“Slow, You Say?”
For Tae-hyun, who was so close with the Tyrum Hunters that he was sick of them, it didn’t really hit home.
“Yeah. Their affinity does go up, but it’s way too slow... and I think the Tyrum Hunters really don’t like me much. Probably because my level’s too high.”
To get close to a faction, you needed to meet certain conditions.
From Gu Sung-wook’s words, Tae-hyun realized one thing: to befriend the Tyrum Hunters, you had to be low-level.
When your level was low, if you stayed in Tyrum instead of leaving and hunted diligently around the area, then you could build a relationship with them.
Hit level 10 and run off to another city? They’d hate you for it with absolute pettiness.
That was the Tyrum Hunters in a nutshell.
No wonder players trash-talk them...
If you checked the forums, nobody ever had anything nice to say about Tyrum.
In any case, it was already too late for Gu Sung-wook.
Sure, his affinity would rise if he cleared quests, but only little by little. Under normal circumstances, there was no quick way to raise it.
He knew that too, which was why he had approached Tae-hyun in the first place.
“The Tyrum Hunters really are petty. But... another way? You mean there is one?”
“Yes. I was hoping you could introduce me. Of course, I’ll pay you for it.”
An introduction.
It was one of Fantasy Online 2’s distinctive systems.
Wherever people lived, connections mattered!
It was realistic enough as a game system that this sort of thing worked.
If Tae-hyun took Gu Sung-wook along and said, “He’s a decent guy,” that alone would raise affinity by quite a bit.
At the very least, the penalty from being disliked would definitely disappear.
Gu Sung-wook hadn’t gotten to his level for free.
He had figured it out by watching how the Tyrum Hunters treated Tae-hyun.
This guy... he practically maxed out their affinity!
How the hell he’d managed to get friendly with such stingy, fussy bastards was beyond him, but that wasn’t what mattered right now.
He needed to get on good terms with that blacksmith, even if it cost him.
“Pay me? Didn’t you say you had no money?”
Crap!
Gu Sung-wook jumped in shock.
The lie he’d told had come back to bite him here of all places.
Tae-hyun saw the reaction and smirked.
Knew it. He’d hidden a little more cash.
“N-no, that’s... I’ll ask one of my guildmates and get some money sent over.”
“It’s fine. I already got something earlier, and I’m not such a bad person that I’d shake down somebody who’s broke.”
Gu Sung-wook let out a sigh of relief.
Tae-hyun didn’t seem like a complete scumbag, at least.
“Instead, let me handle your gear for a bit.”
“...What?”
***
Let me handle your gear.
The moment he heard those words, Gu Sung-wook froze in terror.
It wasn’t that he thought Tae-hyun would grab his equipment and run.
He wasn’t giving it to him outright, and since it would be taken out in front of him for a blacksmith to work on, there was no way Tae-hyun could just make off with it.
No, what terrified him was something else entirely.
M-my gear? To a newbie like this? No matter how I look at it, there’s no way he’s even reached Intermediate Blacksmithing...
From the way he’d been listening to skill explanations earlier, it didn’t seem like he’d even reached Intermediate rank in blacksmithing.
If he’d maxed out Beginner rank, he would’ve learned repair and enhancement skills already.
If Gu Sung-wook had been low-level, maybe it would’ve been one thing. But at his level, he needed to find a genuinely skilled blacksmith.
If a low-level blacksmith touched his gear and messed up, its performance could drop hard.
No way!
Just imagining it was horrifying.
“Uh, w-well... how about I just pay you...”
“No, money’s fine. What I got earlier was enough.”
Just take the damn money, you bastard!
Gu Sung-wook barely swallowed the curse rising in his throat.
“Would something else work? Uh... what if you joined our guild? I’m close with the guild master, so if I ask, I can definitely get one more person in.”
If Gu Sung-wook had known who Tae-hyun really was, he never would have said something like that.
Even if he got on his knees and begged, Please join us!, Tae-hyun would still refuse. But now he was saying it as though he were offering some grand favor, and that immediately set off Tae-hyun’s mean streak.
“No, how could I possibly join such a prestigious guild? And through connections, no less. That’d just put you in a bad spot. I’m not that lacking in common sense.”
Tormenting people with a smile on his face.
It was one of the things Tae-hyun did best.
He spoke politely, but in the end, wasn’t he still demanding to touch the gear?
Gu Sung-wook was dying inside.
He spoke into guild chat.
Gu Sung-wook: Everyone. I’m doing the quest for the Cold Cry's Sword recipe... you know how I said raising Tyrum affinity was hard?
Guildmate 1: Right.
Guildmate 2: You still haven’t raised it?
As Gu Sung-wook spoke, the other guild members responded.
They all knew what kind of situation he was in.
Of all things, why’d the quest have to make you get close with the Tyrum people?
Those guys are seriously obnoxious.
Gu Sung-wook: But I found someone here who maxed out affinity with the Tyrum Hunters.
Guildmate 3: What? Seriously?
Guildmate 4: There’s a freak like that?
Guildmate 5: How’d he do it?
Gu Sung-wook: I think instead of leaving once he hit level 10, he just stayed here the whole time.
Guildmate 1: Ah. So that’s how.
Guildmate 2: Still impressive. I’d have left immediately.
Guildmate 3: Why’d he stay there?
Gu Sung-wook: No idea... anyway, I asked him to introduce me. But now he’s asking to handle my gear.
Guildmate 4: Huh?
Gu Sung-wook: I think his class is blacksmith. Any ideas? He doesn’t want a guild invite, doesn’t want money...
Guildmate 5: You got unlucky.
Phil: Ah.
Phil.
He was the guild’s blacksmith.
Gu Sung-wook owed Phil a great deal.
A talented production-class player was always hard to find.
People often said production-class players had terrible personalities.
They had to grind endlessly, and once they got to a high level, everyone treated them like royalty, so a lot of them turned arrogant.
But Phil was both kind and capable.
Everyone in the guild liked him.
He was practically one of the guild’s pillars.
He’s probably trying to level his skill.
Yeah. When your blacksmithing level is low, just repairing or handling high-level items can make your skill level shoot up fast.
That was exactly what Tae-hyun was after.
A fast way to raise his Blacksmithing skill.
Handling relatively high-level equipment.
Of course, if you handled high-level gear with low-level blacksmithing, there was a high chance you’d ruin it...
But it’s not mine anyway!
Phil: Sounds like a pretty greedy blacksmith. Can’t you persuade him somehow?
Gu Sung-wook: Persuade him with what?
Phil: He rejected money, right?
Gu Sung-wook: Yeah.
Phil: And you probably don’t have any spare items on you right now, so try inviting him to the guild again. Tell him we’ve got a high-level blacksmith, and if he joins, I’ll personally help him out.
Gu Sung-wook: What?!
Guildmate 2: Come on, Phil. Isn’t that too much? You’d really do that?
Phil: It’s not like it costs me much time. I’d just help him level his skill a bit and teach him a few recipes.
Phil said it casually, but this was support anyone would covet.
A veteran blacksmith personally teaching you guidelines based on his own hard-earned experience.
Besides, having more blacksmiths in the guild would be good, right? High-level blacksmiths are hard to get, so grabbing one early and raising him isn’t a bad idea. And him having high Tyrum affinity is a plus too.
“Mm...”
Gu Sung-wook hesitated.
Phil had a point.
You could never have too many blacksmiths.
And everyone was desperate to recruit high-level blacksmiths, so getting a new one from outside was realistically difficult.
Bringing one into the guild early and investing in him wouldn’t be a bad move.
But still...
He’s so damn annoying!
Gu Sung-wook found Tae-hyun unbearably irritating.
And they were supposed to offer benefits like this to a guy like him?
Gu Sung-wook was considered one of the nicer members of the guild, but there was just something about Tae-hyun that rubbed him the wrong way.
“Whew... hey, there’s a high-level blacksmith in our guild, and he says if you join, he’ll personally teach you. What do you think?”
“No thanks.”
The answer came out in less than a second.
“...”
Gu Sung-wook was so dumbfounded he couldn’t even laugh.
“No, why not?! I’m serious, you know? There really is one!”
“Who said I didn’t believe you? I’ve got no interest in joining a guild. If you’re going to hand over the gear, do it. If not, leave.”
Creak.
His fists were crying.
It had been a long time since he’d felt this way.
Gu Sung-wook went back into guild chat.
Gu Sung-wook: He refused.
Guildmate 1: What kind of bastard is this?!
Phil: Calm down. The guy seems a little strange. Can’t be helped. Let him handle your gear.
Gu Sung-wook: What?! Really?!
Phil: You still have your old gear, right?
Gu Sung-wook had recently upgraded his equipment.
Fortunately, he hadn’t sold the old set yet.
Try giving him the old gear.
It was better than handing over the gear he was currently using, but his old equipment was still pretty expensive.
Just the thought of some newbie touching it and ruining its performance made his heart ache.
Phil: If it gets damaged, I’ll fix it as best I can. The quest you’re doing is pretty important, isn’t it?
Gu Sung-wook: ...It is.
Phil: Then you’ve got to be willing to take that kind of risk. What else can you do?
Gu Sung-wook: You’re right. Phil. I was being too greedy.
Phil: But he won’t notice, right?
Gu Sung-wook: Ah, come on. His level’s low, he won’t notice. The outer appearance isn’t that different either.
Phil: Right. Good luck.
When the conversation ended and Gu Sung-wook walked back over, Tae-hyun yawned.
“Made your decision?”
“H-here... please be really careful with it...”
“You’re way too jumpy. How’d you even get to that level? Fine, fine. I’ll handle it carefully.”
That was what he said, but Tae-hyun handled it carelessly.
He tossed the equipment onto the anvil with a completely insolent attitude.
If only I could get into one PVP match with this bastard, I’d die happy!
While Gu Sung-wook was thinking that, Tae-hyun narrowed his eyes.
“This... doesn’t look like the gear you were wearing.”
“What?! No, it is!”
At this point, Gu Sung-wook was practically stripped half-naked.
All so he could make it look like he’d handed over the gear he’d been wearing.
But in reality, he had switched it.
He’d taken off his equipment, pretended to hand it over, and then pulled out the old set to give to Tae-hyun instead.
Unless the other person told you directly, you could only see the appearance of their equipped gear, so it was usually hard to tell.
But Tae-hyun had been a blacksmith in Fantasy Online 1.
A subtle difference like this was obvious to him right away.
“Come on. The decorations are different, and the pattern here changed too... aren’t you underestimating me a little too much?”
Cold sweat began to bead on Gu Sung-wook’s back.
What do I do?
Tae-hyun looked at him, then smirked.
“Well, this is good enough. Don’t be so tense.”
Clench, release.
Tae-hyun toyed with Gu Sung-wook with practiced ease.
Gu Sung-wook let out a sigh of relief.
All of a sudden, Tae-hyun seemed kind.
It was that effect where someone treats you terribly over and over, then acts nice once, and suddenly they seem like a good person.
Like a delinquent picking up a cat in the rain and somehow looking like a saint.
Check item.
Durability: 220 / 240
Defense: 80
Usable Skills: Acceleration, Rapid Recovery
Evasion Rate Increased
Level Requirement: 70
Strength Requirement: 30
Agility Requirement: 100
Light armor favored by the warriors of the Iderlon Tribe. The warriors of the Iderlon Tribe, clad in light yet excellent armor, were always an object of fear.
Durability: 105 / 110
Attack Power: 72
Usable Skill: Gale Slash
Increased damage when using swordsmanship-type skills
Level Requirement: 65
Strength Requirement: 25
Agility Requirement: 100
A longsword favored by the warriors of the Iderlon Tribe. The warriors of the Iderlon Tribe, armed with sharp and powerful weapons, were always an object of fear.
Oh. This is pretty nice.
The level requirements were decent, and the grade was Rare.
It was the perfect test subject for raising Tae-hyun’s skills.