Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: 3. The Runner.
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People could adapt quickly to any situation.
This held true even for those who had fallen into the world of The Mission. In the beginning, folks hadn't fully grasped what was happening—they bungled around, killed each other, or even took their own lives, sparking all sorts of chaos. But once they realized nothing was going to change, they started resigning themselves to the circumstances. The most pressing need, after all, was food.
Sleep? You could crash on the streets for that. But without eating, you couldn't survive. To stay alive, they had no choice but to scrape together whatever money they could, bit by bit. And soon enough, people began taking on missions, one by one. Most were trivial things like pest removal, farming, or picking up trash, but it was enough to keep food on the table, so they did what they had to.
About two months later, the residents of the First City had clearly sorted themselves into three distinct classes.
The first were the elite: the Rankers.
From the very start, Rankers showed their talent, growing stronger at a blistering pace and standing out from the crowd. Their overwhelming gifts set them miles apart from everyone else. While others scraped by catching bugs, Rankers were hunting wolves and orcs. They monopolized nearly all the early clear bonuses, with little competition, and as a result, their power was on a whole different level from ordinary players.
Of course, they were an extremely tiny minority, but no one dared ignore a Ranker.
The second group was the Normals.
They weren't particularly strong, but they weren't weak either. Inferior to Rankers, sure, but they moved with purpose, steadily building their strength. Normals made up nearly 40% of the First City's population, so no one dismissed them lightly. With solid gear and skills, a group of them could even take on a Ranker.
The final group—and the one that encompassed pretty much everyone else—was the slum-dwellers. And they truly lived in slums, no metaphor about it.
Their defining trait? Selling off their starter gear right at the beginning. Desperate to fill their stomachs, they hawked the items they'd gotten from the Starting Room. The consequences were disastrous. Those who hadn't sold theirs could at least form parties to hunt wolves or goblins. But these folks? Not even that.
'That's how they ended up as beggars.'
Shaking off an old man clinging to him with cold detachment, Sung-hoon let out a sigh.
Life in the slums was brutally harsh. Buying back even basic gear meant grinding the lowest-level missions for over ten days straight. And even if they managed that, problems piled up. Skills, job changes, food, shelter—money was needed everywhere.
So these three classes were practically set in stone. A Ranker stayed a Ranker forever, a Normal stayed a Normal, and a slum-dweller stayed in the slums.
Of course, there were rare cases where someone climbed the ladder.
Some missions offered rewards big enough to flip your fortunes in one go. But those were usually snatched up by Rankers or parties of Normals. Two months in, the slum-dwellers were only just starting to band together to take down goblins.
Weaving past the beggars littering the streets, Sung-hoon reached the general store and let out a heavy sigh as he began pulling items from his inventory. Zulu, who'd been watching from the side, broke into a wide grin.
"Heh heh heh, you're something else. How do you manage to bring in this many werewolf fangs and hearts?"
"It's nothing special. Other Rankers pick up a few here and there, right? Not that impressive."
"Sure, they bring some in. But counting you, there are barely ten people doing it. That's the problem."
The NPCs in the First City weren't your typical game dummies stuck in endless loops. Crafted directly by the great gods themselves, they were indistinguishable from real humans. Zulu had long since become buddies with Sung-hoon, the store's VVIP customer.
"Eh, just call it my secret sauce."
"Share a tip sometime, why don't you? Anyway, after the item value, that's 230,000 guild, minus materials—150,000 guild total."
Sung-hoon pocketed the bulging bundle in his inventory and stepped out of the store with a smile. His next stop was the skill academy, where you could buy skill books.
"Oh, Sung-hoon! You're here today, so I guess you've finally saved up for a skill?"
"Yeah. Now hand over the skill books."
"Right away!"
The skill books she offered bore the titles Mid Swordsmanship Specialization and Mid Poison Technique.
"Mid Swordsmanship Specialization: 500,000 guild. Mid Poison Technique: 300,000 guild. Total: 800,000 guild. Thank you for your patronage, dear customer."
"Did you just call me a sucker...?"
"Must be your imagination. Esteemed customer."
His hand trembled as he handed over eight 100,000-guild coins. The woman swept them up with sleight-of-hand so swift and subtle even Sung-hoon couldn't track it. Blood might as well have been pouring from his eyes, but he'd scraped together the guild for these books over weeks of hassle—he had no choice but to buy.
Mid Swordsmanship Specialization (E)Grade: Magic (High) Type: Passive
A realm where you carve your own sword path. This mid-level swordsmanship specializes in Longswordsmanship.
The power of attacks with a longsword increases by 10%.
Mid Poison Technique (E)Grade: Magic (Mid) Type: Passive
Having reached a new level in poison arts, you can wield toxins with greater skill.
The power of poisons from Poison Technique increases by 10%. If the target's Wisdom is low or they lack the proper skills, the odds of detecting the poison are extremely slim.
It wiped out 90% of his fortune in an instant, but Sung-hoon was satisfied. Now his go-to swordsmanship, magic, trap-setting, and poison techniques had all reached mid-level.
Mid Swordsmanship Specialization especially caught his eye.
Once martial arts surpassed lowest, low, and mid tiers, they branched into specializations instead of advancing to high. Up until then, swordsmanship affected all weapons—longswords, shortswords, two-handers alike. But beyond that point, you had to specialize. From now on, Sung-hoon could truly wield longsword-focused sword arts.
'Still not enough.'
But Sung-hoon's expression hardened.
In the world of The Mission, Rankers were the mark of true strength. Sung-hoon had the skills to make a mid-tier Ranker spot. Direct fights were rare, so it was hard to gauge exactly, but he figured he ranked somewhere in the middle among them.
Others might applaud and admire such heights, but Sung-hoon knew precisely how fragile he still was.
Even with the first-clear bonuses and overwhelming guild enabling easy hunts, he was still far behind the top Rankers.
'Especially her.'
He shuddered at the sudden thought, left the academy, and headed for the plaza. In the First City, no place buzzed with more energy. Major buildings surrounded it, and its sheer size drew crowds in droves.
"Lowest-grade magic reagents for sale! Ten percent off store prices!"
"Mithril sword! Starting at 400,000 guild—no haggling!"
"D-rank mission: Crazy goblin pack hunt! Ranker in party!"
"E-rank help wanted~~~~ Sick orc hunt, anyone?~~~~"
The plaza teemed with heat. Sellers hawking wares, folks seeking mission partners, people begging for aid. But the one Sung-hoon wanted wasn't there.
'Hmm. They're rare to begin with.'
The types he was after didn't show up often. But where there's a will, there's a way—and soon enough, he spotted his target.
"Moonlit Cave Investigation mission—anyone wanna join? Looking for Moonlit Cave partners!"
'Jackpot.'
"You seem to be recruiting for Moonlit Cave. What's open?"
"We've got one warrior, one archer, one thief, one mage. Frontline's light, so looking for another warrior..."
A-yeon eyed the approaching man with a hint of wariness. Worn coat, plain-looking longsword. Clothes were clean enough, but hardly high-end.
"Moonlit Cave's on the easier side for a C-rank mission, but it's still C-rank. Sorry, but could I ask about your skills?"
"Strength 50+, Agility 80. I've learned Mid Swordsmanship."
"Mind if I check?"
"Go ahead."
In The Mission's world, you could view stats like in a game—but only your own. To show others, you had to visit the Job Change Temple, donate guild, and get a Soul Proof.
A certification of your stats. Impossible to fake. Holding the proof let the other person see the stats directly. In other words, a Soul Proof was the real deal.
'Though it's from two weeks ago.'
"Whoa! Strength 51, Agility 80? And your other stats are solid too? This is Ranker-level!"
"Sadly, no Ranker title. Got a lucky break on a mission—stats spiked. Gear's lacking, though."
"Whoa... a fateful encounter..."
"Fateful encounter" sounded corny, but they were real—you'd run into them during missions. The most famous was the D-rank Black Orc mission's symbol. Devour the mysterious crystal at the heart of their lair, and your Strength shot up by 10.
Spear King Kang Mu-han of the Hae Tae Faction had gotten it firsthand and publicized it. There were others too—hidden classes, high-grade gear, unique skills.