Half a Beat Ahead

Jeong Hana had always been half a beat ahead, understanding the mindset of a teenage boy better than anyone.

Telling a hot-blooded kid to keep a secret was pointless—she knew that all too well—so she'd coolly turned Lee Siwoo into the Pied Piper with effortless flair.

Of course, only she knew the truth: she'd actually handed him the flute herself.

"See? I told you it wasn't bullshit! It's straight facts from KnightSuperMan bro!"

In a PC bang near school—not the one where Im Harin and Jeong Hana were glued at the hip—Lee Siwoo covered his monitor with both hands in front of his friends.

The site he was pointing to writhed with English text like wriggling worms.

"Whoa... fuck, this looks legit?"

"Siwoo, you really know KnightSuperMan? Even Im Harin vouched for it!"

"Nah... but didn't he just say this after seeing the site?"

His friends, sitting beside and behind him, were a mix of skeptical and genuinely shocked.

"What the hell are you guys talking about? You asked why my nogada makes money, so I showed you the proof here!"

Just as Jeong Hana had instructed, Lee Siwoo had done some real elemental essence nogada for about five hours.

The fire essences he'd gathered didn't fetch quite the price she'd predicted, but it was still profitable enough.

And with her permission, he'd bragged about it to his friends.

"So you're saying this stuff is expensive because it goes into crafting?"

"Yeah. Purple items and potions— that's why."

His friends pointed at the foreign site Lee Siwoo had shown them again.

"We get that the Grand Archmage's Robe is endgame gear like you said."

As typical guys who played the game casually, they could tell at a glance that purple items were top-tier.

And they agreed that crafting materials for them would be pricey.

"But why's this protection potion a big deal? Tsk."

"Yeah, what's the point if mobs don't punch with fire? Useless otherwise."

"Total trash item."

Lee Siwoo sighed heavily.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Guys, look! It's crucial for the Heart of Fire raid!"

He quickly scrolled through the Lost of Fantasy Head site Jeong Hana had shown him, pulling up a vague entry on the Heart of Fire raid.

"See? First named monster is a fire spirit dealing flame damage—right there!"

"But what if the rest don't? We don't know."

"Overhyping it... And raid? No idea what that is, but can't we just do other stuff?"

"The 4 Major Induns? Farming those makes you strong anyway."

Lee Siwoo was at a loss for words.

"No... I mean, bro said raids are what make this game important!"

"So KnightSuperMan claims Lost of Fantasy is all about raids?"

"Dude, I never heard any streamers say that."

"Rice didn't either."

His friends clearly weren't buying it.

"And did KnightSuperMan really tell you this personally?"

"Yeah, or did he just hype it up from this English site?"

"No, that's not..."

Lee Siwoo wanted to argue but scratched his head instead.

Yesterday sis showed me this site... and yeah, everything she said was there.

The famous foreign site Jeong Hana ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had introduced was a goldmine—it dissected the Lost of Fantasy client down to its roots, archiving every scrap of data.

If you knew how to use it, you could uncover recipes for professional jobs you hadn't unlocked yet...

Boss skills, material uses—everything was there.

But that was it.

Even the admins uploading data didn't know how the game actually played out.

"You guys just don't get it. Look, look—the site says fire essences go into all sorts of materials."

"Yeah."

"But bro saw this and instantly knew what'd get expensive."

"How?"

Lee Siwoo clutched his head at their pushback.

"That's what I'm saying! It's not pretending from the site! Logically...! Argh! Fuck!! Enchanting's gonna be huge!!!"

"Why's it huge?"

"'Cause it makes you stronger!"

"Dude, that make sense? One mob fire-punches in a dungeon, so flame pots? And for a bit more DPS, people pay hundreds of gold for enchants?"

"Yeah, next it'll be ice resistance, nature resist, all that crap? Ridiculous."

Overwhelmed by their savage sarcasm, Lee Siwoo gave up with a defeated look.

"You assholes... don't whine to me later when I don't tell you."

Jeong Hana's half-beat-ahead glimpse of the future, sadly, just sounded like a lunatic's ravings to his friends.

"Kuh... heh, heh... pffftHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"

The moment gloomy-faced Lee Siwoo spilled the whole story, Im Harin plastered herself against me and burst into laughter.

"So, so? You got butt-hurt and came here to game with sis and me?"

"Argh!!! I'm not butt-hurt!!! They were wrapping up for academy anyway."

As I'd predicted, he'd bragged to his friends about raking in cash.

"Told you—trust me, and it pays off."

The Heart of Fire raid wasn't some hidden secret or future patch; it was endgame content, the pinnacle of the devs' avant-garde PvE design, there from launch day.

But no one—not now, not in my old world—saw it coming.

Even players back then had no clue Lost of Fantasy would blow up as a raid MMORPG.

"Still... sis!! Isn't it kinda obvious? Heart of Fire—name screams fire monsters, so flame resist? Duh?!"

Lee Siwoo sounded utterly wronged.

"And... when I showed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠'em the site you gave me, they mocked you for pretending to know from it... fuck."

"Oh? Mad 'cause they dissed me?"

"No, sis... you know your stuff, not pretending."

"Exactly. Sis didn't just read that site and parrot it to us."

I shrugged.

"Anyway, I only share what's verifiable in-game. Keep believing me in moderation going forward."

"I'll keep trusting sis~"

I smacked Im Harin's clinging butt.

"Anyway, enough trash-talking your friends."

"Yeah... their loss if they don't believe and miss out on cash."

"Right, Siwoo. Remember that technique I said I'd teach?"

His sullen vibe vanished; his eyes lit up.

"The professional job stuff, sis?"

"Yeah, but it sounded vague, right? I didn't spell out exactly how to profit."

Today, I'd show Im Harin and Lee Siwoo why professional jobs were a cash cow in theory.

"Not spilling everything on professions today—that'd take days."

"Whoa... that complex?"

"I saw pro job stuff on the site sis showed, but zero clue what it meant..."

I shrugged again.

"Listen up. Lost of Fantasy's professional jobs are as deep and complex as combat classes. Not just gather mats and hit craft."

It nailed both combat and lifestyle fun.

Sounds delusional, but somehow, Lost of Fantasy pulled it off.

"Dumping every detail from scratch wouldn't hook you, so straight to the fun part."

I equipped the battered distiller shoved in my bag's corner.

My hotbar combat skills vanished, replaced by unfamiliar professional job skills.

"To really enjoy pro jobs, equip specific tools like this."

"Ah! That's it? Newbies equip this thinking it's a weapon, suck at combat, and rage-post concepts, sis."

"Yep. Swap to your regular weapon, and combat's fine."

You need the distiller equipped to properly play Alchemist.

"Anyway, distiller on... this is just a demo. Got it?"

My alchemist level was only 15, so no fancy items.

But these two were sharp—they'd get it.

"Crafting in Lost of Fantasy looks different but boils down the same."

"Ah... yeah, saw this yesterday. Total gibberish."

"Durability, workload, quality—looks complicated, huh?"

"Whoa... I quit, sis. Can't do this. Looks brutal."

Im Harin gave up before I even explained.

"No scares—it's easy."

I hit a few pro job skills on my hotbar to start crafting.

The signature ding!clang! echoed excitedly through the PC bang.

"Simple: Burn durability to fill the workload bar—done."

"What's the quality bar below, sis? And HQ?"

"HQ's better items. For potions/elixirs, balance reasons—no HQ label, just extras."

I finished crafting and shrugged.

"See? Said one output at start, but HQ popped—two now."

"Huh... yeah?"

"Enchants refund mats used. See why you need pro jobs?"

Lee Siwoo started counting on his fingers.

"S-So... pros make a potion from 10 herbs, but I could do it with 5?"

"Nope. Learn pro jobs well, master skills? 3 herbs per potion."

"Nearly triple the profit..."

"Exactly. So hit max level fast. Pro job max needs your Black Magician at 60 first."

One word from me, and he bolted back to his seat, grinding eagerly.

"But sis."

Im Harin stared, then snickered.

"This pro job thing."

Sharp as ever...

She pointed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at the 10+ pro job skills on my hotbar.

"Brain-intensive, crafting takes forever, right? That's why you're pushing it on him?"

"Maybe... wanna do it? Engineer at least—summon repair bots later."

"Hell no! I hate that girly housing crap! Building! Decorating!"

"You're a girl, y'know?"

Im Harin stuck out her tongue with a bleh and plopped back at her seat.

"As if she wouldn't love it..."

Girls like her end up cramming every furniture piece into their house the second housing drops, decorating nonstop.