Chapter 50: Chapter 50

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Chapter 50

Earth Korea Management Team.

All the employees, including team leader Oh Jin-soo, were staring at the screen with shocked faces.

“No… What is that?”

“He ate two skill books? And those skill books are…?”

The color of the skill books was black.

Black skill books rarely appeared in New World.

They were black because there was only one of them.

And there weren’t just one, but two black skill books.

“W-What skills are those?”

“Brainwashing and Blackfield…”

Brainwashing, Blackfield.

As expected, they were skill names he had never heard of before.

“What are the grades?!”

“C.”

Rare grade skills.

Unique skills being rare grade.

It was a bit disappointing, but skills could be upgraded, so if he raised them to epic or unique grade in the future, they would be quite powerful.

The value of a one-of-a-kind skill book was beyond imagination.

A year ago, a black skill book was traded for 3.1 billion won in Korean currency, but since it was traded anonymously, all they knew was that the buyer was French.

3.1 billion won for just one skill book.

“…He really surprises us every time.”

Team leader Oh Jin-soo muttered softly.

It was amazing how he hit the jackpot everywhere he went.

“Team leader, I guess that user will go for the second class advancement now?”

“Probably… Wait a minute. Second class advancement?”

The second class advancement was called the biggest event in the beginner zone village, after the starting village.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The criteria for advancing to rare~epic grade jobs in this second class advancement event were quite generous, so many users stayed for quite a while to complete the advancement before moving on.

The time varied from a week to two years, and more than 70% of them failed to achieve rare grade advancement.

And an event was scheduled for this second class advancement.

‘He’s the target of the event…’

That monster-like user hadn’t undergone the second class advancement yet.

In other words, he was the target of the event.

Oh Jin-soo laughed in disbelief.

How could the puzzle be solved only by that user?

“How will the event proceed?”

The details of the event had not been revealed yet.

Earth headquarters had announced that they would reveal it on the day of the event, so it was impossible to find out even if they wanted to.

“I don’t know. The important thing is that this user will participate in this event.”

The corners of Oh Jin-soo’s mouth lifted slightly.

That’s why he was even more excited.

What kind of results would surprise them this time?

Many people would notice the existence of this monster again.

He was already curious about their reactions.

* * *

A festival was held in Idenharc.

The lord and everyone else rejoiced as the long-awaited problem was solved.

Jeong-Hoon also had to stay in the lord’s castle for a day or two, unable to leave.

‘We can’t let our benefactor leave like this! Please allow us to repay your kindness!’

It was difficult to flatly refuse when the lord, Juan, came to him personally and pleaded earnestly.

Anyway, there was enough time until the 2nd Class Advancement event.

So he agreed, thinking he could rest and settle the rewards.

===

[Benefactor of Idenharc]

-Type: Title

-Grade: Normal

-Increases health by 0.5%.

-Increases mana by 0.5%.

===

Even though he had closed the portal and earned the title, it was only normal grade.

Moreover, the options were garbage, only increasing health and mana by 0.5%.

However, the true value of this title lay elsewhere.

It was a material for evolving titles.

Jeong-Hoon currently had the evolving title ‘Guardian of the Starting Village’.

This was the material to evolve that title.

Evolution was simpler than expected.

It was just combining titles into one.

[Would you like to combine the title ‘Guardian of the Starting Village’ with the title ‘Benefactor of Idenharc’?]

A message popped up when he placed the two titles in the same slot in his inventory.

When Jeong-Hoon pressed accept, the titles flashed for a moment, and ‘Benefactor of Idenharc’ disappeared.

[You have successfully evolved the title. 3,000 achievement points have been granted.]

With the achievement, the title ‘Guardian of the Starting Village’ evolved to epic grade.

At the same time, the word ‘Starting’ disappeared.

===

[Guardian of the Village]

-Type: Evolving Title

-Grade: Epic

-Increases health by 5%.

-Increases mana by 5%.

-Increases all attack power by 5%.

-Increases experience gain by 3%.

===

Done.

All the stats had increased significantly.

All stats that were 2% increased to 5%, and experience gain increased from 1% to 3%.

Even though no additional options were added, it was satisfying enough.

‘If I raise it to unique, it will become quite a powerful title.’

Next were the potions.

There were various types of potions, from level-up potions to strength, agility, and more.

‘It’s a bit disappointing that there are no mana or divine power potions.’

Unfortunately, they were the opposite of the potions Richel had developed.

‘But I’ll be lacking in other stats later on anyway.’

Considering that, these potions were also precious items whose value couldn’t be measured.

Jeong-Hoon consumed all the potions without leaving any behind.

At the same time.

A new notice was posted on the New World homepage.

===

[New World’s Hidden Dungeon has been cleared!]

-Hello! This is the New World development team.

We are posting this notice to share some exciting news!

The hidden dungeon in Idenharc Village, which we had carefully hidden in New World, has finally been cleared by a user!

The hidden dungeon is a mechanism designed to help users grow, and it is set up to automatically disappear when the first person to discover it clears it, on a first-come, first-served basis across all servers.

The user who cleared it is as follows:

[South Korea – 000]

The server is revealed, but the nickname is not.

Now, to all New World users who enjoy the game!

New World has hidden many more things related to growth besides this!

We hope you all have a wonderful day in New World today.

-New World Development Team

===

Hidden dungeons were far more numerous than hidden themes.

But why were they hidden?

Even though there were many, clearing a hidden dungeon required meeting some rather extreme conditions.

Therefore, just like hidden themes, a notice was posted when a hidden dungeon was cleared.

Naturally, the users were in an uproar.

It wasn’t just that a hidden dungeon was cleared, but that it was discovered in Idenharc.

[Hey! Did you see the notice? A hidden dungeon was found in Idenharc!]

-Crazy lol Idenharc was the worst place even among beginner zones, wasn’t it?

└No way, what the heck is this?

└What did I just see…?

└A hidden dungeon appeared in Idenharc?

└We really need to re-evaluate Idenharc;;

└Wow, this is so absurd. After the Red Dragon Bone Bow, now a hidden dungeon?

└Idenharc was a honey pot. All the guys who said Eichen was the main spot, come out now. I’ll slap you.

[But it’s unlikely a beginner cleared the hidden dungeon.]

-You need certain conditions to clear it, and they’re pretty damn hard.

└Is it Hwa-Rang? I heard he was obsessed with finding the Red Dragon Bone Bow.

└Right lol Isn’t Lee Hwa-Rang still in Idenharc?

└Ah, that’s right. Even if the conditions are tough, someone like Lee Hwa-Rang could probably clear it. lol.

“This is bullshit!”

Lee Hwa-Rang threw his smartphone.

After returning to the guild, he had been checking World Com dozens of times a day, hoping for any news about the Red Dragon Bone Bow.

There were still no results, but he couldn’t give up on the Red Dragon Bone Bow.

But what?

On top of being pissed off, now they’re saying he cleared the hidden dungeon?

It’s like adding fuel to the fire, why are they trying to stir up trouble?

It was so dirty that he couldn’t read it anymore.

“Hey, calm down.”

Park Jin-Hyeok calmed him down as if he was used to it.

“Ha… Fuck, why does it feel like nothing is working out?”

Park Jin-Hyeok shook his head at Lee Hwa-Rang, who was scratching his head and getting irritated.

“I get it, so just calm down. You know you’ve been super sensitive lately, right?”

“How can I not be sensitive? I’m already annoyed, and now those crazy bastards at World Com are adding fuel to the fire, and you want me to watch it with a smile?”

“That’s why you should stop looking at World Com and drink this.”

Park Jin-Hyeok handed him an iced Americano.

He had personally gone to the cafe and got it for his friend, who had been cooped up in his room all day, looking at World Com.

“No thanks. You drink it.”

Lee Hwa-Rang, who usually enjoyed iced Americano, was refusing it?

Park Jin-Hyeok’s face turned serious.

“You’re really angry, huh?”

“…Is this guy really crazy?”

* * *

“Tell me it’s not true.”

“What?”

Ha-jin, who had suddenly appeared, asked with a serious face.

Jeong-Hoon, who was resting outside the capsule, tilted his head in confusion.

“The hidden dungeon, tell me it wasn’t you.”

“Ah, you were asking about that? I thought it was something else.”

Jeong-Hoon chuckled.

Ha-jin responded with a hollow laugh, as if dumbfounded by his relaxed attitude.

“You guys. Fuck, it was you after all.”

“Why do you think it was me? I heard that the conditions to clear that hidden dungeon are extreme.”

The Idenharc hidden dungeon was not only hard to find, but it also had a lock on entry.

This was because there was no way to even receive the quest without possessing both mana and divine power.

“Then it wasn’t you?”

“Not really.”

“Oh my god! I knew it.”

“So you came all the way here to ask me that?”

They were currently at a sauna.

He had come on a sauna date with his mother on her day off.

And Ha-jin had followed him all the way to the sauna after hearing the news of the hidden dungeon.

He was truly an amazing guy.

His mother had gone to the kiln sauna, leaving Jeong-Hoon and Ha-jin alone.

“That’s part of it, but I also came to tell you some important news.”

“Important news?”

“Yeah. What’s your level now?”

“101.”

“Okay… What?!”

Ha-jin stood up with a shocked face and shouted.

As a result, the eyes of the customers resting in the sauna were drawn to them.

“Sorry…”

Ha-jin quickly apologized and sat down.

The embarrassment was Jeong-Hoon’s to bear.

“Why are you shouting?”

“How can I not shout… But how did you reach 101?”

He had heard that Jeong-Hoon had found a hidden opportunity and surpassed level 90.

However, he couldn’t believe that Jeong-Hoon had reached level 101 in such a short time.

Leveling up in New World was difficult from the start.

Even so, most people could smoothly reach the second class advancement as long as they had patience.

However, leveling up became extremely difficult once you passed level 80.

The amount of experience required to go from level 70 to 80 was three times the amount needed to go from level 80 to 90.

And the amount of experience required to go from level 90 to 100 was five times the amount needed to go from level 80 to 90.

As you can see, the amount of experience required as you move up the tens digits is beyond imagination.

Even for Ha-jin, who devoted most of his time to New World, level 200 was a distant goal.

That’s why the rankers who had reached levels 300-400 or higher were, to put it nicely, monsters, or to put it badly, crazy addicts.

“I got additional potions as a reward for clearing the hidden dungeon.”

“Ah, it was potions.”

Ha-jin easily understood when he heard the word ‘potions’.

However, he couldn’t help but feel envious.

Since leveling up was so difficult, the price of potions concentrated with experience was astronomically high.

Hearing that Jeong-Hoon had obtained such potions consecutively, he felt a bit unfair that all the luck seemed to be going his way.

Even though Jeong-Hoon had joined two years later than him, the level difference between them was only 58.

“Anyway, what’s the important news? The 2nd Class Advancement event?”

“What, you already knew about it?”

“Yeah, I’m already prepared.”

Jeong-Hoon grinned.

On the other hand, Ha-jin tilted his head in confusion.

“How can you be prepared when the event details haven’t even been released?”

“Just a hunch.”

“Really…?”

Even though it sounded absurd, Ha-jin couldn’t laugh it off.

Whenever Jeong-Hoon spoke so confidently, the results always turned out the way he wanted.

————