Chapter 25: This Is Why I Said Don’t Do It

“Right?”

Kang Juho shared the same suspicion as Kim Seokju.

No matter how you looked at it, this reeked of a PK (Player Kill) setup.

“What should we do?”

There were two options.

First, escape.

There was still some distance between them.

They could simply turn around and leave.

Second, fight.

Defeat them all and push through.

“Judging by their gear, they seem low-level…”

If their equipment had been good, they wouldn’t have hesitated to run.

But the men blocking the road weren’t well-equipped, which gave the impression that they might be beatable.

“Should we test retreating a bit?”

“Let’s see how they react.”

“Yeah.”

Kang Juho and Kim Seokju began stepping backward.

As they did, the men, who had been keeping an eye on them, started to move.

One of the men sitting on the left suddenly stood up.

“Charge!”

He activated the skill Charge and sprinted forward.

Charge boosted movement speed by 50% for 10 seconds.

At that moment, the man closed the gap at a terrifying speed, and Kang Juho spoke.

“Buff me.”

Had he been alone, Kang Juho might have ignored the charge and fled.

But with Kim Seokju by his side, the escape option was no longer viable.

Only one path remained—combat.

“Physical enhancement…”

Kim Seokju immediately activated buffs at Kang Juho’s request.

[All defenses increased by 13% for 3 minutes.]

[All movement speed increased by 12% for 2 minutes.]

“I’ll save the shield skill for now.”

Now at level 60, Kim had learned the Elemental Shield skill.

However, since the skill only lasted 10 seconds, and they didn’t know what kind of attacks were coming, it was better to conserve it.

“Got it.”

With that, Kang Juho raised his shield to block the charging man.

“Nice to meet you!”

The man grinned as he arrived and swung his sword.

Kang Juho met the blow with his shield.

Clang!

The moment the sword struck the shield, system messages popped up:

[You were attacked by user ‘Joo Youngseok’.]

[You have entered a hostile state with party ‘Joo Youngseok’.]

[You have entered a hostile state with users ‘Joo Youngseok’, ‘Lucas’, ‘Blood Demon Overlord’, and ‘Kim Seok-cheon’.]

Red-colored character names appeared above the attackers’ heads.

Kang Juho checked his health.

‘What? Only 200 damage?’

He was baffled.

The hit had been a boosted attack thanks to the Charge skill.

And yet, only 200 damage?

‘This should be easy.’

If the other three were of similar strength, he felt he could beat them even without Kim Seokju’s help.

The first strike had come from them.

Now he didn’t need to worry about crime penalties.

Kang Juho swung his hammer confidently.

“…!”

The attacker hadn’t expected an immediate counterattack.

With a startled expression, he tried to block with his arm.

Smash!

The hammer struck, pushing him back.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

Joo Youngseok checked his HP.

‘Did I just lose 900 HP?!’

His defense wasn’t low, nor was it a skill attack—just a normal swing.

Yet he had lost 900 HP.

‘If I get hit four more times, I’m dead?!’

His total HP was 4400—now it was 3500.

He stumbled backward.

“Guys, hurry up!”

Lucas, Kim Seok-cheon, and Blood Demon Overlord, who had been walking over, started running.

But there was no reason to wait.

Kang Juho advanced on Joo Youngseok.

“W-wait!”

Joo panicked.

He had expected Kang Juho to back off once his teammates arrived.

Instead, he was advancing.

Joo started retreating in fear.

“Elemental Shackles!”

Kim Seokju cast his skill.

Fiery chains shot forward and wrapped around Joo Young-seok.

“He’s an Enchanter! Just kill the warrior bastard!”

Joo shouted, hoping to salvage the fight.

Enchanters were considered support—without direct combat abilities.

“Seven seconds, hyung.”

Kim reported.

Crowd control effects lasted much shorter on players than on monsters.

Still, seven seconds was a long time.

Before three seconds passed, Kang Juho was already in front of Joo Youngseok.

He swung his hammer.

Smash! Boom!

The fiery chains exploded at the moment of impact.

Kang Juho followed up with a shield bash, knocking Joo over.

Smash!

He struck Joo’s helmet hard.

[Critical hit!]

[You have defeated user ‘Joo Youngseok’.]

Kang Juho no longer paid him any attention.

He looked up at the remaining three rushing toward him.

They had also received the notification.

The moment they found out Joo was dead, they stopped running.

Then Lucas—the largest among them—yelled,

“See?! This is why I said we shouldn’t do this!”

His voice was full of frustration.

Neither Kim Seok-cheon nor Blood Demon Overlord said anything.

They only stared at Kang Juho with grim faces.

Lucas spoke again,

“Hey, can’t you let us off just this once?”

His expression was full of desperation and pleading.

Kang Juho was speechless.

He hadn’t attacked first.

To an outsider hearing the plea, it might sound like he was the aggressor.

Finally, he replied,

“Fine.”

He didn’t want to fight either.

There was nothing to gain and it was a waste of time.

“Log out.”

The road wasn’t too narrow, but not wide enough to safely pass each other either.

The cleanest solution was for them to log out.

“Come back after 10 minutes. Follow us again and it’ll be the end.”

He stared at them coldly.

“Just give us a minute!”

Lucas, now smiling nervously, replied.

Since they were hostile, immediate logout wasn’t possible.

They either had to wait out the cooldown or die to end the status.

“Fine.”

Kang Juho nodded.

Then he asked,

“One question. Why did you attack us? Are you griefers?”

“Well…”

Lucas hesitated, glancing at the others.

“It was because of a delivery item.”

“Ah…”

Now Kang Juho understood.

If you die during a delivery quest, there’s a chance you drop the item.

In that case, PK wasn’t just trolling—it was risk-reward driven.

Swish, swish…

After a minute, Lucas, Kim Seok-cheon, and Blood Demon Overlord logged out in turn.

“Let’s go.”

Kang Juho and Kim Seokju resumed walking.

“They’re cunning in a bad way.”

Kim commented.

If you die on a delivery quest, you might lose a valuable item.

That made the PK more high-stakes than usual.

“Right. Especially here—it’s almost a chokepoint.”

Most players traveling from Villeme to Boledos passed through the Dawn Cliffs.

It wasn’t just idle time-wasting—this spot was the perfect ambush point.

“Should we move a bit further before logging out ourselves?”

“Why?”

“Those guys.”

“Oh, right.”

They had logged out, not died.

If Kang and Kim logged out at the cliff exit, they could run into them again later.

Even if no battle occurred, awkwardness was likely.

“Good idea.”

Kang agreed.

[You have entered the Lush Grasslands.]

Soon, they passed the Dawn Cliffs and reached the Lush Grasslands.

The area was home to both passive monsters—Red Bison, Giant Deer—and aggressive ones—Blue Wolves, Stone Lions.

Monster levels ranged from 70 to 80.

Kang Juho looked at a herd of Red Bison running ahead.

‘They must have been farming XP like crazy here.’

Originally, he and Kim had planned to leave Villeme after reaching level 50 and grind here.

Plans had changed after his Battle Blacksmith class and the Hydra Tattoo.

“Hyung, lions incoming from the left.”

Kim snapped Kang out of his thoughts.

A male lion and two lionesses were approaching.

“Physical enhancement…”

[All defenses increased by 14% for 3 minutes.]

[All movement speed increased by 13% for 3 minutes.]

Kim cast buffs.

Kang Ju-ho turned toward the lions.

“Save the shield for yourself.”

Since the monsters had spotted them first, Kim might draw aggro.

“Got it.”

With that, Kang Ju-ho charged.

The two lionesses accelerated in response.

“Hammer of Fury!”

The gap closed quickly.

As one lioness jumped, Kang swung.

Smash!

The hammer struck its side just before its claws could hit his shield.

The lioness shrieked and fell back.

So did the second one, hit by the shockwave.

Rawrr!

Still, they weren’t down for long.

The first lioness struck with her claws.

Kang blocked and countered with his hammer, sending out another shockwave.

“Hyung! The male lion’s coming!”

Kim shouted.

Kang Juho sighed with relief.

He had worried the male lion might attack Kim.

Now he could focus on the fight.

Facing two lionesses and one lion,

Kang Juho began his next battle.