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89
-Oh?
-Why are you coming out of there;
-Aren’t you going to clear the restricted area?
-The rivalry villain has arrived.
-We’re done for. He won’t let go now.
“We meet again so soon.”
“…….”
Meeting his gaze, Hanbit thought it over.
The impression he had gotten from that brief exchange was an intense competitive drive.
Just looking at how Liwei had bluntly demanded a one-on-one duel told him everything about how things would unfold.
He had found it suspicious that Liwei backed off so easily — but to show up again this fast.
“Qinglan seems to take a great interest in Black Dragon-nim as well.”
Avantgarde, standing beside him, spoke with a guarded tone.
Qinglan — a large-scale Chinese company with three vanguards on its roster.
Liwei in particular was someone who held an enormous passion for competition and rivalry.
Hanbit studied the other party for a moment, then spoke again.
“What do you want? I believe I told you that if you become a nuisance, I won’t be sharing the restricted area walkthrough.”
“I told you, didn’t I? I’m hoping there’ll be a chance to clash again sometime. Oh, and the restricted area — do whatever you want with it.”
-?
-Who do you think you are, you madman;
-Get lost.
-So what exactly can you do?
-Comment raid?
-Homepage raid?
-Viewers = useless, 0-tier.
The viewers venting their anger at Liwei’s words.
But those words were no empty bluster.
Hanbit took his eyes off the chat and decided to try reasoning with him first.
“I told you I won’t do a one-on-one duel.”
“I’m not asking for one. The stat gap between us is still far too stark right now.”
-Pretending to be fair;
-You’re a vanguard, sir.
-For real, the gap would be huge no matter what.
-Ranger: ???
-Info) Ranger is insanely strong too.
-Yeah, cut it at the aquarium regular level.
The viewers kept sharpening their tongues toward Liwei.
No matter how much Black Dragon had shown, a vanguard was a special existence.
A competition that could be decided by equipment and stats alone could never be a fair one.
“And if I refuse again?”
“Then I’ll just follow you around until you accept.”
Liwei’s eyes held a fervor bordering on madness.
It was hard to tell whether this was a game or reality.
With someone of that type, the fastest way to save time was to deal with them head-on.
“Phew.”
Accepting the reality before him, Hanbit let out a sigh.
Then he looked at Liwei, who had closed the distance to right in front of him, and spoke.
“Fine. What kind of competition are you proposing?”
“Simple. The snow-flower deer’s tough hide that you’re looking for. First one to obtain it wins.”
“What? Why would you——”
“Then we start!”
Thump—!
Liwei immediately kicked off the ground and vanished into the forest.
There was no discussion whatsoever about what the winner would gain or how the territory would be divided.
-He just leaves like that?
-A madman is a madman. Lol.
-Fact) He’s still popular despite all that.
-Is his face really all he has going for him;
-Dirty world.
“Haah.”
The thought that even dwelling on it was pointless drew a sigh out of him.
Hanbit shifted his gaze toward the frost-laden forest and said:
“Let’s go too.”
***
Thump—!
Picking up speed, Hanbit dashed swiftly through the forest.
Competition aside, he could not afford to let the special material slip away.
“Unexpectedly, this has turned into quite an interesting setup.”
Avantgarde following behind wore an amused expression.
He was worried about the vanguard’s involvement, but in the end, this too was new content.
-Fun?
-It’s not fun if we lose.
-But this one’s luck-based so it should be fine?
-Yeah, finding the snow-flower deer is seriously brutal.
-Those vanguard guys always have good luck too;
-They just have to take everything……
The viewers thought the essence of material farming was ‘luck.’
Hanbit agreed with that, but the knowledge from his past still existed in his head.
If he moved fast enough, he could get there first with plenty of room.
“Just a moment.”
Running through the forest, Hanbit stopped at a terrain where bare trees leaned askew.
The key to finding the snow-flower deer quickly was footprints.
The trouble was that they were pressed into the snow beneath the white surface, making them hard to spot.
“Avantgarde, please follow this path straight ahead. Think of it as drawing a wide semicircle.”
“Understood.”
Thump—!
Avantgarde kicked off without a single question.
Explaining how to distinguish the footprints right now was not possible.
It was more efficient to simply narrow the search range instead.
‘He wouldn’t be watching the broadcast.’
Whatever the situation, Liwei was someone who was genuinely serious about competition.
Watching an opponent’s stream to gain information was something he would never do even if it killed him.
Thump—!
With his thoughts settled, Hanbit began running toward the inner forest.
All the while, his gaze was meticulously reading the condition of the snow-covered ground.
‘Not this way.’
After advancing for about five minutes, he confirmed there were no footprints.
Hanbit changed direction toward a densely overgrown thicket.
In that moment.
Whoosh—!
Suddenly, a sharp blade emerged from within the undergrowth.
“……!”
The unexpected situation instead drew out Hanbit’s instinctive movement.
Whomp—!
He twisted his body sharply and lowered his stance in a sliding motion.
At the same moment, the blade that had lunged all the way for his eyes grazed his hair and missed.
-??
-What the hell, startled me;
-Almost smashed my monitor;
-Who is it this time?
The viewers were just as flustered.
But there was not even a moment allowed to wonder.
Shhk—!
Three shadows emerged from the undergrowth.
Hanbit stepped back and raised his sword into a guarded stance.
‘That mark…….’
Next to names he had never seen before, a single red line was visible.
Meaning all three were the kind who habitually engaged in PK.
Thud, thud—!
Just then, a man carrying an axe kicked off the ground and charged.
Hanbit gripped his sword with both hands and surged forward in kind.
Clang—!
The two weapons collided with a sharp noise.
Creak—
A brief exchange of strength while holding each other’s gaze.
Even from that short clash, Hanbit’s judgment was complete.
Whoosh—!
Once again flames rose from the pale blue-white sword.
He was not at full condition following the aftermath of the nest, but these opponents were best dealt with as quickly as possible.
“……!”
The man pressing against his weapon widened his eyes.
Not missing that momentary wavering, Hanbit tilted his sword and let the opposing axe slide off.
“Ugh!”
The man lurched as his center of gravity was abruptly pitched forward.
In that split second Hanbit got behind him and lightly thrust his sword.
Stab—!
The blade that drove in from the shoulder down through the neck consumed the opponent together with flame.
There was no need for preheating to deal with an enemy this feeble.
[Your experience points have increased by 7,300.]
Shhk—!
Just then, two companions who had moved to either side came charging in, swinging a scythe and a sword.
Watching their movement, Hanbit kicked off the ground and leaped high into the air.
Clang—!
The two weapons they had already swung forward crossed and collided with each other.
Airborne, Hanbit turned his body and put force into both hands gripping his sword.
Then he swept his sword nimbly downward.
Slash—!
One clean, decisive motion.
The necks of the two assailants were severed just like that.
[Your experience points have increased by 15,300.]
-?
-That’s it?
-Small fry. Lol.
-Easy, so easy.
A situation resolved without needing any elaborate strategy.
However, the Elemental Manifestation that Hanbit had begun preheating had a different purpose.
Shhk—!
Just then, a sharp noise cutting through the air rang out.
Ting—!
A silver needle blocked by the sword he reflexively swung.
The fine liquid that scattered was a variety of paralytic poison.
“Wow, did you see that? He dodged that one too.”
A familiar voice from a somewhat greater distance.
Turning his gaze, he saw a short-haired male human.
[Trigger]
“Long time no see.”
People emerging from beyond the undergrowth.
Four players were standing there, looking this way.
“…Haah.”
The man with a familiar face standing at the front.
It was Trigger — a member of the PK guild Nesto that had attacked him in Edelen.
-Ah.
-That bastard’s back;
-Brought friends again this time?
-Jealous……
-??
He had always known this would come eventually, but the timing was sooner than expected.
‘Perhaps it was inevitable.’
The image of Trigger that remained in Hanbit’s memory.
Setting aside the nature of the Nesto guild, Trigger was twisted in his personality in more ways than one.
It was not a burning desire for revenge born from the loss of a fight.
He simply satisfied a craving for killing and being killed.
“It doesn’t look like a commission this time.”
“A commission? Ah, there was something like that, wasn’t there.”
Trigger shrugged with an air of total indifference.
What came through was a purely genuine desire to kill Black Dragon and nothing else.
‘Those players seem to be something of a cut above.’
The players standing around Trigger gave off a somewhat different aura.
The weapons, armor, and accessories they wore were all things Hanbit recognized.
No one who used items of that caliber was a low-ranked player.
In terms of level, the minimum would be somewhere around 100.
-Isn’t that one Arcade?
-Huh?
-That’s really Arcade. Lol.
-We’re done.
-GG.
-Surrender and leave.
The viewers studying the enemies focused on one particular player.
Arcade — the name floating above his head.
Next to it were four red lines.
If memory served, hadn’t the Nesto sub-guild master been said to have five?
Ding—
[Deserter has donated 1,000 won.]
[That guy is level 160. Run.]
One donation message driving a final nail into the ominous atmosphere.
Weaker than Ranger, but the situation itself was different.
Those people had come here with the single purpose of killing Black Dragon.
“I didn’t know guild members were that close.”
At the time, he had heard the Nesto guild was entirely individualistic — almost no sense of camaraderie among them.
If they were swarming in like this, perhaps that information was wrong.
“Close? Ah, because of these people?”
Trigger glanced at the others around him as though he had caught the meaning.
Players considerably stronger than himself.
There was no other way to interpret it than them having gathered to avenge a fellow guild member.
After all, a PK guild had its image to maintain.
He had certainly thought that.
“It’s an amusing misunderstanding, but I hired them all with my own money.”
“…Hired?”
“There’s no rule saying a guild member can’t commission another guild member, right? Money makes the world go round.”
Trigger gave a relaxed smile.
A faint madness seeping through each glance, each expression.
Hiring his own guild members was something Hanbit hadn’t anticipated — but there was no avoiding this regardless.
“I like that look on your face. I want to break you down and twist you apart.”
Trigger curled the corner of his mouth and stepped one pace backward.
Arcade remained beside him on guard.
“Begin.”
At Trigger’s word, a man and woman stepped forward.
Both carried identical daggers — these were no ordinary weapons.
Shhk—
A dark crimson reflected on the surface.
A faint, faintly rippling violet light caught the eye.
‘There’s a curse on them too.’
Curses applied to items were a form of black magic.
With almost no practitioners and even fewer users, it was a technique rarely seen.
“Going through all this trouble just to catch one person.”
“We got paid well. Shut up and do it.”
Next to both of their names were three red lines each.
Meaning they were not opponents to be dispatched as lightly as before.
“Phew.”
A slight trace of anger colored Hanbit’s breath.
A situation far too tiresome.
And the very person who had instigated all of this was standing at a distance, watching it unfold with evident amusement.
Hanbit swept his hair back and tightened his grip on his sword.
“Fine. Let’s see what you’ve got.”
