Extreme Frontline
“What? We have to go somewhere with the rest of my guys?”
Kindorhan’s eyes lit up when he heard the full story. He nodded without a moment’s hesitation.
“No downside to following you. So, where exactly are we heading this time?”
“The Extreme Frontline.”
“Yeah, the Extreme… wait… what?”
Kindorhan knew exactly what it was.
“Scratch that last part. Are you crazy?!”
“You think I don’t know where the Hell Difficulty Frontline is? How tough is that thing, and you’re suggesting it to us?”
When the Extreme Frontline first opened, a bunch of players had gone in just out of curiosity. Kindorhan had picked up the intel from their reports.
“Orc knights, troll armies, every weird monster you can imagine. Tanks and all of them just explode the second you step in front. And there are siege weapons too—don’t even get me started.”
It wasn’t just elite units. Kindorhan kept going.
“The Four Heavenly Kings appear on a rotation, wyvern air support, and apparently the emperor shows up sometimes. But then you’re supposed to farm there and it’s all honey?”
Just the spawn rate put it at the absolute worst difficulty.
Plus this was a big second-phase event. Huge rewards and contribution points, but the death penalty would be brutal.
“If I don’t log in for a day, those guys will pull ahead by two or three levels. I’d have to play ten times harder just to catch up, so why are we rushing there right now?”
Doctor Woo sounded like he was still half-transmigrated as he kept explaining.
Fafnir had never heard Kindorhan talk this long before.
“It’s simple.”
Fafnir said it calmly.
“I’m deliberately leaving gaps for people to exploit.”
“……”
“The second-phase event is in the mid-to-late game now. Big-scale battles are about to drop.”
“So?”
“The big guilds will finally commit their full forces. Even the Extreme Frontline should be playable at that point.”
A massive battle to cap off the event!
The same pattern used in the original novel and every real game.
“Then why do we need to go there at all?”
Kindorhan asked, looking worried.
“We’re just going to get eaten by the big guilds anyway. What’s the point of us tagging along?”
Umigan’s Gang had grown, but compared to the big guilds it was still a firefly in sunlight.
And the big guilds hated other players stepping on their loot.
“There’s a way around it, Kindorhan.”
“What? You turning your skeleton soldiers into consumables?”
“I’m not joking. The risk is high, but the payoff is even higher.”
“……”
Once he finished explaining, Kindorhan frowned.
Fafnir didn’t give him time to think.
“So, you in?”
“Wait… give me a minute to think.”
“If you’re not interested I won’t force you. That’s fine…”
“I’m doing it! I’m doing it!”
“Good. Then let’s write up the contract right now.”
The contract had three big clauses.
Information sharing limited to a handful of trusted super players.
Thirty percent of pure profit goes to Fafnir.
Death is 100% on the player.
Fafnir added one more thing.
“Oh, and there’s one more thing.”
“Hm?”
“After the battle I want to buy every single drop item at above-market price. Do you have any separate contracts?”
Battlefields always pile up a ton of junk. Materials, ores, orc scrap, rare gear—
One fight empties your inventory almost halfway.
“Wait… you don’t have any other contracts? You’re not planning to use this somewhere shady, are you?”
“I won’t push above market.”
“Then we’re good.”
“Excellent. If you’re all set, sign here.”
Fafnir slid the contract and pen across. Kindorhan took the pen and immediately signed.
Yeah, the price was ridiculously cheap once experience points were counted in.
‘I wasn’t going to cover that entire battlefield alone anyway.’
Tens of thousands of troops slamming into each other every single day.
To farm everything you’d need ten bodies.
‘Better to use this chance to run business, make new deals, and keep Umigan growing. We take the profit from these items plus extra bonuses.’
But why hoard junk?
‘There’s always a use for it later.’
Time for the second move.
Fafnir headed to the sunny café in the capital.
“You called for a trade, Mr. Fafnir?”
“Yes.”
“Congratulations first. Your nickname’s been blowing up lately.”
Jeraer.
The merchant player who dealt in items and info with Fafnir.
“They’re saying you’re number one in contribution points worldwide.”
“Only the Korean server.”
“Other servers are running the same event, so it’s worldwide number one.”
The hottest topic in the game right now!
Just trading with him bumped Jeraer’s value even higher.
“Nice to see you. What are we dealing? Sell or buy?”
“Sell.”
“Where, what exactly…”
“I need you to buy all this first.”
Fafnir dumped the junk from his inventory. Ogres from the front piled up in a mountain.
“Th-this is…”
Merchant players made experience mostly from item trades. Sometimes they even took losses on junk to flip it.
Right now, to Jeraer, it was a huge experience stack.
“It’s broken weapons, armor, supplies. I’ve been farming nonstop so the inventory’s stuffed.”
“Of course I can handle it! I’ll take everything off your hands right away, client.”
Jeraer scooped it up fast, before Fafnir changed his mind.
“And…”
“Yes!”
“I’ve sold the junk, so there’s one more thing I need from you. This one is important.”
“A favor?”
“Yes.”
Fafnir leaned in and whispered.
Jeraer’s face went blank when he heard the rest.
***
Royal Army intervention!
As the second phase opened, the Extreme Frontline wasn’t the only one seeing kingdom troops. Everywhere else too.
“Chase them!”
“Don’t let a single monster set foot in Baran Kingdom territory!”
Gleaming knight units slaughtered orc cavalry. Golden-mantled mages poured out nonstop magic attacks.
The kingdom army’s heroics on every frontline!
– Sudden Quest ‘Glorious Charge’ generated.
– Sudden Quest ‘Shield of Salvation’ generated.
Whenever famous noble knights showed up, more quests popped.
Eager players pushed the orcs back, and massive points flooded in every time.
– NPCs exerting their strength! Multiple Baran Kingdom army units appearing.
– Event in mid-phase. Who will be the biggest hero?
– Fafnir’s dominance continues! What is his true identity?
Knight reports kept rolling in, full of royal army NPCs and player exploits.
– Black Lion Guild ‘Barin Castle defense successful’.
– Pure scoundrel Choi Junhyeok, orc ‘Chunbu Jang’, creative kill. 1000:13 exchange victory.
Guilds packed with players and famous knights, tons of hype and ranking debates in the community.
But one thing everyone agreed on.
“If it goes like this, we clear it easy.”
“First event, easy difficulty.”
“Haha, fair enough.”
The general feeling was that it would wrap up smoothly.
In reality, victory messages popped up everywhere. Big guilds and kingdom armies were fully committed now, and the danger felt… gone.
“We’re not done yet. Not done at all.”
Hong Gildong muttered behind his Hahoe mask.
“Brother, we’re ready?”
“Good. Let’s go.”
Jeon Woochi stepped up beside him, and Hong Gildong moved too.
They slipped inside the castle and were immediately taken to the central hall.
Knights parted left and right. The grand hall appeared, every pillar carved with dragon motifs.
“You’re right on time.”
An elderly NPC sat on the jade throne in the center. Black hair with a few gray streaks, eyepatch covering one eye.
The younger brother of the late Baran Kingdom king and the kingdom’s second-most powerful figure—Grand Duke Gowin.
“The supplies and gear you provided have been a big help.”
“We’re honored to have our resources used by someone who rules the world fairly.”
“I’ll reward this contribution tenfold later.”
Grand Duke Gowin praised Hong Gildong and turned to his men.
“Ready? Everything set?”
“Yes, all preparations are perfect.”
“Good. Then let’s begin the real work.”
The duke rose. Knights on both sides drew their swords in unison.
“When this is over,” Grand Duke Gowin said, “I will be the ruler of the world.”
***
Head office of Titan Corp on Teheran-ro, Seoul.
A staff member in the customer service desk tilted his head at the screen.
“Huh? What is this?”
“What?”
Another worker nearby rubbed his eyes.
“……Suspicion of a bug program?”
If it was a real bug, it was a disaster. Not just code, but the entire Horizon security breached and a virtual world virus planted.
“Let’s check it.”
The development team 1 leader who got the report said,
“User is Fafnir. Unauthorized contribution points….”
Horizon’s system and security were airtight. External company firewalls couldn’t touch it, and the supercomputer Polaris running the game directly was impossible to hack.
“Where….”
The team leader sighed after reviewing the dedicated PC.
“It really isn’t a bug.”
No sign of any hacking program. Contribution kept rising normally, play looked clean.
“From the logs it looks like someone just sent a personal opinion. Tell them to stop sending weird stuff from now on.”
“Yes, team leader.”
“One more time like this and I’ll come down there myself.”
The staff walked away. The leader clicked his tongue.
“Customer service keeps calling over nothing.”
He needed to light a cigarette first.
“Mmm.”
He lit up confidently and took a deep stretch, then scanned the video again.
“This event is Horizon’s first world-level event. Gotta make sure I didn’t miss anything.”
“This guy….”
The team leader sat back down, still holding the cigarette between his fingers, and watched. His mouth slowly opened.
“This is….”
Dashing through the rain of arrows, barely dodging! No fancy skills—just raw control, picking off orc attacks and keeping the farm going.
The real shock was the strategic mind at every second. Spotting where the frontline was about to collapse, saving knights in trouble with perfect timing.
‘One person playing at least a hundred roles.’
The cigarette ash burned his fingers but he didn’t notice, still staring in awe at Fafnir’s clip.
‘Incredible control and long-term thinking. And having the guts to solo the Extreme Frontline at this point….’
Then his eyes locked on one detail. The skeleton soldiers fighting nearby all wore the same equipment.
‘Exploiting the system’s weakness like that too.’
Impressive user, but that last point felt off. The team leader frowned and glanced at his half-burned cigarette.
“Ah, damn.”
He stubbed it out and opened the document window.
‘Sorry, but this is a bit off.’
TATATATA. A single line appeared on the page.
– Emergency Patch for Monster Empire Uprising.
– 1. Equipment rental on battlefield entry…
***