The Newbie is Too Strong

A girl suddenly emerged from the bushes. Even putting it kindly, she didn't look ordinary.

"Mmm. Meat, it's meat. Hehehe... delicious pork!"

Not content with mumbling around a potato in her mouth, she stared at the red-tailed boar and muttered to herself. She even chuckled to herself now and then while wiping her mouth—nothing normal about that.

But thanks to her, they bought some time. The boar hesitated the moment this uninvited guest appeared.

Seizing the gap, Ji-hye rolled across the ground. She barely escaped the boar's range.

"Looks like enough for ten servings... Should I grill it, boil it, or stir-fry it...?"

"Phew... Thanks to you, I survived. Thank you."

Looking at Ji-hye's grateful expression, the girl suddenly went "Hah!" as if something had just occurred ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to her.

"Since there are two of us, should we split it? Oh dear..."

She muttered something incomprehensible to herself again.

Is she crazy?

Ji-hye didn't say it out loud, but that's what she thought. The viewers watching the stream felt the same.

"...Doesn't seem like a sniper."

Ji-hye spoke softly so only the viewers could hear. She had plenty of reason to judge that the girl in front of her wasn't a sniper.

Sub-accounts didn't exist in the first place. The Tower only allowed one body per person.

You could get a new identity with appearance-change potions or stat-change potions, but... nah.

Those guys wouldn't bother.

The rankers, busy getting even stronger, wouldn't make sub-accounts just to snipe Ji-hye.

So, the user in front of her was a newbie. A beginner climber—a rookie hunter, hard to find these days.

Everyone who rushed in at the Tower's opening had long since left the low floors for mid and high ones.

The odds of a newbie who just started climbing recently watching Ji-hye's stream and coming to snipe were near zero. Especially since none of her viewers were newbies. That was certain.

"Ugh..."

The viewers were right. Ji-hye judged the girl in front of her as a genuine newbie with zero connection to her stream.

The chances of her being helpful in this fight were slim. A red-tailed boar was tough even solo for anyone below floor 10.

That meant the situation hadn't improved at all, even with reinforcements.

"We should run first... But even running, we might not make it? Yeah, I think so too, but we gotta save this newbie at least—"

That's when it happened.

The girl, who had been muttering to herself, suddenly clapped and said,

"Can't take it down solo anyway, right? No greed, let's split it half-half."

"Pardon?"

"Pull some aggro for me."

The newbie girl looked at Ji-hye and declared it boldly.

Maybe it was that confident air, but Ji-hye found herself asking back.

"You're gonna take that down?"

"Yep."

"Um... if you don't mind me asking, what's your highest floor?"

"Floor 4."

Ji-hye clutched her head.

"How's floor 4 gonna take down a red-tailed boar..."

"Can't we? You've whittled down its HP a lot already. With a little help, I think we can."

"Aigoo..."

Ji-hye sighed at the absurd claim. Sure, she'd tenderized the boar and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠its HP was down to half, but how was she supposed to finish it off? Without high levels or good gear, it'd take a hundred more hits to—

"Huh?"

Ji-hye let out a dumb sound mid-thought. The weapon in the newbie's hand—a dagger with a gleaming blade—looked anything but ordinary.

"Where'd you get that dagger?"

"My friend Nelly gave it to me."

Recognizing the dagger, Ji-hye gasped in shock.

"Nelly? You mean NPC Nelly?"

Hidden pieces—one of the Tower's other fun elements. With its high freedom, specific actions unlocked routes, special quests, hidden class changes, and more.

The viewers watching Ji-hye's stream were shocked that the newbie girl had snagged a hidden piece.

Though Ha-yeon hadn't meant to, the moment Nelly's Dagger—a hidden piece no one on the server had gotten—became known, it spread.

"No way, how on earth did you... Wait, that's not important right now."

Ranker. Ji-hye's top-tier mind started spinning at full speed.

With gear like that, taking down the red-tailed boar wasn't impossible.

Just one catch...

Control.

The newbie's physical skills would be the variable.

Ji-hye never trusted her back to others. Not before the Tower, not after. Even guild hunts were no exception.

She'd partied with countless climbers, but few synced perfectly till the end.

Simple reason: her standards were sky-high.

But somehow...

I'm not worried.

The girl in front of her felt trustworthy. An inexplicable intuition wrapped around Ji-hye.

"Alright, screw it. Let's give it a shot."

*

"Phew..."

Ignoring the warning in front of her, Ji-hye stood before the boar again.

The content was already sunk. Her reckless challenge condition was solo-killing the red-tailed boar.

Teaming with this sudden newbie meant failure.

But the situation wasn't bad. Thanks to the newbie, the stream had more angle than the content—maybe even better.

Nelly's Dagger, a server-first hidden piece. Taking down the boar with its owner? Solid visuals.

Her streaming instincts screamed it.

"Come on!"

Ji-hye raised her wooden sword at the boar.

After that, it wasn't much different from before. Dodge with top control, chip away slowly. Level gap meant no real damage, but it was enough.

Snort—

To the massive boar, Ji-hye was an annoying fly buzzing and nipping.

Furious, it moved to swat the pest.

Like before, stomping to charge Ji-hye.

And that was her aim.

Boom—

Ji-hye barely dodged the body slam. The boar crashed into the wall, briefly stunned.

"Now!"

As Ji-hye shouted, Ha-yeon leaped.

Stab—

The dagger plunged deep into the boar's flesh.

Ha-yeon didn't hesitate. She thrust, twisted.

Just like the endless hunts in the Beginner's Forest.

Kreeeong—!

As the dagger sank in, the red-tailed boar went berserk, screaming and whipping its tail wildly.

Whoosh—

"Danger...!"

Before Ji-hye could finish warning, the tail flew at Ha-yeon.

But Ha-yeon dodged smoothly, as if she'd seen it coming. She yanked the dagger free, stabbed another spot, and twisted viciously.

Kreeeong—!

The boar screamed in agony again.

Stunned from Ji-hye's trap, HP already halved. Ha-yeon, reborn a skilled hunter under Nelly in the Beginner's Forest, wouldn't miss this.

Dodging the thrashing attacks, she stabbed relentlessly, until finally.

With the messages floating before her eyes, Ha-yeon felled the red-tailed boar.