shouted.

“Good job.”

Kang Juho also smiled and answered the shout.

“Let’s go!”

Now it was time to change jobs.

Kang Juho and Kim Seokju came out of the Stone Fox Forest and returned to the city of ‘Villeme.’

“Ah, please! Stop stealing!”

“That bastard! I’m going to kill that bastard!”

“Hey, hold on. You’ll die to the guards too. Haven’t you forgotten that you can’t log in for 24 hours if you die?”

“Ugh!”

The front of the west gate was still crowded with many users.

Kim Seokju said, watching the users competing for a single rabbit.

“It seems like there are more of them?”

Earlier, three or four people were attacking one rabbit.

But now, about six or seven were attacking.

Kang Juho answered with a natural expression.

“Because it’s quitting time.”

Now it was time for those who had returned from work to log in.

The number of users would only increase, not decrease, and he thought that ten people might attack one rabbit.

‘If Paraville is like this……’

Kang Juho thought as he passed the users.

The Paraville Kingdom had a higher difficulty in leveling up compared to other places, so there were fewer starting users.

But there were so many users?

Then how crowded would other places be?

He thought that ten people might already be attacking one rabbit.

‘I should ask later.’

Only Kang Juho and Kim Seokju had chosen the Paraville Kingdom.

Other Immortal Corps guild members started in the Villenian Empire, the Keville Empire, and the Lera Kingdom.

He would be able to find out how crowded the users were if he asked them.

Kang Juho and Kim Seokju, who had entered the city, moved towards the production district.

“Are you going to catch Stone Foxes until level 20?”

Kim Seokju asked while walking.

Kang Juho nodded at Kim Seokju’s question.

“I have to, because I need skills.”

Based on the area around Villenian, the higher-level monsters of the Stone Fox Forest were Slimes and Stone Goblins.

It was very inefficient to catch those two in their current state.

Efficient hunting was possible only with the skills learned at level 20 at least.

“Then I’ll see you in the Stone Fox Forest after I change jobs!”

Kang Juho could change jobs in the production district, but Kim Seokju, who was an Enchanter, had to go to the magic district.

It was time to part ways.

“Okay, see you later!”

“Yes! I’ll whisper you!”

Kim Seokju answered Kang Juho’s greeting and quickly ran towards the magic district and disappeared.

Kang Juho started walking towards the blacksmith shop where the blacksmith NPC was, following the minimap after Kim Seokju disappeared.

[You have entered Toben’s Blacksmith Shop.]

After a while, Kang Juho was able to reach his destination.

Whether there were no users who had reached the job change level yet, or there were no users who would change jobs to blacksmith, there was not a single user in the blacksmith shop.

“Hello.”

Kang Juho approached the blacksmith NPC ‘Toben,’ who was sitting on a chair and dozing off, and greeted him.

Toben flinched at Kang Juho’s voice and then opened his mouth, laughing heartily.

“Haha, hello. You’re an adventurer! Did you come to become a blacksmith?”

“Yes, here’s a recommendation letter.”

Kang Juho nodded at Toben’s question and took out a job recommendation letter from his inventory and handed it over.

Toben, who received and checked the recommendation letter, smiled and opened his mouth.

“Congratulations on becoming a blacksmith. I will teach you diligently.”

[You have changed your job to Blacksmith.]

[You have acquired the skill ‘Blacksmith’s Soul’.]

And the message appeared the moment Toben finished speaking.

‘There’s no job change quest?’

Kang Juho couldn’t help but be a little surprised to see the message.

In PC ‘Earth,’ there were different job change quests for each job.

So he thought there would be a job change quest, but he was going to let him change jobs right away?

‘I was going to invest 1 or 2 hours.’

Kang Juho, who was going to invest about 1 to 2 hours for the job change quest, smiled brightly at the thought that he had saved time.

“First of all, here’s my little gift.”

Toben held out a hammer.

“I will use it gratefully.”

Kang Juho expressed his gratitude and received the hammer.

“Would you like to refine some ore?”

Toben then asked.

“I’ll prepare and come back.”

Blacksmiths could earn experience not only by hunting but also by refining ore and making equipment.

And immediately after changing jobs, the experience gained from refining ore was much higher than the hunting experience, so refining ore was good for growth.

But now he wasn’t alone.

There was a high possibility that Kim Seokju would not have a job change quest either, and it was better to grow together with party hunting than to level up alone, considering the future.

“Yes, please feel free to visit me if you have any questions.”

“Then I’ll see you later!”

Kang Juho greeted him and came out of the blacksmith shop.

And he sent a whisper to Kim Seokju while walking towards the west gate.

-Kang Juho: Seok-ju, I’m done changing jobs.

-Kang Juho: There was no job change quest?

-Kim Seokju: Yes? Really?

-Kang Juho: Yeah, there wasn’t one for blacksmith. I don’t think you’ll have one either?

-Kim Seokju: I’ve arrived, wait a moment.

Kang Juho waited for Kim Seokju’s whisper and opened the skill window.

And he checked the skill ‘Blacksmith’s Soul’ acquired by changing jobs to blacksmith.

<Blacksmith’s Soul [Passive]>

Proficiency: 1 (0%)

– Increases the success rate when crafting equipment.

– Grants additional options to the equipment upon successful crafting.

Blacksmith’s Soul was a passive skill related to equipment crafting.

Kang Juho closed the skill window and checked the hammer’s information.

<Apprentice Blacksmith’s Iron Hammer [Common]>

Restriction: Blacksmith, Level 10, Strength 30

Durability: 100%

Physical Attack Power: 50

“It’s better than the iron sword.”

The old iron sword had an attack power of 20.

The attack range of the iron sword was better, but considering the attack power, it seemed better to hunt with the iron hammer.

Kang Juho immediately opened the equipment window and replaced the iron hammer with the iron sword.

And he clicked the equip button to summon the iron hammer and started swinging it around.

It was right then.

-Kim Seokju: Hyung, I’m done changing jobs.

-Kim Seokju: Where are you?

A whisper arrived from Kim Seokju, and Kang Juho clicked the unequip button again to reverse summon the hammer and answered the whisper.

-Kang Juho: I’m going to the forest.

-Kang Juho: I’ll go ahead.

-Kim Seokju: Yes sir! I’ll whisper you when I arrive!