Complicated gold patterns were carved onto his shining armor and behind his shoulders were hazy silver wings.
The text above his head said "Lv. 143, Merhen."
"You're obviously a paladin. Am I right?"
"I sure am. I specialize in weapon mastery."
"Oooh, shiny. What do you mean by specialize?"
Seojin chuckled, looking at how the newbie he used to babysit had now become a pro, much more powerful than him.
"Watch this."
Seojin flinched at the sudden radiance.
It was from Merhen's sheath. His seemingly ordinary silver sheath was now burning bright with 'holy' light.
"Like this, I consecrate weapons. It's different from specializing in magic mastery or shield mastery. I'm a melee DPS character."
"Got it." Seojin nodded. Even the same classes had different roles depending on what area they chose to specialize in.
"You've only got three skills, right?"
"I have one."
"Yeah, once you hit level 10…"
Merhen paused.
"Wait, only one?"
"Yeah… though I don't know if I should classify it as one. It has three different abilities."
"That's hidden classes for you, even such minor things are different. I'll have to take a look at it. Show me your stat screen."
"Can I just show you it?"
"Well… ah, hold on a sec."
Party invitation!
LV 143 Merhen invited you to a party!
Accept/Decline
"Accept."
Party formed!
Party members: 2
"M'kay, now open it up. Others won't be able to see it."
"Yeah, like a noobs' stat screen will draw any attention."
"You never know."
Seojin shrugged. As Merhen said, there was no harm in being cautious.
Merhen reminded him that hidden classes were a different species.
A moment later, Merhen's expression changed after looking through Seojin's stats thoroughly. He seemed serious.
"I think I figured it out."
"Figured what out?"
"I have to ask first. What gear are you wearing right now?"
"Umm… it's called 'Battered White Shirt for Beginners.'"
"Level 1 and no stat requirements, am I right?"
Seojin nodded, not thinking it was a big deal.
Merhen, however, seemed to become even more serious.
"This might be a little problematic."
"Why?"
"No, I can't confirm just yet. Try putting this on first."
Seojin had no idea what this was about.
Merhen handed him a set of plated armor, his face gloomy. While the armor didn't seem like it was good quality, it looked better than his current gear.
However…
Too heavy.
"It says it's too heavy."
"How about this?"
This time, Merhen handed him a robe.
Complicated patterns make you uncomfortable.
That didn't work either.
After unsuccessfully trying leather armor too, Merhen let out a disappointed sigh.
"Damn it, you got fake stats too…"
"Fake stats?"
"Remember the blacksmith I told you about? The guy who grabbed thirty mil in his first month?"
Seojin nodded as Merhen continued with a troubled look on his face.
"He had fake stats too. By that I mean he only had STR on his stat screen and nothing else; no DEX, no INT and no LUK. It was practically at zero. Instead…"
"Instead?"
"He put one point into STR and it increased by 3. That isn't so bad, since STR is the main focus for melee classes."
"I see."
"The problem is that his STR only applied to blacksmithing work. Skills too, which meant he couldn't use any high-level gear. You get what I mean?"
Of course I knew what he meant.
"You're saying he could only hold a hammer with all that STR, right?"
"Precisely."
He would have had a harder time grinding even with the same stats as others, and he couldn't even dream of playing the game the same way as everybody else.
Seojin tilted his head.
"I get I that have fake stats, but what made you think of that? You looked serious before I tried wearing that."
"It's because of your title. A +10 all stat boost is huge, but your stats are fifteen each despite that boost."
"What are others like?"
"They usually start at 10, without a title. That means your starting stats were practically 5."
It was an interesting story, his title covering up his poor starting stats.
Seojin stroked his chin before asking another question.
"So that blacksmith guy, did he wear nothing?"
"Only blacksmith gear. He might have had a hidden class, but it should still have been of the blacksmithing category."
"That means I have my unique gear then. It'll double the efficiency when it comes to specialization."
"Probably. The problem is…"
"You don't know what category of class I am, right?"
Merhen nodded. Blacksmiths, be they Iron Blacksmiths or Thunder Blacksmiths, were all the same in the fact that they held a hammer and made equipment.
The class Silver Tongue, however, was different. It had all four stats, but it did not allow the user to wear plate armor, leather armor or cloth armor.
Nothing about it could be grasped so easily.
Seojin nodded. "Okay, well, I'm fine with it."
"What?"
"I like a challenge. The tutorial was so much fun, I'm expecting nothing less from now on."
Merhen was lost for words as Seojin was still full of motivation.
Then he remembered.
'Yeah, it's just his character.'
The Seojin he remembered had always had a thing for challenges. The more difficult the quest was, the more persistent he was.
And in the end, he always came out with the best results.
Minhyuk thought that Seojin might be better off like this.
* * *
"Uggghhh, I could faint at any minute."
Seojin murmured as he opened his eyes with a grotesque moan.
He sat still and blinked before looking at his wrist to check the time.
9 a.m.
He usually started work around this time, but right now he was lying on a big, soft bed.
"Nevermind. I'm so damn happy."
He could sleep for nine hours straight and still stay in bed for as long as he wanted, as relaxed as ever.
But that too was a fleeting thought.
Seojin stirred at once.
It wasn't much big different from any other day, it was just like he'd overslept a little.
What was most important to him was that he could 'choose' when to sleep and wake up, and when to play Midgard.
'Which means I should live harder…'
Seojin considered sleeping less and less, even after playing the game for two days straight.
To some it was madness, but not to him. Seojin had done it before.
A couple of preparations and he was ready to go.
'I should eat and hit the gym…'
Rustle, rustle-
He grabbed a black plastic bag from the kitchen and took out a lunchbox.
Roasted fish, multigrain rice, and three different kinds of veggies.
Seojin didn't want to waste any time cooking for himself, so he signed up for a monthly subscription service that delivered bento boxes straight to his home. And that wasn't all he prepared.
He slipped three vitamin supplements into his bag.
"Let's get going."
Seojin slipped into a tracksuit and headed out.
* * *
Seojin returned home two hours later.
It took only thirty minutes for him to wash his sweat and devour the bento in a blink of an eye.
After sitting on the device, he skipped the familiar loading message and returned to Midgard.
'It looks more real than real life.'
The players scurrying around looked even more lively than in real life.
Some of them might be office workers living a hard life, and others might be stressed-out students with several assignments.
But all of them were equal adventurers in Midgard.
'Okay, then…'
Seojin warmed up as he checked over his plan.
He decided that help wasn't necessary after hearing what Merhen had to say yesterday.
If he was 'bussed,' so to speak, he'd be able to level up quickly, but these fake stats wouldn't be useful to Seojin at all.
'Though, it would be a different story once I figure out how to use these stats.'
The reason starter towns existed was to help players get used to Midgard.
They had to be familiar both with their skills and gameplay.
'There must be essential quests and items. I'll hit a dead-end sooner or later without them.'
It was too risky to receive bussing simply for his own convenience. After passing Level 10, players could no longer receive any quests in starter towns.
If his assumptions were correct, Seojin would lose his shot to get stronger.
'Then, my first goal should be…'
Doing the main quest with other players or finding hidden events around the town.
The former was a safe choice, while the latter would be a high-risk, high-return gamble.
'I gotta go with the main quest…'
Seojin made up his mind rather quickly.
He didn't know how the game worked yet, whether it was designed for gradual character growth or whether it would give higher rewards for high-risk decisions.
'Let's go then.'
Seojin made his move.
He headed over to an NPC named Neraid, a warehouse keeper, who was the starting point for the main quest.
<Warehouse Keeper Neraid>
Neraid was an old man who looked kind and gentle. Seojin checked the yellow exclamation mark over Neraid's head and bowed.
"Morning, mister!"
"Oh, a new adventurer. I hope you like our town. Do you need something? You must pay one silver to deposit your valuables."
This was his default script.
Seojin shook his head.
"I didn't come for the warehouse."
"Then you must have come to grant this old man's request,"
"That's right."
Seojin was convinced as they conversed.
'This guy is passive.'
He had figured out the NPCs during the tutorial. They're split into three categories.
First of all were the passive NPCs. These NPCs only responded with their script no matter what players did.
Seojin didn't need to bother buttering them up.
The second type, however, was different. They both remembered and reacted to a player's behavior, it even affected the rewards of certain quests.
And lastly…
'There were cases where they were passive at first but turn active once you satisfy certain conditions.'
Which meant Neraid here could offer completely different choices if the quest was solved correctly.
'Of course, that doesn't mean anything yet.'
Even if Neraid was the third type, he wouldn't know until after he completed the quest.
"This should do it."
Neraid flipped over his pocket notebook and handed Seojin a piece of paper.
"It's a request paper. I need animal hides. I'll reward you appropriately. Are you interested?
Main quest!
* Regional restrictions: only in the vicinity of Movelon.
* Neraid, a warehouse keeper in Movelon, wants to learn leather crafting. Bring him some animal hides. The better the condition of the leather, the more Neraid will pay.
* Goal: 10 pieces of random animal hide
* Default reward: 20 Copper
"I will."
"Thank you."
After accepting the request, Seojin headed off right away.