The Last Guest for Fast Leveling?

"Whoa... Is there really no one here who knows their stuff, sis? It's just the two of us. Where is everybody?"

"They usually head to Halpas Hill near the Demon King Castle, or somewhere close to their final zone. Power Plains here actually has shitty accessibility, so people naturally overlook it."

"You talk like you know everything, sis."

To anyone else, it might sound like Im Ha-rin was picking a fight, but from her perspective, it was a perfectly reasonable thing to say.

From my viewpoint, this was just a fact backed by over ten years of data. But in Jeong Hana's world, it was pure speculation.

"That's how these games always are. If no one tells you, you just go where your eyes lead you."

"So I'm getting all the sweet perks thanks to you, sis~"

Humming a little tune, Im Ha-rin finally hopped off ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the golem, stretching her arms high above her head.

...Huh. She's got more up top than I thought.

"Ahh~! So, sis, how high can we level today?"

"Clear all the quests here, and you'll probably hit 54. If luck's not on our side, 53. We can top off the rest by picking elite mobs on Halpas Hill—plenty of ways to grind, so don't sweat it."

"This game's kinda annoying like that. Why not just let you level clean through one zone?"

It was something that got fixed naturally later on, but back in the original days, Im Ha-rin's gripe was totally valid.

That's just how they designed it.

"Anyway, whining won't spawn a double EXP event. First off, what's your Black Mage spec? Not Demon, right?"

"Yeah, it looked kinda trashy, so I went Destruction."

"Destruction's the standard, but tonight we're switching to Demon Black Mage for farming."

"Huh? Why?"

There was no complaint in Im Ha-rin's voice—just pure curiosity.

"Mobs get brutally tough starting from Power Plains. I can keep you healed, but that means chugging water bread nonstop, which slows us down."

"...What's water bread? Some kinda bread?"

"Food. I'm talking about food."

"Food?"

She doesn't know?

Of course not.

"Inns and shops sell it. Restores HP and MP if you sit and eat."

"Wait, really? I had no idea! No one on Nutube mentions it. They just say use bandages or pots when you're hurting."

"Anyway, no real mage in our duo means buying food racks up costs, and sitting every fight wastes time. Demon spec lets you tank."

"Oh... But why a mage, sis?"

She doesn't know this either... Yeah, figured.

"Mages get a job quest for Food Creation. Free chow. Looks like a cup of water and a bowl of bread, so players call it water bread."

"Whoa... whoa... But I've never heard anyone say that."

"Mages are like that. Shameless bunch—hoard the good stuff."

"Pfft!"

Im Ha-rin burst out laughing, clutching her stomach and giggling.

"But sis, but! Do only mages get awesome perks? What about me? Job... job quests?"

"You do. But later. Leveling first today."

"Ooh, what is it? Tell me!"

"Life Stone Creation at 40. Free pots, basically. Not a game-changer without it."

Im Ha-rin let out an impressed "Ooh," but followed me obediently to the Expert Profession NPC anyway.

"Switch spec to Demon Black Mage—skills are mostly the same. A few you can't use, but I'll show you..."

As I explained on the way to the NPC, Ssangmundong Unbreakable Shield bounced past us, jumping around like crazy. Impossible to miss.

"Huh? Sis, what's up?"

"Hold on... Let me rethink this."

Truth be told, Demon Black Mage wasn't that great.

Lost of Fantasy never had a summoning-focused job shine all the way to server shutdown.

Soloing and leveling convenience from the summons—that was it.

And even that just meant skipping water bread...

"What's wrong, sis? What're you thinking?"

"That Shield Warrior who just passed. I know her."

"...The streamer?"

"Yeah, I know. But we've partied a few times before. She acted all friendly with me..."

"W-Wait..."

Im Ha-rin stared at me like I'd grown a second head.

"Isn't it usually the other way around, sis? You fanboying over the streamer?"

"I didn't know she was a streamer."

"...Lmao."

"Anyway, she seemed to like me. Maybe we can use that..."

Im Ha-rin's expression turned even weirder.

"Use a streamer? Sis, she's super famous! Master-tier tank—no one doesn't know her."

"Really?"

"Yeah, back when she hit Master, pros were mocking her in chats like 'If you can Master on E spam, you'd Challenger on Minotaur.'"

Some minor drama, apparently. To me, she was just Streamer A.

"Eh, don't care. Point is, she's a tank right now."

"Lmao. Sis, she has hundreds of thousands of subs! Pull that anywhere and you'll get canceled."

"You hate respec fees too, be real."

Im Ha-rin glanced at me slyly and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠grinned.

"Wait here. Let's poke her."

Fresh off the golem, Ssangmundong Unbreakable Shield was hopping around, chatting up NPCs.

"Lemme see..."

Why's she reacting like that?

Should appeal ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠enough...

"...Hey?"

I whipped around at the sudden streamer voice. Im Ha-rin was grinning, her screen open to QueenMinseo's stream.

"I was curious about her reaction! She totally likes you, sis!"

"No, but... did you have to open the stream?"

"Duh! How could I resist?!"

...Control yourself...

Her beaming smile came through even in chat, amplified by Im Ha-rin's stream audio.

Ah... this is embarrassing.

"Hey... turn that off, please?"

"Nope. Her freaking out every time you drop knowledge is hilarious."

This is mortifying for me???

Im Ha-rin was smirking too hard for me to snatch the mouse and close it.

Anyway, QueenMinseo—no, Kang Min-seo—grabbed all the nearby quests as instructed and came back.

Please... I get INBAR means no audio leaks, but don't hype every single chat line.

"Huh? Sis, what's that quest? I didn't get it."

"You and I can't. It's a Warrior job quest."

"...You know Warrior job quests too, sis?"

Of course.

Tons of idiots showed up to raids without clearing it.

"Sis, you're like a superstar. No hate from viewers at all. Usually they'd flame."

"Ugh... D-don't know. Whatever. Don't wanna hear it."

"Gasp, sis, are you embarrassed? 'Cause people recognize you?"

Answering would just dig me deeper, so I ignored her with a heavy sigh.

"That... turn off the stream, please?"

Im Ha-rin stuck out her tongue mischievously, rejecting my final plea.

Ugh!

Honestly, up to this point, it was just embarrassing.

I couldn't have predicted the annoying mess coming next.