Mercenary Proposal (1)
'Is leveling up supposed to be this easy? It's not even comparable to the Magnum days.'
That was my frame of mind after wrapping up yet another mob pull. After flying for over an hour—still wishing I could've kept going—I finally touched down in the Bento Forest near Bernstein Castle.
This was the next hunting spot I'd targeted after graduating from the Dumein Castle instance: the hobgoblin village deep in Bento Forest. A honey pot of a farm where goblin parties respawned endlessly. But since it was buried deep in the woods, it wasn't worth the trek unless you assembled a dedicated party, making its time efficiency poor and leaving it somewhat neglected.
Bento Forest was especially overlooked because the swamp where the field boss Hydra respawned was so popular. That made it perfect for me, though—I deliberately stuck to user-scarce spots like this, ideal for my next level-up grind.
Consecutive Slash!
Taking a breather after one mob pull cycle? Pure luxury. At my level, sleep was the last thing on my mind. I immediately took out the regenerating hobgoblin party's shaman and kicked off another pull.
Hobgoblin parties here typically consisted of four or five warriors and one shaman. The shaman handled buffs, heals, and ranged magic attacks, but with its low HP, it went down in one combo from my holy sword's basic slash chain.
★★★★★☆☆☆
Mana Cost: 80
Cooldown: 8 seconds
Swiftly swings twice at the target for 130% of attack power.
My Consecutive Slash had hit 8 stars, turning it into a cheat skill with no weak points—cooldown, damage coefficient, everything perfect. True to its design for melee DPS to spam endlessly during farms, the mana cost was ridiculously low for 8 stars. Every use not only didn't drain my mana but actually filled it up several times over thanks to the high damage triggering MP absorption.
'Next, the two parties on the left!'
After sniping the shaman and dipping out, the remaining five hobgoblin warriors aggroed and chased. I kited them straight into the two adjacent parties, sniping their shamans with Shadow Step and Consecutive Slash before peeling off again.
By picking off the ranged shamans like this, the warrior mobs inevitably chased me down. But no matter how fast they were, they couldn't match my movement speed with Nimble Movement at 8 stars, so I took zero damage.
After clearing the shamans from eight nearby parties, roughly forty hobgoblin warriors were thundering after me.
'More mobs mean another cycle fills up fast!'
Another perfect mob pull complete. I refreshed all my self-buffs first, then Shadow Stepped into the middle of the pack.
"Kerr! Kerruk!"
"Kerrruk!"
The hobgoblin warriors reflexively attacked the moment I entered range. Ignoring their swords and spears, I unleashed my one and only AoE—the skill I'd been dumping points into lately.
Spinning Slash!
The moment I shouted the skill name, my body spun 360 degrees on its own, sword whipping around. Sword energy effects trailed the blade, dealing AoE damage to everything in a 3-meter radius.
★★★☆☆☆
Mana Cost: 300
Cooldown: 30 seconds
Deals 110% of attack power to all targets within 3m radius.
Spinning Slash, the advanced skill unlocked at 5 stars in Consecutive Slash. I'd leveled up fast before using matchups, but nothing beat mob pulls for pure efficiency. I hadn't specced it specifically for pulls, but it was paying off big time anyway.
Boom boom boom!
The skill alone triggered extra holy magic damage from my sword all over the pack. MP surged from absorbing from so many mobs, filling my bar instantly. No matter how much I burned, it refilled right away.
Trusting Mana Shield's tankiness like in the training grounds time attacks, I swung wide for multi-hits. Holy sword, Weak Point Detection, and Indomitable Courage collabed perfectly—my basic attacks hit harder than most DPS mains.
After the big AoE, the hobgoblin warriors toppled like weeds under a scythe.
Your level has increased.
"What? Another level already?"
It felt like only five hours since the last one. Even doing it myself, this hunting speed was unbelievable.
Field hunting gave more EXP than instances, but travel time, PK risks, item drops, sudden respawns, and variables meant you needed a stable four-man party with a healer and DPS.
That's why solo field farming in remote, mob-heavy spots was nonexistent—except for me. A thief doing mob pulls solo in the open field. No party EXP split, plus achievement bonuses. My level-ups were over 10x faster than same-level players.
I ignored normal drops weighing me down, just snagging occasional gold and gems. That's when I got a whisper from Last Chance after two days.
After the orc lord raid, Last Chance and I had gotten close. Post-alliance, his frequent whispers warmed things up—I hadn't doxxed, but picked up trivia. He was 26, two years younger than me, and started calling me "bro" respectfully ever since.
Anyway, not the point. He'd whispered because Phoenix had officially invited me as a merc for the siege the day after tomorrow.
Two days ago, amid my taming frenzy, Phoenix had secretly asked via Last Chance—not requested, begged.
"Could you join as a merc for this siege, bro? We're gunning for Taesung's Rozentas Castle."
Sieges were back after a month. Taesung losing Bernstein last time, dropping to four castles, had been the biggest issue. They'd dominated post-founding, only to flop immediately.
That tragedy, starting with me, let second-tier guilds rise. Olympus, taking Bernstein, became the prime second-nation candidate and Taesung rival.
"Super secret, but guild master pulled off a huge move. Know Incheon Alliance, our ally guild? We merged with them—deals done with their GM and execs. Massive, right? Announcing post-siege."
Guild merges/splits were common, no big deal usually. But this? Incheon owned a castle. Phoenix had three; absorbing them made four. Win one more siege castle? Instant five-castle nation.
"Taesung's all-in retaking Bernstein. Sis confirmed it. So Kaljen or Rozentas defenses weaken. We picked Rozentas—borders our turf—today."
First nation just emerged; second already? Seemed rushed. But without interference, two extra castles could make nationhood easy.
"Incheon sieging too, we defend three—can't spare many. Tough spot, but with your help, we take Rozentas. You've got the ace titan!"
"What for the titan?"
"Sneak in, titan-wipe their mage unit. We handle the rest."
Not asking thief Sandro under 300. Asking the sole Lord titan owner.
My titan rampage last siege? Still viral a month later.
Some guessed per Dodak Tong I'd skip this one. But thousands daily expected me to wreck Taesung again.
Phoenix, knowing my joker card, desperately wanted me. Control the only titan? Jackpot.
But that power cost dearly.
"Pay?"
"2 mil gold. Treasurer Schweitzer's guild fund offer. GM said take it or leave it."
Titan summon max five minutes. 2 mil for that? Game money dulled my senses—real-world equivalent billions. Last siege's near-700-mil item haul felt like a bugged one-off. But orc raid legendary plus this? Life flipped 180.
Item from game, life changed? Wild.
"Hm, I'll think and reply later."
Puffed ego, delayed—but greenlit that night, two days ago.
* * *
Back to Dumein Castle after ages. Barely settled in the quiet square when Last Chance approached with a man, waving.
"Bro! Over here! You beat us!"
Knight ranker in flashy full plate, no helm—face exposed. Early forties, handsome and tall. Dyed long blue hair matched his ID, amplifying his presence.
Phoenix guild master, knight rank 5. With Atlantis's Aristo and Olympus's Admiral, top second-king candidate. Taeyeon's big shot.
He was the man before me: Hellfire.
"Finally meeting the legend. Nice to meet you. I'm Hellfire, leading Phoenix."