Level Up and the Blind Monk's Training
Experience points acquired. Level up!
As the last burning zombie crumpled to the ground, the system message flashed across my vision.
The endless wave of zombies had finally been wiped out. The entire battlefield lay empty and silent around me.
Fafnir stood alone on the now-deserted stage, finally turning to face the one person he had saved today.
“Thank you! Truly, thank you!”
The monk user, Hilde, bowed her head repeatedly.
“Thanks to you, I’m alive. I thought I was going to die right there… I was sure of it.”
“That’s good news.”
If this had been an intentional hunt, the usual monster-stealing complaints would have surfaced. Her reaction felt completely genuine.
After a quick round of thanks, Fafnir asked the question that had been burning in his mind.
“But… how did you manage it?”
“What?”
“You looked like you could have taken them down with basic combat.”
Her control had been surprisingly sharp. The only reason she hadn’t fled the moment she touched the zombies was pure squeamishness.
“That’s… because they’re disgusting.”
“Huh?”
“I couldn’t bring myself to touch them. It’s a VR game, but seeing actual corpses right in front of my eyes…”
Horizon’s realism was off the charts. The monsters’ appearances were so vivid it felt like you could smell the rot.
The decaying flesh of the zombies, the writhing maggots in their mouths—everything was raw and unfiltered!
Players who only played from behind screens must have been shocked senseless.
Fafnir stroked his chin for a moment, then spoke.
“Want me to help?”
“R-really?”
“It seems you’re here because you have to hunt. I’m in the same boat, so why not team up?”
Hilde’s face lit up with genuine joy.
“Thank you! I’ll do my best!”
“Then let’s share what we know first. I’m Fafnir.”
Fafnir asked.
“I’m Hilde, and my job is Monk.”
“Hilde…”
It sounded familiar. Fafnir tilted his head.
“Could it be… a god?”
“The war god Thor, to be precise. Sorry.”
Horizon had several gods, but choosing any one of them changed your class completely.
‘If she’s a war god follower, she’s probably more of a supporter than a direct fighter.’
It was a relief. Right now, without any divine buffs, Fafnir needed a sturdy tank more than a healer.
‘I already needed someone to hold the line while I rested. This is more than enough.’
Her control was solid. Even from what he’d seen earlier, she wasn’t bad at all.
That was impressive. To the eyes of Dragon World rank two, it was elite performance—top 0.1% for normal players.
‘Since she’s holy-attribute, a little training and she’ll clear this spot clean.’
Pulling aggro with bone soldiers was all it would take.
Of course, the zombies already here made that worry unnecessary.
‘This should help me out in other places too.’
The problem was the doctor over there…
Fafnir pondered for a moment, then answered.
“I’ve made my decision. Sorry for the wait.”
Hilde’s expression darkened instantly.
“Doesn’t work because of Thor, does it?”
“No.”
Fafnir shook his head and continued.
“We need tanks anyway. This is perfect. Let’s team up.”
“Thank you!”
“I’m Fafnir. As you can see, my job is…”
“A warrior! You swing that blade so well!”
It was the classic mistake of mistaking swordplay for swordsmanship!
No bone soldiers, and she still fought. It was only natural.
‘If she thinks that, all the better for me.’
Necromancers weren’t the meta. She probably wouldn’t hear anything good about me compared to warriors.
Hilde added before Fafnir could brush it off.
“By the way, my level is 31.”
Fafnir’s level was 21. She was exactly ten levels ahead.
“Yes, you can come back in a week.”
“Thank you.”
The moment the connection screen vanished, Kim Ganghan immediately set up his health check schedule.
Why? Simple. The notification in front of him.
‘He said his health wasn’t great.’
[Oh Jinhwan’s Health Improvement.]
- Oh Jinhwan was born with poor health. Improve it to the best of your ability.
- Reward: Healing Potion Recipe
Health problems had to be handled early.
Ignoring them right now could turn a small issue into a major one that even a hammer couldn’t fix.
‘People who went down that road were many.’
Playing games only and ending up as a has-been was not an option.
Back home, Kim Ganghan cooked with the ingredients he’d bought.
Today’s menu: kimchi jjigae.
It was made with the special-sale ingredients from the mart.
“Heh heh.”
Back in the old game team training days, squad budget cuts had forced the players—including Kim Ganghan—to cook for themselves.
Those hungry, desperate days taught him how to survive on barely anything.
By now he could handle most dishes with ease.
‘Of course I had cooking duty in the army too. If it’s food, I’ve got it.’
He just never heard the compliments that his food was delicious.
Using seasoning like the eyeball of a chickpea to make something edible was just dumb.
“Ah, it’s done.”
While thinking, the jjigae was ready.
“Here we go.”
He scooped steaming white rice, topped it with pork and tofu, and dug in.
Slurp. Glug.
“Whoa, that hits the spot.”
A deep sigh escaped from Kim Ganghan’s chest.
Even in this novel world, kimchi jjigae tasted exactly the same.
The exact flavor his mother used to praise!
‘Speaking of which, do I have parents here too?’
Not his real parents, of course. But Oh Jinhwan’s family.
They weren’t mentioned in the novel, but this body must have had relatives.
The relationship wasn’t great, though. The debt and no contact were proof enough.
‘I’ll look into that later….’
As he finished eating, Kim Ganghan remembered the earlier events.
‘Having one more person makes everything so much easier.’
Hilde’s joining had definitely been helpful.
With an ally now, combat felt more relaxed.
While one rested, the other could recover. A simple breathing rhythm.
Plus, the hunting grounds had grown wider.
They could even alternate roles, one drawing aggro while the other farmed safely.
Experience points were lower with two, but that was wrong.
In mob hunts, perfect breathing synergy gave nearly 150% more efficiency than solo play.
‘The control and understanding… she’s actually useful.’
The only problem was that she hated the zombies and wouldn’t touch them directly.
If that wasn’t the case, they would have cleared the Catacombs long ago.
‘Too bad.’
What could he do? He couldn’t force her.
But the nickname sounded familiar.
Kim Ganghan suddenly stood up.
“Ah!”
He remembered!
He opened the memo notebook he kept from his memories.
“This character appeared multiple times in the original novel!”
The original novel was an ultra-long game fantasy with over two thousand episodes, the gamer protagonist’s journey filled with luck.
Even as a fan, the sheer length made it hard to remember everything instantly.
Hilde was a user who appeared multiple times in the mid-to-late game as the protagonist’s steadfast ally and the most reliable supporter against dark-attribute monsters.
‘That Hilde who said she’d never worry about undead with her around.’
Kim Ganghan replayed Flush’s monologues from the novel in his mind.
The fact that her control was so good made sense now.
‘If she’s that kind of player, it fits.’
‘Still, even in the original, she fades after the mid-story.’
Power inflation was too strong; she couldn’t keep up and slowly disappeared from the narrative.
‘Her control was still top-tier even back then.’
Forgetting someone of that caliber just because of power inflation was a waste.
“Hmm…”
Fafnir wrote it down in the memo on his phone.
‘Even if one person drops out, the plot won’t break. No worries about hidden pieces or main story derailing.’
The original novel’s plot was Fafnir’s only remaining landmark.
It had already broken after he grabbed all the hidden pieces, but sticking close to the original direction was safest.
‘If I can just get her to fight the zombies, efficiency will triple.’
He was already growing faster than most other players, close to double or triple the rate.
But leaving those easy resources untouched felt wrong.
‘No filter yet… and forcing it would backfire.’
Kim Ganghan rested his chin and thought deeply.
‘Is there anything I can try…?’
Then a memory from real life flashed through his mind.
“Hmm.”
Kim Ganghan smacked his lips.
“Perfect. That should work.”
The next day, Fafnir extended his hand to Hilde at the Catacombs entrance.
“Put it on.”
“This is…”
Hilde looked confused.
“A blindfold?”
“Exactly.”
He’d bought a plain blindfold at the village shop. Pure black cloth, zero stats, nothing fancy.
“You want me to fight wearing this?”
“You said you couldn’t swing because zombies disgust you.”
Fafnir’s temporary solution.
The blind combat method, fighting with vision completely blocked.
‘I’ve done this a lot more than I thought.’
Back in reality while streaming, Fafnir and other BJs or pro gamers had done blindfold boss hunts too.
The memory of stacking cash in the settlement list every time he killed a boss with eyes covered!
‘It wasn’t that hard.’
Once you learned the patterns, you could fight using sound and footsteps alone.
After that, your body would take over and you could fight normally.
“Use your inner eye.”
“That can’t be… That’s only in movies! How are we supposed to do this?”
“If you don’t believe me, I’ll demonstrate.”
Fafnir tied the blindfold himself and entered the Catacombs.
The nearby zombies bared their teeth.
Grrrr…
Grrrr!
Fafnir swung his sword again and again.
- Weak point attack!
- Weak point attack!
- Weak point attack!
- Critical hit!
The heads of the zombies whirled in the air.
In seconds, he had slain ten of them. Fafnir removed the blindfold.
“Like this.”
“J-just… show me one more time.”
Fafnir shrugged and tied the blindfold again.
After ten minutes of practice, Hilde finally accepted it.
“Nothing is visible, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then it shouldn’t be disgusting. Let’s fight.”
Hilde followed Fafnir’s instructions and faced the zombies.
“Eight at twelve o’clock. Three, two, one.”
“Hah!”
A powerful overhead strike!
The zombie that took the full force collapsed immediately.
Fafnir stroked his chin.
‘It really works. With vision blocked, I can actually swing hard.’
Not seeing the zombies’ faces let him punch with full force.
But the hard hits were unavoidable.
And the hunting results were undeniable.
The problem was the other part.
“Kyaaah! Get away!”
Hilde tripped over a rock. Fafnir raised his sword.
‘This isn’t working?’
He’d demonstrated it himself, yet she couldn’t last ten seconds. The blindfold combat adaptation would take longer than expected.