Scammer (5)
“What a bunch of worthless scum.”
The inner core scam blew up fast like gasoline and fizzled out just as quick. With help from Cheonma and SwordTasteStar, and Judaek delivering the finishing blow, it wrapped up smoothly. Without them, things might’ve gotten messy, but luckily most of the high-nics were on my side.
Even in another world, the Gallery’s the same as ever.
For the record, posting the clarification was entirely my call. Not some polite explanation, but a declaration of war laced with curses. No point in reasoning with the biters—they’d bite anyway—so I went with that approach. Ended up winning public favor and the opinion war. Not bad at all.
Honestly, the firewood burned too fast to even call it an opinion war. Just your typical Gallery drama.
Cheonma seemed a bit thrown off, but it ended well.
Gallery’s blowing up with people vowing to hunt down the scammer. With Judaek doxxing his address, the guy’s real life is gonna suck now. Wouldn’t have guessed she’d drop his location like that. My hunch? Cheonma talked her into it. Felt unfair to her—my life was on the line, but not theirs.
Time to send some thanks.
No matter what, gratitude’s a must. I fired off a one-on-one message.
Thanks to you, it all went smoothly. Really appreciate it.
Cheonma: No big deal. This lady wanted to go rip out his tongue myself.
Whoa, savage lol.
Cheonma-nim, you’re from Jungwon, right?
Cheonma: Indeed.
The address Judaek gave—is it far?
Cheonma: Quite a ways. But this lady can get there in no time.
Yeah, figured. Not sarcasm—I legit believe it. She’s at least on par with SwordTasteStar, probably stronger. I thanked her profusely and slipped in a question.
Cheonma-nim. Even sub-mods can only do one-on-one trades once every 24 hours, right?
Cheonma: Correct. Hoping to trade with this lady more often?
Sounds like I’m desperate. Not really a big deal—her speech is just regal like that. Let it slide.
Yeah. From now on, better to verify important items first before posting. That punk could just take it and ghost.
Cheonma: I see. Permission granted. I’ll try convincing Judaek on trade times.
Thank you. Seriously.
Cheonma: Does it surpass you saving this lady’s life? Speak if you need help anytime.
I’ll take the sentiment. Gotta build my own strength.
Like I’ve said a million times, dependency’s no good. Her help’s just insurance for verifying valuables. Olfather usually chimes in on posts anyway.
Then I’ll head out. Talk soon.
Cheonma: This lady awaits your messages anytime. Oh, right. Wall Valley Pills ready in a week.
Thanks.
Cheonma: Indeed. Need strength? Call without hesitation.
Her post had this warm, wistful vibe. Probably not imagining it. Lonely type—good to chat often.
But first, lunch. I turned on the hose, hoping. Water gushed fine. No clog.
Guess Wall Valley Pills it is.
Sucks, but can’t fish the river. Gotta preserve the golden frog spawn—no overfishing.
I chewed the bitter pill, plotting the afternoon.
Traps... tomorrow. Too soon now.
Don’t get hopes up for traps. Leaves one thing: post on Gallery. Spill the lessons from this mess, outline future plans.
YasaengGrill: Hey everyone. YasaengGrill here, dropped in the Four Seasons Forest. That worm today? From now on, verifying important items before posting. Especially pricey stuff—no auctions. Prioritize high-nics, post only if desperate.
Gallery’s scary. Life-or-death for some, one click to screw others.
Rambling sorry. Anyway, max effort to escape forest. Gallery essential—cheer me on!
Oh, huge thanks to SwordTasteStar-nim for the help. Inner core’s yours.
TL;DR:
1. Prioritizing high-nic trades.
2. Gallery’s scary, but logging in for escape.
3. Thanks SwordTasteStar-nim.
└TL;DR’s the best part lol
└Fr, just read the bottom lol
└Hang in there, Grill. Think of it as stepping in shit.
└Weren’t you shitting on Grill too?
StarlightPrincess: Glad it worked out. Was disappointed—world’s full of assholes. Grill helps total strangers.
└We call that a sucker.
└Sucker? Nah, just good guy.
└Would’ve traded with StarlightPrincess first? Trades = good people.
SwordTasteStar: Wait;; hitting me up right away? Don’t need this.
YasaengGrill: Give it back? Or sell it.
SwordTasteStar: I got money. Inner cores don’t do much anyway;;
YasaengGrill: Whatever~ just take it.
SwordTasteStar: ;;;
└What’s this lololol
└Not pickpocket—pocket stuffer lololol
└Whatever-ing lolol
SwordTasteStar freaked as expected. Why hate getting healthy? StarlightPrincess was dying for it. World’s unfair.
‘Hitting me up’ huh? Military? Explains the sword tips.
Makes sense. Sword training time—deep dive her beginner guide.
Gotta tech into sword-and-board steady.
Owl bear, muscle shrooms—shield’s way safer than pure sword. Gallery mocks one-shot builds, but shield blocks that shot. Golden shield’s fist dent proves it—direct hit would’ve burst my guts.
Skill issue unavoidable.
Swordplay plateaus eventually. One-hand vs two-hand? Worlds apart. I ditch flair for stability—survival skyrockets. Not choice, necessity.
Anyone good with shields?
SwordTasteStar’s sword-focused—no shield theory. Just block and bash? Fair. I’m total noob anyway.
Let’s see. Time parries into slashes?
Deep read her posts till dinner, honing skills. Not expecting miracles in days—barely held sword/shield a week. Adaptation first.
“Hoo.”
Slow breaths. Sweat beaded, trickled down cheeks. Practicing via posts feels iffy. Trust her—her stuff raised continent’s avg power. Just... am I doing it right? No watcher, uneasy.
‘Martial arts tough sans master.’
Arts = refined combat. Rookie punch vs pro? Night and day. Thug beating fighter? Bullshit. Gap’s huge—solo progress near impossible.
So, am I flailing?
Only option: master her posts, hit milestones.
Not just tips—clear goals. Straight line draw, no-breath slashes, stab hollow tube. Helpful... and weird.
Hit goals twice, thrice over.
No master? Grind covers. Sword-and-board till dinner. Imagined foes for efficiency.
“Hah!”
Body soaked. Good enough. Stowed gear, headed to cool cave for rest and dinner.
Wonder what happened to the scammer? Someone said next town over.
Curious, logged into Gallery. Best downtime ever.
Gallery: idiot central as always. Hit concepts—top rec post. Mine. Clicked.
This is legit inner core lololol Scammer next town—stormed in, ate it. Others came, but I got it. Noob me hit peak instantly. Grill’s legit, merchant’s the scammer. No more slandering Grill.
└Jealous af. No killing?
└Nah, officials might come—rock paper scissors settled it.
└RPS lolololol
└Don’t sleep on RPS. Dynamic vision key lol
└Merchant’s side?
└Why hear scammer out?
└Gonna buy all Grill’s auctions.
└Fuck, he skipped high-nics before. Screwed now.
└Scammer raging rn?
└Rage all ya want—ghosted lololol
└Serves him right lololol
Settled(?) nicely. No more scammer tags on me. Still, prioritizing high-nics—no auctions soon.
Gallery surfed, sweat dried—stood. Dusk falling, check traps.
Caught something? Greedy, but one day ain’t much.
Greed fills bellies. Quick prep, headed out. Told Ppareumbo guard house.
“Oh?”
Near trap—grass gone from board. Faint presence below.
Gotcha!
Oil in mouth soon. Lifted board slow, excited.
“La la~ la la~ clap clap~ clap...”
Clunk—
“Clap...”
No rabbit.
Something else. Trap-filling huge, jet-black fur. Not normal—eight legs. Mini versions clustered. Babies.
“...”
Clunk—lowered board careful.
Stepped on spider nest, not trap.
...Roast it anyway?
Bite = death. Pass.