Chapter 143
Chapter 143
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: Mad Hammer's Challenge
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Chapter 143
A sudden and rude remark. The gazes of the people around them focused on the two men. But the man carrying the hammer on his back didn't pay it any mind. His attitude clearly revealed his extremely arrogant personality.
However, Yuseong was no ordinary fellow with a peculiar personality himself.
"Then what do I get out of it?"
Rather than Yuseong, it was the hammer-carrying man who was taken aback by the response.
'As expected, he's no ordinary guy.'
He was Mad Hammer.
After Willy had been humiliated by Yuseong, Mad Hammer had been thinking that killing Yuseong would prove he was superior to Willy. And then he ran into Yuseong.
Naturally, he was overjoyed, practically jumping for joy.
The long-awaited opportunity had arrived.
No need for thought or hesitation. He immediately picked a fight with Yuseong. He had no intention of using some indirect method like Willy, trying to show his superiority through an event.
Why bother with a complicated approach when there was a simple and surefire method like a duel? Even if Yuseong refused, he planned to keep provoking him.
But Yuseong's response was completely out of left field.
"Hmm."
Mad Hammer pondered. It was an unexpected reply, but not an outright refusal. If he played his cards right here, he could probably get a duel going right away.
"Right, you said you wanted to get famous, didn't you?"
Mad Hammer thumped his chest.
"If you take me down, you'll get way more famous!"
"......"
Yuseong didn't answer immediately. He scanned Mad Hammer from head to toe. The appraising look in his eyes naturally soured Mad Hammer's mood.
"...And who exactly are you to make me famous?"
"I'm the one who's...!"
Mad Hammer shut his mouth. Come to think of it, he realized his own fame wasn't all that great.
He was confident that in terms of skill, he wouldn't lose to anyone at his level—no, even up to 10 levels higher. But since he'd been focusing on leveling up under C.O.T.S's guidance, he wasn't widely known.
At best, being a member of C.O.T.S was the only thing he could boast about to others. He wasn't even as famous as Willy, who was being pushed by C.O.T.S.
"Still, if people see us fighting, won't that make me somewhat famous?"
"Pointless PvP like that is useless."
Yuseong had already dealt with plenty of guys who came at him because of his fame. But it hadn't made any meaningful change in his attention level. Even the ones he'd taken out during streams were the same.
Yuseong was convinced. Unless the opponent was someone extremely well-known in PvP or PK circles, his attention wouldn't rise.
And Mad Hammer didn't meet that criterion.
"Hey, I do have some name recognition!"
"Even if you do, it's still less than Willy's."
During that last event, a rival dynamic with Willy had unexpectedly formed out of nowhere. He didn't know why, but it had clearly boosted his attention significantly.
But that was only because a rivalry had formed with him—not because Willy was some big deal.
No matter the potential, that was Willy's current level of fame.
The Strategy Guide had said so, so it had to be true.
Would fighting Mad Hammer—who was losing to Willy in pure fame, not even as frontliners of rival guilds—really boost his attention meaningfully?
'A waste of time.'
Yuseong decided to end the conversation there.
But Mad Hammer wasn't done.
"Me, inferior to Willy?"
The way he emphasized each word didn't bode well. Anyone could see his reverse scale had been touched.
"Yes."
But Yuseong's indifference poured oil on the blazing fire.
"...You planning to take that back?"
"Then what happens to me?"
Mad Hammer's eyes gleamed wickedly. But that kind of glare was commonplace—even the beasts he ate for sustenance before logging into Ark had given him looks like that.
"Huh...!"
Mad Hammer laughed chillingly. His hand twitched. It was inching toward his back, as if he might swing his weapon any second.
That was when it happened.
"Mad Hammer!"
Mad Hammer froze. He turned his head. Yuseong looked toward the source of the voice as well.
A man with a longsword on his back was approaching.
Mad Hammer clicked his tongue. Yuseong examined the man more closely.
'C.O.T.S emblem.'
He was with C.O.T.S too.
"What the hell were you about to do? You forget we're inside the city?!"
He sharply scolded Mad Hammer. Starting a knife fight in the city wouldn't end well.
"It's nothing."
"You expect me to believe that?!"
Annoying nagging. Normally, he'd have charged right in.
But Mad Hammer couldn't treat him lightly. He wasn't even officially recognized as a full member of C.O.T.S yet, let alone its leader.
"It's really nothing."
That's all he could say.
The man glared at Mad Hammer discontentedly, then turned his gaze to Yuseong. His eyebrows twitched. He knew who Yuseong was too.
And above all, the cheeky emblem emblazoned on Yuseong's hat and coat declared him an enemy of C.O.T.S.
"...Come with me."
The man ordered Mad Hammer and turned to walk away. Mad Hammer followed quietly without much resistance.
But he shot Yuseong one last venomous glare, showing he hadn't dropped his hostility.
And with that, the two disappeared into the city.
Leaving Yuseong alone.
'What the hell was that.'
He stared at where they'd gone with baffled eyes. It was hard to believe he'd just been in a tense situation moments ago—his thoughts were utterly nonchalant.
* * *
Some inexplicable provocation had come his way, but Yuseong soon resumed his original plan.
He'd hunt field mobs to level up slowly, gradually expanding his activity range.
Thud!
A field mob fell to Yuseong's hand. He checked his status window.
His level had gone up.
The leveling speed was explosively fast—nothing else could describe it. Especially considering how little time had passed since arriving in Fulton.
At this rate, he'd leave the area soon.
Leveling was going smoothly, but Yuseong couldn't help regretting that there were no undiscovered dungeons nearby.
'They're not clustered in dungeon-prone spots, and Fulton doesn't seem especially crowded.'
Without much expectation, Yuseong asked the Strategy Guide.
'Any special reason, Strategy Guide?'
【A player discovered all the remaining undiscovered dungeons just before you arrived.】Yuseong froze. It sounded just like him. A natural question followed.
'No way, someone with a Strategy Guide?'
【You are the only player with this program.】So that wasn't it.
'Then how? Just a coincidence?'
【There's some possibility of that, but this player appears to have received information from an external source.】
'External? Where from?'
【No information available.】
'Then who was the player that found those undiscovered dungeons?'
【A player calling himself Mad Hammer.】
A familiar name popped up.
* * *
Today, too, Yuseong was hunting mobs. He'd gotten used to taking down field monsters, and it seemed like he could handle low-level dungeons now.
But apparently not today, at least.
Step.
A person appeared in front of him. He'd strayed far from the main paths hunting field monsters, so this wasn't a chance encounter. The man ahead was clearly blocking his path with intent.
"Mad Hammer."
"You remember me. Honored, coming from the guy who says I'm worse than Willy."
Sarcasm dripping with malice. But Yuseong wasn't the type to be intimidated by words like that.
"Remembering someone has nothing to do with their skill level."
"...I see. So you still think I'm inferior to Willy?"
"Has anything happened since then to change my mind?"
He couldn't think of anything, no matter how hard he tried.
But such logical thinking meant nothing to Mad Hammer. He was the type to prioritize his emotions over reason.
"It's about to."
"You want to fight?"
"Didn't I say so from the start?"
"And I said, what's in it for me?"
"Doesn't matter if there's nothing. As long as I'm here, that's enough."
They were outside the city anyway. If he attacked, Yuseong would have to fight back. Even if not, it didn't matter. All he needed was the achievement of killing Yuseong.
'The guild will bitch about it, but killing this bastard should make it a bit better.'
And even if they bitched, his name would be firmly etched in the guild's upper echelons. As the first guild member to hand a defeat to Yuseong, who'd only given C.O.T.S losses so far.
"Fine. Then give me one piece of info."
"Didn't I say it doesn't matter to me?"
"You'd be better off if I come at you aggressively too. What if I just run?"
That would be a hassle, honestly. Yuseong's skills were decent, so if he focused on escaping, there was a chance he'd slip away.
'And opportunities like this aren't plentiful.'
Even now, he'd shaken off the guy the guild assigned to help him level. If they found out he'd gone off to fight Yuseong on his own, it wouldn't end with just a scolding.
'Need to wrap this up fast.'
"Alright. What info do you want? Warning you upfront, I can't tell you everything."
"You discovered all the undiscovered dungeons around here recently, right?"
"......!"
Mad Hammer panicked. He'd braced for sensitive or dangerous questions, but he hadn't expected that one.
"Wha...!"
"No need to deny it. I already know. This isn't the point of my question anyway."
Seeing Yuseong cut him off firmly, Mad Hammer realized.
He knew everything.
'How?'
The info was supposed to be kept under strict secrecy. So how did Yuseong know?
'Those bastards! How the hell do they manage info security?!'
They'd promised to wipe all his info after the deal in the first place.
'I never should've trusted those guys!'
Then Yuseong's question came.
"Where did you get that info?"
'You don't know?'
He knew Mad Hammer had gotten undiscovered dungeon info from somewhere else, but not where it came from?
'So it didn't leak from there.'
His anger cooled a bit. A new doubt filled the gap.
"Where did you get that info?"
"I'm the one asking questions. Or should we just call it an info exchange? Want me to renegotiate the duel price?"
"Tch!"
Mad Hammer clicked his tongue. After a brief moment of thought, he spoke.
'Someone who got info like that will find out soon enough anyway.'
Making excuses to himself, Mad Hammer opened his mouth.
"Utopia."