“Hey~ Don’t be like that~ We’re buddies, right~?” Siegfried sneered at Chae Hyung-Seok, whose face was absolutely red from rage.
“Impossible! This is impossible! How did you earn 200 resistance points in just a day?! How?! How did you level up thrice in just twenty-four hours?! GAAAAAAH!”
Chae Hyung-Seok couldn’t accept the illogical?growth spurt that Siegfried had just gone through overnight.
A normal Adventurer would take at least two months to reach 350 points in Dimensional Resistance, and it required a tight grinding schedule at the Great Rift. It could be reduced to a month at most if a high-level Adventurer gave them a boost.
However, Siegfried earned over 400 points in Dimensional Resistance in just a week, and the most shocking part was he earned 200 points in just twenty-four hours.
Was that even possible?
‘That bastard is using a hack! He’s a hacker!’
Chae Hyung-Seok couldn’t accept such an illogical fact, but the undeniable fact that the person he hated the most was the one who had done the impossible feat made Chae Hyung-Seok feel like going crazy.
At the same time, goosebumps broke out all over him. He felt scared of Siegfried’s stubbornness. He was certain that he finally managed to get Siegfried, only for the latter to stand in his way once again.
Siegfried smirked at Chae Hyung-Seok, but he was dying inside right now.
After all, there was no way he was going to be fine after what he went through.
‘Ah… I’m so dizzy… I think I’m going to drop dead any minute now…’
He had been hunting for the last twenty-four hours with only two hours of break in between dungeon clears. He only took breaks, as the game would log him out forcefully if he hadn’t taken those breaks.
If it hadn’t been for those breaks, Siegfried would have hunted for the entirety of the past twenty-four hours. He was exhausted both physically and mentally, but he wasn’t the only one.
Zzz!
Hamchi was completely knocked out in Siegfried‘s pocket after running around the past twenty-four hours picking up fragments.
Zzz!
Taycan, whose stamina was lower than Siegfried, was dozing off while standing.
“Ugh… I can’t do this anymore…”
“I will have to give up… I’m sorry…”
“T-Thank you for the—I don’t know…”
The other Adventurers couldn’t withstand the torture?and gave up halfway to go to sleep. Of course, none of them were unhappy as they gained much more experience points and Dimensional Resistance than they could ever earn in less than twenty-four hours.
They simply couldn’t keep up with Siegfried and Taycan.
The descendant of the ultimate being, Siegfried and the descendant of the Thunder God Vajra, Taycan. The synergy between these two in the same party created a miracle.
Quiver!
There was no way Chae Hyung-Seok would know what happened, so he couldn’t help but be extremely scared of Siegfried right now.
‘This bastard… He actually managed to earn so many Dimensional Resistance points in just twenty-four hours…?’?Chae Hyung-Seok could no longer treat Siegfried like an insect. ‘Can I… can I even crush this insect once he grows stronger…?’
The answer was an obvious NO, and Chae Hyung-Seok knew that. He could no longer treat Siegfried like a piece of trash, and he could feel that Siegfried was closing in on him at frightening speeds.
He was also aware that Siegfried was only going to become stronger as time went on, and he would eventually become unstoppable, even if the entire Genesis Guild ganged up on him.
‘I need to crush him now or else…’
While Chae Hyung-Seok was deep in his thoughts…
“Hey, Hyung-Seok! Let’s do our best!”
…a loud voice pierced his eardrums.
“…!”
“Are you going to ignore me?” Siegfried sneered with a sheepish smile while waving his hand in front of Chae Hyung-Seok.
“Fuck off before I kill you.”
“Huh~? Why~~~?”
“I already told you to fuck off…”
“Hey! Don’t you know I like you?!”
“You like me…?”
“Of course~ I like you sooo much~ I like you so much that I’ll follow you… until the ends of this world~”
“…”
“Until you hang yourself and die.”
By the way, Siegfried looked like ^?^ when he said those words, which made him look even creepier.
‘This bastard will devour me at this rate…!’
Chae Hyung-Seok finally understood his predicament, and he also finally realized that he was no longer the predator. He was now the prey, and Siegfried was the predator.
It was only a matter of time before he was gobbled up by the predator.
“See you later in the dungeon, okay? My lovely Hyung-Seok~” Siegfried sneered one last time before hitting Chae Hyung-Seok’s shoulder as he walked over to his party.
“…”
Chae Hyung-Seok stood still without uttering a single word.
He looked lost. Still, he decided to focus on the positives right now, and one of the positive news was that Siegfried was stationed at the seventh party, which made it impossible for him to be bothered this time.
Chae Hyung-Seok finally let out a sigh of relief.
‘Yeah, there’s no way he can do anything to me when he’s in one of the sub-parties. Let’s forget about him and focus on the raid...’
He steeled his resolve to completely ignore Siegfried and focus on the raid instead, as that was the best thing he could do right now.
***
The Raid Dungeon was called Great Rift: City of the Dead, and the information provided by the investigators regarding the City of the Dead were the following...
1. The City of the Dead is an extremely large city.
2. The city was built in a circular layout, and at the center of the city lies a castle where the boss monster is probably located.
3. Most of the monsters are undead monsters with dark attributes.
4. The time and space on the outskirts of the city is not that bad, but it gets progressively distorted the closer one gets to the center of the city.
5. Only those possessing more than 500 Dimensional Resistance points are advised to go near the city center due to the reasons listed above.
The NPC managing the Raid Dungeon divided the raid party into three groups.
[First Party]
[The first party shall preserve their strength under the assistance of the other parties until they reach the castle where the boss monster is located.]
[Requirements: Dimensional Resistance of more than 500, Above Level 250 (Certain classes are exempted)]
[Second Party & Third Party]
[Protect the flanks of the first party and clear the path for them. Intervene in the boss monster raid if the first party is in danger.]
[Requirements: Dimensional Resistance of more than 450, Above Level 240 (Certain classes are exempted)]
[Fourth Party to Twelfth Party]
[Secure the perimeter while the first, second, and third parties raid the boss monster.]
[Requirements: Dimensional Resistance of more than 400, Above Level 230 (Certain classes are exempted)]
“Tsk…?I worked so hard…” Siegfried clicked his tongue and grumbled after finding out that he failed to qualify for the first, second, or third party. It would have been possible for him to join the second or third party if his level and resistance were a bit higher.
“It’s a shame I’m too far from that bastard…” he grumbled at the fact that he was far away from his target.
“What’s a shame?”
“Ack!?You scared me!” Siegfried jumped in fright when Taycan suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
“Oh, it’s a shame you can’t hunt with me? Hehe…”
“I’m sorry, but not everything is about you, okay?”
“R-Really? You weren’t feeling that way because he can’t hunt together?”
“Nope.”
“Tsk!”
“Piss off to your party. I don’t have any business with you. You have served your purpose!”
“Y-You’re so mean!”
Taycan shed a tear at Siegfried’s coldness.
Meanwhile, Siegfried seemed to be more upset than Taycan.
‘Is he trying to rub salt on my wound?’
The reason was that Taycan’s Dimensional Resistance was higher than his at 464 points, and he was affiliated with one of the main parties, the third party, while Siegfried was affiliated with the seventh party, which was one of the sub-parties.
‘I can’t be with my beloved Hyung-Seok like this…’?Siegfried thought while biting his nail.
“Oh!?Isn’t that my nephew?”
“Huh?”
“What? You got so many resistance points and levels in just a week?”
Siegfried looked up and saw the living fossil of Korea’s gaming world, Yong Tae-Pung, smiling like a cunning tanuki.
***
“Do you know him?”
“Are you related to him, senior-nim?”
“Ah! That Siegfried?”
The high-level Adventurers with Yong Tae-Pung started showing interest in Siegfried.
“Yes, I know him very well. He saved my guild’s party from total annihilation last time, and he’s skilled enough to make his pro gamer debut tomorrow,” Yong Tae-Pung said, sparing no praises.
He was joining the raid party raiding the Raid Dungeon, and he was with the first party, which made sense as he was a living legend.
‘S-Stop…! It’s embarrassing…!’?Siegfried was looking for a hole to hide in when Yong Tae-Pung started praising him without reserve.
“You just came a week ago, but you’ve already increased your resistance to four hundred points? Are you a monster or a lunatic?” Yong Tae-Pung asked.
“Hahaha…” Siegfried let out an awkward laugh while scratching the back of his head.
“What? He raised his resistance to four hundred in just a week?” one of the high-level Adventurers asked.
“That seems to be the case. I met him a week ago when he first came here, and he hadn’t cleared the entry-level quest when we first met,” Yong Tae-Pung replied.
“Wow!”
“Serious…?”
“I guess he’s special judging by how much senior-nim is praising him…”
“Is he a hidden class user?”
The high-level Adventurers started treating Siegfried well, thanks to Yong Tae-Pung’s praises. They knew that there was some Adventurer locked in some strange race with an NPC at the Great Rift, but they paid no heed to them as their pride?did not allow them to be curious about what the noobs were doing.
However, they could not help but be curious about Siegfried after hearing Yong Tae-Pung's praises.
“But why are you in the seventh party?”
“Huh?”
Siegfried tilted his head in confusion at Yong Tae-Pung’s question.
“That is because my level is not high enough…”
“How does that even make sense?”
“Eh…?”
“Letting you rot in the seventh party with your skills and abilities? No way,” Yong Tae-Pung said. He turned toward the NPC in charge of the rift and shouted, “Hey! Why is this guy in the seventh party?”
“That Adventurer belongs to the fourth till twelfth party as stated by the requirements, and he doesn’t have enough resistance to join the main—” the NPC explained.
But Yong Tae-Pung interrupted him with a scoff, “Ha!”
“Listen here, how will you survive this harsh world being so rigid?”
“Huh…? W-What do you mean by that…?”
“This guy might not have enough resistance, but he is skilled enough to fill in the shoes of two people!”
“R-Really?”
“And his supporting skills are much more useful than most Healers! But what? You’re actually sending an Adventurer like him to the sub-parties instead of the main party? This is a loss for the entire raid party, I tell you!”
Chae Hyung-Seok suddenly felt that things weren’t going as smoothly as he thought they would go.
‘Fuck this shit! What’s wrong with your brain, you fucking old man?! Why are you spouting shit from the wrong hole?! Ha?! You fucking old shiiiit!’?He wanted to smack the old man’s mouth and twist his neck right now.
However, there was no way he would emerge unscathed after doing that to the living legend of Korean gaming, who was old enough to be his ancestor. He would definitely be excommunicated by the other pro gamers if he were to do such a thing.
In the end, there was nothing Chae Hyung-Seok could do about it.
“It’s a waste to station someone like him in the sub-parties, I tell you. I’m not saying the sub-parties are useless, no, but he will definitely serve more purpose in the main party. So what I’m trying to say is…” Yong Tae-Pung trailed off..
What he said next were the words Chae Hyung-Seok desperately hoped he wouldn’t say.
“Hey~ Don’t be like that~ We’re buddies, right~?” Siegfried sneered at Chae Hyung-Seok, whose face was absolutely red from rage.
“Impossible! This is impossible! How did you earn 200 resistance points in just a day?! How?! How did you level up thrice in just twenty-four hours?! GAAAAAAH!”
Chae Hyung-Seok couldn’t accept the illogical?growth spurt that Siegfried had just gone through overnight.
A normal Adventurer would take at least two months to reach 350 points in Dimensional Resistance, and it required a tight grinding schedule at the Great Rift. It could be reduced to a month at most if a high-level Adventurer gave them a boost.
However, Siegfried earned over 400 points in Dimensional Resistance in just a week, and the most shocking part was he earned 200 points in just twenty-four hours.
Was that even possible?
‘That bastard is using a hack! He’s a hacker!’
Chae Hyung-Seok couldn’t accept such an illogical fact, but the undeniable fact that the person he hated the most was the one who had done the impossible feat made Chae Hyung-Seok feel like going crazy.
At the same time, goosebumps broke out all over him. He felt scared of Siegfried’s stubbornness. He was certain that he finally managed to get Siegfried, only for the latter to stand in his way once again.
Siegfried smirked at Chae Hyung-Seok, but he was dying inside right now.
After all, there was no way he was going to be fine after what he went through.
‘Ah… I’m so dizzy… I think I’m going to drop dead any minute now…’
He had been hunting for the last twenty-four hours with only two hours of break in between dungeon clears. He only took breaks, as the game would log him out forcefully if he hadn’t taken those breaks.
If it hadn’t been for those breaks, Siegfried would have hunted for the entirety of the past twenty-four hours. He was exhausted both physically and mentally, but he wasn’t the only one.
Zzz!
Hamchi was completely knocked out in Siegfried‘s pocket after running around the past twenty-four hours picking up fragments.
Zzz!
Taycan, whose stamina was lower than Siegfried, was dozing off while standing.
“Ugh… I can’t do this anymore…”
“I will have to give up… I’m sorry…”
“T-Thank you for the—I don’t know…”
The other Adventurers couldn’t withstand the torture?and gave up halfway to go to sleep. Of course, none of them were unhappy as they gained much more experience points and Dimensional Resistance than they could ever earn in less than twenty-four hours.
They simply couldn’t keep up with Siegfried and Taycan.
The descendant of the ultimate being, Siegfried and the descendant of the Thunder God Vajra, Taycan. The synergy between these two in the same party created a miracle.
Quiver!
There was no way Chae Hyung-Seok would know what happened, so he couldn’t help but be extremely scared of Siegfried right now.
‘This bastard… He actually managed to earn so many Dimensional Resistance points in just twenty-four hours…?’?Chae Hyung-Seok could no longer treat Siegfried like an insect. ‘Can I… can I even crush this insect once he grows stronger…?’
The answer was an obvious NO, and Chae Hyung-Seok knew that. He could no longer treat Siegfried like a piece of trash, and he could feel that Siegfried was closing in on him at frightening speeds.
He was also aware that Siegfried was only going to become stronger as time went on, and he would eventually become unstoppable, even if the entire Genesis Guild ganged up on him.
‘I need to crush him now or else…’
While Chae Hyung-Seok was deep in his thoughts…
“Hey, Hyung-Seok! Let’s do our best!”
…a loud voice pierced his eardrums.
“…!”
“Are you going to ignore me?” Siegfried sneered with a sheepish smile while waving his hand in front of Chae Hyung-Seok.
“Fuck off before I kill you.”
“Huh~? Why~~~?”
“I already told you to fuck off…”
“Hey! Don’t you know I like you?!”
“You like me…?”
“Of course~ I like you sooo much~ I like you so much that I’ll follow you… until the ends of this world~”
“…”
“Until you hang yourself and die.”
By the way, Siegfried looked like ^?^ when he said those words, which made him look even creepier.
‘This bastard will devour me at this rate…!’
Chae Hyung-Seok finally understood his predicament, and he also finally realized that he was no longer the predator. He was now the prey, and Siegfried was the predator.
It was only a matter of time before he was gobbled up by the predator.
“See you later in the dungeon, okay? My lovely Hyung-Seok~” Siegfried sneered one last time before hitting Chae Hyung-Seok’s shoulder as he walked over to his party.
“…”
Chae Hyung-Seok stood still without uttering a single word.
He looked lost. Still, he decided to focus on the positives right now, and one of the positive news was that Siegfried was stationed at the seventh party, which made it impossible for him to be bothered this time.
Chae Hyung-Seok finally let out a sigh of relief.
‘Yeah, there’s no way he can do anything to me when he’s in one of the sub-parties. Let’s forget about him and focus on the raid...’
He steeled his resolve to completely ignore Siegfried and focus on the raid instead, as that was the best thing he could do right now.
***
The Raid Dungeon was called Great Rift: City of the Dead, and the information provided by the investigators regarding the City of the Dead were the following...
1. The City of the Dead is an extremely large city.
2. The city was built in a circular layout, and at the center of the city lies a castle where the boss monster is probably located.
3. Most of the monsters are undead monsters with dark attributes.
4. The time and space on the outskirts of the city is not that bad, but it gets progressively distorted the closer one gets to the center of the city.
5. Only those possessing more than 500 Dimensional Resistance points are advised to go near the city center due to the reasons listed above.
The NPC managing the Raid Dungeon divided the raid party into three groups.
[First Party]
[The first party shall preserve their strength under the assistance of the other parties until they reach the castle where the boss monster is located.]
[Requirements: Dimensional Resistance of more than 500, Above Level 250 (Certain classes are exempted)]
[Second Party & Third Party]
[Protect the flanks of the first party and clear the path for them. Intervene in the boss monster raid if the first party is in danger.]
[Requirements: Dimensional Resistance of more than 450, Above Level 240 (Certain classes are exempted)]
[Fourth Party to Twelfth Party]
[Secure the perimeter while the first, second, and third parties raid the boss monster.]
[Requirements: Dimensional Resistance of more than 400, Above Level 230 (Certain classes are exempted)]
“Tsk…?I worked so hard…” Siegfried clicked his tongue and grumbled after finding out that he failed to qualify for the first, second, or third party. It would have been possible for him to join the second or third party if his level and resistance were a bit higher.
“It’s a shame I’m too far from that bastard…” he grumbled at the fact that he was far away from his target.
“What’s a shame?”
“Ack!?You scared me!” Siegfried jumped in fright when Taycan suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
“Oh, it’s a shame you can’t hunt with me? Hehe…”
“I’m sorry, but not everything is about you, okay?”
“R-Really? You weren’t feeling that way because he can’t hunt together?”
“Nope.”
“Tsk!”
“Piss off to your party. I don’t have any business with you. You have served your purpose!”
“Y-You’re so mean!”
Taycan shed a tear at Siegfried’s coldness.
Meanwhile, Siegfried seemed to be more upset than Taycan.
‘Is he trying to rub salt on my wound?’
The reason was that Taycan’s Dimensional Resistance was higher than his at 464 points, and he was affiliated with one of the main parties, the third party, while Siegfried was affiliated with the seventh party, which was one of the sub-parties.
‘I can’t be with my beloved Hyung-Seok like this…’?Siegfried thought while biting his nail.
“Oh!?Isn’t that my nephew?”
“Huh?”
“What? You got so many resistance points and levels in just a week?”
Siegfried looked up and saw the living fossil of Korea’s gaming world, Yong Tae-Pung, smiling like a cunning tanuki.
***
“Do you know him?”
“Are you related to him, senior-nim?”
“Ah! That Siegfried?”
The high-level Adventurers with Yong Tae-Pung started showing interest in Siegfried.
“Yes, I know him very well. He saved my guild’s party from total annihilation last time, and he’s skilled enough to make his pro gamer debut tomorrow,” Yong Tae-Pung said, sparing no praises.
He was joining the raid party raiding the Raid Dungeon, and he was with the first party, which made sense as he was a living legend.
‘S-Stop…! It’s embarrassing…!’?Siegfried was looking for a hole to hide in when Yong Tae-Pung started praising him without reserve.
“You just came a week ago, but you’ve already increased your resistance to four hundred points? Are you a monster or a lunatic?” Yong Tae-Pung asked.
“Hahaha…” Siegfried let out an awkward laugh while scratching the back of his head.
“What? He raised his resistance to four hundred in just a week?” one of the high-level Adventurers asked.
“That seems to be the case. I met him a week ago when he first came here, and he hadn’t cleared the entry-level quest when we first met,” Yong Tae-Pung replied.
“Wow!”
“Serious…?”
“I guess he’s special judging by how much senior-nim is praising him…”
“Is he a hidden class user?”
The high-level Adventurers started treating Siegfried well, thanks to Yong Tae-Pung’s praises. They knew that there was some Adventurer locked in some strange race with an NPC at the Great Rift, but they paid no heed to them as their pride?did not allow them to be curious about what the noobs were doing.
However, they could not help but be curious about Siegfried after hearing Yong Tae-Pung's praises.
“But why are you in the seventh party?”
“Huh?”
Siegfried tilted his head in confusion at Yong Tae-Pung’s question.
“That is because my level is not high enough…”
“How does that even make sense?”
“Eh…?”
“Letting you rot in the seventh party with your skills and abilities? No way,” Yong Tae-Pung said. He turned toward the NPC in charge of the rift and shouted, “Hey! Why is this guy in the seventh party?”
“That Adventurer belongs to the fourth till twelfth party as stated by the requirements, and he doesn’t have enough resistance to join the main—” the NPC explained.
But Yong Tae-Pung interrupted him with a scoff, “Ha!”
“Listen here, how will you survive this harsh world being so rigid?”
“Huh…? W-What do you mean by that…?”
“This guy might not have enough resistance, but he is skilled enough to fill in the shoes of two people!”
“R-Really?”
“And his supporting skills are much more useful than most Healers! But what? You’re actually sending an Adventurer like him to the sub-parties instead of the main party? This is a loss for the entire raid party, I tell you!”
Chae Hyung-Seok suddenly felt that things weren’t going as smoothly as he thought they would go.
‘Fuck this shit! What’s wrong with your brain, you fucking old man?! Why are you spouting shit from the wrong hole?! Ha?! You fucking old shiiiit!’?He wanted to smack the old man’s mouth and twist his neck right now.
However, there was no way he would emerge unscathed after doing that to the living legend of Korean gaming, who was old enough to be his ancestor. He would definitely be excommunicated by the other pro gamers if he were to do such a thing.
In the end, there was nothing Chae Hyung-Seok could do about it.
“It’s a waste to station someone like him in the sub-parties, I tell you. I’m not saying the sub-parties are useless, no, but he will definitely serve more purpose in the main party. So what I’m trying to say is…” Yong Tae-Pung trailed off..
What he said next were the words Chae Hyung-Seok desperately hoped he wouldn’t say.
