The Next Day: Quietly Farming the Four Major Induns

Jeong Hana settled into the PC bang couple seat with Im Harin the next day, ready to farm the 4 Major Induns together. Im Harin had finally hit max level after grinding her heart out yesterday.

"You left Lee Siwoo back at Wangsukcheon?"

"That guy? His friends were doing some free-for-all or guild war or something today—they all rushed out together right after it ended."

"You don't know exactly?"

For some reason, Im Harin—who carried the sweet scent of cotton candy—plopped down right next to me, pressing her hip against mine, and kicked her backpack under the desk.

"No idea."

"You two don't even text or anything?"

"Me?"

"Come on, you're classmates who play the same game. This isn't some Joseon-era propriety where boys and girls can't sit together..."

"Why would I hang out with him..."

The funny thing was, Lee Siwoo reacted exactly the same way.

Last time Im Harin was late, I asked what happened, and she said the exact same thing.

Too embarrassed to text a girl... Come on, you're high schoolers, not elementary kids.

"Anyway, Lee Siwoo will just grind forever, so let's get to the 4 Major Induns."

"Unni, unni! So where are we running today?"

"Undead Academia first, to get you some gear."

"Unni~~~! You're running the 4 Major Induns just for me?"

Im Harin made a huge fuss, her eyes sparkling.

"Killing two birds with one stone. I've got some stuff to pick up too."

Last time I said there was nothing for me in Undead Academia, but honestly, not a single item was useless to me.

My class is Holy Paladin.

Specialized in holy, it was an insane job that could equip almost every item in Lost of Fantasy.

I just didn't get greedy because of efficiency.

"Plus, if you get stronger as my daily PC bang partner, it'll make my runs easier down the line."

"Hehe, but you're still looking out for me, right?"

"Yeah... sure, looking out for you."

Handing items to some wild DPS I'd never met before? Nah. Giving them to Im Harin meant my go-to party got stronger—that was the perk.

"Anyway, you've got those elixirs and potions you bought yesterday, right? The ones you were hoarding."

"Unni! It's not hoarding, it's an investment!"

"Right, investment. Plan on popping a few elixirs—we're playing till 10."

Im Harin nodded obediently.

"We'll do the Principal Run today, and snag one named boss the other parties skip."

"Ooh... what drops there?"

"A wristband with healing boost that I can use."

"Then we have to go, unni!"

That's why being party leader rocks.

I could drag them to a side named boss off the main route, no problem.

"Oh, oh! It dropped! It dropped, guys!!!"

Gang Minseo jumped up from her seat, clapping as they looped Undead Academia for the ninth time today—one of the 4 Major Induns.

"Whoa, what is it, Minseo-ssi? That's the school uniform set or whatever, right?"

"Wow... this is perfect tank gear. Even if I shine it up, you can't see a single angle—flawless."

She beamed, basking in the cheers from Sky and Ramjwi Thunder, who were now solid fixed members.

"This one's mine no matter what!! Even without the knight explaining, it's obviously for me? Rolling the dice—got it!"

"Haa... guys, this is a full set item? Imagine completing it—armor skyrockets!"

Gang Minseo rolled the dice with a grin, and Deadly Bone Chestplate zipped straight into her inventory.

"Alright, enough bragging—hurry and reset the instance. Hey, the knight's already out."

"Sky-ssi! You bragged about that dagger for like 10 minutes!"

"No, that dagger... it was kinda meh, some cold damage junk."

"You were screaming in joy when you rolled it?!"

Gang Minseo snickered and backtracked straight out of the dungeon.

At the entrance, Jeong Hana, Im Harin, Ramjwi Thunder, and Sky were waiting.

Jeong Hana reset the instance the moment she spotted Gang Minseo.

"But... our knight's CP is insane..."

Gang Minseo marveled, recalling her own CP had just hit 960 thanks to the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠new gear.

Gang Minseo ignored the flood of clueless ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gamer comments in chat—even Jeong Hana would steal the game for saying stuff like that.

Of course, she was a tank.

She'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠partied with all sorts of healers, but to her, they were just "the ones who heal." Nothing more, nothing less.

Something felt off about holy paladins, but as a busy tank, the nuances of healers were a distant future concern.

"Huh? But... the knight and the black mage here look different."

"Different how, Minseo-ssi?"

"Just noticed—the black mage has more HP than Sky-ssi?"

"You sure? How can a ranged DPS out-tank a melee... wait, huh?"

Im Harin really did have more HP than Sky.

"What the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hell? The game's tilted? Then what am I, a melee DPS supposed to live off... wait, as a rogue I stick to the boss's ass stabbing away and get swept into oblivion..."

Gang Minseo reached for her keyboard as Sky grumbled.

She couldn't hold back her curiosity.

It was a random question, but Jeong Hana saw it coming.

"Elixir...?"

Gang Minseo shrugged at the confusing explanation.

"Oh, what? This game has doping? God game my ass?"

"Uh... you know what doping is, Ramjwi Thunder-ssi?"

"Minseo-ssi, you never play Mushroom Story or Hero and the Underground Castle? They have pre-boss buffs too."

"Ah... I only played Mushroom Story a bit as a kid."

Gang Minseo winced, squinting rightward at the chat explosion.

"G-guys...! Mineral squad, calm down! Calm down! It's okay to ask if you don't know!!!"

"Ah! Seriously!! Mineral squad!!! This isn't Legend of League time, okay?! No season 2 or whatever—ban old stories!!!"

As Gang Minseo soothed the rising flames, Sky kept eyeing Im Harin's character.

"Ah... so that's why her DPS was higher..."

"What is it, Sky-ssi? Why?"

"She's been stupid strong this whole time—doping explains it."

"No way... how many potions did she chug? Black mage-ssi! Olympics would've DQ'd you!"

"Whoa, but the knight's got similar stuff stacked too?"

As a fixed party player, Gang Minseo naturally wanted to help the group however she could.

"Uh, if you could ask about rogue ones too, I'd appreciate it. Yeah."

"No, ask Sky yourself~! For real!"

She wanted to DPS better.

A desire every DPS shared.

"Aww..."

Jeong Hana didn't reply right away.

The streamers—who'd been clueless about doping items—lit up.

"Aww, how's this backseat~? Guys, right? Chat didn't know either."

With pure intentions, Jeong Hana shared good elixirs to snag one per dungeon run.

"Uh... guys, I get why the knight said not to buy these."

At 10 sharp, Im Harin turned into Cinderella and headed home, pausing their endless 4 Major Induns loop.

Gang Minseo dashed to the auction house to make the most of the break—and witnessed horror.

"L-look at this... Pure Wisdom's cheapest 'cause mana only! Mighty Mana boosts DPS by 150, so priciest?!"

"Th-this!! That's why the knight said not to rush! That's why she was cautious with advice! Damn! Too expensive!! What the hell!!"

Gang Minseo huffed, clicking her tongue.

"Elixirs last 2 hours even on death, but premium's insane? Why so pricey... huh?"

Sighing deeply, she moused over lowest Mighty Mana Elixir prices—and froze.

"...One guy posted all these? This asshole! This guyyyy!!"

Without meaning to, Jeong Hana had doomed Ghoul King through Gang Minseo's stream.