DUO. Raid the District Office.
– Is everyone in-game?
– Ding! During ranked games, communication through team voice and friend chat is disabled.
"Damn it."
Seowoon paused, recalling the events right before he entered the game.
There had definitely been signs that Lilingwi and Juriel were also getting dragged into the game.
'Coincidence? Or is someone trying to reduce the number of players?'
He quickly dismissed the idea of coincidence. It had to be the latter.
If a third of the top 150 ranked players were being eliminated, then it was only logical to assume the same fate awaited others in different ranks too.
'What the hell are the game operators thinking?'
Just as he was trying to shake off those troubling thoughts, a familiar presence approached.
"Sa-gwang."
A man with his face covered in a mask and hood appeared. Seowoon tilted his head slightly at the sight of Namsagwang.
Follow me. Quietly.
Namsagwang used a form of Whisper—an in-game telepathic message. Seowoon had seen it used before and had learned how, but never actually used it himself. Silently, he followed behind.
They entered a forested hillside filled with familiar Korean pine trees. Once deep enough, Namsagwang scanned their surroundings cautiously.
Seeing him on edge, Seowoon infused mana into a necklace he'd received from Kichan.
A silence field spread around them. Only then did Namsagwang speak.
"You know what kind of mess this is?"
"How would I?"
"Figures…"
Seowoon watched him glance around nervously, never letting his eyes rest. It was an odd sight.
"What's with you? That's not like you."
Namsagwang had never been the type to get rattled. Even in the last game, he fought energetically to take down just one more enemy before dying. This tension didn't suit him at all.
"There's a Heavenly Demon here."
"Ah… Makes sense. He is ranked number one."
Seowoon replied as if it were only natural. Namsagwang let out a sigh.
"My grudge with him runs deeper than you think. And right now, neither of us can handle him. If I'm ever going to kill him, I have to survive this game."
He spoke with rare seriousness in his eyes. Seowoon, however, simply smiled.
"Relax."
Namsagwang looked at him with a puzzled expression.
Seowoon stretched, then spoke casually.
"The real question is, what kind of change is coming to cause all this? Survival itself isn't that hard."
"There are 150 Crown-ranked players gathered in this one map."
"When I first started this game, I had nothing. No powers, no gear, nothing—and I still made it through. Even if every Crown is stronger than me, I'm confident I can survive."
Namsagwang's eyes lit up at his unshakable confidence.
"Is it because this map is Earth?"
"That's part of it. But mostly, I just prefer solo games over squad ones. I only need to rank within the top 100 out of 150. That's not that high a bar."
"If you say so… then I believe you."
When it came to the game, Namsagwang trusted Seowoon deeply. After all, even if it was coincidence or luck, Seowoon had survived fights where Namsagwang had died—twice.
"Open your map."
Namsagwang quickly pulled up the game map.
"See the spot marked Namdong District Office?"
"…Yeah, I see it."
He stared at the map for a while, then nodded once he found the location.
"That's our drop zone. Since we can't use team voice, it doesn't matter how many others drop there—we're going to land there. If anything goes wrong and we get separated, regroup at a nearby spot called Lotte Castle."
Namsagwang nodded at the clear, detailed order.
"There aren't as many martial artists this time. We need to play it safe and prioritize survival. Don't engage in any fights until you meet up with me. Avoid all combat."
Just then, the final announcement echoed through the lobby.
You will soon share vision through the Eyes of Argas. When the skies part and you see through Argas' view, say "Descent" to safely land at your desired location. Gather as many items as you can from your chosen drop zone. Players who do not descend manually will be dropped at the final point. Be advised.
– Game starting soon.
At the same time, Seowoon's vision shifted, and the familiar sensation hit.
He checked the flight path of Argas' eye and quietly let out a breath of relief.
Luckily, Namdong District Office—their designated drop point—was well within reach.
He had acted relaxed to keep Namsagwang calm, but in truth, there was no such thing as "easygoing" in a deathmatch filled only with Crown-ranked players.
Unlike past games, this one had no room for error. One wrong move, and it was game over.
"On top of that, there was no main quest."
The absence of a main quest weighed on him even more.
Realizing this was a stage purely meant to test skill, with no variables to lean on, Seowoon's eyes sank heavily.
"The map has some geographical advantages. I can use that to make something work."
As soon as he entered Namdong-gu, Seowoon descended.
He quickly flipped his body mid-air and scanned the other players. Three others were landing besides him.
"Excluding Nam Sagwang, that's two enemies. Three players within a 1km radius."
After confirming even the nearby threats, Seowoon sharply accelerated and dove to the ground.
He landed hard and immediately assumed a battle stance, watching an opponent who had just landed.
Spotting someone in a robe wielding a staff, Seowoon instinctively charged forward.
-Clang!
-Boom!
The mage blocked Seowoon's blood-hardened weapon with his staff, his face twisting as he cast a spell to push Seowoon away.
As if the air had exploded, Seowoon was flung backward by the strange force, his expression darkening.
"Tough one."
With most mages, the fight would've ended the moment he got in close.
But seeing this one deflect his blood-hardened strike reminded him just how serious ranked games were.
-Clang-clang!
Both Seowoon and the mage turned their heads toward the sound.
Nam Sagwang and a knight had clashed and then leapt away from each other.
It was still early in the game—they both knew better than anyone that fighting now would benefit neither side.
And since it wasn't a 1v1 situation, they kept an eye on each other, gauging intentions. Seowoon made the first move.
"No need to hand someone else an easy win on day one, right?"
The knight and the mage nodded in agreement.
Immediately, the two of them dashed off in opposite directions and disappeared.
"Let's move too."
With that, Seowoon sprinted into the district office.
"Was there a specific reason for coming here?"
As Nam Sagwang followed and asked, Seowoon rummaged through the building and answered.
"Incheon, the map this time, is a metropolitan city. Unlike other maps from different worlds, this one's packed with buildings. When I thought about where the items might be dropped, I figured government offices were a prime location."
Nam Sagwang didn't fully understand all the terminology, but he nodded, getting the gist, and started scanning the area too.
[Ding! You've acquired the Unique Kaiser's Ring. Greatly increases Agility.]
He tilted his head at the familiar-sounding ring name.
Swapping out his current ring and putting on the new one, his eyes widened.
"Seowoon!"
"Found something?"
Catching the newly obtained ring that Nam Sagwang threw him, Seowoon examined it and was visibly surprised.
"Never seen an item like this before."
He had done countless item farming runs and memorized almost every major named item.
But a ring with a "Unique" grade prefix? That was a first.
"So that's how it works."
An Agility boost of 50 wasn't especially amazing on its own.
Even regular Kaiser rings gave +40. But this one also multiplied the user's current Agility by 1.5—just like Toka's Ring. That changed everything.
"You can't equip duplicates, but this is a serious item."
Finishing his sentence, Seowoon tossed the ring back to Nam Sagwang and began searching for items again, eyes burning with intensity.
Nam Sagwang also began farming seriously for the first time in a while.
In truth, he already had most accessories equipped from past games.
There wasn't even a finger left for another ring, yet here he was—fully focused on farming items instead of consumables.
"I should've brought the Absolute Compass for this kind of game…"
Seowoon muttered with regret, and Nam Sagwang nodded.
At that moment, something shiny on a messy desk caught Seowoon's eye.
[Ding! You've acquired the Unique Driminzer's Ring. Greatly increases Strength.]
"Nice!"
Nam Sagwang quickly looked up at Seowoon's reaction.
Seowoon tossed the ring to him, and Nam Sagwang caught it and cataloged it.
He then threw it back to Seowoon.
"If we collect all the named rings, we'll be stacked."
"We've got plenty of coins. If we can gather them all, our stats will skyrocket."
With that, the two figures moved like the wind as they headed up to the second floor.
Seowoon wanted to use a clone to speed up the item farming.
But to conserve spiritual energy for battle, he resisted the temptation.
"So… what kind of monsters spawn here?"
Nam Sagwang asked the question that had been bothering him ever since checking the boss and buff monster locations on the map.
Seowoon shrugged.
"No idea."
"Huh? You don't even know the monsters from your own world?"
"There are no monsters in our world. I've been wondering about it too, ever since I saw the map."
Seowoon couldn't think of a single monster that would exist on Earth.
The best he could imagine were urban legends—like Bigfoot or Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster.
"Surely they won't throw in aliens or UFOs as bosses, right?"
With those thoughts in mind, the two quickly finished farming Namdong District Office.
"So, two Unique rings and a few consumables?"
"You also got a Berserk Potion."
"Can't use that. The side effects last too long."
As they chatted, their expressions hardened.
Nam Sagwang was the first to tense up from a powerful energy force breaking through his senses.
Seowoon's face followed a split second later.
"Two?"
"Two."
Nam Sagwang answered Seowoon's question with certainty.
Two distinct auras approaching from different directions seemed to sense the presence of Seowoon and Nam Sagwang inside the district office and came to a halt outside, not daring to enter.
"Are we fighting?"
"No. We don't even have time to farm. Let's break through in one direction."
Just as the two were about to move, an arrow shattered the window and flew straight toward Nam Sagwang's forehead.
-Thwack.
The arrow, like a beam of light, was caught with his bare hand. Seowoon shouted at the sight.
"Drop it, now!"
-BOOM!
In an instant, both of them were blown into a disheveled state by a magic trap explosion—a mapoksi, something Seowoon had crafted himself and had seen Jurolk Ana use many times.
"Interesting. I'll tear you to pieces."
Glaring with killing intent at his bloodied and torn hands, Nam Sagwang twisted his lips into a wicked grin.
"Don't lose your head."
Seowoon looked around the room, now in shambles from the blast, then pulled out two scrolls and tossed one to Nam Sagwang.
Before they could even tear the scrolls, two more arrows flew inside. Instinctively, they both leapt through the windows.
-BOOM!
The blast's aftershock and flying glass shards barely missed them as they jumped out.
No sooner had they hit the ground than they spotted an enemy aiming a bow at them.
When the enemy saw that the two had exited together without hostility toward each other, he frowned and released his arrow.
The arrow flew much faster than Jurolk Ana's bolts. Enraged, Nam Sagwang charged directly toward it.
"Sagwang!"
He tilted his head slightly, dodging the arrow aimed at his forehead, and drew his Sugang. As he did, the arrow that grazed past him exploded with electric shock.
-Crackle-BZZZZZT!
Momentarily paralyzed by the shock, Nam Sagwang's blade barely missed the enemy's face as the man's body was pulled backward as if yanked by a force.
!!!
'What is this, some kind of 3D maneuver gear?!'
Seowoon thought as he quickly drew his bow and fired, but several steel wires shot out from the enemy's back, embedding into the surrounding buildings and retracting at irregular intervals to maneuver him through the air.
The enemy dodged every shot and vanished between buildings like Spider-Man, sending Nam Sagwang into a fury. Just as he was about to give chase with surging killing intent, Seowoon stopped him.
"Let it go. Farming is more important right now. Didn't you say we were going to take down the Heavenly Demon?"
At Seowoon's words, the sinister aura pouring out of Nam Sagwang faded.
"Hmph. I'll see him again someday."
Seowoon knew all too well—Nam Sagwang hadn't discarded his killing intent. He'd simply swallowed it, storing it deep inside.
But right now, getting a kill was far less important than collecting items.
Sensing that the other enemy aura had also vanished during their brief skirmish, the two figures disappeared into the ground like shadows sinking beneath the earth.
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]