Jeong Hana Is Indeed Famous
"Unnie Hana."
Im Ha-rin, who had naturally settled into the two-seater next to her and started gaming together, watched Jeong Hana play for a good while before finally speaking up.
"What's up? Something wrong?"
Jeong Hana's eyes stayed glued to the monitor, but her response was prompt and sincere.
"You could just hit reject on that, but you stuck it in the corner?"
Im Ha-rin pointed at a certain window with her finger.
> ItsReallyFuckingCold has invited you to join the WereRichNow guild.
"Oh, this? A guild invite?"
"Do you even know how to hit reject, or... Ow!"
Jeong Hana raised her left hand like she'd been waiting for it and smack! landed a solid hit on Im Ha-rin's back.
"Our age gap isn't that big, you know?"
"No, but why do you shove windows away like some grandma?"
"I leave these on purpose. Hit reject, and another invite flies right in."
"Invites come that often?"
Im Ha-rin's tone carried a hint of disbelief.
"Yeah, high-level healers are hard to come by. Just wander high-level zones like this, and people get curious, chat you up, friend you, invite you to guilds—you name it."
"For real? Never happened to me once while gaming."
"Obviously. Dealers are a dime a dozen on every street corner."
Jeong Hana hit reject to demonstrate right away.
— Doong!
> BigBroImHere has invited you to join the YourPlaceCouple guild.
"See? Without a guild, tons of people spam invites just to kidnap you blindly."
"Hmmm..."
Im Ha-rin stared at Jeong Hana's face for a beat, then glanced at the game screen.
Jeong Hana explained matter-of-factly while nonstop mashing buttons, hunting monsters, and precisely gathering tasty-looking expert materials.
"It's not just that reason, though, unnie."
"What do you mean, not just? You saw it with your own eyes."
"Isn't it because you're super famous, unnie?"
Jeong Hana paused her furious keyboard hammering at the words.
"No... it's not that bad? I'm not that famous, seriously."
"You are famous, unnie. Probably the most famous healer right now? Sure, some streamers raise healers, but yours is the highest level."
"Healers are always a pain to level."
"You ignored that grind and hit top level, plus you're that 'sudden guest' popping up in leaderboards all the time."
Im Ha-rin pointed at the pile of friend invites stacked up on Jeong Hana's screen.
"These friend requests are flooding in so much you can't even check them. If that's not famous, what is?"
"Look, it's just healer scarcity. You know from Darkwatch 2—supports and tanks have way fewer players there too."
"Is this the same?"
"Exactly. So few people raise healers that even a little effort makes you stand out."
Im Ha-rin stared straight at Jeong Hana's face.
Is this unnie just playing humble, or does she really think that?
Truth was, Jeong Hana was famous.
She just chalked it all up to healer attention.
"But hey, unnie Hana."
"But what? Why?"
Im Ha-rin cleared her throat dramatically to voice the curiosity she'd been mulling since two days ago.
"Unnie, you're kinda weird."
"You asked last time why I wasn't dead in a ditch yet? Are we that close?"
Jeong Hana asked purely out of wonder if they were buddy-buddy enough for this banter.
"Huh? No! I mean—not like that!"
"Kidding. I know."
Guess we are kinda close. Jeong Hana reached for her drink, reaffirming the shrinking distance with Im Ha-rin.
"So, what's weird? Spill."
"How'd your level shoot up so fast? That's what's weird."
"Just to be clear—no cheats or hacks. Absolutely not."
"As if cheats like that exist. That'd just be haters crying foul."
Jeong Hana shrugged.
"Why think that? Could just be I play a ton."
"Impossible. Your level's higher than full-time streamers who game 24/7."
"Me? Nah, not that high."
"No, sometimes higher than Sky or Daydream. And those guys grind nonstop."
Jeong Hana hesitated a split second, then eyed Im Ha-rin.
"Uh... I game 24/7 full-time too?"
"Exactly! Same grind time, but you're a healer. Super weak sauce. Can't even kill mobs fast, yet your level's insane. Mind-blowing."
"Ah... so that's what you meant? Yeah, obvious."
Obvious.
Im Ha-rin's eyes sparkled at that.
"Knew it! Secret sauce, right? Tell me! I can't game all day like you!"
Im Ha-rin smack! grabbed Jeong Hana's left arm and clung tight.
"Hey, back off... Wait, are we that close?"
"We are! We totally are!! Spill it, unnie Hana!"
Truth was, Jeong Hana and Im Ha-rin weren't that close yet.
Subtle age gap, first met via the landlady's request—no real bond there.
But their hobbies overlapped way too much.
Im Ha-rin had no friends who geeked out over games like her; she desperately needed someone to nerd out with.
"Ugh... fine, I'll tell you. Back off first. Your chest is touching."
"Want me to press closer?"
"What?! Back off!"
Jeong Hana flushed red and shoved Im Ha-rin's forehead with her palm to peel her away.
"Anyway... sigh, got it. You're a student, short on playtime. You want my fast-level method."
"Yes! Exactly! YouTube's all 'do quests, elite mobs in parties'—basic crap."
Route optimization.
Obvious to Jeong Hana, but in this world, Lost of Fantasy was a newborn game, not even a month old.
"What else you gonna get? No one's hit max level yet."
Im Ha-rin felt a faint odd vibe at those words but let it slide.
"First... open your quest log."
"Like this?" Im Ha-rin popped open her UI, bursting with over ten quests.
"Lemme see... Good zone pick, at least. Wrong way, and you'd be cursing up a storm."
"Huh? Zone choice matters?"
"You didn't know? Some quests shunt you to other zones."
"Oh... I didn't. Saw in LFG you went here, thought quests only led here, so I came straight."
Jeong Hana let out a wry chuckle.
"Sometimes two zones share the same recommended level."
"Why?"
"One's Demon King turf, the other's Alliance. They divvy up the map."
"Ooh... Why bother?"
"Lore stuff... Open world, right? Filling zones needs that faction war vibe. Creates these splits."
Jeong Hana snapped her finger.
"Saw on stream? You can steamroll enemy faction in the field. But one zone only? Disaster."
"If we wipe all the NPCs, no quests, no completions?"
"Bingo. That's why two. Plus, gets people into enemy turf for natural field PvP. That's why enemy villages and quests exist."
Im Ha-rin nodded to show she got it.
"Anyway, good zone. Short quest route here—blitz 'em, grab dungeon quests, bail."
Jeong Hana pointed at a few quests while talking.
"These I'm pointing at."
"Mail delivery and herb delivery?"
"Yeah, ditch 'em. Never do these. Straight grinding's faster."
"Huh? They pay money! Gear too!"
Jeong Hana shrugged again.
"Distances are insane. Route's garbage. Four zones to finish this—you know that?"
"Four? Mail delivery needs that much travel?"
"Think it ends next village? Nope. Deliver, hit 30-level zone, 20-level zone, back to Demon King Castle."
Demon King Castle was the massive central hub where every Demon King player gathered.
A capital city in all but name.
"Fucking nuts..."
"You marked your gargoyles?"
"Gargoyles?"
"Map up."
Jeong Hana leaned left big-time, stretching her left hand over.
"You're in for pain... Zero marks."
"What'd I miss? I grind quests hard."
"Pre-patch this was... anyway. Remember gargoyle managers? NPCs in every village?"
"...Oh! Yeah, saw 'em?"
Im Ha-rin hadn't grasped their function, so she'd ignored them.
"They're like taxi drivers. Not direct to anywhere—bus stop concept."
"Ooh..."
"Mark this village, these, these... outpost in between. Pay up, gargoyle auto-flies you straight to Demon King Castle."
"For real? Thought return stones were only way."
"Nah. Gargoyles anytime. Stones just got buffed."
Im Ha-rin clapped a hand over her mouth in shock.
"So... summary: skip delivery quests. Even gargoyle rides take forever."
"Time-to-XP ratio sucks?"
"Yeah. And skip expert material turn-ins. Drops like ass. No expert profession yet?"
"Nope. No guides, so skipped."
"Proper farming needs blue tools. You got none? You'd full-pull 200 like a chump. Gonna?"
"Hell no! Rather kill 200 mobs."
Jeong Hana winked.
"Got it? Skip these. Time sink, zero XP—you lose. Oh, and here, here."
Jeong Hana tapped a few villages onscreen.
"Long-beard Jadekin and granny Jadekin quests? Never take 'em."
"Why?"
"Tons of fetch. Final reward's a weapon, but dungeon gear's better anyway—net loss."
"Ooh."
"And it's just the 'weapon.' No XP. Loss."
Im Ha-rin nodded vigorously.
"Unnie knows everything. Answers every question."
"I'm higher level. That's why."
"Really? Then unnie, this dungeon quest..."
Im Ha-rin pointed at her dungeon clear quest.
"Yeah, not your level really. But need that mental shield. Let's go. I'll grab party."
Jeong Hana casually rounded up tank and DPS in seconds.
Unnie says dungeon and that flood of 'invite me' whispers? And she says she's not famous?
Im Ha-rin shook her head watching Jeong Hana snag three party members in a flash.
Unnie's totally famous! Real deal! Total faker! Bet she'd pull 50 easy!