Chapter 7: Hammer and Buff

Kang Juho finished whispering.

And soon after arriving at the west gate, Kang Juho couldn’t help but be surprised.

‘So Earth really is something…

There were even more users than when he had returned to Villenian a little while ago to change jobs.

At the entrance, not a single rabbit could be seen, hidden by the users.

It felt like users who had been playing other virtual reality games had also moved over to Earth.

“Ah, should I just log in at night and catch them…”

“Is this the only place?”

“They say the other gates are the same.”

“Hey! How about we decide on an order to catch them?”

“Yeah! If we keep going like this, we’ll all fail!”

Listening to the users’ voices filled with annoyance and frustration, Kang Juho moved his feet.

“Excuse me, I’m passing through. Excuse me. Just a moment.”

After asking for understanding and escaping the rabbit field, Kang Juho shook his head and thought.

‘I need to move on faster.’

There were more users than expected.

He had a feeling that the Stone Fox Forest would soon be filled with users as well.

He had planned to log out around 1 or 2 AM.

However, it seemed like he would have to push himself more than planned and move on to the next area quickly.

[You have entered the Stone Fox Forest.]

Soon, Kang Juho arrived at the Stone Fox Forest and picked up the Iron Hammer.

“Hey, hey, be careful!”

“You’ll draw aggro!”

“Ugh, heal me!”

“What heal! I haven’t even changed jobs yet! Fall back and drink a potion!”

“Swarm it! There’s no match for a gang-up!”

There were several groups of users hunting Stone Foxes.

From as few as two to as many as three or four were hunting Stone Foxes in parties.

Of course, it wasn’t to the point where they had to compete.

Kang Juho approached a Stone Fox that was lying down and sleeping.

And immediately swung the Iron Hammer.

Whack!

-Screech…

The Iron Hammer hit its mark, and the Stone Fox screamed and woke up from its sleep.

Kang Juho swung the Iron Hammer again at the Stone Fox, which was struggling to get up.

Whack!

The Stone Fox, which had just woken up, was hit by the Iron Hammer as it was and flew backward.

The Stone Fox, which had fallen to the ground, quickly got up and shook its head, trying to regain its senses, and glared at Kang Ju-ho.

And soon, the Stone Fox jumped and swung its forepaw.

Kang Juho didn’t back down.

Originally, he was going to hunt safely without getting hit even once.

However, the moment he saw the increased number of users in front of the gate, his mind changed.

Even if he got hit, he decided to hunt as quickly as possible.

Anyway, he had potions he received through the tutorial, and if he ran out, he could buy potions by selling the byproducts he obtained through hunting.

And it wasn’t like he would definitely get hit just because he wasn’t doing it safely.

Kang Ju-ho swung the Iron Hammer in time with the forepaw coming at him.

Whack!

With a subtle difference, the Iron Hammer hit the Stone Fox’s side first, and the Stone Fox’s forepaw, which had been pushed aside, passed in front of Kang Ju-ho’s face.

Thud!

Kang Juho swung the Iron Hammer again at the fallen Stone Fox.

Whack!

-Screech…

The Stone Fox stopped moving with a mournful scream.

-Stone Fox Claw xl

-Stone Fox Hide xl

And the drop window appeared.

‘In four hits?’

Kang Juho couldn’t help but be surprised.

It was so different from when he was fighting with the Iron Sword.

No matter how high the attack power was, it was only a difference of 30.

It wasn’t just a simple difference of 30 since he had invested a lot of stats in Strength, but still, it died too quickly.

‘Is it because of the hammer’s characteristics?’

In Earth, there weren’t only attribute matchups.

Weapon matchups also existed.

For example, Golems, whose entire bodies were made of rock, were strong against sharp weapons like swords or spears.

Instead, they were weak against weapons like pickaxes or hammers.

Of course, the Stone Fox’s hide wasn’t made of stone, but it was that hard.

The reason the Stone Fox died in just four hits was probably because it was weak against hammers.

Kang Juho looked around.

He saw several Stone Foxes in a state of focus.

However, that was only for a moment, as another party began to attack one of the Stone Foxes, and the Stone Foxes that had been looking at Kang Juho began to focus on that party.

Kang Juho approached the nearest Stone Fox, thinking.

‘It’s good that there are a lot of people.’

Before, there were no people hunting Stone Foxes, so he had to move until the focus state was released.

But now, there was no need to waste time on moving.

Whoosh!

Soon, Kang Juho, who had arrived in front of the Stone Fox, swung the hammer.

Whack!

-Screech!

Unlike the first Stone Fox, this Stone Fox wasn’t sleeping and immediately counterattacked as soon as it was hit by the hammer.

It was a Stone Fox that had been keeping its distance and using jump forepaw attacks until now.

Kang Juho, who had naturally been expecting it to keep its distance this time as well, couldn’t help but be flustered by the sudden attack.

Scratch!

Even if he tried to avoid it, he couldn’t.

The Stone Fox’s forepaw brushed past Kang Juho’s chest as it was.

Of course, Kang Juho didn’t just stand there and get hit.

Whack!

The moment he realized that it was impossible to avoid, he swung the hammer, and the hammer hit the Stone Fox’s side right after its forepaw brushed past his chest.

The Stone Fox, which had fallen to the ground, began to retreat again.

Kang Juho looked at the Stone Fox and wondered why its attack pattern had changed.

However, there was too little information given.

And it wasn’t particularly important.

The health that had been reduced by the attack just now was only 80.

Kang Juho’s current total health was 1250.

Assuming an average of 80 was reduced, he wouldn’t die even if he was hit 14 more times.

Soon, the Stone Fox jumped.

Kang Juho swung the hammer in time, and the Stone Fox’s forepaw, which had been pushed aside by the hammer, passed in front of Kang

Juho’s eyes.

The fallen Stone Fox retreated again.

‘Is that just the first pattern?’

He wondered if the pattern had changed drastically, but it wasn’t.

‘Is it because the damage was too high?’

Was it a pattern that activated when receiving a certain amount of damage or more from the first attack?

‘Then what about just now?’

However, there was one point that was questionable.

This wasn’t the first Stone Fox he had caught with the hammer.

It was the second.

Why didn’t the first Stone Fox counterattack immediately?

‘Because it was sleeping?’

The only difference between the two Stone Foxes was ‘sleep’.

Perhaps the reason the first Stone Fox didn’t show the pattern of attacking immediately was because it was sleeping.

Whack! Whack!

Kang Juho then swung the hammer two more times and was able to kill the Stone Fox.

-Kim Seokju: Hyung, I’m here!

And at that moment, a whisper arrived from Kim Seokju.

-Kim Seokju: I’m going that way!

The party member’s location was shown on the minimap, so there was no need to go out to meet him separately.

Soon, Kim Seokju arrived.

In Kim Seokju’s hand was a wooden staff instead of an old Iron Sword.

“Give me the buff right away.”

Kang Juho said to Kim Seokju.

Unlike the Blacksmith, who had no skills to learn immediately after changing jobs, the Enchanter could learn three skills.

They were ‘Mana Ball’, ‘Physical Enhancement’, and ‘Magical Enhancement’.

Mana Ball was a magic attack skill whose attribute was determined by the weapon’s attribute.

And Physical Enhancement and Magical Enhancement were buff skills that increased physical attack power and magical attack power, respectively, as their names suggested.

“Yes, I’ll start right away! Physical Enhancement!”

Light flashed from Kim Seokju’s staff.

And at the same time, light flashed from Kang Juho’s body as well.

[Physical attack power increased by 20% for 1 minute.]

Kang Juho looked at the message and said to Kim Seokju.

“Tell me if you run out of potions, I’ll give you some.”

Kang Juho had no need to use mana anyway since he had no skills.

“Yes, I’ll tell you when I run out!”

Listening to Kim Seokju’s answer, Kang Juho approached the Stone Fox.

And swung the hammer.

Whack!

-Screech!

This Stone Fox also immediately counterattacked as soon as it was hit by the hammer.

‘As expected.’

He had expected a counterattack, and it was as expected.

Kang Juho, who was already backing away, was able to avoid the Stone Fox’s forepaw.

Whack!

At the same time, Kang Juho’s hammer hit the Stone Fox’s side.

The Stone Fox began to retreat as soon as it fell to the ground.

Kang Ju-ho followed the retreating Stone Fox and swung the hammer.

Whack!

-Screech…

Thud!

And the Stone Fox fell.

Currently, Kang Juho’s physical attack power was increased by 20% due to the skill ‘Physical Enhancement’.

The fact that the Stone Fox, which had taken four hits, died in just three hits was clearly due to the power of the buff.

“Wow…”

Kim Seokju exclaimed in admiration.

“In three hits…”

“I got a buff.”

“Even with the buff… what’s your hammer’s attack power?”

“50, it’s a difference of 30 from the Iron Sword. And it seems like there’s weapon matchup too.”

“Ah, weapon matchup.”

At Kang Juho’s answer, Kim Seokju nodded as if he understood.

In the meantime, another party began to hunt a Stone Fox nearby, and the gazes of the Stone Foxes that had been looking at Kang Ju-ho and

Kim Seokju turned away.

Kang Juho immediately approached a Stone Fox nearby and swung the hammer.

***

“Hohora.”

Yoo Jang-hyuk, who had been staring at the monitor, exclaimed in admiration.

And then, a change appeared in his expressionless face.

“Finally!”

Yoo Jang-hyuk muttered in a voice filled with excitement.

The reason Yoo Jang-hyuk was excited was because a user had appeared who had caught the tail of a special job.

The special job whose tail had been caught was ‘Battlefield Blacksmith’.

Even though Blacksmith was a production-type job, its combat ability was superior to other production-type jobs.

And Battlefield Blacksmith was a job that had slightly increased that combat ability.

In order to receive the job change quest, you had to reach level 30 after changing jobs to Blacksmith without refining minerals or crafting equipment.

If you refined minerals or crafted equipment even once before level 30, the job change quest would not be generated.

Yoo Jang-hyuk tapped on the keyboard.

Soon, the information of the user who had caught the tail appeared on the monitor.

“Kang Juho…”

It was a character name he had heard somewhere before.

Yoo Jang-hyuk tilted his head and thought carefully.

“Could it be the Immortal Corps?”

And soon, he looked at the character name Kang Juho with a surprised expression at the thought that had occurred to him.

Kang Juho was the master of the guild ‘Immortal Corps’, which had competed for the top spot with the Demon King Guild back in the PC days.

“It must be a person with the same name?”

Of course, the possibility of it being that Kang Juho was very low.

That was because the main job of Kang Juho, the master of the guild ‘Immortal Corps’, was Guardian Warrior.

Blacksmith was a production-type job.

There was no reason for that Kang Juho to choose Blacksmith as his main job.

“What does it matter.”

Soon, Yoo Jang-hyuk lost interest.

It didn’t matter whether it was a person with the same name or not.

What was important was whether he could catch the tail and receive the job change quest or not.

“Let’s check it first.”

Yoo Jang-hyuk set it up so that an alert would appear if Kang Juho received the job change quest, and then began to check again to see if there were any users who had caught the tail.

***

Whack!

-Screech…

The hammer hit its mark, and the Stone Fox fell.

[Level Up!]

And the message appeared.

“Congratulations on reaching level 20!”

Kim Seokju, who had learned that Kang Juho had leveled up through the party window, smiled and congratulated him.

“Thanks. Let’s catch them quickly and move on.”

Kang Juho expressed his gratitude for Kim Seokju’s congratulations and then continued.

Kang Juho had already caught two Stone Foxes before Kim Seokju came.

Since the experience was being split in half, Kim Seokju had to catch four more in order to reach level 20.