The Price of Entry
But neither of them was in any position to know that.
"Still, if it's really such an incredible class, why did he ask for my weapon? At that point, he could've charged me money for it!"
"Hmm. If my guess is right, then he's definitely low-level. When your level's low, handling high-level gear makes your skill levels shoot up fast. You probably looked high-level to him, so he wanted to use your equipment to power-level his skills. And the reason he didn't charge you? He's probably such a beginner he doesn't even know what he's worth."
"He doesn't know his own value?"
"Not everyone who plays Fantasy Online 2 is smart about it. Even if someone lucks into changing into a Heroic class, a newbie might still think like this: 'Huh? I changed into a Heroic class? Now what? Well, I changed classes in Tyrum, so I guess I'll just keep leveling here for now.' Beginners have a hard time understanding just how good their class or skills really are. If he'd figured it out, he would've already gone to another kingdom and joined a guild. The fact that he's still in a place like Tyrum is proof enough."
"I see!"
"He doesn't realize how valuable his class and skills are, so even though he should've been charging you, he probably just used the skill for free so he could level it up."
"That... huh?"
Gu Sung-wook suddenly felt that something was off.
Kim Tae-hyun didn't seem like an innocent fool.
Just from talking to him, you could've believed he was a loan shark. His face was rough, and he had the kind of iron will that never gave an inch.
A guy like that is a sucker... no, a beginner?
It felt strange, but Phil's explanation sounded plausible. Gu Sung-wook decided he must have misread Tae-hyun.
"Should I go bring him here right now?"
The moment he said it, Gu Sung-wook realized his mistake.
The guild's blacksmith was Phil. And Phil wasn't a Heroic-class blacksmith either. To suggest dragging the guy in immediately without even asking Phil first—that could've hurt his feelings.
And it wasn't as if Phil lacked options. Plenty of guilds would have wanted him.
But Phil didn't seem bothered at all.
"Of course you should bring him."
What a generous man.
The rumors that he was the kindest guy in the guild clearly weren't exaggerated.
"A Heroic-class blacksmith is worth whatever price they ask. Bring him in no matter what. Once you've got him here, I'll handle the persuasion."
Good equipment. Hunting grounds and party members to help him level. Materials for crafting. Help with skills and recipes too.
A beginner would be shaken in an instant.
"But he turned us down last time. Will that really work?"
"Then be more direct this time. Go all in. Tell him we can even pay him a salary."
"A salary?!"
"Why not? We can cash out the guild's gold. It's not like we're some broke guild that can't make money."
Fantasy Online 2 had surpassed every existing game in popularity.
It was a game the entire world played at the same time.
Phil himself was a foreigner, after all.
Just as in-game items could be sold for absurd amounts of real money, in-game gold could be bought with cash too.
"Do we really have to go that far?"
"You still don't get it. You have no idea how valuable a Heroic-class blacksmith is, do you? Even I'm only Rare. Let that Heroic-class blacksmith level up a little more, and some other guild will absolutely snatch him up later. Then we're the ones who lose. And when that happens, do you know how sick we'll feel? We grab him, no matter what."
"Understood. I'll do everything I can!"
But by the time he got back, Tae-hyun had already left Tyrum.
"Goddammit!"
"This really is weird. Is it because of Luck?"
Tae-hyun had played as a blacksmith all through Fantasy Online 1.
Even to him, this phenomenon was fascinating.
Effects far beyond what his skill level should have allowed were getting attached to his work.
And every so often, when he crafted an item, something unbelievably good would pop out.
If items can turn out like that, why not skills too?
No one had ever pushed Luck as high as Tae-hyun had, so there was nowhere to compare notes.
Then again, if I raised Luck past two thousand, I'd better be getting at least this much out of it.
Tae-hyun liked deliberately picking weak, difficult characters to raise, but even so, they had to have some kind of advantage.
What kind of character had no strengths at all?
Clatter, clatter—
"Ugh. This thing shakes way too much."
Ji-su looked out the window with the queasy expression of someone getting motion sick.
They were currently riding in a carriage.
The very carriage other players boarded the moment they hit level 10.
Most people headed straight for the Erangs Kingdom.
The Erangs Kingdom was far larger than the Salz Kingdom, packed with facilities and NPCs of every kind. It had a Magic Tower, all sorts of crafting guilds—an environment far better than the Salz Kingdom, where nothing but narrow-minded hunters seemed to crowd together.
"Where was this fortress again?"
"Near the border between the Erangs Kingdom and the Auston Kingdom."
Ji-su had looked up the relevant information on a Fantasy Online 2 fan site.
The Auston Kingdom lay south of the Salz Kingdom.
But right now, only fairly high-level players were entering it. Beginners couldn't even start there.
A civil war had broken out inside the kingdom.
Fantasy Online 2 was governed by AI and operated like a real world.
Wars breaking out, kings being replaced, kingdoms disappearing or newly rising—those were all entirely possible.
And large-scale events like that were always huge opportunities for players.
If you sided with a noble and led them to victory in battle, you could earn rewards from them.
Merchants could head there and sell goods at high prices.
Or, if nothing else, you could linger around the battlefield and pick up abandoned items.
Wars like that were a fantastic chance to stack up a mountain of quests, but...
Not yet, right?
Tae-hyun regretted it, but gave up on going to the Auston Kingdom.
There was nothing good waiting for him there right now.
Wars were places where NPCs around level 100 started pouring out in droves.
Since it was a conflict inside a kingdom, of course knights would show up too.
If Tae-hyun or Ji-su went there now, the odds were high they'd die before accomplishing anything.
Another chance will come later.
Either way, the Auston Kingdom was effectively paralyzed at the moment.
Because of that, wandering Orc tribes had swarmed in and occupied the border regions.
And now the aftermath had spread all the way to the Salz Kingdom and the Erangs Kingdom.
After hearing the explanation, Tae-hyun tilted his head.
"Then there are probably people on the Erangs side who got quests too."
"Huh?"
"It's near the border, and if the Orcs invaded the Erangs Kingdom too, then they would've handed out a few quests over there as well."
"Ah. Right."
"Might end up being a competitive quest."
Unlike quests with no time limit, there were quests that ended the moment the first person cleared them.
Something like an Orc suppression quest had a good chance of being one of those.
"Open up! Open up!"
"We said we're here to hunt Orcs!"
"No, seriously, how does it make sense to refuse entry when we're here for an Orc suppression quest?!"
"You better watch your back at night!"
"...?"
A loud commotion drifted in from outside the carriage.
When they stuck their heads out, they saw a fortress in the distance.
And gathered in front of it—a group of players.
"What's going on?"
"Who knows?"
The fortress was small, but it looked incredibly sturdy.
It had stone walls, and the soldiers standing on top looked fairly high-level. There was a wooden palisade in front of it too, along with a moat.
It wasn't called a border fortress for nothing.
"Enough noise. Prepare to attack!"
An NPC standing atop the fortress wall spoke.
Judging from his outfit, he seemed to be the commander.
"If you do not withdraw, I will order the attack!"
"...!"
The soldiers all drew their bows at once and aimed downward.
At the sight, the players recoiled in panic and backed away.
"Wh-what the hell?"
"Wow, seriously... the Salz Kingdom doesn't mess around."
"What's happening?"
Tae-hyun asked as he stepped down from the carriage.
The others, still angry, pointed at the fortress and shouted.
"Those bastards won't open the gate!"
"Won't open it? What do you mean?"
"Why are you here?"
"Because of the Orc suppression quest."
"Same as us. But those bastards won't let outsiders into the fortress. I mean, come on, how are you supposed to clear a suppression quest like this with one party? You need to join up with a local force!"
It might have been called an Orc tribe, but judging by their numbers, this wasn't the kind of quest a single party could clear alone.
Usually, quests like this were meant to be cleared by working together with soldiers from the kingdom.
But the Salz Kingdom fortress had flatly refused all outside help.
"Why?"
"Well, unless..."
Tae-hyun stepped closer, already suspecting something.
Then a voice called out from the fortress.
"Ah, a Tyrum Hunter? Come in!"
"..."
People of the Salz Kingdom were welcome, but people from other kingdoms were not.
"I mean... technically it makes sense, since it's a Salz Kingdom fortress, but isn't this a little too petty?"
Even Tae-hyun found it ridiculous.
If players had come to help suppress Orcs, they should've been let into the fortress. That way they could get support inside, recover, buy and sell equipment, move together with the soldiers—basic common sense.
The players who had been turned away saw Tae-hyun and Ji-su being allowed inside and immediately exploded.
"Wait, why are those two being let in?!"
"They're Tyrum Hunters."
"??"
The players, not understanding, turned to stare at one another.
Do you get in if you say your class?
If so, then they would say their classes.
"I'm a Squire! Erangs Squire!"
"I'm a Shield Warrior!"
"I'm a Priest of the Goddess Demer..."
Classes came pouring out one after another.
But the fortress commander remained cold.
"Yes. And you're all from Erangs. This fortress belongs to the Salz Kingdom! We don't take in outsiders!"
"What kind of bullshit is that?!"
Maximum realism.
If you weren't a player from the Salz Kingdom, you couldn't enter a Salz Kingdom fortress.
You could get in by building up enough affinity, but under the current circumstances, that was impossible.
"What the hell are you talking about? Aren't the Orcs the enemy right now?!"
"Are you insane?!"
No matter how much the players yelled, the commander and soldiers stayed cold.
The first to realize what that meant was the female player who had introduced herself as a priest.
"Excuse me! Excuse me!"
"...?"
Tae-hyun and Ji-su, who had been about to slip through the gate, paused.
"Please help us!"
"Help you with what?"
Ji-su asked.
But Tae-hyun extended a hand.
A silent order: Don't talk.
"This isn't the moment to ask what. It's when you ask why."
"??"
"Why should I help you?"
If there was something valuable, never give it away for free.
The instant Tae-hyun asked, Why?, the other players looked flustered.
"Uh... because we're all here to kill Orcs together?"
"Idiot. That's not what he meant."
The priestess seemed quick on the uptake.
"Why?"
"He means we have to pay a price if we want him to get us in."
"What? For getting us into that fortress?"
"Can you get in right now without him? Can you do this quest without help?"
Now that she put it that way, she had a point.
It was ridiculous to have to pay just because he got into the fortress first, but nothing in the world came free.
Being close to the fortress NPCs was a kind of power too.
"Would money do it?"
One of the other party members muttered, but the priestess ignored him and addressed Tae-hyun directly.
"Wait. Let me talk. Excuse me! What do you want?"
"You've got a priest there, right?"
"What? Ah—yes. I'm the priest. A priest of the Goddess Demer."
"Can I get some help from you when it's time to clear the quest?"
There was a reason people formed parties.
The best party was always a balanced one.
And among all party compositions, priests were always in demand.
Who wouldn't want a class that could heal party members and buff them with blessings?