Chapter 34: Dropping Hope

[Guild] Proposal: Just how much did they eat to be bragging all over the village?

[Guild] Haema: For real, wow ㄷㄷ

[Guild] Taki: No joke, at this rate, it looks like they'll collect everything soon

[Guild] INFP: Go raise some hell ㅋㅋ

[Party] Haema: Should we head down and take a quick break?

Everyone was curious and quickly agreed.

As soon as we arrived at the village, the chat window exploded with noise.

[Bizert Village — Global] Nu: Buying every piece of Ares, no matter the part

[Bizert Village — Global] Akis: Buying Ares gloves! Will pay extra!

[Bizert Village — Global] Akis: Please, please, just gloves and I’ll have the full Ares set ㅜㅜㅜㅜ

[Bizert Village — Global] JJabda: Wow ㄷㄷ Did someone already finish the whole set?

“That’s insane.”

[Bizert Village — Global] Like: Hephaestus? I got the hat, is it good? ㅠㅠ

[Bizert Village — Global] Nameless: Anyone know the current price for Gaia anti-personnel defense set?

[Bizert Village — Global] Nameless: I got gloves from the hill, should I hold onto them for now?

New items dropped on all maps except Guild Dungeon.

The lower the map’s difficulty, the lower the drop rate, but still, there were plenty of newbies boasting about their loot.

[Bizert Village — Global] Nu: Buying defense sets, attack sets, anything, I’ll pay big ^^  

“Wow. Look at that, trying to scam people even now...”

[Guild] Gadfly: Nu is such a scammerㅡ ㅡ

[Guild] Taki: Trying to trick clueless newbies, so shady ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Bizert Village — Global] Nu: Buying all new sets, every part ^^

[Bizert Village — Global] WaterIsSelf: Guys, those items are less than a day old, so you should just hold onto them for now ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Bizert Village — Global] Nameless: Ah, thanks, got it

At least some sharp-minded neutral players stepped in to prevent a disaster.

[Guild] INFP: I hope none of us scam newbies like that...

[Party] Proposal: What a mess ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Party] Proposal: Trying so hard to rip off newbies, honestly ㅋㅋㅋ

The mention of newbies made me think of a few people.

“I doubt they’re still playing... but if they are, I hope they don’t get caught in a scam like that.”

Well, judging from the group I met before, they seemed pretty savvy with games. Of course, that assumes the nice buffer was with those folks.

Either way, it didn’t sit well to see the Hana Guild blatantly trying to scam newbies.

On top of that, the way they were flaunting having nearly a full set except for one piece felt almost intentionally provoking, which left a sour taste.

[Party] Haema: I’m getting ticked off, want to go mess them up real quick?

No one objected.

Once the sub-leaders of Cheonjon and Woong agreed, we dashed straight out to the plains. Then we sprinted across the grasslands in search of them.

[Party] Proposal: Let’s just cleanly wipe them once and go back to leveling

[Party] Haema: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Who knew if it would end with just once, but we ran and ran until we finally caught up to Musin’s party.

But then...

“Huh? What’s Hannari doing here?”

[Party] Haema: Eh? Aren’t they supposed to be the second string?ㅡ ㅡ;

[Party] Ro: No sign of Hope

Now that I thought about it, their comic relief, Hope, was nowhere to be seen.

I’d glimpsed their ID in the village a few hours ago, and no way that addict logged out…

“What, are they using Hannari instead of Hope now?”

While I was wondering, Cheonjon swooped right into the center of their group.

A frighteningly wide flame skill knocked Hannari down first.

Their debuffer, Inspector, barely survived, but a follow-up arrow from Woong’s skill finished him off instantly.

“Whoa, why is everyone so fast?”

I didn’t even have time to react.

Pineapple and Shinyoung were mobbed by Cheonjon, Ro, Proposal, and the three mages and went down without much of a fight.

At the front, Musin and Gomae, who’d been tanking and clearing mobs, finally realized what was happening and rushed back.

As Musin, who’d been far away, closed in, Ro and Proposal quickly retreated to widen the distance.

Only Cheonjon and I cheerfully welcomed the two as they charged at us.

“Let’s start with Slow.”

[Musin has used Blazing Inferno.]

[Musin has used Blazing Inferno.]

No sooner had I cast Slow on Gomae than high-damage single-target skills started raining down.

As if he held some special grudge against me, Musin just couldn’t give up on me, even while suffering every possible debuff.

“Maybe because I dumped all my built-up stats into HP for days, it’s getting easier to tank now.”

Snorting indifferently, I threw on debuffs with exaggerated composure.

For now, Slow, Defense Break, and Buff Removal would suffice.

After that, Cheonjon and Woong focused down Musin, and I glanced sideways at Hannari, who was still lying on the ground.

“This is bad. If she manages to stick around as a main member, it’ll be a real pain...”

Buffers and debuffers are like spear and shield.

Great when they’re on your side, but an absolute nuisance when they’re the enemy.

Especially since I’d been PKing all this time without interference from buffers, this was going to be an awkward adjustment.

[Party] Ro: Looks like they’re dropping Hope and bringing in a buffer, huhㅎㅎ

[Party] Haema: For real ㅠㅠ Then we’ll need a buffer who can tank too

On our side, Ariel’s our only buffer, but she doesn’t seem too interested in leveling... It’s tough for her to fit in with the top ranks.

“To survive, I’ll need to practice using Black Melody more effectively.”

While recalling the not-yet-familiar Buff Removal skill, Musin and Gomae died one after the other.

When news spread to the guild that we’d just wiped the plains, the chat blew up with ‘ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ’.

Apparently, Nu and Akis, who had been boasting in the village, suddenly went silent...

[Guild] INFP: So, we’ve got control of the plains now?

[Guild] Haema: Yup

[Guild] INFP: Our party will head up, so stick with us ㅋㅋ

[Guild] INFP: There are way too many people in the desert, it’s rough...

“Isn’t INFP ranked 12th and Team Leader Go 9th? And they were stuck in the desert this whole time?”

Well, thinking about it, there’s not much choice.

No item drops in the Guild Dungeon, Musin’s scary party ruling the plains, and they don’t have the specs for Ruins hunting. So, the only real option was the relatively easy desert.

[Guild] Ariel: But if our guild takes over the plains, won’t those guys move up to the Ruins?

[Guild] Haema: Hmm, could be possible?

[Guild] INFP: Then just help for 30 minutes

[Guild] INFP: We’ll try out the plains and if it doesn’t work, we’ll move back down

So, the top two parties in Karma both settled in the plains.

Just as expected, Musin’s party started targeting INFP’s easier party. But since we were hovering nearby as escorts, their ambushes mostly failed.

[Party] Cheonjon: Looks like they’ve moved up to the Ruins

[Party] Proposal: Figures

[Party] Haema: To the Ruins, let’s go

It became a chase.

After nearly twenty minutes of hounding Musin’s party, we finally got a reaction.

[Party] Ro: Are they not coming anymore?

[Guild] Haema: How’s PK hunting going?

[Guild] INFP: Gadfly and Baegop are cutting it close, but it’s manageable

[Guild] Trauma: Musin’s party just came to the desert;;

[Guild] Haema: Huh?

[Guild] Trauma: I’m dead, for now

[Guild] Taki: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Look at those psychos, running straight down to mess with lowbies

[Guild] Haema: Who’s in the desert right now?

[Guild] Chorok: All the lower ranks ㅡ ㅡㅋ

[Guild] Chorok: Me, Trauma, Assassin, Bambi, Reaper, Blue—everyone’s here

[Guild] Assassin: We all just got wiped outㅎㅎ

[Guild] Bambi: So frustrating ㅠㅠ

[Guild] Proposal: Looks like we have to deploy again

[Guild] Ro: Let’s go

[Guild] Haema: One last revenge run, then back to normal grinding ㅋㅋ

So we headed to the desert to retaliate.

Maybe because it’s the map where people naturally gather, the scene was chaotic.

“Wow. Junk item paradise. I’m gonna end up picking up useless stuff just running around.”

The ground was littered with low-grade potions left behind by players.

Yet all the valuable items had been thoroughly scooped up, which made me chuckle.

[Guild] Proposal: Seriously, it’s packed here

[Guild] Chorok: Lots of people in the Labyrinth and Mines too ㅡ ㅡㅋ

[Guild] Assassin: The desert is definitely the bloodiest ㅎㅎ

Maybe because the Karma Guild was spread across the maps for items, the whole place was overcrowded.

[Desert of No Return — Global] GreenGrape: Why is everyone coming hereㅡㅡ

[Desert of No Return — Global] MapleLeaf: Hey, you high levels, have some decency, for real

“Ugh, so salty. We’re only here to take out Musin and then we’ll leave...!”

As someone who believes high levels should avoid the lower maps for the sake of lowbies, this was a bit awkward.

[Guild] INFP: You don’t have to go after Musin’s party, just move up to the Ruins

[Guild] INFP: They’ll probably go up after killing us anyway

[Guild] INFP: We’ll handle the plains on our own

[Guild] Haema: Got it

[Guild] Woong: Alright~

Still, INFP’s the sub-guildmaster, so people listened, especially with the guildmaster away.

It was a bit disappointing not to get revenge... but if Musin’s party doesn’t want to be even more embarrassed, they’ll probably leave right away.

“Portal, portal... To the Ruins... Huh?”

Ah, clicked the wrong thing again.

My mouse’s sensitivity is really too high.

MonWorld is a low-spec game, so my PC loads it fast and opens windows quickly. With a slight lag on double-clicks, you can actually do a lot of things in a flash, which is a problem.

Right now, I was supposed to flip through two more pages to get to the right portal, but I ended up quickly clicking on the Crumbling Temple right on the first page.

“Ah. I need to fix my mouse settings.”

Blaming my mouse for my impatience, I headed for the entrance.

Then suddenly, I noticed characters whizzing past down below.

“Lots of people here, too.”

The power of new items, huh...

It was a strange sight. Had there always been this many people in Another World? Curious, I paused for a moment.

“Huh?”

The entrance to the Crumbling Temple is at three o’clock on the map.

With the area wide open, it’s easy to spot entering players.

A group paused far in the distance. Somehow, it felt like they recognized me.

The problem was, their IDs looked kind of familiar.

“Jina and Yoonjae, so that’s...”

Even if Bori and Dodohae were new faces, Jina and Yoonjae were the newbies I ran into not long ago. Especially Jina, who kindly buffed me—a true buffer newbie.

“Huh? Guess they haven’t quit yet? Wow... impressive.”

They’d made it all the way up to the Crumbling Temple.

For newbies, they were definitely tenacious, and I froze on the spot without thinking.

“Should I say hi? Or not? There’s really no need, is there?”

Let’s remember, it’s a field war out here.

There are a lot of eyes around, and I didn’t want to cause trouble, so I tried to stealthily move my mouse toward the entrance.

[Jina has given you 1 Gaia’s Hat.]

[Jina has given you 1 Artemis’s Earring.]

“Uh...?”

Did I just get... ‘pickpocket gifted’ on the spot?