The Vast Aluin Wilderness
A vast wasteland spread widely south of Aluin City.
Even the areas closest to the city were home to level 250 monsters roaming freely.
Deeper inside, one could encounter monsters in the mid-to-high 300s.
This was no ordinary wilderness, but a true godforsaken land.
In its inner depths lived the Aluin Poison Scorpion monsters.
Level 305, famous for their tough carapace and deadly poison.
But in truth, their overwhelming pincer strength made them far more troublesome than either of those traits suggested.
“Kuaaaaak!”
“Kashik!”
A swarm of Aluin Poison Scorpions charged from every direction!
Amid the chaos stood a black-haired, red-eyed girl, thrashing wildly.
-Experience gained.
-Experience gained.
The girl swung her knife and spear forged from blood with complete freedom.
She dodged every swing of the scorpions’ pincers and every stab of their stingers.
Even within the clouds of poison fog, she continued her slaughter without a single scratch.
“O…”
Fafnir watched the scene from afar.
“Experience is pouring in this much?”
Before he knew it, the experience bar had climbed close to one-third of her level.
A growth rate several times that of a normal player.
‘This is a jackpot.’
Even standing still, the experience came in nonstop, just like active hunting.
The cause was none other than Bell, who had absorbed the blood droplets.
‘The performance has improved more than I expected?’
From an old, dusty computer in the corner of the house.
It felt like jumping straight from a PC bang machine to a high-end gaming rig in one step.
‘Basic attack power and combat stats have increased, and several new skills have been added.’
The Blood Fog skill that created poison clouds and granted various buffs.
The lethal Golden Spear, a skill that hurled blood-forged spears for massive damage.
As new skills flooded in and Bell went on a rampage, blood-soaked golems began appearing alongside the poison fog.
‘The Blood Skeleton Golem skill has evolved into Blood Golems, and other skills like Blood Shield and Arrow are now far stronger…’
The material grades were high, but more importantly, Bell and the blood droplets had an excellent synergy.
‘I’ll be much more comfortable hunting stronger monsters from now on.’
Even this result was achieved alone, without any external support.
When Fafnir had joined and his skeletons came along, the power-up effect was at least three times stronger, and possibly more.
‘It’s a little disappointing that her personality and judgment are exactly the same.’
I had hoped she could make her own decisions or feel emotions, but that aspect remained unchanged.
‘Still, the results are enormous.’
Fafnir let out a satisfied smile and bit down on a piece of iron.
-Iron consumed.
HP increased by 150 for 30 minutes.
‘I suppose this counts as saving on food.’
Instead of eating, I was consuming iron, so I didn’t need to bother with rations.
Thanks to the superb effects of basic metals, there was no need to fuss over fancy cuisine either.
‘Just in case, I prepared dried meat and seasonings, but it probably won’t be needed.’
As Fafnir pondered, the hunt came to an end.
Over the field now littered with corpses.
Fafnir collected the scorpion carapaces, meat, and poison sacs.
‘This is all money.’
Carapace would be used for equipment materials.
Meat for cooking or quests.
And the rest for other crafting materials.
Aluin Poison Scorpion poison ranked high even among poisons!
If listed on the Horizon Market, it would sell out in seconds.
‘Thanks to that, the journey was smooth.’
Tests had been completed.
Fafnir then descended with his party, directly joining the hunt.
-Defeated Aluin Poison Scorpion.
-Experience gained.
-23 silver gained.
-Defeated Aluin Wasteland Wolf.
-Experience gained.
-Aluin Wasteland Wolf skin gained.
Hunting while fighting directly was tough, but the bloodsuck effect kept HP high.
Sometimes they ran into packs of armored monsters and simply overwhelmed them.
-Rusty iron consumed.
Stamina increased by 100.
‘This is an unbelievable trait?’
HP and stamina that couldn’t be filled by bloodsucking were recovered by eating metal.
As long as equipment durability held up, the system allowed endless hunting.
‘And there are no other players to take the monsters with me.’
I get to casually hunt powerful monsters that drop plenty of experience and silver?
‘This is good!’
Fafnir’s smile grew even deeper.
***
After several days of descending through the wasteland, its true appearance came into view.
‘It looks like a desert, but the land here is actually quite good.’
The soil was soft and moist, and grass grew abundantly.
Water and resources could be found everywhere, and there were countless monsters living on their own.
A land of monsters!
‘There are plenty of monsters… and the terrain isn’t bad for farming, and there are mineral veins.’
Fafnir surveyed his surroundings.
‘If I made a dungeon here, it would be perfect.’
A dungeon.
In modern terms, that would be a research lab.
When mages gathered, it became a magic tower.
When adventurers gathered, it became a guild.
When necromancers or dark mages gathered, it became a dungeon.
‘I’ll have to make one eventually.’
In high-level dungeons, creating homunculi or skeleton golems would bring extra bonuses.
Sometimes it could even grant stat bonuses that required days of hunting to obtain.
Considering efficiency, I couldn’t avoid making one.
‘The surrounding environment is also decent, and there are plenty of monsters.’
But unlike other places, a dungeon had one additional condition.
‘If it’s too close to a city, there will be big trouble.’
Necromancer and dark mage dungeons naturally attracted monsters, and the resulting monster land would become a target for players and NPCs.
If a house I worked hard to build was demolished by a party of elementary school or university students, the humiliation would be beyond imagination!
‘I need a place that is far enough from the city but still difficult to conquer and rich in resources.’
The growing period of indecision.
As Fafnir walked, his nose suddenly twitched.
‘There’s a delicious smell?’
It smelled like skewers grilling over a hot plate.
Not just ordinary meat, but a layered, concentrated aroma that tickled his nose.
Saliva filled Fafnir’s mouth.
“There’s something here…”
Following the scent, the terrain changed.
From a plain full of grass and moisture, a red wasteland filled with dry soil appeared.
“That must be it…”
Beyond the red dust, two figures became visible!
Fafnir’s eyes widened as he saw their appearances.
“Huh?”
“Fafnir-nim!”
The two also turned their heads toward him.
A short girl and a tall lady.
Surprisingly, the lady was much younger than the girl.
“Hello.”
Fafnir greeted them lightly.
Sihyun and Siyeon, the sisters he had met during the orc mountain fortress raid in Byron City.
They reunited after a long time.
“What’s this, long time no see!”
“Hello. Fafnir-nim.”
Sihyun and Siyeon remembered Fafnir too.
It was only natural.
“It’s been a while. I’m glad you’ve been doing well.”
“Woa~ The number one in the hunting party ranking, the famous figure who appeared on Ludius’s broadcast and even got a face stamp! The broadcast got over 500,000 views, they say.”
Thanks to contributions and revival army work, Fafnir’s name had already spread far.
Less well-known than the named figures like Yi Siwoo or Cheolhyeolpaegun, but still a well-known figure in the immediate lower tier.
“Thank you.”
Fafnir bowed lightly and asked.
“How have you been, the two of you? It’s been a long time since we parted in Byron City.”
“Um… as long as you didn’t mess up the hunting promise and run off to the capital.”
“Unnie!”
Siyeon scolded the teasing Sihyun.
Fafnir quickly moved to the main point.
“Then what brings the two of you here? You should be on the eastern side, right?”
“Quest and skill training.”
Instead of simply stating the content, Siyeon explained.
“Unnie has to meet a blacksmith NPC who lives around here.”
“You too, Siyeon-nim?”
“I don’t have a quest, but I’ll support Unnie and gather metal tattoo dye materials.”
It was clear that if Sihyun were left alone, photos would appear on the next day’s incident board.
“Here, if you catch a golem, you get stones, and when you crush them, you get concentrated red dye.”
While performing the quest, she was also gathering materials as a bonus.
“Fafnir-nim, what are you doing here…?”
“Oh, I received a quest too. I’m heading to a blacksmith south of the plain.”
“Really? Maybe that blacksmith’s name is Winfield? He lives in the mountain range branching southwest from here.”
“…”
Fafnir’s eyes widened.
“It seems we’re both heading to the same person.”
“That’s great. How about traveling together?”
Sihyun suggested.
“It’s convenient timing. Traveling alone was a bit tough for us. Since we know how to handle skeletons, if I lend them metal tattoos and equipment, it should be effective, right?”
“Hmm.”
Lending the skeletons Starlight Blacksmith equipment?
It was a rental service, but the proposal was quite appealing.
‘In any case, if I run into paladins or holy priest users alone, they’ll become hunting targets. Traveling with two normal players should reduce that risk.’
A contract that was a win-win in every way.
Fafnir nodded.
“Sounds good.”
“Great, then let’s form a party!”
The blacksmith and the tattoo artist.
After the two sisters joined, Fafnir set off again toward the destination.
“It is a pleasure to meet my master’s companions.”
Bell bowed his head toward the two who had joined.
“Who… an NPC?”
“Hello…”
Sihyun and Siyeon bowed their heads.
Fafnir shook his head.
“No need to do that. They are homunculi I created.”
“It is a pleasure to meet my master’s companions.”
Bell bowed with eyes closed.
“Homunculi? Wow… they look like dolls.”
“Amazing!”
Sihyun and Siyeon could not hide their curiosity toward Bell.
“You made them yourself? The body is metal… no, it’s soft.”
“Other necromancers only dragged around lumps of mud, but as expected, Fafnir-nim…”
Suddenly Bell’s expression turned cold as he said.
“Do not compare me to golems.”
“Eh, eh?”
“I am a homunculus linked to my master by blood, the essence of high magic and alchemy. I am fundamentally different from mere lumps of mud.”
“Y-yeah. Sorry.”
Even as a guest, the moment their pride was hurt, they didn’t hold back and immediately fired back!
When the two apologized, Bell smiled as if nothing had happened and stood beside Fafnir.
“By the way, linked by blood?”
“Exactly as I said. My master personally bled for me…”
“Ahem!”
He might have said something that could lead to a misunderstanding.
Fafnir cleared his throat and changed the subject.
“By the way, how have you been until now?”
“We… after that, we kept working, hunting, and then went to the eastern fortress.”
Siyeon began explaining.
“There, we did a blacksmith job quest and… a hidden tattoo artist quest, but when the orc war broke out, we got a huge bonus…”
Sihyun’s class was the hidden class Starlight Blacksmith.
Combined with Siyeon’s metal tattoo enchantments, their equipment became truly outstanding.
“Work orders for equipment maintenance and crafting poured in. Then our teacher…”
“Hey!”
Sihyun poked Siyeon’s side.
“Stop talking.”
“Oh, sorry, Unnie.”
After clearing her throat, Siyeon finished.
“Anyway, after that we kept getting bonuses… we’ve been busy. Hehe.”
“Hmm…”
In the original novel, the famous Starlight Blacksmith had been flying high, so at this point her reputation would naturally spread.
‘As expected, famous rankers all grow significantly during this war.’
I can’t lose either.
Fafnir made up his mind.
I will definitely stand at the peak and shake off Flush’s pursuit.
Right then.
“Wait a minute, there!”
A group of eight players approached from afar.
It seemed they had been stationed here for a while, as sand dust clung to their armor and helmets.
“You can’t come here, go somewhere else!”
The players who spoke had a cross symbol drawn on their shoulders.
‘Crossfire Guild? A large guild, not to be taken lightly.’
Not as powerful as Iron Blood or Five Star, but still one of the top Korean guilds that appeared as Five Star’s rival in the middle of the novel.
“What’s going on?”
“There’s a raid happening right ahead, so you can’t come!”
“Turn around, turn around.”
“Who are you telling to turn around? Do you know who I am? I’m Sihyun, the Starlight Blacksmith Sihyun! Want to publicize it?”
Sihyun stepped forward boldly.
But reality was harsh.
“Who are you?”
“We don’t know who you are?”
“Try it then.”
Sihyun’s face turned as red as paprika.
The two were also named players, but compared to Crossfire Guild members, their names held far less weight!
“Some strange person is declaring them famous?”
“Hehe, hehe.”
“Ugh…”
“Unnie, don’t cry. Here.”
Siyeon patted the teary-eyed Sihyun.
“Hmm?”
One of the Crossfire Guild players, who had been chuckling, spotted Fafnir.
“Who are you?”
“Ah… I’m Fafnir.”
Fafnir honestly introduced himself.
“Fafnir… I’ve never heard of him, but anyway, you can’t come here. You… can’t.”
“What? Fafnir?”
One of the guild members who had been speaking stopped and stepped forward.
It was a mid-thirties male guild member, likely a manager with arm guards on his shoulders.
“You are Fafnir? The real Fafnir?”
“If it’s the necromancer Fafnir who appeared on Ludius’s broadcast, then yes, that’s me.”
Fafnir told the arm-guarded guild member.
At that moment.
“It is an honor to meet you! Fafnir-nim!”
Oh?
It looked like things were going better than expected.