A Luckless Discovery
Flush lingered a little longer on Mount Aeolos. The unicorns were cooperating with him after all. If they left their post, the monsters from the valleys below would come sniffing for their mana, and that would never do.
“Guard the perimeter! Soldiers, shoot only with arrows and bows!”
The knights and soldiers he had brought along were being kept alive as much as possible. Leveling up was the goal.
He had been pushing through strong monsters and his stats had risen steadily, so he was not about to give up.
But as he stayed deep in the hunt, trouble finally found him.
“Huh? Wait a second.”
After carving through a fleeing forest troll, Flush looked up.
“Where am I?”
Dark all around, trees blocking the view. He had wandered too far from the knights and soldiers and lost his way.
“I’ll just take a look around.”
-What’s the matter, you lucky dog? Lost your way again?
‘No, that’s…’
-You’re a lucky dog… making excuses?
‘Just wait. I’ll find it soon enough.’
The muttering of the Goddess of Luck, Tyche, made Flush shout a short reply and climb the mountain.
‘It should be around here somewhere…?’
Rustle. Snip.
Nothing but leaves brushing past. Distant howls of wolves echoed.
He was completely alone, far from the group he had expected to meet any second.
‘My luck is really something today…’
Right then, a small trail caught his eye.
‘Wait a minute.’
Flush ran toward it. After a few turns on the faint path, a brand-new map appeared.
-Dungeon: You have entered the Paradise of Aeolos.
-Dungeon: You have become the first discoverer of the Paradise of Aeolos.
-You may register information with the Explorer Guild.
-Exploration experience has increased.
-Luck stat +1.
-First Discoverer buff has been applied.
-During hunting in this dungeon, experience doubles for one week.
-The highest-grade item obtainable upon clearing this dungeon is guaranteed to drop.
“A dungeon?”
Flush’s eyes widened in shock.
Dungeon: You have entered the Paradise of Aeolos. [Dungeon]
Dungeon: You have become the first discoverer of the Paradise of Aeolos. [Dungeon]
You may register information with the Explorer Guild. [Dungeon]
Exploration experience has increased. [Dungeon]
Luck stat +1. [Dungeon]
First Discoverer buff has been applied. [Dungeon]
During hunting in this dungeon, experience doubles for one week. [Dungeon]
The highest-grade item obtainable upon clearing this dungeon is guaranteed to drop. [Dungeon]
Dungeon: You have entered the Paradise of Aeolos. [Dungeon]
Dungeon: You have become the first discoverer of the Paradise of Aeolos. [Dungeon]
You may register information with the Explorer Guild. [Dungeon]
Exploration experience has increased. [Dungeon]
Luck stat +1. [Dungeon]
First Discoverer buff has been applied. [Dungeon]
During hunting in this dungeon, experience doubles for one week. [Dungeon]
The highest-grade item obtainable upon clearing this dungeon is guaranteed to drop. [Dungeon]
***
“Let’s see… this far and no further.”
Fafnir searched through the sunless forest. He could not summon skeleton soldiers, so it was driving him crazy.
‘The novel’s depiction of the wilderness is so sloppy it’s impossible to find anything.’
‘Fafnir the Luckiest Gamer in the World’ was quite a light novel, the kind that was casually labeled a web novel.
Because of that, important terrain descriptions and such were often skimmed over.
‘Now that I’m actually seeing it with my own eyes, the descriptions are completely different.’
When reading, it didn’t matter. But seeing and searching it with his own eyes was truly maddening.
Just like Flush, who lacked luck entirely, Fafnir had to rely only on sharp eyes and instincts.
‘If only the unicorns had finished signing off on the okay, they would have helped all the way. But no, they do this and don’t do that, calling us “koni-konis”…’
Muttering to himself, Fafnir pushed through the thicket.
The long search, which had been full of hardship, soon bore fruit.
“……Ah!”
Fafnir discovered the forest path and headed toward it.
Dungeon: You have entered the Paradise of Aeolos. [Dungeon]
Dungeon: You have become the first discoverer of the Paradise of Aeolos. [Dungeon]
You may register information with the Explorer Guild. [Dungeon]
Exploration experience has increased. [Dungeon]
Exploration level up! [Dungeon]
Exploration level has reached 10. [Dungeon]
You may register the Explorer ranking. [Dungeon]
Luck stat +1. [Dungeon]
First Discoverer buff has been applied. [Dungeon]
During hunting in this dungeon, experience doubles for one week. [Dungeon]
The highest-grade item obtainable upon clearing this dungeon is guaranteed to drop. [Dungeon]
The discovery of a dungeon that existed in the novel!
Before long, a vast grassland stretched out before him.
“We’ve finally found it.”
A basin surrounded on all sides by mountain peaks. In the center lay a huge lake, and streams flowed around it.
‘If it’s like the novel says, this is truly a paradise.’
Water and food were plentiful, and the terrain was a basin, so strong enemies or monsters from outside would have a hard time breaking in.
The area was also huge, making it perfect for establishing a base for over ten thousand people.
But the real jackpot here was something else entirely.
Kikirikirir?
Nibble?
The dungeon was teeming with monsters that looked like huge rats.
[Large Max Capybara]
[Agile Max Capybara]
Just like real-world animals, but overwhelmingly large, level 150 beast-type monsters.
And they were of lower level and lower aggression compared to surrounding monsters.
Perfect for Fafnir to hunt right now.
Kikirik!
Kikit!
Fafnir smiled with satisfaction at the squeaking capybaras.
“We’ve finally found it.”
Any normal user would have started hunting immediately.
But Fafnir had no particular heat for capybara hunting.
Why? Simple.
Because the true value of these capybaras was not experience.
‘Hunting here is actually less efficient for experience than elsewhere.’
Of course, it was better than the hunting grounds in the normal fields below the mountain.
But compared to hunting high-level monsters with the help of unicorns, it felt lacking.
First, to reach here you had to pass through the land guarded by unicorns, and there was also a path down the opposite side, so a drive hunt wasn’t even practical.
Meaning the return didn’t justify the risk.
‘As in the novel, Flush must have been disappointed and said it was no good.’
In the end, the Max Capybaras were only being used to raise the levels of the knights and soldiers brought along.
At the time he hadn’t realized, but the real “nugget” of the dungeon was something else.
‘If I could only summon skeleton soldiers, I would have eaten everything myself. What a shame.’
Once more, Fafnir felt a pang of resentment toward the unicorns.
‘For now, let’s head back.’
Fafnir returned to the camp and reported the discovery of the dungeon.
“Such a place?”
“Yes. A hidden land full of only weak monsters.”
“Let’s go right away!”
The nobles who had been guided followed him toward the dungeon.
When the nobles finally arrived and saw the dungeon, their mouths fell open.
“What the…”
“This is truly amazing. A paradise like this exists even in the forbidden zone?”
“It’s not even the unicorns’ land, so there’s no problem in pioneering it.”
“This… is truly a place granted by the heavens.”
Princess Elizabeth said.
“How did you discover this place, Baron Fafnir?”
“I scouted the terrain from the upper side of the mountain and, the moment I confirmed there was something there, I searched every inch of it.”
“The instincts of an adventurer?”
A smile appeared at the corner of the princess’s mouth.
“Understood. Your contributions will be duly recognized in the future.”
The moment the words left his mouth, messages appeared.
Base contribution +10,000. [Dungeon]
Princess Elizabeth’s favorability +2. [Dungeon]
Knight Commander Old Man’s favorability +5. [Dungeon]
Sharpie Baron’s favorability +3. [Dungeon]
Blackheart Baron’s favorability -3. [Dungeon]
“Baron Fafnir, thank you so much. I am truly grateful.”
The old knight clasped his hand and shed happy tears!
Fafnir pulled his hand away with a vague feeling of discomfort and thought.
‘I think the princess and Sharpie Baron are fine, but… it seems Blackheart Baron is looking down on me.’
The Blackheart Baron was grinding his teeth because a necromancer like Fafnir had received a title and title for his contributions!
Even when titles were being awarded, it looked like he had been harboring a grudge for a long time.
‘He’s already a black-hearted guy anyway. No reason to get close to him.’
For now, one hand was lacking. The Blackheart Baron’s forces were quite large.
But as the base grew and other nobles joined, there would be no reason to leave him alone.
‘For now, I’ll just ignore it.’
Two hands had to clap to make noise. If he just kept brooding alone, even the orc empire would have to show up for an event to happen.
‘So I need to grab all the gains first.’
Since he could not use skeleton soldiers, he had to try something else.
Fafnir headed back to the revival army camp headquarters.
“Anyone who wants to clean the Bedem Ridge! Those who have set sleep and slowdown debuffs for 5.5 seconds or longer!”
“Looking for thieves level 110 or higher with exploration and gathering at 12 or higher! Tank, deal, heal complete!”
The users who had joined the revival army were already forming parties with each other.
‘Alright, shall we start now?’
Fafnir planted a signpost.
◈ Level 150+ non-aggressive, invincible beast monsters spawn. No required attributes, jobs, or elements needed. [Free]
◈ Level 130+ hunting area, no weather, boss monsters, or random events in grassland terrain. [Free]
◈ No unicorns, construction and contribution farming possible, free hunting. [Free]
◈ First-come-first-served 10 parties. [Free]
◈ All experience and equipment items go to the acquirer. No claims of share whatsoever. [Free]
“Eh?”
“What’s that…?”
The users’ gazes turned toward it.
“……A new map?”
“Wait a second.”
Then gradually, murmurs began.
“Hey!”
“Me! Me!”
“Please let us! Just one spot!”
“Party! Party quick!”
Before long, a flood of users poured in like a wave.
A hunting ground with no danger, no experience stolen by unicorns, and where hunting itself raised contribution.
For users who wanted stable growth, the conditions were perfect.
“Me!”
“Please!”
“I’m first!”
In front of the wave of incoming users, Fafnir smirked.
“From now on, I’ll be giving out honey hunt parties.”
***
First Discoverer buff. A kind of privilege given to the person who discovers a dungeon for the first time.
Experience doubles for one week, and when hunting the first boss, the highest-grade item drops guaranteed.
It was not stated, but there was one more important thing about this effect.
‘The effect does not share benefits with all members of the party the first player belongs to.’
That was why large guilds invested freely into First Discoverer buff information.
Receiving a buff as one user wasn’t a big deal, but receiving it as a party or guild was a massive boost.
◈ Experience doubles for one week. [Unique]
◈ First boss hunt guarantees highest-grade item drop. [Unique]
◈ Does not share benefits with all party members. [Unique]
“Wow!”
“It’s really capybaras!”
The users who entered the dungeon stared with mouths open at the sight before them.
The fantasy-like scenery and cute monsters had taken their breath away.
But that was only for a moment.
“But they’re so big, it’s a bit scary.”
“Yeah… what kind of capybara is a truck?”
“Let’s catch them quick!”
“Tank guys in front!”
Thanks to having trained in real battles, most of the users who followed Fafnir were already well-prepared to hunt.
Right then.
“Before that, one thing I must not forget.”
“Ah, yes.”
The users nodded.
“All loot goes to Baron Fafnir, right? Especially the capybara bones.”
“Yes. After we finish hunting, just give me the loot.”
“Of course.”
“Is it really okay to give everything like that? Including safe hunting spot information for experience benefits….”
“It’s fine. We all have to grow together.”
The users asked several times because there were too many benefits.
Each time, Fafnir nodded.
“But why the bones….”
“For the necromancer skill.”
“Ah, you’re a necromancer.”
“Well then, shall we start hunting?”
“Yes yes.”
Urru, the users immediately began attacking the capybaras.
At the same time, messages appeared before Fafnir’s eyes.
Experience has increased. [Dungeon]
Experience has increased. [Dungeon]
As the leader of the group with multiple parties, even without hunting directly, experience was flowing in.
Of course, the amount was tiny, but it was still a gain.
‘For now, I’ll keep the bones like this.’
Fafnir headed to the edge of the grassland. On the hills, all kinds of grasses grew, but among them was one strand of dull brown grass that gave off no light.
Fafnir dug up the stem.
Collection failed. [Dungeon]
Collection failed. [Dungeon]
Failure after failure.
He had not learned the herb collection skill, so he was just groping in the dark.
‘It’s harder than I thought.’
Still, his skill was coming together nicely. He also had Oh Jinhwan’s body, and as someone who once controlled and had dexterity on par with anyone, he had not lost to anyone.
Especially in Horizon, where virtual reality was important in addition to stats.
After sweating for a while, finally another message appeared.
Collection successful. [Dungeon]
Southern Horn Carrot Root (Unique) acquired. [Dungeon]
New achievement ‘Pro Herbalist’ achieved. [Dungeon]
Dexterity +2. [Dungeon]
Herbs that are hard to collect at current dexterity level have been gathered. [Dungeon]
Herb collection skill mastery has increased significantly. [Dungeon]
Herb collection skill level +1. [Dungeon]
Higher difficulty herbs can now be collected. [Dungeon]
Southern Horn Carrot.
A rare herb that could be found with a few fingers in any server.
Even though it grew like wild mugwort all over the dungeon.
“Hah…”
Fafnir gently brushed the dirt from the root and placed it in his inventory.
What he had to say right then was only one thing.
‘I’m rich!’
Fafnir shouted loudly in his mind and picked up the hoe again.
He had to gather as many as possible before anyone else noticed.