Chapter 24: PK alert – Dawn’s Cliff

It wasn’t for repairs.

‘I wonder if there’s anything good.’

It was for equipment.

There were still many blacksmith players actively crafting gear in the forge.

Kang Juho intended to buy decent gear at decent prices.

[You have entered Toben’s Blacksmith Shop.]

Upon arrival, Kang Juho headed straight to a corner of the forge.

As expected, many users were busy crafting gear.

Kang Juho went around, checking with players to see if there were any good items available.

Not long after, he finished checking with everyone and left the forge with a disappointed look.

There were plenty of special-grade items, but nothing really caught his eye.

After leaving the forge, he headed to a nearby bakery, bought some bread, and made his way to the meeting place at City Hall, sending a whisper to Kim Seokju.

“I’m heading out now!”

“Hyung, I might be a little late. About 10 minutes.”

Not even ten seconds later, a reply came.

“I’ll go ahead and start then.”

Each point in Stamina increases carrying capacity by 100.

Kang Juho had invested heavily in Stamina.

In other words, he could carry a lot of items.

Even if they arrived together, it would take time to accept the quest, so Kim Seokju would’ve had to wait anyway.

“Got it!”

With the whisper over, Kang Juho arrived at his destination shortly after.

As expected, the front of City Hall was bustling with people.

He weaved through the crowd and entered City Hall.

He then immediately went up to the 3rd floor where delivery quests could be accepted.

“…?”

When he arrived, Kang Juho froze for a moment.

Unlike the crowded first floor, the third floor was quiet.

‘Even better.’

Maybe not many players had reached the level to leave town, or maybe they didn’t know about the delivery quest.

Either way, it worked in his favor.

“Hello.”

Kang Juho approached the resting NPC, Dravonis, to accept a delivery quest.

“Yes, how may I help you?”

“I’d like to accept a delivery quest to Boredos.”

“Ah, heading to Boredos! One moment please.”

Dravonis smiled and opened a drawer, pulling out a thick document.

Just then, a window appeared in front of Kang Juho.

It was the delivery quest interface.

On the left was a list of delivery quests.

The top right was blank.

The bottom right showed Kang Juho’s information.

Looking at the bottom right, Kang Juho thought:

‘Whoa, I can’t take all of them.’

It listed his rank and the number of delivery quests he could accept.

Was it because of his low level? Poor other stats?

Or was it simply because it was his first time?

Kang Juho’s rank was 1, and he could only accept 3 quests.

‘Gotta choose the best ones.’

Delivery quests require a deposit in case of failure.

Originally, he planned to take on many lower-deposit quests.

But with only 3 allowed, it made more sense to take high-deposit ones with better rewards.

When he clicked a delivery quest, the deposit and quest info appeared in the top right.

It only included 3 things: delivery deadline, destination, and item weight.

He began quickly reviewing the quests.

‘Ugh, the high-value ones are all grayed out.’

But his low rank was the problem.

Because he was rank 1, he couldn’t accept the quests with the highest deposits.

In the end, he chose the top 3 available for his rank:

[Quest ‘Delivery – Arkan’s Letter’ has been created.]

[You have acquired Arkan’s Letter.]

[Quest ‘Delivery – Box of Low-grade Health Potions’ has been created.]

[You have acquired the Box of Health Potions.]

[Quest ‘Delivery – Box of Low-grade Mana Potions’ has been created.]

[You have acquired the Box of Mana Potions.]

[450 gold has been deducted as a deposit.]

After accepting, a series of messages appeared.

“Hyung!”

At that moment, Kang Juho heard the familiar voice of Kim Seokju.

“Are you accepting quests right now?”

“Just finished. Only allowed three because of the rank.”

“Ah…”

Kim Seokju sighed in disappointment.

“Just a sec!”

He then approached Dravonis to accept quests as well.

“Got them all.”

After he was done, the two of them left City Hall together and headed toward the north gate.

“Did you pack enough food?”

“Yep, got three days’ worth. Did you find any good items, hyung?”

“Nope. It’s better to just buy in Boredos. What about skills?”

“Of course I learned them! Hehe, even got a shield now!”

Talking about their preparations, they arrived at the northern gate and headed northeast.

“Heading through Dawn’s Cliff, right?”

Kim Seokju asked.

“Yeah, it’s the fastest route.”

There were five total routes to Boredos, and the quickest one was via Dawn’s Cliff.

The monsters there were mostly level-50 beasts, so the combat wouldn’t be too difficult.

“So, when are you logging off today?”

The day was nearly over.

Without mounts, arriving today was impossible.

Kang Juho thought for a moment.

“Hmm… Want to log out after we pass the cliff?”

“Isn’t that too early?”

Kim Seokju replied with a slight protest.

They couldn’t predict the exact time, but they would likely arrive before midnight.

Even Kang Juho knew it was a bit early.

Still, he had a reason.

“If we push too hard early on, we’ll crash. Gotta find our rhythm.”

He had hunted longer than planned, which threw off his daily routine.

If he kept playing like this, it would eventually become a problem.

The more your daily rhythm breaks down, the harder it is to fix.

You have to correct it while the damage is minor.

“Ah, okay. So we’ll log out after we pass it then!”

Kim Seokju nodded in understanding.

And so the two of them headed for Dawn’s Cliff.

***

Midway through Dawn’s Cliff.

Three men sat in the middle of the path, talking.

“Wouldn’t it be better to just hunt?”

Lukas, the largest and kindest-looking of the three, voiced his concern.

He sounded nervous and uneasy.

“Again with that?”

Party leader Joo Youngseok scowled.

“I told you—this is way more profitable than hunting.”

Already sharp-featured, his expression grew more menacing.

“Still…”

Lukas trailed off under the harsh tone and gaze.

“Ugh.”

The silent Blood Demon Overlord finally spoke.

“Hyuncheol, you said you wanted in.”

They weren’t at Dawn’s Cliff to hunt.

They were here to PK.

Not just any random PK, either.

Their goal was to kill players on delivery quests and steal their items.

When killed, players drop items, lose stats, and are locked out for 12 hours.

If a player’s criminal score is 0, no items drop—unless they’re doing a delivery quest.

When killed during a delivery, even players with 0 criminal score will drop delivery items.

Not necessarily all of them—only some, or sometimes none.

“But what if they’re stronger than us?”

Lukas worried again.

“We’re level 45! How many players are stronger than that? Plus, that’s why Seok-cheon is out scouting.”

They weren’t the only ones involved.

Kim Seok-cheon, who had changed class to Hunter, was scouting the entrance.

“You’re sure the items are usable, right?”

Lukas asked again, and Joo Youngseok snapped:

“Yes, I’m sure! The potion you got earlier was from a kill! Stop asking already—you’re driving me crazy.”

Normally, delivery quest items can’t be used.

But if the quest owner dies and drops them, they become usable.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t be staking out this road.

“But what if they haven’t taken a delivery quest…”

“Ugh, shut up already!”

Lukas couldn’t even finish before Youngseok exploded again.

Seeing his fierce face, Lukas fell silent and thought to himself:

‘If they haven’t taken the quest, I’ll just end up with a criminal score for nothing…’

The others already had criminal scores from an earlier kill.

Lukas, who joined later, still had 0.

So if their targets weren’t on delivery quests, he’d get nothing but a criminal record.

Just then—

DADADAK!

Footsteps approached, and the three men looked up.

It was Seok-cheon, returning from the entrance.

“They’re coming. Two of them!”

At his words, Youngseok and Blood Demon Overlord stood up immediately.

Lukas hesitated, then followed.

“Classes?”

Youngseok asked.

Seok-cheon recalled their gear.

“Looks like a mage and a warrior.”

It wasn’t exact, but based on equipment, one was definitely a mage-type and the other a warrior-type.

“Perfect. We just kill the warrior then.”

Youngseok smiled.

Mage spells were powerful, but they had a fatal weakness: casting time.

Without someone to tank in front, a mage was helpless.

“Let’s get ready!”

Youngseok shouted.

The three began preparing for battle.

***

[You have entered Dawn’s Cliff.]

“Phew, halfway there!”

“Just a bit more to go!”

As they chatted, Kang Juho and Kim Seokju pressed forward.

But soon, they had to stop.

Ahead, four men were sitting on either side of the path.

They could just be resting after a fight.

But Kang Juho wasn’t buying it.

As soon as they stopped, the big guy flinched and started glancing around nervously.

The others had the same suspicious air.

“Seokju, what do you think of them?”

Kang Juho whispered as he watched the four men.

“…PK, probably.”