Chapter 2: The First Loot

Lee Tae-sung logged out immediately.

He had just logged into the game, but that wasn’t important right now.

After rising from the connector, he immediately opened his status window.

[Owned Skills: Dream, Three-Style Sword Technique]

“Ha, haha…”

He rubbed his eyes repeatedly, wondering if he was seeing things.

However, the status window before his eyes remained the same.

The only difference was that the number of skills shown had increased to two.

“How did this happen?”

Three-Style Sword Technique.

The skill he had obtained in Dream World was now registered in reality as well.

He had struggled for six months with no hope in sight.

To think he would find a breakthrough in a way like this.

“Puhuhuhu.”

Laughter burst out of him involuntarily.

Dream World.

Right.

So that really was a world within a dream?

And his ability was to bring abilities from the dream into reality?

Lee Tae-sung picked up a kitchen knife.

Although it wasn’t a longsword, it felt different the moment he gripped the handle.

A Hunter’s skill allows them to instinctively know how to use it.

“Dream into Reality” was a bit strange, but the Three-Style Sword Technique was different.

-Swish! Swish! Swoosh! Horizontal slashes, side cuts, and thrusts.

In martial arts terms, the forms of Sweeping a Thousand Armies, Mount Tai Press, and The Immortal Points the Way were executed with a kitchen knife.

It was different from when he had simply swung it before obtaining the skill.

Even though he had never swung a knife like this before, he looked like a seasoned expert.

Lee Tae-sung smiled.

However… ‘I can’t exactly go to the Association to register as a Hunter with just this.’

To put it bluntly, he would only be treated as a low-rank Hunter with the Three-Style Sword Technique.

How much would his life really change just because he could swing a sword a bit better?

The celebrity-like Hunters he saw on TV or the internet handled much more flashy and powerful skills.

‘The Three-Style Sword Technique is a third-rate skill. There must be so many better skills within Dream World.’

First goal: obtain better skills.

‘Oh, now that I think about it, can I get them from games other than Dream World?’

Since he had obtained a skill from a game, it might be possible with others.

Lee Tae-sung immediately turned on his computer, but the result was a waste of time.

He had always played computer games occasionally to clear his head.

It had been the same after his awakening, but he had never obtained a skill that way.

It seemed it was only possible in Dream World, a place that was truly like a dream.

Lee Tae-sung looked at the connection capsule.

Dreams, the future, and hope.

Everything was inside there.

***

How could he obtain good skills in Dream World?

Should he go out, hunt monsters, and hope for item drops?

Should he raid powerful boss monsters and hope for an incredible skill book to drop?

Wrong.

Dream World was different from any game released so far.

Aside from being a virtual reality game, it broke completely free from the traditional mold of a game.

Those were the words of Alex Caesar, the American Hunter who created the game, during an interview.

Dream World might be another world existing in a different dimension!

Such opinions existed among the public.

‘Regardless of what it is, that’s not what’s important to me.’

What mattered was that he could learn skills in Dream World.

And high-performance skills were usually held by high-ranking NPCs.

When Lee Tae-sung logged into the game, what met his eyes was the interior of the Biryong Sect, specifically the lodging provided to him.

He was given a private room, but he headed outside immediately.

‘Establish a position in the Biryong Sect, contact the higher-ups, and learn skills.’

If possible, he wanted to go somewhere other than the Biryong Sect.

The Biryong Sect was a small-to-mid-sized sect settled in this city, Ellen.

The Sect Leader might be a fairly famous expert in the city, but Ellen was a large city.

Naturally, there were many organizations larger and better than the Biryong Sect.

It would be better to go to such a place.

However, Lee Tae-sung was a newbie who had just arrived in Dream World.

Organizations better than the Biryong Sect were picky about accepting new members, even if they were Outsiders.

He had no choice but to build up experience somewhere.

‘To think I have to be a “newbie with experience” here too. What a crappy world.’

Perhaps it was too realistic.

Regardless, Lee Tae-sung headed toward the main building of the Biryong Sect.

He approached a man in scholar’s robes who was sitting down and looking through documents.

“Greetings. My name is Lee Tae-sung, and I have recently joined the sect.”

He was the Chief Manager of the Biryong Sect.

By receiving work—in other words, quests—from the Chief Manager and completing them, one could raise their reputation and accumulate contribution points within the sect.

Those contribution points could later be exchanged for appropriate items or skills.

This was the most viable strategy Lee Tae-sung could take at this point.

“Welcome. You are quite polite for an Outsider.”

The Chief Manager glanced at Lee Tae-sung and slightly curled the corners of his mouth.

Seeing that, Lee Tae-sung felt a slight chill.

‘They said it’s game over if you aren’t polite to NPCs… I guess it’s true.’

During the early days of Dream World’s opening, users committed many atrocious acts.

Because of that, it was generally known among NPCs that users were disrespectful, and everyone on the Dream World community forums urged others to stop them.

-I really want to kill the early users. Because of them, NPCs have a prejudice and freaking hate us.

-It’s because people approached Dream World thinking it was just a game.

-It’s easier if you just think of this place as a real isekai.

Almost all high-ranking figures in Dream World were NPCs.

Would they really sit still while newbie users who just arrived spoke informally and acted cocky, asking if there were any quests?

Users would just respawn if they died, but that was useless.

-The Outsiders are fascinating.

To think you can come back to life.

Let us test just how many more times you can return.

There were even pitiful users who were killed repeatedly by NPCs!

They filed complaints with the game company, but the one who made this game was a Hunter.

A powerful Hunter who was one of the top-ranked in the United States.

There was no way a complaint would work against someone who possessed martial power, authority, wealth, and fame.

-If you don’t like it, don’t play.

Since that was the only response they received, users stopped treating NPCs recklessly after that.

Nevertheless, the prejudices from those days remained, so Lee Tae-sung had to be as well-behaved as possible.

“Since you came to find me, I assume you want to take on a mission?”

“Yes. Is there any work I can do for the Biryong Sect?”

“As it happens, those Crimson Brotherhood bastards have been showing their faces in the market we manage lately. We don’t know what they’re up to, so go on patrol.”

-Ding! [A quest has been generated] [Quest: Area Defense]

– Description: The area managed by the Biryong Sect is currently clashing with a rival organization, the ‘Crimson Brotherhood.’

Patrol the market and defeat enemies in case of a conflict.

His first quest.

Lee Tae-sung nodded.

“I will faithfully carry out the task you have entrusted to me.”

-Ding!

[You have accepted the quest.]

***

A specific section in the northwest of the city of Ellen’s eastern market.

That was the area managed by the Biryong Sect.

The merchants doing business here paid protection fees to the Biryong Sect, and in return, the sect took responsibility for maintaining public order.

Lee Tae-sung’s mission was to guard this area.

One second-class sect member and five third-class sect members were to join him in this task.

“Patrol the market according to your rotation. If you slack off or are unfaithful, you will be severely punished.”

The squad leader, a second-class member, warned them.

Everyone else except Lee Tae-sung was an NPC.

The world within Dream World was more vast than Earth and had several continents, so there were far more NPCs than users.

In fact, NPCs were the majority wherever you went.

Lee Tae-sung began his patrol according to his turn.

He didn’t slack off as the leader had warned.

He didn’t even have the mind to.

Just looking around every corner of the market he was patrolling was so fascinating!

‘To think this is a world inside a game. It really makes no sense.’

The sense of reality was so vivid.

It wasn’t just inside a capsule; it was simply another world.

One could understand why the number of Dream World users increased day by day even though the management was terrible.

After finishing the patrol of the area, which took nearly two hours, Lee Tae-sung arrived at the gathering point.

“I’ve returned.”

“Good work. Our squad’s patrol is over now. Let’s head back.”

All they had to do was return and switch with the next squad.

-Crunch!

“Gah…”

At that moment, one of the squad members screamed and collapsed.

There was an ambush from behind.

Men with fishy smiles appeared.

“The Crimson Brotherhood!”

“Hehehe. You Biryong Sect scraps. Don’t you even greet your older brothers?”

“These bastards are now openly causing trouble in someone else’s territory!”

-Clang!

Led by the squad leader, everyone drew their swords.

The quest had been to be on guard against the Crimson Brotherhood from the start.

Therefore, such an ambush might have been expected.

“Kill them!”

The Biryong Sect members charged forward with their respective weapons.

Lee Tae-sung was the same.

He only had one skill, the Three-Style Sword Technique, but he fought hard alongside them.

The squad leader was a martial artist with decent skills, as he was certainly faster and more agile than the others.

Though they were outnumbered due to the ambush, the tide of battle was clearly on their side thanks to the one powerful martial artist.

The Crimson Brotherhood members were even slightly flustered by the squad leader’s strength.

“Urgh!”

Then, the squad leader’s sword slashed the side of one Crimson Brotherhood member.

If their numbers decreased by one more in this situation, they would definitely lose.

The Crimson Brotherhood side became desperate.

“Die!”

The one who appeared to be their leader rushed toward the squad leader with his sword raised.

-Whoosh!

At that moment, flames erupted from the man’s sword.

“Wh-What?”

When flames suddenly flare up before your eyes, it’s natural to be flustered and intimidated by the heat.

The squad leader also flinched, but he responded belatedly.

-Thwack!

-Whoosh!

As a result, both of their swords pierced each other’s chests.

Mutual destruction.

“Leader!”

“Damn it! Those bastards killed our leader…!”

What followed was a desperate battle between third-rate martial artists.

They kicked dirt into eyes, stabbed with swords, and bit each other when they got close… they did everything they could to kill one another. “Huff, huff.”

After the desperate brawl, only Lee Tae-sung remained.

He gasped for breath.

His arms were trembling, and he felt pain all over.

“Wow… I almost got logged out for the first time.”

It was by no means a coincidence that he survived.

Because he was an Outsider, he would only be logged out even if he died.

Thus, he could fight without any fear of death.

The pain level was also adjusted to be bearable, so he could be a bit more aggressive than the others.

That minute difference ultimately made him the final victor.

-Ding!

[You have gained combat experience]

[Level Up!]

His level rose, and he obtained skill points.

“Ha… even the first quest isn’t easy, not easy at all.”

Sighing, he rummaged through the belongings of the dead Biryong Sect members and the Crimson Brotherhood.

Since Dream World possessed extreme realism, there was no such thing as automatic looting.

He had to obtain things manually like this.

He gathered some copper coins and as many of the weapons they used as he could carry.

He should be able to get at least the price of scrap metal if he sold them at a blacksmith.

He had gained such knowledge by reading a post titled on the community forums.

As he was finally searching the inner pocket of the Crimson Brotherhood leader, a booklet fell out.

[Flame Sword Technique]

– Grade: 2nd Grade Hybrid Magic Swordsmanship This was the information that appeared before Lee Tae-sung’s eyes when he touched it.