Chapter 5: Blood for Experience

[Party] Ku: Hm

[Party] Ku: That's the guy from yesterday.

I couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh at Ku's character, who, even though that bastard deserved worse, still treated him as a person.

"So obvious. They must've heard on the guild chat we were in the desert earlier and rushed over to chase us down, right?"

Otherwise, there's no way those psychos would come all the way out to this remote map.

"Guksan was the one we crushed in the desert. Maybe he's friends with Seungja? Birds of a feather, I guess..."

[Party] Ku: For now, let's head out carefully.

"Would've been nice if we had a Return Scroll."

No matter where you are in Monster World, as long as you have a ‘Return Scroll,’ you can get back to town. But the scroll is a special item, and at the beginning of the Another server, its drop rate is really low.

Probably because the Another server has such a PK-heavy image, the admins intentionally made it that way to encourage more PK and server activity.

Return Scrolls start dropping in mid-level maps, so at this point, they're still rare.

Naturally, since we didn’t have one, Ku and I hugged the wall and made our way toward the exit as tightly as possible.

The Deep Labyrinth, even though it’s a maze, has so many connecting paths that if you're lucky, you can avoid bumping into anyone.

But today wasn’t a lucky day. Right at the exit, we ran into Seungja, Guksan, and another member of the Hana Guild.

[Party] Ku: ㅌㅌㅌㅌ

"What the—? Three of them?"

Even as I was retreating fast, I let out a scoff at the sight of three rankers charging toward us. Still, survival comes first, so I frantically hit the potion hotkey and clicked my mouse.

[Seungja has used Shattering Earth.]

[Hangye has used Shattering Earth.]

[You have been killed by Hangye.]

"Ah, seriously!"

I thought I might survive Seungja's attack, but as soon as the new face 'Hangye' used his skill, I was knocked out without a sound.

Ku, who had been running a few steps ahead of me, stopped dead the moment I died.

He could've just kept running. Instead, Ku turned around and used his AoE, 'Shattering Earth,' at those bastards.

Almost like he was avenging me.

"Oh... loyalty...!"

Touched or not, Ku died gloriously.

[Party] Ku: Mmm

[Party] Mir: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ You should've just runㅠㅠ

[Deep Labyrinth—Normal] Seungja: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Just as I was about to respawn in town, Seungja, who hadn’t said a word yesterday, suddenly started laughing.

"What the hell? Seriously? No, if anyone should be laughing, it should be us. Why are you laughing?"

[Deep Labyrinth—Normal] Seungja: Noobs should just stay holed up in the Shrine, crawling all the way hereㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

A short silence fell. At that toxic chat, I unconsciously frowned.

[Party] Ku: Doesn’t look like a chat slip... Seems like he holds a grudgeㅎㅎ

[Deep Labyrinth—Normal] Guksan: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ So funny

[Deep Labyrinth—Normal] Hangye: Seungja, Guksan, quiet.

[Party] Ku: Just ignore them and let's go somewhere elseㅎㅎ

The moment we got back to town, Ku was already suggesting somewhere else. Seeing how unfazed he was, I took a deep breath and calmed myself.

"Yeah, if you let stuff like that get to you, you can't play this game. Let's just ignore it."

[Party] Ku: Want to try the Mine this time?

[Party] Ku: It’s narrow and has few mobs, but the two of us should do better there than in the Shrineㅎㅎ

[Party] Mir: I'm good with anywhereㅋㅋㅋ

[Party] Ku: Then let's get ready and meet by the portalㅎㅎ

I thought peaceful grinding would start again.

"Are you kidding me?!"

Not even fifteen minutes after entering the 'Abandoned Mine,' Seungja came sniffing after us like a leech. And he wasn’t alone, again.

[Seungja has used Blaze of Wildfire.]

[Guksan has used Ominous Steps.]

[Hangye has used Shattering Earth.]

[You have been killed by Hangye.]

As soon as Seungja's flame came charging in, I barely managed to run, but then got hit with a debuff. My movement speed slowed, and Hangye ran up and cleanly one-shotted me.

Ku got taken out the same way.

Watching our characters lying as corpses on the dark ground, I felt both angry and amused.

[Party] Mir: Wow, those bastardsㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Party] Mir: At least I didn’t die to Seungja, so that's something

[Party] Ku: Looks like they're really out for us. Hm.

[Party] Mir: What do we do now?

[Party] Ku: Still gotta level upㅎㅎ

[Party] Mir: Oh, true.

[Party] Mir: Where should we go now? They'll probably follow us again, right?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Party] Ku: ㅋㅋㅋ

Ku’s mentality is one thing, but mine was probably broken too.

Usually, getting targeted by toxic players would kill your motivation, but I started getting curious—just how far was that Seungja bastard willing to follow us?

---

[Party] Ku: >>>This way

Charging ahead, we went back to the 'Deep Labyrinth.' There were plenty of maps and no entry restrictions, but with our specs, the choices were limited.

[Party] Ku: Left corner

I knew even without him pointing it out. I’d just seen Seungja’s yellow-haired avatar bobbing beyond five walls before it disappeared.

But if we stuck to the route, it’d take him a while to get to us. Thinking about Seungja huffing and puffing as he chased us, I felt an odd thrill.

[Party] Mir: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Party] Mir: This is actually kind of funㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Party] Ku: ㅎㅎ They're probably splitting at the junctions to search

[Party] Mir: Ah, if Seungja is alone, we could actually take him

[Party] Ku: Exactlyㅎㅎ If you see him solo, let's do it like yesterday. ㄱㄱ

[Party] Mir: Got itㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Unexpectedly, the chance came quickly.

[Party] Ku: ㄱㄱㄱㄱㄱㄱㄱ

Wondering if we might run into Seungja, we changed course and headed downward.

At the junction, we ran into Seungja, dragging a train of mobs behind him. Just as Ku said, the other two must've split up to search elsewhere.

Seeing Seungja alone, I grinned, and his character hesitated for a split second. When I charged at him, he immediately turned and started running back the way he came.

"Wow, come on, man..."

He was so cocky when he had backup, but now that he's alone, he can't handle us.

Clicking my tongue at his pathetic behavior, I sprinted after him like mad.

"Just a little more!"

Without realizing, I leaned in close to the monitor, eyes wide, clicking the mouse like it would break. Soon, I was closing in on Seungja.

The moment I saw he was in range, I targeted him and cast 'Ominous Steps.'

Unless you have high agility, that debuff lands pretty easily. A blue band spun around Seungja's feet, armored in his crimson gear.

Slowed down in an instant, Seungja was easy prey. Ku, who had been following behind, quickly cast 'Red Pursuit.'

It’s a skill like a Fireball—low damage, but it applies a debuff: lowers resistance to fire magic.

It only lasts three seconds, but for a battle between mages, it's super useful.

Even with the time crunch, Ku used Blaze of Wildfire and Shattering Earth in rapid succession to keep the pressure on Seungja.

I wasn’t clueless enough to just watch.

As soon as the pursuit debuff landed, I stacked 'Fractured Skin' to lower his defense, and kept 'Unlucky Song' running to stop him from fighting back.

But luck really wasn’t with me today—Unlucky Song didn't land. Still, thanks to Ku’s amazing skill timing, Seungja didn’t last long before turning into a corpse.

[Party] Mir: Nice shotㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Party] Ku: Objective complete.

[Party] Ku: ㅌㅌ

They were definitely on voice chat, so we had to get out of there fast.

If it's the debuffer Guksan, we could maybe handle it, but if we ran into Hangye the mage, we'd both be dead. Still, after taking down the most annoying Seungja, it felt so good.

Once we escaped the labyrinth, there was a crowd of Hana Guild members gathered by the town portal.

Maybe they’d heard and come to watch, or maybe they were just waiting to gang up on us. Their pointless loitering in front of the portal made me feel a bit intimidated for a second.

[Party] Mir: No way they're coming at us as a group, right?

[Party] Mir: Kinda scary

[Party] Ku: They need to level too, so they won’t all follow usㅎㅎ

[Party] Mir: You think Seungja got pissed that we killed him?

[Party] Ku: Who knowsㅎㅎㅎ Should we just wait?

[Party] Mir: Yep

We decided to wait and see how things played out. Just then, Seungja and his group came back to town and lingered in front of the portal.

The rest of their guild members wandered around, silently threatening us with their presence. Sensing that unseen killing intent, I just kept my head down.

[System] Admin: Weekend EXP Event starting! From 02:00 today until Sunday 10:00, all maps will have double EXP.

[Party] Mir: Oh?

[Party] Ku: Good

Only the admins can use global chat on all maps in Monster World. With the admin’s notice, the chat window exploded.

The weekend mood kicked in, and people lazing around in town rushed to the hunting grounds as soon as they heard about the event. There were still twenty minutes to go, but if you wanted the best spot, you had to get there early.

The same went for Hana Guild. Even the ones who’d been watching us by the portal left one by one.

[Party] Ku: Let's go too

[Party] Mir: Let's go

[Party] Ku: To the labyrinth

With an excited face, I headed for the Deep Labyrinth.

The event kicked off right at two o’clock, and even the unpopular labyrinth map started to fill with users.

But there were no fights. Everyone who came in was in the same boat as us—nobody wanted to waste double EXP time on PKing.

[Party] Mir: I was worried someone might attack us

[Party] Mir: But everyone’s just ignoring us?

[Party] Ku: During EXP events, it’s kind of an unspoken ruleㅎㅎ

[Party] Mir: Ah~

A strange sense of manners at such an odd time—seriously, this game is weird.

[Deep Labyrinth—All] Grangnaran: ㅡ ㅡ?

[Deep Labyrinth—All] Grangnaran: What's this?

Ten minutes into the event, a message popped up in the quiet chat window. Maybe someone stole his mob or something, I thought, then remembered we’d passed by ‘Grangnaran’ a minute ago.

[Deep Labyrinth—All] Grangnaran: Why’d you kill me????

"Oh... no way..."

As I frowned and typed at my keyboard, sure enough, Seungja suddenly showed up from the diagonal path.

"Wow, this psycho!"

And Seungja wasn’t alone. He’d switched up his team and was now with Nariappa and Vitamin.

Nariappa was a top-ranked mage who’d wiped us in the desert with a single shot. Vitamin was a tank, a warrior with a shield.

[Party] Ku: Watch out for Nari

[Party] Ku: Vitamin’s a tank

[Party] Ku: Still, he's a ranker, so be careful

[Party] Mir: Got it

Luckily, there was enough distance for us to type a quick message. But that didn’t last long—Vitamin, the warrior, used ‘Powerful Taunt.’

A shield warrior’s main skill: forcibly pulling all targets within a certain range.

"Agh!"

Ku and I were sucked in like magnets. Nariappa followed up with Shattering Earth, and once again, we were turned into corpses.

[Party] Ku: Hm

"Now I'm really pissed off."

Not just once, but over and over, getting hunted like this was starting to make my blood boil.

But they were rankers. And it was 3 vs 2. No matter how much we struggled, we'd only end up dead.

[Party] Ku: They’ll probably keep following us. What do you think?

[Party] Mir: It sucks, especially during the event

[Party] Ku: Should we try running and grinding at the same timeㅎㅎ?

[Party] Ku: Or maybe just make a new characterㅎㅎ

I seriously considered it for a moment. But after all the trouble I'd gone through leveling, it felt like such a waste.

Suddenly, Nariappa disappeared. Judging by the pillar of light, he must've used a Return Scroll.

He didn’t show up again after that. Seungja and Vitamin just hovered around our corpses.

"What, did Nariappa leave to grind? That means it's 2 vs 2 now, right?"

Seungja and Vitamin. A weak mage and a tank.

Vitamin was a wild card, but with just the two of them, I started to feel a weird sense of confidence. With a serious face, I typed.

[Party] Mir: Ku

[Party] Mir: Let's go 2 vs 2