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Chapter 25
Puushik-
The capsule opened, and Jeong-Hoon stepped out.
“Phew, done. That’s it for the Starting Vige.”
He had taken care of everything he had nned in the Starting Vige.
So, before moving to the next vige, he needed some rest.
‘My body is stiff from ying games all day.’
Until New World became reality, Jeong-Hoon’s body was no different from an ordinary person’s.
It was natural for his body to feel stiff after ying for so long.
Buzz-
His smartphone vibrated.
It was Ha-jin.
He had sent another whisper before logging out, and it seemed Ha-jin hade out to meet him.
[Hey! You’re home, right? I’ming over. Wait for me!]
He must have been in a hurry, because the doorbell rang less than 30 minutester.
Jeong-Hoon opened the door, sipping his coffee.
“Slow down a bit.”
At the door stood Ha-jin, looking excited.
“Dude, you drop a bombshell and tell me to slow down?”
“Bombshell?”
“You got a hidden ss, right?!”
“Ah, yeah.”
“What’s the grade?! What grade is it?”
Jeong-Hoon took a can of coffee from the refrigerator in response to the barrage of questions.
“Legendary.”
“… What?”
“Legendary.”
“Crazy… You’re lying, right?”
Not only hidden, but Legendary?
It was hard to believe.
After all, there had never been a Legendary ss at the first advancement.
“Well, even though the grade is Legendary, the performance is about Epic level.”
“Epic?”
Ha-jin’s expression becameplex.
Legendary grade, but Epic level performance?
Wasn’t Epic already insanely strong…?
“Yeah. Anyway, since you’re here, let’s eat something.”
Jeong-Hoon chuckled and opened an app to order two servings of stir-fried pork.
“No… Dude, now’s not the time for this!”
“What?”
“You could have majorpanies lining up for you! Earning 100 million won a month would be a piece of cake!”
A hidden ss at the first advancement, and a Legendary grade at that.
The fact that it was a Martial Artist didn’t matter.
That alone would allow him to choose any guild he wanted and receive astronomical treatment.
But Jeong-Hoon shook his head.
“I’m not joining.”
“Huh…? Why?!”
“I have a lot to do.”
Hisrades had already betrayed him once.
Perhaps that was why the mere thought of belonging to any group made him sick.
“This guy is crazy…”
Ha-jin couldn’t understand, but seeing Jeong-Hoon’s expression, he kept his mouth shut.
* * *
‘Hmm? Why are there so many users in the field?’
Countless users were pulling weeds in the field.
The weeds grew back in less than a second, returning to their original state.
It couldn’t be helped.
Those weeds were used for vige quests.
Every time users epted a quest, the weeds grew back in the areas they had been pulled.
“Move aside, I need to pull some weeds.”
“What are you talking about? Can’t you see I’m already pulling them?”
Jeong-Hoon had already pulled the weeds once while doing vige quests.
The question was why so many users were pulling weeds.
Oh dear.
There was even a line forming behind them.
Among them were some users who hadpleted their 2nd or 3rd ss advancements and were close to level 150.
“Since Min Jin-ho did it, the reward must be huge, right?”
“Yeah, why else would wee all the way here to do vige quests?”
“Ugh, but what if it’s just a title? I’ve been doing this hellish work for two weeks.”
“Min Jin-ho did it, remember? He wouldn’t move just for a title, would he?”
“Maybe the title unlocks a hidden quest or something?”
“Oh, that’s possible.”
Ah, now he understood why they were all so eager to do vige quests.
‘That bastard, Min Jin-ho.’
It seemed he had taken action as soon as the Poison Crusher was discovered.
That meant he would have finished the vige quests and headed to the alchemist by now.
“Heh…”
Jeong-Hoon barely suppressed a chuckle.
He had already taken the Poison Attack and solved the hair loss problem, so the alchemist, Bleo, wouldn’t give him a hidden quest.
In other words, he had snatched the Poison Attack that Min Jin-ho was supposed to get in the previous life.
‘Jin-ho, no matter how hard you struggle, this game will end.’
And he would be the one to make it happen.
With renewed determination, Jeong-Hoon crossed the field and stood before a massive portal.
As it was a portal connecting viges, there was a gatekeeper in front of it.
“Halt.”
===
[NPC Information]
-Nickname: Iliaos
-Level: 100
-Job: Starting Vige Portal Gatekeeper
===
The gatekeeper was level 100.
The gatekeeper’s level was set high to prevent users from carelessly passing through the portal.
If someone tried to force their way through, it would trigger a forced PvP, resulting in a 24-hour logout.
Of course, this didn’t apply to high-level users.
“I would like to use the portal.”
“Very well. May I check your information briefly?”
“Yes.”
Iliaos checked Jeong-Hoon’s information, nodded, and stepped aside.
“You are qualified. You may proceed.”
With his permission, Jeong-Hoon stood in the center of the portal.
[Would you like to activate the portal?]
[There are currently 122 viges you can travel to.]
Afterpleting the 1st ss advancement, he could ess 122 viges.
[If you’vepleted the 1st ss advancement, go to Eichen!]
-It’s the easiest of the 122 viges, with simple quests and easy leveling.
Don’t bother going to other viges with a special mindset and regret itter.
To take the portal again from those viges, you have to cross a field with monsters level 60 and above.
└This is real. Don’t get dragged away by curiosity and just go to Eichen.
└If you choose the wrong vige, you’ll need help from high-level users to take the portal again lol.
└At least Eichen has easy quests and good experience points.
As they said, choosing the first vige required careful consideration.
If he chose the wrong one, he might have to level up there to escape.
[One more tip before I go.]
-Don’t go to Idenharc. If they tell you not to go, don’t go, dammit.
The quests there are weird, and leveling is hard.
└The monsters are tricky to deal with. I’d rather go to Eichen and hunt orcs.
└Ah… I should have seen this before leaving the vige.
└I picked the vige with the coolest name and regretted it lol.
There were also tips on which viges to avoid.
However, Jeong-Hoon chose Idenharc without hesitation.
‘This is where I can achieve the highest efficiency.’
New World had hidden various growth elements in each vige.
There were still countless undiscovered elements.
And Idenharc, where levels 30-70 were raised, was the ce with the most hidden elements.
It was a vige everyone avoided.
That’s why he had to go there.
[‘Idenharc’ selected.]
Jeong-Hoon’s body was sucked into the portal as he chose Idenharc.
* * *
Meanwhile,
Starting Vige.
Min Jin-ho finished the vige quests by checking his mailbox.
With his abilities,pleting the quests was a piece of cake.
“Thank you!”
“Yes.”
He received a title along with the experience reward, which was barely noticeable.
It was time to head to the alchemist, who lived a short distance from Starting Vige.
Having learned the geography from an NPC, Min Jin-ho headed straight to the alchemist’s house.
“Ah, I no longer need the Poison Crusher’s inner core.”
“What…?”
Upon arriving at the alchemist’s house, he was told that the inner core was no longer needed.
The news was like a bolt from the blue. Someone had already handed over the Inner Core andpleted the quest.
“… …”
Just who the hell took it?
Min Jin-ho’s fists clenched.
***
Idenharc.
A small town with a medieval European vibe, slightly more developed than the starting vige.
Jeong-Hoon appeared in the town square, bustling with many users and NPCs.
‘There are a lot of users in Idenharc too.’
Just rtively fewerpared to other towns.
“Excuse me, did youe to the wrong town?”
A user approached Jeong-Hoon.
===
[yer Information]
-Nickname: Prettypong
-Level: 56
-ss: Lower Warrior (1st ss)
===
A level 56, 1st ss Lower Warrior.
“No, I came to the right ce.”
“Huh? You just did your 1st ss transfer and came to Idenharc?”
“Yes.”
“Oh man…you’re not going to make it. Usually, you don’te here until level 30.”
He started giving all sorts of unsolicited advice, saying Idenharc wasn’t great, that Eichen was better, and so on.
A higher-level user giving advice to a lower-level one isn’t umon in any game.
It was even moremon in New World.
The reason was the quests.
‘It’s because of the event quests that help struggling new users.’
A quest avable only from level 55 to 59, it automaticallypletes when you help a user below level 35.
The quest reward was a level up.
Leveling up bes increasingly difficult at higher levels.
In such a situation, this was an event quest you couldn’t miss, as it offered a level up just by helping one user.
[‘Prettypong’ would like to help you. Would you like to ept?]
A message popped up.
epting this would allow him to receive help.
“Really? Then could you help me for a bit?”
Jeong-Hoon readily agreed to receive help.
Prettypong’s face brightened at his words.
“Great! Let’s go to the portal right away!”
All he had to do was roughly guide him to the portal and help him get to Eichen, and he’d level up.
Heh, what an easy quest.
[It’s super easy to get quests by picking up newbies who came to the wrong town lol]
-I leveled up twice that way.
└It’s a win-win situation, really.
└Those newbies will have to bow down to us when they get to Eichen lol
└Totally agree, leveling up is a pain in the ass, and this gives you 2 levels at once lol
Prettypong thought he had found the perfect sucker.
That is, until Jeong-Hoon epted a quest from an old NPC who asked for help.
“Y-You’ll help me?!”
“Yes.”
[General Quest: An Old Man in Need]
-Restriction: All users level 30 or higher who havepleted their 1st ss transfer.
-Reward: Old Worn-out Map
-Description: A monster stole a pendant that myte wife cherished. Please retrieve the pendant for me.
The old man sped Jeong-Hoon’s hands with pleading eyes.
“If you can retrieve the pendant, I will give you this map as a reward.”
The reward was not experience points or skills, but a regr map.
It was so old and worn that it couldn’t even be read.
[Ipleted the quest and got the map, but what do I use it for?]
-It’s all faded, so you can’t even tell what it is. Is this really a reward?
└Don’t do that quest lol It’s a rotten one.
└I worked so hard to dig up the buried item, and all I got was a map lol
└The old man himself doesn’t even know how to use the map lol
└I thought it might be an important map, but there’s nothing on it.
└It doesn’t even work with Restoration Potion lol It’s too old.
This was one of the quests that users who had already passed through Idenharc hadpleted.
It could certainly be seen as a useless map, but if you solve it properly, the story changes.
“Yes, I’ll look for it.”
“Thank you! I suspect the ncs took it, but I’m not sure.”
A quest with no detailed information and a poor reward.
So no one would have tried to help this old man.
“Yes, I’ll find it as soon as possible.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much…”
He was a stranger, but it was the first time anyone had been so kind to him.
The old man’s eyes welled up with tears as he repeatedly expressed his gratitude.
“Um… user?”
Prettypong blocked his path as he was about to leave after epting the quest.
“Hmm? What’s the matter?”
“Haha… You’re supposed to go to the portal, why did you ept the quest?”
Prettypong’s voice was thick with annoyance.
Jeong-Hoon tilted his head.
“Why would I go to the portal?”
“Huh? But… I told you earlier, didn’t I? It’s much faster to grow in Eichen than here in Idenharc. I also leveled up in Eichen.”
“Yes, I’ve already heard that.”
“Then why did you ept the quest?”
“I think there’s some misunderstanding. I epted your offer to help me. For the record, I never said a word about going to Eichen.”
“Huh?”
“Hurry up and follow me.”
If Jeong-Hoon gave up on receiving his help, the quest would disappear.
It wasn’t Jeong-Hoon who was led by the nose, but Prettypong.
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