Chapter 27: A Super Minefield

"Ugh…."

11 a.m.

I woke up automatically to the sound of my alarm.

"I only slept four hours."

I never slept much to begin with, but today, thanks to the newbies, I slept even less.

I was tired, but I was a bit curious about what happened to those newbies, so I quickly ate breakfast and hurried to the computer room.

"Did they play for an hour or two and then leave?"

I moved the character I’d left AFK near the training ground and looked around the area.

Even though it was Sunday morning, the training grounds were very quiet.

"They’re really not here?"

Just in case, I ran to the town center, but the IDs I saw in the morning were nowhere to be found. I thought about checking all the beginner hunting grounds, but I just gave up.

If they quit because it wasn’t fun, there was nothing I could do. But if they got into it and stayed, I’d run into them again someday, right?

Letting go of any lingering thoughts, I started with the attendance check.

[Guild] Happy: Hello~

[Guild] Grim Reaper: Greetings.

[Guild] Chief Ko: hihihi

[Guild] INFP: Happy, you’re always here early.

[Guild] Taki: NEETs are scary!

[Guild] Chief Ko: Says the NEET who hasn’t slept yet.

[Guild] Celestial: Hello~ It’s the sub. I’ll see you at the portal at noon.

[Guild] Happy: Okay, okay.

Before I could even process it, a party invite from Ro popped up.

[Party] Ro: You here?

[Party] Happy: Jiho, you’re early.

[Party] Ro: I just got here too haha

[Party] Happy: LOL I saw some newbies this morning

[Party] Ro: Newbies?

As we chatted about my morning encounter, Proposal logged in.

Now we just needed Seahorse to show up and we could head to the hunting grounds, but Seahorse’s character was still standing blankly in the town center, probably not awake yet.

[Party] Proposal: Think Seahorse will show up right on time – –

[Party] Ro: Should we just run through the desert ourselves for a bit?

[Party] Happy: Wait, before that, I want to check out the guild dungeon.

[Party] Proposal: Ooh, I’ve never been.

[Party] Ro: Let’s go

[Party] Ro: Just talk to the entrance NPC for the guild war and you can enter.

Without anyone saying it first, we all entered the guild tower.

When I clicked the NPC who guided us to the guild war map, the Crystal Mine, a new set of options appeared.

[How can I help you?]

[Move to Crystal Mine]

[Move to Guild Dungeon]

When I chose Guild Dungeon, the screen immediately changed after a short loading time.

[Guild Dungeon, 1st Floor]

"Library? Laboratory?"

The map, called just the Guild Dungeon, was a dark, cluttered space with old bookshelves and desks lined up like a library.

As Ro, Proposal, and I took a few steps in, the books scattered on the floor began to move.

Moving books. Moving brooms.

What I thought were just props turned into monsters with eyes and teeth, rushing at us.

But they weren’t nearly as strong as they looked.

The monsters with such literal names melted away in an instant from the two mages’ AoE spells.

[Party] Proposal: Is this a horror theme? The design’s pretty creepy.

[Party] Ro: Even the BGM is spooky, haha.

[Party] Happy: It’s so dark I can barely see.

[Party] Ro: The first floor isn’t too tough.

[Party] Ro: Let’s head to the second floor.

Following Ro, we saw monsters in the shapes of ghosts and chimeras, not just books and brooms.

Of course, they weren’t threatening at all.

[Party] Proposal: There’s loot all over the floor. Someone’s still grinding here, huh?

Just as Proposal said, there were uncollected coins scattered here and there on the first floor. Some bundles still had ownership marks on them.

A moment later, we ran into Chorok’s party. Along with Chorok were Blue, Bambi, Grim Reaper, and Assassin.

"Except for Chorok, the others all joined around the same time as us. Didn’t expect everyone to be this dedicated…."

[Guild] Chorok: Oh? Well, look who it is.

[Guild] Chorok: What brings our proud second-years here – – haha

[Guild] Ro: Just here to check it out, haha.

[Guild] Chorok: LOL Heading to the second floor?

[Guild] Chorok: Chief Ko’s party should be up there.

[Guild] Chief Ko: Yeah?

[Guild] Chief Ko: The second floor is bigger, so we can split up and farm separately.

[Guild] Proposal: LOL, nah, we’re just going to do a lap and leave.

Honestly, there was no need to go up to the second floor. The only real difference was the map size—background and monster spawns were the same. There was only one named monster that dropped loot, the Chimera, so there was nothing special.

[Party] Happy: Still, this is kind of cool.

[Party] Happy: The map’s really simple and there are a ton of mobs.

[Party] Proposal: Yeah, perfect for leveling without worrying about PK.

[Party] Ro: But honestly, guild dungeon’s only good for low-levels.

[Party] Ro: For top rankers grinding at the Ruins and beyond, it’s not efficient, haha.

Well, that’s true. Another Server is all about fully enabled field PK.

No matter the perks of guild war, there’d be some limits.

[Party] Proposal: Eh, there’s not much here. Let’s bounce, LOL.

[Party] Happy: Hahahahaha

[Guild] Seahorse: Hiiii good morning!

Seahorse arrived at perfect timing.

We wrapped up our short dungeon exploration and immediately got ready for grinding.

[Party] Ro: I’ll send the party invites.

Soon, Seahorse, Celestial, and Woong joined the party. My character, Seahorse, and Celestial were still under the admin buff, so we headed straight to the Ruins.

The GM buff lasts for a whole day, unless you get debuffed or die. So barring any accidents, we could make full use of it until about 10:30 tonight.

[Party] Seahorse: Alright, let’s go hard today too!

Whenever the sub-owners took over Celestial or Woong’s characters, Seahorse would naturally step up as leader.

The subs were pretty quiet.

The silence felt a bit awkward, but not uncomfortable.

On the contrary, it was nice to focus solely on hunting without pointless chatter.

Time passed quickly as we mindlessly cleared the Ruins.

[Guild] INFP: Guys, Junghoon’s here.

[Guild] S: Hello!

[Guild] Chief Ko: Oh!

[Guild] Seahorse: Ooh, Junghoon’s here, haha.

The guild chat grew lively with the appearance of a new face.

He was clearly from the main server, and INFP, who recruited S, didn’t bother with further introductions. After that, only the people who knew each other kept chatting busily.

For us, with no ties to the new guy, and the other new guild members, there was nothing to do but quietly lurk in the guild chat.

"Since he didn’t even do a greeting, maybe he’s just here to hang out for a bit?"

While I was making my own guesses, Seahorse finally sent a simple hint.

[Party] Seahorse: That’s the guy who subbed for Celestial’s character on the main server, haha.

"There’s another sub on the main server? I heard the current player’s a sub too, so how many subs are there?"

In Monster World, subs usually get paid like a salary to play other people’s characters.

According to Seahorse, Celestial and Woong’s subs add up to three.

A main server sub, and another one for Another Server.

I don’t know what the market rates are like these days, but that’s some truly amazing spending power.

Ro and Proposal quickly caught on and clicked their tongues.

[Party] Proposal: Wait, so there are three subs?

[Party] Seahorse: Four, counting Woong’s main server sub, haha.

[Party] Ro: Dang…

[Party] Happy: Wow…?

[Party] Seahorse: S = Celestial’s main sub, been doing it the longest, haha.

[Party] Seahorse: Most main server folks have two or three subs running at once, haha.

[Party] Proposal: Main server really is something else.

[Party] Seahorse: Oh right, he’s probably around your guys’ age?

[Guild] Seahorse: Junghoon, how old are you again??

[Guild] S: I just turned twenty-nine, haha T_T

[Guild] Chief Ko: Wait, you’re already that old? T_T

[Guild] Bambi: Whoa, S is twenty-nine? I’m twenty-eight, so you’re my hyung, haha.

The sudden talk about ages made the chat lively.

[Guild] INFP: Huh, we actually have more people in their twenties than I thought.

[Guild] Chief Ko: The guild’s average age is getting younger, yes!

I was surprised too.

Even if it’s the late twenties, I never thought I’d meet someone in Monster World whose age starts with a 2.

[Guild] Proposal: Oh, S, we’re the same age.

[Guild] Chorok: Man, so many young ones lately, hahaha.

[Guild] Seahorse: Then Happy is the youngest? Haha

[Guild] INFP: He said he’s twenty-six, so probably.

[Guild] S: At twenty-six, you’d be treated like a kid on the main server.

[Guild] Taki: Yeah, just greeting everyone in the morning would get you allowance money.

[Guild] Bambi: Can I get allowance at twenty-eight, too?

[Guild] Taki: At twenty-eight, you’d have to act cute for it.

[Guild] Blue: Are there no early thirty-somethings? T_T

[Guild] Assassin: I’m forty-two, haha. You’re all young.

[Guild] Chorok: My friend!!! – – haha

[Guild] Seahorse: So many younger siblings, hahaha.

[Guild] Trauma: Looking for late thirties, haha.

For a while, the chat was filled with people searching for age-mates.

A natural process of the guild members getting friendly.

But as someone marked as the youngest, it was a little overwhelming.

[Guild] Chorok: Heh, guess it’s time to work the youngsters hard – – haha

Chorok seized the chance to try establishing a hierarchy.

But everyone knew what would happen if anyone responded, so none of us took the bait.

(Bae Hojun)

[The old-timers are starting to make their move]

[Don’t get tricked by their petty tongues, LOL]

[If you get caught, your gaming life is over, LOL]

Even as we ran through the Ruins, Proposal kept warning us in chat.

Thankfully, our silence killed the attempt at pecking order.

And thankfully, S changed the subject.

[Guild] S: There are a lot of people planning to come over here now, haha.

[Guild] S: Even Maesil’s crew are dropping their subs and getting ready to move.

[Guild] INFP: Even the Tree Alliance fell apart?

[Guild] S: Yup, so I told the other subs I’m close to that they should come here, haha.

[Guild] Seahorse: LOL, yeah, it’s better to play with us than with those guys.

[Guild] S: Oh, Jonghwan-hyung is coming over right now?

[Guild] Seahorse: Seriously? – – ;

[Guild] Ariel: – –

[Guild] Chief Ko: Oh boy.

[Guild] Taki: Good luck, noona.

While we were busy grinding, another new member joined the guild.

[Guild] Pungma: Hey you brats~~~~ been well~~~~

His rough words and enthusiastic tildes spoke of years of experience.

Pungma left a powerful first impression with just his greeting.

[Guild] Seahorse: Big bro is here, haha.

[Guild] INFP: He’s in his fifties, everyone^^ The oldest of those here, so pay your respects to the elder.

[Guild] Pungma: What are you saying~~~ I’m still forty-nine~~~ a fresh forty-something~~~~ cough!

To a total outsider like me, that was a pretty poor excuse.

But he seemed to have a deep connection with the Karma Guild.

Somehow, he felt like an insurmountable wall, but he was still a fellow guild member.

Figured I should at least say hi, so I started carefully typing.

[Guild] Ariel: You’re here, oppa, hahaha. Long time no see, it’s me, Nahyun.

[Guild] Pungma: Gasp

[Guild] Pungma: My pretty Nahyun!!!! How have you been~~~~?

[Guild] Pungma: Still living in Seoul?? We should meet up soon~~~!!!

[Guild] Pungma: Oppa will go anytime~~~~

[Guild] Ariel: Hahaha

[Guild] Pungma: Why do you only ever laugh~~~ T_T

[Guild] Pungma: Oppa is lonely~~~~

[Guild] Pungma: You said you have a lot of friends~~~~

[Guild] Pungma: Introduce me to them~~~~~

[Guild] Ariel: Hahahahaha

With Ariel just laughing in response, a red warning light went off in my head.

"A minefield."

And not just any minefield—a super one that must never be stepped on.