The Crossroads Guild's Blockade Line

< p >The Crossroads Guild's blockade line.

< p >On the appointed day, Fafnir's group gathered with Chrome and the others at the spot.

< p >"Let's get started."

< p >The thing to talk about was, of course, selling quest items.

< p >"How... Have you looked into it enough?"

< p >"Pretty much."

< p >"So the result is..."

< p >"I won't sell, not a single one of them to that side."

< p >But not completely to none of them.

< p >"I'll give ten to that guy."

< p >Fafnir pointed at Kim Chul with his finger.

< p >"You'll make a deal with Kim Chul too?"

< p >"I agreed to cooperate on the condition of hunting together."

< p >"That's... As expected of you, Fafnir. That Kim Chul actually opened his tail."

< p >Chrome praised it and glanced at Kim Chul.

< p >"So the sales quantity is...?"

< p >"I have 22, the other two have 11 and 8 respectively. Total 41."

< p >Over the past week, they had hunted a little over 200, so this was only a fifth.

< p >"Is that all?"

< p >"No, I have to give ten to Kim Chul."

< p >"Understood. Then let's move on to the most important issue."

< p >Chrome wiped the sweat from his forehead.

< p >"What price do you have in mind?"

< p >"Seven gold per piece. Nothing less than that."

< p >"Seven gold?"

< p >It was two gold more than the original five.

< p >"That's too expensive, isn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it?"

< p >"Hunting is no ordinary hardship. This much is needed for it to be worth it."

< p >Of course, that was a lie.

< p >Even before hiring Kim Chul, he had been catching over ten an hour.

< p >"That's too much. I'll give you five gold fifty silver... "

< p >"Seven gold."

< p >"Fafnir-nim, if these weren't quest items..."

< p >"Seven gold."

< p >Fafnir finished speaking and smiled thinly.

< p >The one feeling the loss was the other side.

< p >'Wanting to lowball such a precious item at five gold? Shameful."

< p >He hadn't revealed the grade, but with guild-level control, it was clearly high-grade.

< p >But if they lowballed here, it would backfire.

< p >"Do you even know how expensive a gold is? It's a full 100,000 won. Twice that..."

< ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠p >"Seven gold."

< p >"Ha... Six gold ten silver, okay? Six gold ten silver! A full..."

< p >Chrome was surprisingly stubborn in negotiation.

< p >The reason wasn't the way he spoke.

< p >It was the sweat dripping from his body.

< p >More precisely, the sweat on his forehead that reflected the light and attacked his eyes.

< p >The ultimate weapon that had always flipped opponents in negotiation positions!

< p >Even so, Fafnir remained unmoved.

< p >The reason? Simple.

< p >He had opened his status window right beside his eyes.

< p >"Seven gold."

< p >In the end, the one suffering was the Crossroads side.

< p >Finally, Chrome let out a deep sigh.

< p >"Huu... Understood. Seven gold. I'll take seven gold per piece."

< p >"Okay, seven gold!"

< p >The deal was sealed.

< p >Forty-one pieces at seven gold each, for a total of 287 gold.

< p >"Done."

< p >"Oh, there's one more request."

< p >"Yes?"

< p >"Thinking about it, I think I can stay here a bit longer. Is that okay?"

< p >"Hmm... Yes."

< p >Chrome willingly accepted the request.

< p >After the deal ended.

< p >"Kru... Damn bastards."

< p >Szzkang! A glass bottle of honey wine fell and shattered on the ground.

< p >"Who does he think he is, Kim Do-han? Seven gold, seven gold?"

< p >Chrome rolled his feet with a face that had turned red from anger.

< p >Every time he saw it, he liked it less.

< p >The true incident had been bad enough, but the whisper messages Sihyun kept sending during the negotiation had driven him crazy.

< p >"Bald head... Bald head...? I'll make sure you feel exactly how painful it is to get hit from behind, you bald bastard!"

< p >Crunch, Chrome's teeth ground together.

< p >All preparations for the operation were complete.

< p >"I wonder if that Kim Chul will actually accept the request right away."

< p >The content was simple.

< p >They would be paid to kill Fafnir's group.

< p >Unlike the rumor of chaos, Kim Chul accepted the request without hesitation.

< p >He had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠only said to think about it, but given that he issued further instructions afterward, it was clearly acceptance.

< p >'Since there are still things left to do, don't get in the way for now... Then we'll hunt together.'

< p >"PVP preparation group?"

< p >"Ready. Shall we depart?"

< p >The subordinate's words made Chrome wipe sweat from his forehead and shake his head.

< p >"Wait, Kim Chul hasn't sent the signal yet."

< p >There was nothing good in crossing Kim Chul right now, especially not before a big operation.

< p >"They trust Kim Chul anyway, and they wouldn't expect us to do anything. Let's finish them off for sure."

< p >"Ah, yes."

< p >"Good. We can keep working."

< p >After all, once Kim Chul sent the signal, those bastards were as good as dead.

< p >"Little shits... Time to taste the bitterness of society."

< p >Chrome, looking like a freshly cooked takoyaki, smirked with the corner of his mouth lifted.

< p >'Kim Chul doesn't like to accept assassination requests. That's because he's too lazy himself.'

< p >"Once he takes on an assassination target, he either makes them quit the game or completely destroys them to the point of recovery impossible."

< p >That was exactly what Kim Chul was.

< p >A single-man guild-class player who was treated as an absolute powerhouse.

< p >A monster so huge that even the large guild Crossroads couldn't casually lay a hand on him.

< p >'If you get caught by that cruel bastard, you won't be safe either, kuhuhu!'

< p >Meanwhile, the owner of that vicious, fanatic obsession, Kim Chul, was simply walking under Chrome's feet.

< p >'Corkta Secret Passage, Level 6'.

Still a hidden spot unknown to anyone except Kim Chul.

He grinned and gave the target of the assassination request Chrome had promised a friendly explanation.

"Right here, my employer."

Kim Chul, grinning cheerfully under the moonstone embedded in the ceiling.

"Ugh... It looks like the person changed."

"Y-yes."

The moment the employer was chosen,

Kim Chul's personality flipped 180 degrees, and his attitude changed instantly.

Even though he had always had that personality, it was still too much for the group to accept.

"By the way, this place is quite bright."

"It seems electricity is running."

Even though the underground passage was deep, there was no need to light torches.

Crystals embedded in the walls and ceiling were glowing.

- Dwarf technology has been observed.

- Art stat has increased by 1.

- If you have knowledge related to magic engineering, you can obtain proficiency.

'Annoying.'

Despite being a deep dungeon, the underground passage had no monsters in sight.

Thanks to that, Fafnir's group could walk comfortably.

"Elizabeth, hold on just a little longer. Oppa will take you to the dwarves soon."

Kim Chul walked quickly through the passage at a brisk pace.

Sihyun had temporarily repaired it, but it was only first aid.

Without proper repair, the iron hammer wouldn't be usable again.

'Still, he didn't swing the sword recklessly. The difference in attitude toward the requester and regular people, perhaps?'

Still, he had to be careful not to treat them too casually.

Fafnir, following behind, tilted his head.

"Wait a minute, is this the right path?"

The underground passage had multiple forks at every junction.

It was only natural that Kim Chul, walking without looking at the map, seemed a bit worried.

"Of course it is. It's a road I've often taken."

Kim Chul pointed at his own nose.

"Because I can smell it."

"Hmm..."

As soon as he heard the explanation, understanding came immediately.

Why?

Because I am the same.

'It might be similar to the Dampyr, but it's impolite to casually ask about a class, so I shouldn't ask.'

Class was information and money at the same time.

Instead, Fafnir asked about something else.

"By the way, Kim Chul, is it okay if I ask something?"

"Of course, speak."

"About catching the modified golem. How long did it take to catch one?"

"One... six hours?"

Six hours for only 1 to 3 percent.

At that rate, it wasn't even worth the labor cost.

"Efficiency is there, but I can't even get experience points, so why..."

"I wasn't aiming for experience points. It was for skill proficiency."

From rare-grade skills onward, raising proficiency became much harder.

Or, you couldn't raise it at all without fighting strong opponents or bosses.

Or, you had to learn special skills from other ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠classes to level up skill levels.

"These guys are tough, and they avoid being hit well, so it's perfect for training."

"Yeah, I was mining dust from the golem because of that too..."

"I wanted to get tattoos on lizardman leather and stuff..."

Consecutive complaints from the other two.

'Speaking of which, I have those skills too.'

Elite Skeleton Soldier (Rare), Elite Skeleton Knight (Unique) summons, and so on.

To raise such skill levels, I needed to turn the corpses of powerful beings into skeleton soldiers.

'The Dampyr skills also have conditions... '

Is it really that I have to drink blood to level them up?!

Just imagining finding blood serum packs or letting saliva drip into horse radish made his spine feel cold.

"We're almost there."

After walking for a while, Kim Chul stopped in front of a device.

"Hold on a little longer, Elizabeth. I'll fix it soon..."

Click. Click. Click!

The device aligned, and one wall opened to reveal a staircase.

"Let's go up."

"Whoa, surprised!"

"Facilities like this in a place like this..."

An unexpected location.

A stranger would have passed it by without a second thought.

"Now we can go up."

Fafnir's group climbed the stairs and headed upward.

-Exited from Corkta Secret Passage.

As soon as the door opened, a cool breeze was felt.

Chirp chirp.

Birds chirping could be heard in the distance, and trees and grass were abundant around.

"What? A forest?"

"This way."

Following Kim Chul, the forest quickly ended.

After crossing a modest hill, a vast rock mountain began to appear.

The center was hollowed out, spewing smoke and fire.

"Wow..."

"This is... a village?"

It was said to be the dwarves' village.

A city the size of Alouin was visible.

"Amazing."

Brick walls, fortresses, and various buildings filled the dwarf city.

On the walls, crossbows and early cannons with mana stones the size of a person lined up.

The most surprising thing was the waterfall.

Somehow processed the underground water inside the rocks, a waterfall the size of several buildings flowed beside the city.

'Even in modern times, building a city of that scale wouldn't be easy.'

The entire city wall was covered with a transparent membrane.

A barrier to block intruders.

Similar ones were installed far outside the passage Kim Chul had come out of.

'In the original novel, such a city wasn't there...'

Flush had hunted around here, but the dwarves were in other places.

'Then this must be the original place of the dwarves Flush saved that time.'

A unique-grade quest to rescue dwarves held by some mysterious force using black magic and undead.

At the time, Flush had rescued the dwarves one by one, armed them, and gathered elves, humans, and local monsters to form an alliance.

'But now the dwarves' power is still strong.'

Flush had naturally built a friendship by saving the dwarves.

But now?

Best case, he'd just be sent away.

If unlucky, he might be treated as an invader and chased away.

'How to earn trust and enter...'

At that moment.

"There's no time for this! Hurry!"

Flustered.

Kim Chul, holding iron hammer fragments in his hand, rushed over and shouted.

"Hey! One-eyed old man! Call the old man!"

"One-eyed old man...?"

Not some fairy tale.

The moment Sihyun and Siyeon sisters burst out laughing.

Dooong.

A drum sound echoed from the center of the huge fortress.

Doowhoong.

Shadows appeared at every part of the wall.

Crossbows and cannons were aimed straight ahead.

"...Who is it!"

Last of all.

The voice of a middle-aged man echoed.

"It's me! I am Kim Chul!"

"Who?"

One dwarf guard from the wall leaned out.

Many dwarves lined up on both sides of him.

'What kind of equipment is this...!'

All of them had mana wrapped around their weapon tips, and the equipment they wore looked like it was at least rare-grade.

Elite soldiers who could easily defeat level 200 monsters.

'With this many people just as guards.'

The real dwarf warriors who fought would be stronger than them.

If they, equipped with deliberately made gear, rampaged in the battlefield...

"Ah, Kim Chul! I forgot because it's only been a little while!"

"It's Kim Chul!"

Kim Chul showed the broken iron hammer to the guard's words.

"Anyway, let me in! Elizabeth is sick!"

"Umm..."

The dwarf guard looked carefully at it and nodded.

"Understood. I'll open the door now."

What? That easily?!

As Fafnir was dumbfounded.

-Grrrung.

The entire city vibrated as if wailing,

and the giant rock in the center began to split open to the sides like magic.