The Underworld Boss's Warning
Aluin Wilderness.
A vast plain stretching across the southwestern reaches of the Baran Kingdom.
Despite the name "Wilderness," it was a surprisingly fertile land.
As rich as the kingdom's grain belt.
Even during the Orc invasion, when much of the kingdom fell, this place stood untouched.
The reason was simple.
Because the free city of Aluin existed here.
“Adventurer Fafnir… pass.”
The guards waved the newcomers through without a second glance.
Thousands of adventurers entered and left every day.
They had better things to do than hassle every visitor.
“Oh, what a magnificent city.”
Fafnir scanned the surroundings.
A castle as massive as a mountain rose before him, its walls towering high.
Inside, bustling streets overflowed with people.
‘It really lives up to the reputation as the users’ hub.’
Aluin City was like a kingdom within a kingdom.
It belonged to the high noble Gaf, the Duke of the Baran Kingdom.
When the kingdom fractured and orcs rampaged, no one dared touch this land.
Countless users flocked here.
‘Gaf the Duke must have had some arrangement.’
Gaf the Duke was a duke in the kingdom, yet he refused to move even when the country was invaded, claiming it was for defense.
He would not strike first, but anyone who came would be crushed without mercy.
‘First, I need to find a blacksmith to melt down my armor.’
I want to recycle Karamit’s Dark Mithril armor and forge something new.
‘That armor is useless now. I’ll find a new blacksmith and start over.’
Second, complete the quest Guld gave me.
Locate the remnants of the black magician Rehelern somewhere in the Aluin Wilderness.
Aluin was a major city, but across the entire wilderness it was little more than a dot.
I would have to scour the vast plains and question every village to find even the faintest trace.
‘Promising user recruitment… I can do that later. Right now, information is the priority.’
‘There’s an information guild, but my deeds might be exposed there.’
There was a better option.
Back alleys of the free city.
Fafnir studied the signboards and slipped into one.
“Welcome, customer.”
“What’ll you have?”
The place looked like an ordinary tavern.
Fafnir headed straight for the counter.
“One Shanghai cocktail.”
“Right away.”
The bartender brought the black drink.
Fafnir downed it in one go.
“Tasty.”
“Thank you.”
He slid four gold across the counter.
“Four dollars.”
The waiter’s eyes widened.
“……”
He disappeared inside, then returned minutes later flanked by several men.
The hulking man with a scarred face in the center bowed slightly.
“Has the boss sent you?”
On the surface it looked like an ordinary tavern.
In truth, this was a branch of the Umigan Gang led by Kindorhan.
“Just… acquaintances.”
“Kindorhan asked me to help with some branch matters.”
“Oh…”
“Not for free, though. I need a few pieces of information. Can you help?”
“That’s part of our daily business.”
The hulking man led Fafnir to a private room.
“Please, come in.”
After the giant left, a clean-cut young man entered flanked by several others.
“Welcome.”
The young man spoke.
“I’m the branch manager, Twinblade. Call me Twbl.”
Twinblade.
Once the undisputed king of the night in this city’s back alleys.
Even after falling under Kindorhan, he kept a business-partner relationship rather than subordinate.
“So you’re the branch manager here…”
“Kindorhan ordered me personally. He wants me to be as lenient as possible.”
Twbl clicked his tongue.
“That won’t work on me. If you thought this would be a warm welcome, you’re mistaken.”
Before Fafnir could speak, Twbl declared.
“No, I’m not here for—”
“Good. If you want to be treated fairly, start by handling my collection routes.”
The man thought Fafnir was just another friendly visitor until he heard the real reason.
“You already know about the debt collections?”
“Of course.”
“Then it’ll be easier. Our routes cover streets H1 to H36 and districts L1 to L13.”
Twbl continued.
“Recently our collectors keep getting ambushed. I need you to accompany us.”
“I see…”
Fafnir nodded.
Twbl added, “If you’re thinking of complaining to Kindorhan, stop. I lost to him, but I don’t answer to that kind of pushy attitude.”
Fafnir stayed silent, hiding his unease.
‘He must think I’m just another underling of a cooperative organization.’
In reality, Fafnir’s position was that of the entire guild’s honorary president.
Higher than Twbl, and certainly higher than Kindorhan.
‘How do I explain this without sounding suspicious…?’
Just then, the door opened and a subordinate rushed in.
“Boss! The situation—!”
Twbl barked, “What now?”
The subordinate answered, panting, “They’re back. Right outside—”
“Ah, those bastards again…”
“Those guys?”
“Newbies don’t matter yet. Keep your heads down until it’s over. Everyone else, follow me!”
Twbl grabbed his weapons and stormed out.
‘It looks like another turf war between back-alley organizations.’
Aluin was a big city like the capital.
Official PvP was forbidden, but this kind of street conflict was still allowed.
‘I wanted to finish the quest and leave quickly…’
But Kindorhan’s organization was essentially Fafnir’s own.
Fafnir called back the same scarred man who had shown him the way.
“Do you know their username?”
“Mine? Oh, I’m Deokgu.”
‘How does the name Deokgu sound like a username?’
Fafnir cleared his throat. “Mind if I ask a few things?”
“Sure, sure.”
“Who are the troublemakers outside?”
“Those? They’re the Hwangryongpa, our rival gang.”
“Rivals? Negotiations must have gone south.”
Deokgu’s face darkened.
“We’ve never been able to coexist with them.”
“Why?”
“They’re a Chinese server organization. As long as they’re not our Hyung or Dae, they just bulldoze their way through.”
“……”
Even though every server had its own differences, many Chinese players played on Korean, Japanese, or European servers.
Chinese players who formed massive powers based on population and capital once continents were connected!
‘Plus, once they claim a base, they never back down.’
“So the ambushes on collectors are their doing?”
“Yes. Korean players at least talk it out. Chinese ones just declare open PvP and kill anyone who gets in the way.”
Fafnir’s side was still strong.
But smaller numbers and less capital meant they had to accept the occasional ambush.
“Then their leader is probably Weiching?”
Fafnir had seen the name a few times in novels.
Deokgu shook his head. “Weiching? No, that’s not him.”
“Not him?”
“No. He’s the raid leader. The overall boss is Jinpyeongwi.”
‘The overall boss is Jinpyeongwi? Then he still hasn’t obtained the Lion King’s Heart?’
The Lion King’s Heart.
A hidden item sleeping in the Aluin Wilderness that turned a normal user named Weiching into the ultimate boss.
“Do you know how far south explorations have gone?”
“Explorations… about one-third of the way, I think.”
“One-third… so it’s not finished yet.”
‘Interesting. Time to cash in on this.’
But first I need to take control of Aluin’s back alleys and build influence.
That’s one more reason to invest in this organization.
‘Good.’
First things first—eat up!
Fafnir told Deokgu, “Mind if I have some of these dishes?”
“Huh? Oh, sure.”
He pointed at the remaining food on the table.
Fafnir immediately stuffed steak and wine into his mouth.
Right then—
“Puhuhu!”
The sensation was like chewing rubber and chugging rice wine!
“This… what is this…?”
He suspected it was spoiled, but even fresh food tasted the same.
“Do these dishes have some kind of issue?”
“Just a second.”
Deokgu tasted a piece of steak and shook his head. “They’re fine.”
“Really? What about everything else?”
“All good. Nothing wrong.”
‘Impossible… wait.’
Fafnir suddenly understood. “Wait—”
‘Could it be…?’
Every time he licked his fork or knife, a sweet taste hit his tongue.
‘It’s not food at all—it’s metal!’
No matter what he ate, it tasted horrible. But licking the fork gave him the flavor of sweet candy or tender meat.
‘It’s a Metal Dampir trait…’
To enjoy a fine meal, one must eat metal instead of food!
Vampires face restrictions based on their traits, and this was one of them.
Metal Dampir Trait Activated
- Ate Beef Tenderloin Steak. - Strength decreased by 1 (for 10 minutes). - Drank Blood Wine. - Strength decreased by 1 (for 10 minutes).
The stat effects had even turned into debuffs.
‘Is there no consumption buff at all…?’
A solution came instantly.
Iron Ingestion Activated
- Consumed Iron. - Strength stat rose by 5 (for 10 minutes). - Consumed Stainless Steel. - Movement speed rose by 3 (for 10 minutes).
‘…Truly a curse.’
To taste anything, one must eat iron and accept the debuffs.
‘No choice.’
Surprisingly, the knife and fork tasted quite good.
Fafnir finished everything and stood up.
“Boss! It’s dangerous outside—stay here for now—”
Fafnir shook his head. “You asked me to help. I’ll help.”
Plus, it was his organization.
“Oh, do you have any spare weapons?”
“Weapons? We have one or two here—”
Deokgu handed over a plain sword on display in the shop.
“Thanks.”
Fafnir accepted it and stepped outside.
***
“You finally crawled out.”
At the entrance of Street 3, where the Umigan branch was located, a muscular man with a beard of fish scales stood with dozens of subordinates.
Facing him were the Umigan members who had just left the tavern.
“Jinpyeongwi! Again you?”
In the center of the Umigan group, Twinblade asked with a disgusted expression.
“Last time you got beaten that badly, you should’ve given up by now.”
“Watch me! Today I’ll make you take down your signboard.”
Declaring a signboard meant giving up on the city!
Twbl sighed. “I don’t really care about your yellow worm signboard…”
“Yellow worm? This bastard is insulting our Hwangryongpa!”
Jinpyeongwi’s face turned red.
The Hwangryongpa was a gang backed by the massive Huangha Gang of the Chinese server.
Jinpyeongwi always boasted about it. Hearing that was infuriating.
“Haha, that’s how far Twinblade’s blabbering gets him.”
Jinpyeongwi smiled wickedly. “This time you won’t get any tricks like last time.”
“……”
“Everyone!”
Jinpyeongwi’s roar sent his men scattering to the sides.
In the empty space lay several users and NPCs.
“These are our people! You bastard—”
“I caught them during collection runs.”
Jinpyeongwi laughed sinisterly. “For now I’ve paralyzed them. It depends on what you decide to do.”
“……You’re not seriously threatening to use them as hostages, are you?”
“Of course not.”
In the back alleys of a virtual reality, hostage situations were far less valuable than in real life.
The worst outcome was killing the hostages, but even that was pointless—players could simply log back in days later.
“The terms are simple.”
“What?”
“If we all fight here, our loss will be massive, right?”
In a large-scale PvP, the winner gains big, but the experience and gold the loser loses are far more.
Especially for gangs—losing means total annihilation.
“So let’s settle it one-on-one between the bosses. No need to risk our useless grunts.”
“……”
Twbl thought for a moment, then nodded. “You agree to the terms?”
“Of course. I swear on the Hwangryongpa signboard.”
“……Give me a moment to think.”
“Take all the time you want.”
A sinister smile spread across Jinpyeongwi’s face as poison gleamed in his eyes.
‘You’re going to lose no matter what.’