"Hammer of Light!"
An enormous hammer materialized in the air and slammed into the ground. It left a crater splattered with a bloodstain that once was an ogre.
Merhen grinned, looking at the monster's corpse as it turned to ashes.
"Fortunately, I still can one-shot them…"
"Hey man, is it just me, or are you getting stronger?"
"Well, I carry for money. That's kind of in my job description."
"Do you think you can one-shot the next boss?"
"Umm, maybe?"
Merhen replied playfully. The middle-aged man talking to him was someone who joined the guild a while ago, dubbed "Mister CEO." He was the kind of guy who had a lot of money but no time to play games and therefore, would not hesitate to pay if he could raise his character.
"Isn't it a bit burdensome to pay me every week?"
"You're talking about three gold?"
"Yeah, it's quite a lot of money to me, so…"
"Well, a month only costs twelve gold. My wife and kids are all abroad and my liver can't keep up with the alcohol I drink. This is actually cheaper than all of my other hobbies," said the man in a calm voice
Still, that was enough to move Merhen deeply.
"Story of all fathers… need a discount? How about I receive two gold instead?"
"Cut the crap and move already, man. I'll pay you more if you do it fast."
"On my way! Bus goes brrrrrrrrr."
Merhen's job was to clear a dungeon that matched his client's level, ten times. He was supposed to get three gold for the job.
This kind of thing was called "riding the bus," and Merhen was the driver. It was a long, tedious job however, a 300,000 won (220USD) payment would change the story entirely. Ten hours didn't seem long at all considering the pay.
'I think my earnings will be pretty high this month!'
Merhen could only drive the bus every Sunday.
This new client would pay him for around four weeks and his loot luck was pretty good recently. He might even end up earning more than 6 million won (4,400USD)
"There'll be traps from now on, so be careful. Only follow me when I go f-"
Suddenly, the sound of a beating drum echoed through the dungeon.
It was a familiar sound effect.
Merhen stopped talking and looked up.
A player has completed the 12th World Quest!
Location: Eastern Continent
Default Reward: 500 Gold
"Wow, they cleared it quickly this month."
Merhen admired whoever had managed it. World quests were random missions that the developers released once every month.
Receiving a world quest was hard enough in itself, and completing one wasn't an easy task either. Usually, world quests would get cleared at the end of the month, if they got cleared at all.
Therefore, it was surprising that the announcement showed up only a week after the quest was released.
His client came closer.
"Why? What is that?"
"Uh… it's like a difficult event. Difficult but high-rewarding. It's kinda unusual to see it get cleared this quickly."
"Is that why the reward is 500 gold?"
"Kind of. It's not much compared to other world quests which normally reward 2,000 to 3,000 gold. I'm pretty sure whoever got it got tons of other rewards."
Merhen shrugged.
500 gold was a lot of money, but not much as the usual world quest rewards. That lucky dude probably received some top-tier gear or rare materials as additional compensation.
"Then why don't you do it?"
"What?"
"I think you'd earn a lot more doing that instead of driving the bus. You're a high-level player."
"That's true, but…"
His client had asked him a reasonable question, but Merhen had no choice but to shake his head with a bitter smile.
"It's not something that just anyone can do. It's more difficult when you're on your own, and it doesn't get any easier if you're in a small or medium-sized guild. Most of the time, the top guilds clear them all, their information network is on another level."
"What if you get lucky?"
"No, I wouldn't. You need to be natural to do such…"
Merhen stumbled over his own words.
'The message said someone in the Eastern continent cleared the quest… wait a minute, isn't Movelon there too?'
He got goosebumps for a second.
'No way… no way. Even for him, that's too much.'
Before his goosebumps could disappear, Merhen heard a familiar voice.
-Yo, you busy now?
* * *
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
"You're lying, right?"
"Beep. Wrong answer."
"So, you completed the world quest?"
"Correct."
"…Damn."
Merhen's jaw dropped.
He ran over as soon as he finished the session with his client, wondering if it was even possible, and he felt like all the strength inside his body had drained out.
Merhen shook his head helplessly and asked.
"How?"
"Long story."
"Get on with it, then."
Seojin grinned and told him what happened.
Merhen held his breath the entire time. He finally let out a big sigh after Seojin finished talking.
"Didn't know that was even possible…"
"It's becoming repetitive, you know, your reaction."
"Well, it makes sense… since it's you."
Merhen convinced himself as Seojin had expected.
His reaction was always the same since they played Asgard together.
"Okay, let's talk rewards. What's your level now? How much did it go up by?"
"I'm still level 10."
"Yeah, you still don't have any skill points either. That means… hot damn."
"That's your second damn."
"It's an appropriate reaction! Anyway, did you get an EXP pill sent to your inventory?"
"Uh, yeah, it says it's 10 million points."
"That's fucking ridiculous. I didn't expect it to be in stock again this soon."
Merhen immediately pulled up a window that looked similar to the community screen.
"Look at this."
"What is this… huh?"
It was the in-game item trading platform. Merhen had pulled up a list of items similar to what Seojin had tucked away in his inventory.
Transaction Complete
EXP pill (1,000,000)
Price: 3,000,000￦
Transaction Complete
EXP pill (500,000)
Price: 1,200,000￦
"…That's how much they went for?"
"But of course."
"How much do you need to level up?"
"For me, over a billion. It means nothing to high-level players."
"Why are these so expensive then?"
Seojin was confused. If it took over one billion to level up once, 500,000 EXP was just a drop in the ocean.
"Well, you know, not everyone had no life like us. Some people got tons of money but no time. And some of them also think the low-level phase is boring as hell," Merhen replied with a grin.
"That's what you said riding the bus is for."
"That works until Level 90. After that, you get a fixed 100,000 EXP, not percentage-based. So, riding the bus becomes kinda useless. So, the pill gives you a free 10,000,000 EXP… you know where this is going, right?"
Merhen raised his index, then his middle finger.
"It means you can go from Level 1 to 90 all at once or Level 91 to 100."
"Oh."
Seojin quickly understood.
The EXP Pill wasn't exactly cost-effective, but it could raise levels without any limitations. It was a pay-to-win item.
Merhen shook his head. "I didn't know it would come back into stock again. Rich guys would go nuts just looking at it."
"What do mean by in stock again?"
"You can't get these under normal circumstances. You need to have a level limitation, and get a huge amount of EXP all at once."
"What about the ones on the trading platform?"
"Devs sprinkled it in early days of launch. So…"
"So other than the one I have here, there's practically nothing in the market?"
"Exactly, so the value will skyrocket, it'll be even more expensive than these."
"Sounds attractive."
'I'll have to sell it right away.'
Seojin decided with a grin.
He wasn't intending to use it even if he couldn't pass it off to anyone else.
'If I use it to skip through the levels, I'll be giving up on all the rewards I could get along the way, right?'
He'd gained tons of items in Movelon alone. Of course, the world quest was the main factor, but even putting that aside he'd still made huge achievements for a beginner.
"Okay, enough about the EXP pill. Let me ask you about something else now."
Seojin said.
It seemed it would take some time for them to sort everything out.
* * *
"If the king remembers your name, it means you can receive a rare quest later on."
"You're in a favor of blacksmiths? Then you don't have to worry about maintenance costs from now on. When you're high-level, it really starts to add up."
"That master blacksmith said he'd leave some Orichalcum for you? That's… amazing. Let's just hold on to it, I'll find a way."
Merhen had answered each and every one of Seojin's questions in detail until he left. He explained how to sell gold, and felt sorry once again that Seojin had fake stats when they came to talk about the achievements.
As they discussed thing in the mine, however, Merhen shook his head.
"I don't know, I've never heard of such a case… I'll look into that, too."
That was the end of their conversation.
After deliberating for a while, Seojin shook off his worries and got up from his seat.
'I should sell the EXP pill first and keep the gold.'
As the game progresses, there would be a time when he'd need gold due to the nature of his class, whether that be for purchasing items from other players or for bribing the NPCs.
Seojin searched the auction site.
'Let's see, let me put the starting price at thirty million. The 1,000,000 EXP Pill was sold at three million, so thirty million should be an appropriate starting price.'
Suddenly, Seojin smiled. The amount was far beyond the annual salary of normal office workers.
He couldn't believe that he was about to earn that much.
'I'm lost for words…'
Item Registration | Auction
EXP Pill(10,000,000)
Starting Price: 30,000,000￦
'Now then…'
Seojin raised his eyebrows.
Things were all taken care of now that he'd sorted out his rewards with Merhen.
Now there was only one thing left for him in Movelon. The Tower of Choice, which was on the east side of the city.
The huge tower caught his eye. That was the place where a player would set their course, receive their first skill points, and choose a specialization.
For example, a Warrior could change class to Paladin or Berserker, and then choose a specialization for that specific class.
'Of course, I don't know how that will apply to me…'
Seojin was relaxed despite his uncertainty.
"Should I sleep first then?"
He'd logged over twenty-four hours since he last signed in, and it had rewarded him handsomely. He could wake up later, check the results of the auction, then proceed with the game right away.
"Logout."
All he needed now was a break.