To make sure he didn’t miss his chance, Dahav activated the Hanibarame’s Blessing hanging around his neck and further accelerated his body.
He toyed with the air as if dancing, moving his body gracefully like the wind.
Dahav’s new form moved in perfect harmony with the breeze, and the agony radiating from his body made the Harpy’s eyes widen in shock.
A feline sensation coursed through his entire body, and a smile curled at the corners of his lips.
What he had thought was his top speed and cognitive ability in reality turned out to be nothing special.
It was simply that his body hadn’t been able to keep up.
The faster he went, the faster his thoughts spun around.
He was charging like a bike with no brakes, pushing his body to its limits.
Suddenly—
[You have slain the Harpy of Sky Ridge.]
[You have gained 20,000 Experience Points.]
‘Already?’
Though it felt fast, he couldn’t afford to be careless.
Just as time seems to fly by when you focus deeply on study or work, the overwhelming immersion might have made time feel like it sped up.
Of course, the most reliable method was to check the remaining duration of Hanibarame’s Blessing, a buff skill.
But since even a momentary lapse could lead to defeat, Dahav moved swiftly without hesitation.
‘The result can wait until after the battle.’
Dahav’s new form zoomed forward again.
Clack—
The sound of the second Harpy, guarded by a Troll Ghoul, collapsing reached him.
As battle experience accumulated, so did his skill and finesse.
Soon, Dahav evolved from a seasoned hunter to a master of the battlefield.
Wherever they merged, the balance of the battlefield tilted overwhelmingly in his favor, and the cleanup was done in an instant.
Finishing the fight, Dahav stopped in place and checked his buff window.
Hanibarame’s Blessing had about 10 seconds remaining.
His gaze naturally shifted to the net he held loosely in his left hand.
‘Crazy…’
Considering the buff lasts for 5 minutes, this cuts down the time spent on the Harpy Slaughter, which had been a fixed point on the Maginot Line, by half or more.
And when calculating the hunting time for the Harpy in Sky Ridge, the only variable he hadn’t factored in was this net.
‘It’s the perfect supplementary weapon!’
Granted, the prerequisite was the ability to land consecutive Critical Strikes, and that had to be backed by actual skill, but with such overwhelming physical power, it wasn’t a problem at all.
With this drawback eliminated, the only thing left was the honey-like ‘Critical Damage Increase’ option.
The emotion swelling deep in his chest was so strong that words of gratitude escaped naturally.
“Thank you, Hyun Woo-Hyuk, or should I say, Master Bogus.”
Smiling, Dahav began scouting for the next prey.
***
Studying without a proper guide is foolish.
Preparing for a civil service exam alone is tough.
If you don’t live cleverly, you’ll only suffer.
These are pieces of advice most people have heard at least once in their lives.
Though it varies case by case, most people benefit in some way.
Such universal sayings naturally applied to games and ASA as well.
-According to statistics gathered by experienced players, hunting Harpies in Sky Ridge around level 20 is best avoided.
Of course, most who gave this advice knew there was a reason behind it, so most people listened, gave up, or sought detours.
However, just as the world is lived in many diverse ways, so are the tendencies of ASA users, so reactions varied accordingly.
Hunting in Sky Ridge was no different.
Due to its high difficulty, lack of inventory space, and limited net usage, most players avoided hunting there.
-Isn’t it good to have no shortage of monsters?
Some even said this, seeing it as an opportunity to narrow the gap between them and veteran players, daring to challenge themselves.
Just like ‘El’s Party’.
“What? It’s easier than I thought? Hunting without competition sounds even better, doesn’t it?”
“At first, I was skeptical. Were they just lying to hog all the honey for themselves? Well, it’s a bit tough, but with no one around, you can keep hunting nonstop. This is definitely easier.”
The confidence of those hunting in Sky Ridge, like El’s Party, stemmed from their ‘skill’.
Their abilities were indeed far superior to average parties.
In fact, El’s Party was a so-called ‘Rookie Party’ contracted for 200 million from the 35th-ranked guild, Purgatory.
Thanks to their undeniable talent and the tough growth stage, where even average monsters were fierce opponents, they developed exceptional synergy.
Furthermore, among level 20 monsters, Sky Ridge’s Harpies are the weakest in attack power, defense, and stamina if we exclude flying and mobility types.
If numbers were the same, hunting there could feel easy.
El’s Party began hunting with excitement, like miners discovering a gold vein.
But the problem began once they ventured deeper into Sky Ridge.
“Hey, ready your net rings. Retreat!”
Just as they prepared to withdraw, danger struck.
“Damn! Already respawn time?”
Normally, due to ASA’s nature, there are more players than monsters, so players had to roam to find monsters.
But since Sky Ridge was a place few players visited, keeping up with the Harpy respawn rate was difficult.
Eventually, players ended up trapped like prey, facing death from endless respawn waves.
That was why Sky Ridge had a dwindling population.
Though it seemed easy to handle, hunting there was inefficient because:
From outside, targeting specific mobs during respawn wait times was slow and inefficient.
Going inside and hunting non-stop risked running into inventory and net limitations.
Simply put, hunting speed and efficiency in Sky Ridge ended up being worse than other hunting grounds of the same level.
But not all players were like that.
Good skill and good equipment could reverse the efficiency.
And those were exactly what Dahav—the player not far from where El’s Party fell—possessed.
[You have slain the Harpy of Sky Ridge.]
[You have gained 20,000 Experience Points.]
[You obtained ‘Harpy’s Talon’ 2 EA and quest item ‘Harpy’s Raw Feather’ 1 EA.]
[You have collected 10 Harpy’s Raw Feathers.]
[You have fulfilled the completion conditions of ‘Proof of Qualification – First Stage’ quest. Report to Mendelson to receive your quest reward.]
Reading the message, Dahav let out a triumphant yell.
“Great!”
Considering a full five-player party, factoring round-trip time and a maximum connection time of 12 hours, it would take at least 4 days to complete this quest while maintaining a basic lifestyle.
If fully dedicated, the average would be 5 to 6 days.
He had cleared the quest in just 3 days—roughly twice as fast as the average—which was nothing short of impressive.
Clearing the quest in May meant he had killed over a thousand Harpies in 5 days.
That didn’t just mean he finished the quest quickly.
By hunting solo, he had monopolized the experience meant for five people, so his level growth was naturally remarkable.
‘Already level 26…’
A four-level increase in only five days.
Normally, it would take about 10 days.
Even using future information to plan, it was still 7 days faster.
Roaming the overflowing Harpy packs at lightning speed made hunting in Sky Ridge inevitably faster than his previous plans.
“As expected, ASA is god-tier!”
As the saying goes, happiness multiplied, and fortune came knocking.
[Transcendence of the Five Senses – Luck Overflow has maximized luck!]
[Emergency Quest detected 3500 ahead on the boxing side: Lost Item Recovery Quest!]
“Wow…”
Staring at the message window, his mouth dropped open.
An Emergency Quest.
Randomly occurring quests involving monster extermination, resource gathering, escort missions, and the like.
Compared to general quests, the rewards were weighted heavily toward reputation, but experience and money rewards were not absent.
Moreover, since this quest was on the way to a city Dahav had to visit anyway to restock, it minimized unnecessary travel, making it one of the most preferred quests for players.
Assuming luck played its part, to explain simply, if you equipped the ‘Enhancement of the Five Senses – Luck’ skill rune and hunted in the same area for two days, you’d likely discover one of these quests at least once.
Though it was indeed luck, having ‘Transcendence of the Five Senses – Luck Overflow’ like Dahav was no reason to be this shocked.
Still, the reason Dahav reacted so strongly was this:
“There’s another Emergency Quest?!”
In just two days of hunting, he had discovered about ten Emergency Quests.
Even with Transcendence of the Five Senses – Luck, this was an absurd amount.
‘Is this a bug? Should I report this to the dev team before I get banned for abuse?’
Noah, the supercomputer genius Hyun Woo-Hyuk built, managed the server directly, and there had never been a known bug or exploit within ASA.
Still, since this affected his account’s fate, Dahav needed to consider carefully.
After serious thought, he understood why.
“There aren’t many players in Sky Ridge!”
With fewer users, it made sense that these Emergency Quests popped up more frequently.
In other words, Sky Ridge was like ‘Sky Sanctuary’ for Dahav.
‘Sweet!!’
With decent rewards and free bonuses, the game suddenly felt even more enjoyable.
There was no reason to refuse.
As the saying goes, the more the merrier—more Emergency Quests only meant better chances.
‘The more, the merrier. This is the best!’
Especially since Sky Ridge was a city that boosted reputation without any downsides.
With no real reason to stop, Dahav walked on with a happy smile.
***
“Mendelson, I have brought the 10 Harpy’s Raw Feathers you requested.”
Dahav spread out his hands to confirm the quantity and confidently declared.
After confirming the amount, Mendelson nodded approvingly.
“Indeed. You obtained them much faster than expected, just as Alexandra said—you truly surpass others.”
“Haha, you flatter me. I’m just…”
“Let’s stop with the empty compliments. As promised, I will allow you to take one item from the Hunting Supply Depot.”
Mendelson opened the door to the warehouse tucked in the corner.
[Sky Ridge Supply Warehouse is now open.]
[As a reward for completing the ‘Proof of Qualification – First Stage’ quest, you may obtain one item from the Hunting Supply Depot.]
“Then I won’t be greedy…”
Dahav bowed respectfully to Mendelson and stepped into the warehouse.
The Hunting Supply Depot.
Unlike the military supply warehouse in Shinaga, there was nothing here that players would covet.
In fact, what lay before him were only minor herbs, leather, and sleeping bags—not equipment worthy of attention.
Granted, if processed, these materials could make decent potions or leather armor, but they were clearly less efficient than finished products.
That’s why, even in the future, this place was dubbed the ‘Freezer’.
“Of course, that’s the story before lab data is released.”
Originally, this warehouse was just a formality.
The real goods were kept elsewhere.
Since these were non-essential equipment, Dahav walked purposefully past the herbs, leather, and sleeping bags without hesitation toward his destination.
Step by step—
Dahav’s footsteps stopped—not at the herbs, leather, or sleeping bags.