While we were buying and selling, PrettyGirl stood nearby, blankly staring—enchanted by a Wolf Greatsword. Well, she had originally used a greatsword. After a moment she shook her head. Gave up. It felt weird, like watching a kid give up on a toy she wanted. Maybe I should buy it for her if I get the chance later?
Does she not like the glaive as much as she thought?
Come to think of it, since switching to the glaive, she didn’t look as free as before. Weapon affinity definitely matters…
“Do you not like the glaive?”
“Ah! No, it’s fine… I just like greatswords too.”
That sounded… not so fine.
“Then want to switch back to a greatsword? You don’t have to use a glaive. People should do what they enjoy.”
“Mm, could I use this a little longer and decide?”
“Sure, whatever’s comfortable.”
Leaving a slightly wistful PrettyGirl behind, I let my eyes drift over the stalls in town—then something occurred to me, so I asked Shield Warrior:
“With this many enhancement stones flooding the market, people will start coming into the dungeon soon, right?”
Shield Warrior answered right away—I wasn’t wrong.
“Yeah, stones are spreading faster than I expected. And folks with cash will buy even at high prices. By the end of today there’ll be no small number with weapons at +4 and all armor at +3.”
Meaning a lot of people would gear up to safe levels. Maybe beyond.
“One weapon slot—or two in my case—and six armor slots. Some will use shields, too. Just the stones alone are over five million won… People are really doing that?”
Spending over five million won on virtual gear? And in a game that’s just launched? The boss had once enhanced near-top-tier weapons in an older game, so he’d be at that level—but here, the scale of spending didn’t quite feel real to me yet.
“If you knew how much people pour into VR games, you’d be shocked. 4th-Gen even more so. Doesn’t have to be the rich—tons of people spend a lot on their hobby. There are a lot of people, period—and a lot of them have money. And more than the whales, there are even more who front-load spending to get ahead early. If you push into new hunting grounds first, you profit more later.”
I had definitely heard the same speech from Jaejung.
Even we, without fully enhancing every slot, were managing to hunt Floor 1. With all weapons at +4 and armor at +3, it’d be comfortable.
“Still, it’s not like the dungeon will be packed immediately. Needs a little time. Depends how many stones hit the market.”
“Then we don’t have to worry for a while.”
“Right. We just keep grinding.”
Thinking about an empty hunting ground turning into a crowded one made me a little sad.
***
“Shall we try going down to Floor 2?”
We’d already scouted the entrance to B2. We could drop anytime we felt like it.
Even at the Floor 1 entrance, there were players we hadn’t seen before milling around. Some were recruiting after getting roughed up inside, others were forming up and heading in. Roughly a hundred people were parked at the entrance, either looking for parties or busy with other things.
“You four there—there’s four of us too. Interested in a Floor 1 party?”
As we approached the entrance, a handsome guy with deep-blue hair, a longsword and a small shield hailed us. Behind him, two women and a mountain-sized man leaned against the cave wall, glancing our way.
We looked them over: all in full Wolf series. Judging from that, they’d likely enhanced to safe caps. If they’d pushed this far this early, they’d spent real cash.
“Heading for Floor 1?”
Shield Warrior did the talking; this kind of thing suited him.
“Yeah. It’s tougher than expected. Mob levels are high. Full party would be safer—interested?”
We were also in full Wolf sets, so I guess we looked tempting. In places like this, everyone’s thinking runs the same.
If we wanted to know their enhancement levels, we could just cross blades once or pop open the trade window. But we weren’t looking to party up.
“We’ve got prior commitments. Maybe another time.”
A polite refusal. Pretty standard. They’d seen our gear and took a shot; no pressing reason we had to team up.
Our goal was Floor 2 or 3; theirs was Floor 1. We weren’t aligned anyway.
“Good drops to you.”
“You too.”
Maybe the nearby groups overheard, because no one else bothered us. Looking around, most were in full Wolf sets.
So our prediction held—once enhancement stones spread, cash players would flood the dungeon.
Leaving them behind, we slipped through the dark entrance, followed the mapped passage, and reached the gateway to Floor 2.
“From Floor 2 they start using spears and even bows, so be careful. Charming, try to stay behind Shield Warrior.”
“Got it—watching for arrows.”
Charming’s stats were mostly into INT and MANA, with some into VIT. She could maintain up to three spells at once.
“I’ll drop Light. I should slot Protect Shield. I can run three: Fire Arrow and Bind alongside it—keep that in mind. I don’t think I can fit Heal.”
“Then I’ll carry the lantern.”
If we skip Protect Shield and Charming eats an arrow and dies, that’s worse. Her base HP’s low; healing after a hit would be too late. But we can’t drop offense, and Bind is essential right now.
If her INT were higher, she’d have more spell slots to play with, but that’s not reality yet. At this stage, almost no one has as many spellbooks as Charming; she might be the only one worrying about slot limits.
Shield Warrior had to lead with his shield, so the lantern belonged with me or PrettyGirl. I’d likely react faster, so I took it.
We entered Floor 2.
The layout was much like Floor 1, but corridors were a bit wider and taller.
“Feels larger than Floor 1.”
Shield Warrior advanced with his large shield held high. I followed, focused on stray arrows; Charming in the middle, PrettyGirl bringing up the rear.
In archer-heavy areas, Shield Warrior’s style shines. The Wolf Pentagon Shield—a large shield with a raised wolf head—wasn’t just big; its defense was excellent. It could practically cover a whole person, perfect for catching arrows. Sure, HP still dropped, but shield mitigation cut it significantly.
A little farther along, two War Wolves with spears prowled the corridor. Shield Warrior shot me a look and charged.
Spears or not, the plan didn’t change. He tied one up; I took the other. This time, PrettyGirl supported him while Charming cast Bind on mine.
With its legs snared, the War Wolf’s posture went bad; it jabbed a weak, forced thrust at me. I knocked the spear aside and swept a half-circle, slicing its neck.
I kept carving its neck down; soon after, Shield Warrior’s target fell too.
“As long as there aren’t archers, this is fine.”
Shield Warrior’s quick verdict.
“I’ll start pathing. Stay sharp and follow.”
A bit further on, archers started appearing mixed in—one archer with two War Wolves.
While PrettyGirl and I each engaged a wolf, Shield Warrior burst forward behind his shield toward the archer. Charming Bound the archer and immediately followed with Fire Arrow.
【 Fire Arrow! 】
A circular, transparent red magic circle spun at the tip of Charming’s staff, and from its center a crimson arrow shot forth. Flying at nearly the same speed as a Magic Arrow, it slammed into the archer; flames continued to blaze at the point of impact on its chest, chewing down its HP.
While Shield Warrior finished the immobilized, burning archer, Charming swung over to help me and PrettyGirl, and the fight wrapped quickly.
“Magic really is the best.”
Shield Warrior flashed Charming a thumbs-up; she answered with a small smile.
Charming definitely had a knack for allocating spells to the situation. The support I hoped for always arrived right on time. Her choices—cast time, effects, matchup—were smooth. I couldn’t wait to see what she’d do with more spell slots.
We scooped drops and soon hit a fork.
“Left? Right? Which way?”
No real way to tell which was better. In moments like this… left?
“Let’s try left first.”
Charming and PrettyGirl just nodded. Either way was unknown.
Following the earthen corridor left, we came to a room—five archers clustered together. Shield Warrior pulled a face.
“This is… no good. If I go in there, I’ll turn into a pincushion.”
Arrows still bled HP through the shield; a bad angle around the rim could shave off more.
Shield Warrior shook his head at us—this was a no-go.
Now I understood why Jaejung said Floor 2 was the most annoying. With that many archers stacked, our numbers couldn’t break through.
“Let’s try right. I think the other side will be better.”
Charming buoyed the mood with an easy tone. We headed back and took the right-hand path.
At the very front, Shield Warrior spotted something in the room beyond the corridor—and immediately snapped.
“Ah! Come on. Are you kidding me?”
All eyes turned to the passage he was staring down—and every face twisted into the exact same expression.