𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟑𝟏
“Yua-nim. This is just my thought, but I think it would be better to gather a few more materials.”
“Materials?”
“Yes, if you gather just five more Rare grade materials, you can make the weapon Rare grade as well.”
At my words about being able to make it Rare grade, Yua showed a moment of contemplation.
Magic grade and Rare grade weapons.
Yua would know well enough which of the two is better.
However, as I mentioned before, the problem was that Rare grade materials are hard to come by, so it’s impossible to know when it could be made.
“What are you thinking about? Of course, we should make it Rare grade.”
“Rare grade?”
“Yeah, a higher grade is always better. It will take time, but if we find Rare materials like today, it won’t take too long.”
Perhaps Yua’s contemplation was frustrating, as Sina stepped forward and spoke proactively.
Honestly, I also thought making it Rare grade would be better, so I had no intention of stopping her.
Anyway, with Sina’s active support, Yua, who decided on Rare grade, chose to postpone the crafting until she gathered the materials, and I temporarily logged out to finish my friend’s business.
[Logging out.]
[Once again, on the street illuminated by Twilight……]
‘Honestly, I don’t know if this is the right thing to do.’
Since he knew I was playing Twilight, I thought I couldn’t hide it forever, so I decided to bring him to the Emperor Guild.
━Oh, Giwon. Did you already ask him?
“Something like that…… Does any guild work?”
━Anywhere but the Iot Kingdom. Besides, the place you’re in is the Harpe Empire, right? The Emperor Guild has a tight grip there, so there’s no chance of war.
“Really?”
━It would be nice to have a few personally owned dungeons though.
It was a modest wish, if you could call it that.
Anyway, listening to him, it felt like anything was fine as long as he could leave the Iot Kingdom.
Moreover, coincidentally, the Emperor Guild had dozens of the dungeons he desired.
“Then come to the Emperor Guild.”
━Emperor? The Emperor I know?
When I suddenly brought up the Emperor, I could hear his flustered tone.
━You joined the Emperor Guild? But that’s not a place you can join just because you want to.
“It doesn’t matter.”
I calmed him down and added the final words.
“I’m the Vice Master there.”
* * *
After that, I briefly answered his rapid-fire questions and lastly told him to come to the Emperor territory.
Jaehoon said he would log in right after work, but since I didn’t know the exact time, I had no choice but to wander around the Emperor territory and wait.
‘By the way, why did they build the walls so wide?’
After Beluin’s Thoughts attacked, Aizen immediately built walls, and after confirming that the walls were incredibly vast, I wondered if it was too much.
It was wider than Hispeon, the capital of the Harpe Empire, just by a rough estimate.
I could understand wanting to make his territory as large as possible, but it seemed like he set the standard too high.
‘Hmm?’
Just then, I saw two somewhat familiar players walking in the distance, looking around.
It was Jaehoon, whom I briefly met during the Kraken subjugation, and his girlfriend, Jooyeon.
They seemed to be preoccupied with looking around as if they were fascinated by something, but I couldn’t understand it since there weren’t that many buildings built within the territory.
There has to be something to see to look around.
“Ah, Oppa. Over there!”
Meanwhile, Jooyeon, who spotted me, tapped Jaehoon’s arm and pointed this way, and Jaehoon, finally noticing me, started approaching with somewhat awkward steps.
“Uh, hello……?”
What’s with the hesitant ending?
Letting out a brief sigh at his greeting filled with awkwardness, I decided to get him registered first.
[You have requested guild membership for player ‘Dark Sword’-nim.]
“……”
In addition, it seems his ID was Dark Sword.
After registering Jooyeon, who was looking at me with sparkling eyes for some reason, and adding them as friends, he finally dropped the awkward expression.
“I still can’t believe it.”
“What?”
“What else? That you’re Rudin.”
We already talked about that over the phone.
‘More importantly……’
Seeing him up close, his equipment caught my eye first.
He was wearing low-quality leather equipment, as if he had lost all his original equipment, and his weapon was also an ordinary-looking iron sword.
Frankly, he looked weaker than my battle puppet.
“What’s your level now?”
“Me? I’m 72. Jooyeon next to me is 74.”
“Quite low.”
Considering that most players had surpassed level 100 or were close to it, it was definitely a low level.
But I understood, considering his level had dropped multiple times due to the war.
“Let’s make some money first. You haven’t done any quests today, right?”
“Of course not, I came here right after logging in.”
Nodding at his words, I led them to the Quest Guild.
Since Aizen had built a Quest Guild among his buildings, there was no need to go to another village.
However, I heard that guilds like the Alchemist Guild or the Magician Guild, excluding the Quest Guild, require raising the favorability of specific NPCs to recruit them, but I wasn’t interested in that, so I didn’t know much about it.
So, there are guild members who focus on recruitment?
“But is it okay? I’m satisfied just with joining the Emperor Guild.”
“What’s the point of just joining? You need Contribution Points.”
Although my memory was a bit old and not entirely accurate, I remembered that regular guild members needed Contribution Points to use dungeons.
If they went with me, they wouldn’t need those Contribution Points, but I couldn’t stay with them forever.
So, I believed that if I supported them by doing quests and clearing dungeons for a day, they would manage on their own.
After all, he was someone who had been in a large guild in the Iot Kingdom.
“Contribution Points? It seems the Emperor Guild is the same.”
“What’s it usually like?”
“The same. Usually, you earn money through the Quest Guild, collect Contribution Points with that money, and use dungeons. Then, if you get a few items from the dungeon, you’re successful.”
“……”
Conversely, does it mean a loss if you don’t get anything?
If it were me, I wouldn’t spend the money I earned through quests on using dungeons, but since others were doing it, there must be a reason.
Actually, I wasn’t entirely clueless about the reason.
If you use a dungeon, there are monsters, items, and materials that only appear there, so if you do well, you might be able to make a decent profit.
To put it bluntly, who would use dungeons if it was a guaranteed loss?
‘Hmm.’
Thinking about it, I felt that those who climbed up the ranks through guild member life to become executives were amazing.
“The problem is, I don’t have any money because I just moved to the Harpe Empire.”
“Huh? Ah, it’s okay. I’ll pay for the quest expenses.”
For a moment, I wondered what Jaehoon was talking about, but then I understood and said it didn’t matter.
Seeing the equipment he was wearing, he was practically a beggar, and I had no intention of taking money from him.
Clank━
“Welcome.”
Anyway, as we arrived at the Quest Guild, an NPC greeted us, and I decided to check the quest list while receiving the greeting.
“Yes, please show me the B-rank quests.”
For reference, I could take up to A-rank quests.
I wanted to take an A-rank quest if possible, but unfortunately, I lacked the money due to the 1,000 gold cost and continuously purchasing iron ingots for crafting.
However, even B-rank seemed high for Jaehoon, as he gasped in surprise.
“I’ll take this one.”
Anyway, among the B-rank quests, I chose the one that offered specific equipment as a reward.
Although the monetary reward was only 30 gold, it wouldn’t be a small amount for Jaehoon, and I chose this quest thinking he needed to change his equipment first before entering a dungeon to hunt or do anything else.
* * *
━Kuoooooh!!
For reference, the quest I received was simple.
It was to hunt a Hydra.
The Hydra I knew was a monster with nine elongated heads, but it was a little different here, having only three. However, after facing it, I realized it wasn’t that difficult.
[Boss Monster ‘Hydra of the Contaminated Swamp’ has been defeated!]
[Combat Experience……]
Well, considering the opponents I’ve fought so far, a Hydra like this is no different from a pet.
“Wow……”
Jaehoon and Jooyeon, who were watching the battle between me and the Hydra from a distance, couldn’t hide their surprised expressions.
“Did you receive the reward?”
Since the Hydra I defeated was a boss monster, they would have acquired some gold and items.
So, when I asked about it, they nodded and said they had obtained Magic grade materials and one or two pieces of equipment.
“It should be a little better if you receive the quest completion reward on top of that.”
I thought it would be enough to recover the money and equipment they lost due to the war.
[Returning to the original location.]
Returning to the Quest Guild as I mentioned it, I immediately approached the NPC and completed the quest, receiving 30 gold and a piece of equipment as a reward.
[You have acquired the Swordsman’s Helmet.]
‘But even with a B-rank quest, they only give Magic grade items?’
It seemed Jaehoon received armor and Jooyeon received shoes, but they were all Magic grade.
Fortunately, they seemed happy, so I assumed it was better than their existing equipment, and I handed over the Swordsman’s Helmet I obtained to Jaehoon.
‘Now that the quest is over, I think we can go to a dungeon.’
I thought my role would be over once I took them to a dungeon where they could hunt.
The problem was that I didn’t know the location of the dungeons owned by the Emperor Guild.
To solve this problem, it would be faster to ask Aizen or grab a guild member and ask.
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking of taking you to a dungeon where you can hunt and then doing my own thing.”
“Hey, you don’t have to go that far. You already got us into the guild and even did a quest for us, asking for more would be like being a thief.”
“Don’t worry, it’s just taking you to a dungeon. If I take you, you don’t have to use Contribution Points.”
“Oh? Really?”
He looked as if he didn’t know.
Wasn’t it the same for almost all guilds regarding Contribution Points?
“What was it like in the Great Voyage Guild you were in?”
“They always took Contribution Points. There’s no such thing as not taking them if you take someone. It’s just hunting together, that’s all.”
“……Emperor is better in that regard.”
But it’s all the same.
Anyway, at my words about not taking Contribution Points, Jaehoon remained silent.
I understood since it was a chance to save money, but……
“I think I need to ask a guild member.”
“Why?”
“I don’t use dungeons, so I don’t know much about them.”
In fact, I wasn’t even sure how many dungeons the Emperor Guild owned.
However, it seemed my answer wasn’t enough to convince him.
“You don’t use dungeons? Then how did you grow?”
“Well, mainly through quests and raids.”
To be more specific, I participated in all the major events.
Starting with the Bamut Cult, then the Kraken, and even the Archdemon.
Furthermore, I had also defeated raid bosses, but since other players couldn’t replicate all of this, I didn’t bother mentioning it.
“What are you talking about? Who doesn’t do quests and raids? If what you’re saying is true, then almost all players would grow like you.”
“……Then, just participate in raids regularly.”
“Yeah, now I understand.”
After adding further explanation, my friend nodded, saying, “That makes sense.”
Anyway, we couldn’t stay in the Quest Guild forever, so I left and happened to spot a guild member who recognized me. I asked them to tell me the location of a dungeon suitable for players between levels 60 and 70.
Considering his equipment and low skill levels, I wanted to set the standard at 50, but I held back.
“There’s a dungeon nearby where you can hunt up to level 60.”
“Ah, is that so?”
“Hey, hey! I said my level is 72!”
Ignoring my friend’s outburst from behind, I asked for the location, and the guild member asked if they could guide me there personally.
It seemed they wanted to use the dungeon for free while guiding us.
Since it wasn’t a bad deal for me, I readily agreed and followed the guild member, taking my friend to the dungeon. I watched them hunt, and it was quite a spectacle.
“Power of the Rock! Continuous Slash!”
Seeing him barely managing to defeat monsters by randomly using all sorts of skills, I thought I had made the right choice in selecting the dungeon.
After observing for a while longer, I felt that they could hunt sufficiently as long as they didn’t get too greedy. I left them with words of encouragement and parted ways with peace of mind.
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