Chapter 120
Chapter 120
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: Peculiar Group Dynamics
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The atmosphere between the two groups was peculiar. At the very least, it was clear that the Axe Warrior didn't like the people behind him.
The people in the back seemed aware of that fact, too—their attitude toward the Axe Warrior wasn't friendly at all. They were awkward or offended.
But Willy, standing in front of them, was different. He didn't actively strike up conversations out of consideration for the Axe Warrior's mood, but he faithfully followed his instructions while leading the group behind him.
Some were displeased by that, but no one voiced their complaints right away.
They were the new recruits who'd joined under C.O.T.S's latest plan.
In order to get them to the max level as quickly as possible, C.O.T.S had assigned high-level players to bus the newbies along.
And the Axe Warrior was the player dispatched from the guild to provide that bus service.
But he wasn't thrilled about it.
Sure, he was getting paid, but he still found it annoying to invest his own time in others. On top of that, the unequal treatment—even within the same C.O.T.S—irked him.
Many others felt the same way.
That was why the job wasn't popular.
'What rotten luck.'
Having lost the draw, he had no choice but to drag these burdens around, grumbling inwardly.
At least the shift system was a silver lining. In just a few days, he could dump them on someone else.
'If Ark's system wasn't such a pain, I wouldn't even have to deal with this.'
After all, the fastest way to level up was for C.O.T.S rankers to personally hunt monsters at the front-line grounds while busing.
The incoming EXP would be on another level. They could even blast through the post-30 level stagnation periods.
But Ark's system didn't tolerate such shortcuts.
Bus-riders got zero EXP from monsters five levels above their own.
Players naturally protested. Forget the bus issue—how was the system supposed to tell bus from no-bus?
With solid physicals, luck, and teamwork, you could take down five-level-higher mobs without any bus at all.
But Utopia wouldn't budge. They just insisted the AI would analyze various factors and judge accurately.
Players rebelled even harder.
The net overflowed with rants against Utopia. Some even claimed they'd suffered direct harm.
But those voices gradually faded.
Just as Utopia promised, the AI perfectly distinguished bus-riders from legit hunters. The damage-claimers quieted down.
Utopia publicly called out some as frauds, complete with evidence. Pro-Utopia opinions started piling up in response.
It almost looked like they were manipulating public opinion.
After all that, most Ark players now accepted the anti-bus policy—even if a few gripes remained.
That's why C.O.T.S couldn't rocket their newbies straight to max level and had to level them incrementally like this.
Still, the pace was insanely fast by normal player standards.
"Next!"
The Axe Warrior shouted.
One newbie stepped up front.
"Hold on."
The Axe Warrior approached a single mob.
-Kieeeek!
The mob let out a guttural screech as it charged. The Axe Warrior dodged with practiced ease, then swung his axe.
Crack! Crack!
-Kuoooo!
The monster instantly went into stun. It staggered.
"Now!"
The forward newbie thrust out his halberd.
Thwack!
Damage landed on the monster. It wasn't much, but the HP bar did drop.
Thwack! Thwack!
He kept swinging the halberd, trying to bump up his damage share for maximum EXP.
-Kik!
"Back!"
Spotting the mob starting to shake it off, the Axe Warrior yelled. The halberd newbie scrambled backward.
-Kiaaaah!
As if enraged at being attacked while stunned, the mob pursued the halberd newbie. But its strike connected with the Axe Warrior's axe instead.
-Kiiiik!
Stunned once more, the same sequence repeated.
The other newbies watched from the rear.
High-level mobs were getting cleared for them, sure—but it didn't look all that efficient.
Normally, each had their own dedicated handler for leveling. Today, though, they were all grouped up.
The higher-ups wanted the future C.O.T.S core members to get familiar with each other.
One newbie levels under the Axe Warrior's lead, while the rest observe their colleagues' weapons and rough combat styles.
Plus, use downtime to chat and build rapport.
It started awkward, but after some time, conversations picked up.
Strangers with zero shared background—the easiest common ground was Ark itself.
The hottest current topic naturally came up.
"Heard That Guy screwed us over again?"
"Yeah, the guild mood's been sour because of it."
As C.O.T.S members, they couldn't help zeroing in on it. But being fresh recruits with weak guild loyalty, their tone held more curiosity than fury.
They swapped various bits from the net. Mostly just repeating online chatter.
But amid the buzz, one detail hadn't hit the net yet.
The guy who'd resurfaced in this incident—the one(?) who'd joined the Meteor Scramble.
"Speaking of, didn't you say you met the Meteor, Willy?"
"Yeah. Caught a glimpse once before."
"How was he?"
"Hmm. I only saw him from pretty far off, and I wasn't even fully involved back then."
He added,
"But yeah, he lived up to all the wild rumors online."
"I see."
The questioner nodded and moved on. Or seemed to—until someone else cut in.
"Amazing? Please."
All eyes turned to the speaker.
A warrior a full head taller than the rest, with an imposing hammer strapped to his back.
He wasn't well-liked; the looks aimed his way weren't friendly.
"You future C.O.T.S bigshots getting wowed by that?"
"C.O.T.S is one thing. Amazing's still amazing."
"Hmph! Fine, I'll grant he's above average—but just barely. If that's enough to blow your minds, pack up and leave. We don't need unskilled cowards in this guild."
"What?"
Even the one trying to stay cool snapped at the nonstop trash talk. But the Hammer Warrior showed zero remorse.
He snorted and kept going.
"Got it? I'm climbing to the top here. Ranker, exec, guild master someday. When that happens, no room for weaklings. Quit now if you don't wanna get booted later!"
"You little—"
Finally losing it to the provocations, the arguer reached for his weapon.
Willy intervened.
"Cut it out. We're not alone here. Don't stir up trouble and risk penalties."
The guy fumed but glanced toward the Axe Warrior. He was watching them.
The usual annoyed expression. No sign of jumping in yet, but escalating under his gaze was a bad idea.
He kept glaring at the Hammer Warrior but let go of his weapon.
"Hmph!"
The Hammer Warrior had no real intent to fight either—or maybe he'd clocked the Axe Warrior too—and dropped the taunts.
But now he turned to Willy.
"You're supposed to be our top prospect, huh?"
"Dunno about that."
"Quit playing coy. One warning: C.O.T.S's peak player will be me. Not you. Keep that in mind and watch yourself."
"Noted."
Willy shrugged at the growling Hammer Warrior.
"Next!"
Right then, the Axe Warrior called out.
The Hammer Warrior's turn. He tore his glare off Willy and trudged toward the Axe Warrior.
Willy watched his back. His face was as mild as ever. No one caught the brief flicker of fire in his eyes before it vanished.
* * *
Yuseong headed back outside to hunt for skills.
His world hadn't changed: barren, reeking, oppressive.
But Yuseong's face was the picture of cheer. His steps were light and bouncy. His heart felt just as unburdened.
Just one reason.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out. Not Yuseong's—the robot walking beside him had fired.
The charging beast tumbled to the ground. Naturally, one shot wouldn't kill it. But the robot didn't stop there.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
It kept pouring lead into the beast. The thing wailed in agony.
Thud!
Down it went. The robot delivered the coup de grâce, then holstered its weapon.
Immediate threat neutralized. You may proceed.
"Yeah, yeah."
Yuseong replied and kept walking. The robot stuck to his left, scanning the surroundings like always.
With the robot, life had gotten seriously easy.
Vigilance, combat, hauling gear—all handled by the robot. He finally got why the pre-apocalypse world had relied on them so heavily.
He wasn't leaving watch duty entirely to it, of course. His surroundings weren't exactly peaceful. This wasn't Ark.
But just having another sentinel changed the whole sense of security.
Combat was the same story.
Bang! Bang!
Another beast appeared; the robot opened fire. This time, Yuseong drew his gun too.
One was coming from the opposite direction.
Before, he'd have rushed the lead beast, then whipped around for the second.
Not anymore. Robot took one, he took the other.
Bang!
On top of that, the robot finished its target early and started helping with his.
The two beasts dropped with ridiculous ease.
"Man..."
Yuseong felt a profound thrill at the situation.