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chapter 15




Kang Oh and Eder left the bank.
“Let us go find Deborah’s shrine immediately.”
Eder wanted to recover his body as soon as possible.
“Do you even know where the shrine is?”
“…”
Eder couldn’t respond. Then again, if he knew where the shrine was, he wouldn’t be giving out this ridiculous quest.
“Seems like even you don’t know; it’s somewhere in Despia.”
“Despia?”
“The land bordering Hell, Despia. It’s a hellscape where monsters of at least level 300 appear. If you and I were to go now, we’d die before reaching Despia, let alone getting to the shrine.”
“Then you’re saying that you can’t bring me to the shrine? That’s a violation of the contract…”
“I can’t right now. And there’s a clause in the contract that specifically states that if I have a valid reason, I can put it off.”
“Hmph. Then when?”
“Mm. I have to be at least level 300.”
He said level 300, but in actuality, he planned to be closer to level 400 before he decided to go to Despia.
“Level 300, huh. I understand. Then let’s do that.”
Eder had no choice but to accept.
Ultimately, helping Kang Oh become stronger was the fastest way to get to the shrine.
‘I’ll push you until you can’t work anymore!’
Kang Oh hid his true intentions and smiled.
“Let’s do our best.”
“Understood.”
* * *
Jae Woo turned off his computer.
“It’s on.”
It was 7:00 in the evening.
He turned on GBS’s channel and saw the opening to the Fight Against 100 Men featured broadcast.
‘The response isn’t bad.’
Responses flooded the chat window and the contents weren’t bad either.
“Hello, nationwide fans of Arth! This is the cool Seol Hee talking. Have you been well, Mr. Jeon Seong Gook?”
GBS’s self-styled cool Kang Seol Hee beamed and gave an opening statement.
“Hello, GBS viewers. This is Jeon Seong Gook.”
GBS’s son, Jeon Seong Gook nodded his head.
“So why are we all here today~?”
“Hmm, I’m not sure. Do you know, Ms. Seol Hee?”
Jeon Seong Gook looked like he really didn’t know. Of course, he did know, but he had to act on the air.
“You came without reading the broadcast’s title!” Kang Seol Hee reprimanded.
“Ah, I just have so much to do lately,” Jeon Seong Gook chatted.
“I guess it can’t be helped. We’re going to be showing the legendary quest, the Fight Against 100 Men being cleared. Now, clap!”
“Wow, there’s actually a recording of someone clearing that legendary quest? Really? Are you serious?” Jeon Seong Gook repeatedly asked.
“That’s correct. A fail rate of 100%! It really is a recording of that Fight Against 100 Men! GBS is the only one streaming it. You’ll really regret it if you miss it.”
“Stop beating around the bush and let us see it already, Ms. Seol Hee. You’ll make me feel dizzy.”
“Hoo, hoo. For starters, let’s show you a quick intro for all those who don’t know about the Fight Against 100 Men.”
Sometimes, you had to draw things out to make people interested.
Of course, it was most important not to draw things out too much, or else people get disinterested.
“Guess it can’t be helped. Please watch this intro!”
Once Jeon Seong Gook was finished, the screen changed.
It was an intro that described just how difficult the Fight Against 100 Men was.
Items, skills, and stats were sealed, and one’s vision was taken away. That was hard enough, but fighting 1 against 100 made it virtually impossible!
After the intro, they played interviews with famous rankers that had failed the quest.
“If there’s anyone out there that beats this quest, I’ll give you whatever you want!”
Of course, that was the interview with the Wind Archer, Sephiro!
‘He’s been shown on the big screen again, so there’s no way he can back out of his deal.’
Kang Oh was waiting for Sephiro to contact him.
If he asked for his prized Rashelpino Bow, what would he say? Haha.
“To think that these famous players would all fail. I didn’t know that.”
Once the introduction was over and they returned to the studio, Kang Seol Hee opened her eyes.
“There are several others who must’ve failed the quest too. It’s not called a 0% success rate quest for nothing,” Jeon Song Gook said.
“Now let’s see just how the Fight Against 100 Men was cleared… But before that, we’ll go to a break. Stay tuned!” Kang Seol Hee said.
Park Jin Cheol hadn’t formed a contract with him for no good reason.
He was confident that it would be a hit.
“We’ll be back in 60 seconds~!”
* * *
The feature presentation had begun. The main character was Jae Woo’s character, Kang Oh.
‘Oh.’
Kang Oh’s face was entirely obscured by a black helmet.
His clothes had also been changed from a beginner’s attire to that of a gladiator’s.
The subtitles introduced him as Gladiator Oga.
Oga.
Kang Oh reversed was Oh Kang. And slightly adjusting the two made Oga. That’s how he’d come to Oga.
In any case, the video continued.
Kang Oh had chosen a one-handed sword.
Doors opened from four different directions within the circular arena, and gladiators came rushing out.
1 against 100!
Grim music played in the background. One of the gladiators rushed towards Kang Oh and he in turn evaded and counterattacked.
“Come on!”
Kang Oh’s resolute scream.
‘Man, it’s perfect. Absolutely perfect!’
GBS’s editors had mastered editing.
And they had worked their magic to create this video!
It didn’t look like a player recording; it was a masterpiece that was wilder and more animated.
As time went on, Kang Oh moved more aggressively than before. At the same time, the number of gladiators began to dwindle.
Then, he ultimately fought against the final gladiator, Darion!
Everyone thought it would be some grand battle, but all Kang Oh did was…
Throw dirt in Darion’s eyes!
The video ended with Kang Oh meeting Burkan.
Jae Woo thought they’d all call him cowardly, but it was actually the opposite.
In other words, the one who’s tricked is the idiot.
‘As I thought, winning’s all that matters.’
Once the video ended with his victory, the broadcast went back to the studio.
“Truly amazing. Nothing else comes to mind! He can’t even see, so how could he move like that?” Seol Hee spoke excitedly.
Whether she was acting or genuine, he couldn’t tell.
“I’m the same. To me, it felt like I was looking at a wild beast.”
Jeon Seong Gook’s voice rose.
The hairs on the back of his head bristled.
‘I’m not that bad.’
Honestly, it was only this well-received because of the editing. He didn’t think it’d look this nice!
If the edited video was like a Hollywood blockbuster, then his original unedited video was like a documentary. That’s how large the disparity was!
‘Viewership should be higher than 5%.’
The bonus 2 million won glimmered before his eyes.
“Who do you think Mr. Oga is? It’s the first I’ve ever heard of him,” Kang Seol Hee asked Jeon Seong Gook.
“Mr. Oga doesn’t want his identity to be revealed. So I don’t know either.”
Jeon Seong Gook shrugged his shoulders.
“That’s a pity. I wish we could meet him.”
“But Mr. Oga did leave us some info regarding the quest’s reward.”
“What is it?” Kang Seol Hee asked.
“The Fight Against 100 Men is apparently connected to a potential hidden class change quest.”
A class that defied all logic, a hidden class!
The term ‘hidden class’ would interest any Arth player.
“What kind of hidden class?”
“It is supposedly a combat-focused hidden class. He said he’d release further details later if he has the chance, so we just have to wait and see.”
“I hope it comes soon. By the way, it seems like our time is almost up.”
“That’s true. Time just flew by, didn’t it?”
“Exactly.”
Kang Seol Hee looked regretful.
“Everyone, we’ll see you next time.”
Kang Seol Hee and Jeon Seong Gook waved and said their farewells, marking the end of the feature broadcast.
“Mm, it wasn’t bad.”
Kang Oh nodded his head as he viewed Arth’s largest community site, Arthtory.
Everyone was talking about the Fight Against 100 Men broadcast and uploading messages.
– Finally, someone beat the Fight Against 100 Men!
– Gladiator Oga. Who is he?
– What’s been revealed about the hidden class thus far…
* * *
Once he accessed Arth, he found himself situated in the middle of Javen Square, which was bustling with people.
“Selling an A-rank spear. It requires a level of…”
Kang Oh got through the crowd and left the square.
He was currently level 44.
He was already past level 40, which was the absolute minimum to register for the Adventurer’s Guild; the Adventurer’s Guild gave out quests pertaining to various dungeons and monsters.
‘Let’s head to the Adventurer’s Guild first.’
If he became an Adventurer, he’d be able to use the intercity travel gates and would be able to learn the riding skill, which would allow him to travel atop a vehicle or mount and travel farther distances.
In addition, he’d be able to learn a variety of support skills that would help in his travels.
For example, ‘First Aid’, ‘Procure Food’, ‘Light’, ‘Cooking’, ‘Emergency Repair’, ‘Gather Medicinal Herbs’, ‘Fishing’, ‘Tanning’, ‘Mana Extraction’, ‘Create Map’, ‘Disarm Trap’, etc.
“Do you want to become stronger? Then hunt monsters, skin and butcher them. In your spare time, dig up medicinal herbs, and if you find a gemstone, then make sure you mine it… In any case, don’t rest! If you die, you’ll be resting forever anyway.”
A famous female ranker, Noganyeo had said.
Her nickname was Spinster (Nocheonyeo). She was a teacher. My condolences to her students!
In any case, learning a variety of skills would help out someday, was the advice of the pros.
However, Kang Oh’s opinion differed.
“Choice and focus.”
Riding! First Aid! Emergency Repair! Create Map! Disarm Trap! Search Path! Create Illustrated Monster Book!
Kang Oh decided to learn only the support skills that would aid him in finding hidden dungeons and killing monsters.
He had no interest in learning any support skills not beneficial to those two subjects.
“Fishing is a waste of time. For cooking, I can just grill some meat… In the time I could use Tanning, Lighting, or Mana Extraction, I could use another combat skill; it’s better to just kill another monster!”
Kang Oh’s objective was clear.
Becoming strong and making a ton of money. And by doing so, he’d turn his life around!
“Life is too short. It’s too short to just be making money all the time.”
To Kang Oh, who’d been in a coma for 2 years, wasting time was the worst of the worst.
In any case, even if he were to learn a few support skills, he needed to become an Adventurer first.
Therefore, Kang Oh headed for the Adventurer Guild.
“What did you come here for?” a middle-aged man bearing a scar over his eye asked.
“I’d like to become an Adventurer,” Kang Oh said.
The middle-aged man, who looked him over, nodded his head.
“If you want to become an Adventurer, then figure out all of the topographic features of the Black Rat Nest and kill all of the monsters that inhabit it.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
[Conquer the Black Rat Nest!]
In order to become an Adventurer, you must understand all of the Black Rat Nest’s topographic features, and kill all of the monsters that live there.
You will receive an additional reward based on the number of monsters killed. (0 killed)
Difficulty: Normal
Conditions: Level 40 or higher
Reward: Adventurer registration, additional reward
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Registering to be an adventurer was random among users.
They would only know which dungeon they needed to go to or what type of monsters to kill when they got the quest.
Kang Oh’s objective was the Black Rat Nest.
“I understand.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
[You have accepted a quest.]
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Kang Oh left the Adventurer Guild and called Eder.
“Eder, summon.”
“Sir Kang Oh!”
Eder appeared before him, garbed in his robes and smiling mask.
He was attached to Kang Oh. Thus, Kang Oh could summon him whenever he wanted.
Conversely, he could tell where Kang Oh was whenever he accessed Arth.
“You transferred your body to your private safe, right?”
“Yes.”
Since Eder had decided to travel with Kang Oh to Deborah’s shrine, there was no reason for him to defend his laboratory.
Thus, his body, which was frozen inside a glass tube, was transferred to his private safe.
Obviously, because he didn’t need to protect his laboratory any longer, he didn’t need to summon skeletons to protect it.
Now skeletons would no longer spawn within Altein’s sewers.
But it didn’t matter to him since he’d already gotten everything worthwhile down there.
“Good. Then let’s get Darion and go hunting.”
What’s most important was gaining levels, clearing dungeons, and accumulating wealth!
“Understood.”
Kang Oh, accompanied by Eder, traveled to the Holiseum’s underground arena and met with Darion.
“As you may know, today’s the last day of our contract,” Darion said.
As he said, after today his 3 silver mercenary contract was over.
“Want to renew our contract? I’ll increase your pay by a fair bit,” Kang Oh furtively asked.
“Such a tasteless joke.”
“I’m being serious, though.”
“I’m not doing it. No matter what!” Darion said with a strict look on his face.
“I got it, so let’s go out with a bang.”
“The contract is over after 6 hours,” Darion said.
“Not 12 hours?” Kang Oh said as if saying ‘what the hell are you talking about?’.
“Empire law stipulates that mercenaries work until 6 in the afternoon. You need to follow the laws, don’t you?”
“Ahem. But hey, we’re close you and I…” he said clingily.
“No we aren’t,” Darion interrupted.
“Tch. I got it already, so let’s go!”
* * *
Kang Oh, Darion, and Eder arrived at one of the 12 entrances to the Black Rat Nest.
The Black Rat Nest was a maze of intertwined holes, which were dug haphazardly by the Black Rats, rats that were about the size of large dogs.
Black Rats were aggressive monsters that formed packs and specialized at leaping at their enemies.
They swarmed their enemies and had killed countless users by jumping and using their sharp front teeth.
But at the end of the day, they were still level 40 rats. They were no match for Kang Oh’s party.
“Let’s go in.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
[Entering the dungeon, Black Rat Nest.]
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Once he entered the dungeon, rats appeared.
Jjijik.
Black Rats possessed red eyes and thick tails. They looked like rats, but they were particularly large.
Five Black Rats brandished their sharp front teeth and rushed towards them.
Kang Oh readied his sword and Darion pointed the tip of his gladius at a Black Rat.
Meanwhile, Eder cast magic with a dark tone.
“Let’s begin the hunt!”
The Black Rat conquest had begun.