Dungeon Steal (1)
After wrapping up a hectic day and flopping onto my bed, I scrolled through the Allta boards and clicked on a post about me.
'Well, with how many Taitonic players there are, no way they could contain news of me wiping a hundred at once. Plus, after I posted that warning yesterday, the game journalists were probably all over it.'
Since launch, had there ever been a player who'd racked up more PKs than me in a single day? Even 'Murduck,' the guy dubbed 'Slayer,' hadn't matched my count. The game's structure made heavy PKing tough—do enough, and murderer hunters would swarm you like clockwork.
In my case, I'd zipped around ghosting only Taeseong players, so they'd barely latched on. If I'd camped one public field for long, every user gunning for the Holy Sword would've piled in.
"Ah! The hunters did show up! They were just that Taeseong squad of a hundred, heh."
From being treated like a big shot to actually becoming one—it was sinking in. Not a day went by without my name flooding Allta boards, and journalists scrambled to track my moves. Taitonic's hottest star? That was me, no exaggeration.
I shut off my smartphone and pondered. Was this really the life I'd wanted?
'Life of a celebrity... Not what I aimed for, but it ain't half bad.'
When folks called it attention-seeking clownery, even I felt iffy. But every siege I joined. Every time I mounted a titan. Every moment I dove solo into enemy hordes in today's massive field battle... My heart pounded wild, adrenaline surged, sharpening my focus to a razor's edge.
Ironically, the bone-dry real world had never given me that 'alive' rush—not once in twenty-eight years. But in this VR game? I'd felt it multiple times already.
'Ever since the day I picked up the Holy Sword!'
Through those twenty-eight years, I'd never known how thrilling it could be to dive deep into something, to inch toward a goal. That's why I had to crush Darius and dismantle Taeseong. That childhood trauma—the trigger that killed my gaming drive—had resurfaced as bad blood here in Taitonic. No one needed to tell me: only by ending it with my own hands could I start fresh.
'If you'd been a decent, polite guild, I wouldn't dream of this... Thanks for being such assholes. No hesitation now—you made it easy to wanna wreck you!'
Taeseong! This field war I'd kicked off today wouldn't stop till your TS Nation vanished from Taitonic.
With resolve burning against the fatigue, I closed out the longest day yet.
"Sandro-nim! You're really putting all that up on the exchange? I can sell it for you reeeal good~?"
"What, you wanna handle unique item sales yourself too? Leave this stuff to me via auction house. Just snag those legendaries I mentioned—no luck yet?"
Yesterday's field rampage had netted me drops from over three hundred Taeseong users. High-level chaebol-backed types meant quality loot: four uniques, eleven high-enhanced rares. Pink Rabbit had sniffed it out and was begging to broker the sales.
PKing for this much gear wasn't easy. If drops were always this juicy, Taitonic would've tanked from quitters long ago. Possible only 'cause they were all Taeseong—noobs wouldn't drop like that.
Taeseong's infamous for their ruthless slaughter system, so tons of those kills were on murderers. Fewer murderers, fewer drops. No one had dared full-frontal Taeseong before... They were a goldmine.
"Nothing but a few Rainzel pieces like last time. Mana legendaries are rare as hell. Could be a jackpot if you're patient though..."
"Jackpot item?"
"Yeah. You know Merlin? The spy who backstabbed Darius and jumped to Gojoseon."
"How could I forget? Heh. But why him?"
"Rumors he's had some special item forever—suspected cooldown reducer. Anyway, word is he wants to sell it. Probably quest-exclusive; heard he scored a second one."
Merlin's stunned face after losing the Holy Sword flashed back. Digging up old memories, yeah—he'd pulled shady skills. Hanging a movement debuff on Darius despite high magic resist fails, spamming till it stuck...
"Oh, for real? But weird—shouldn't hit the market."
"He's Gojoseon now, but infamous money-grubber. Got scouted by Taeseong for cash, betrayed 'em for more. Even in his pro days, known as cash-obsessed among insiders!"
Taeseong pays fat stacks too—how much to betray that aftermath-heavy Darius? Money sure, but I suspected divine-grade loot bait-and-switch. Whatever, irrelevant to me now.
"Whoa! If it hits auction, it'll be nuts!"
"Gonna shatter records. Ah! Then I got nothing to do... Dang."
"Only you tip me off like this, Pink Rabbit-nim! Always grateful. If Merlin lists it, tell me ASAP! Tip's yours!"
"Yessir! Sandro-nim knows how to spend!"
Coming from someone who knew my old cheapskate ways, that hit scarier. Anyway, cooldown reducer? Buy at any price. Shadow Step spam through foes without cooldowns...?
'Hong Gil Dong for real. Taeseong's thief hands over his ID then? Heh.'
Prime intel from Pink Rabbit. Added must-have to my collection list, then headed straight to Gartwell Mountains.
PK binge yesterday; today, per Kaiser's advice, pure leveling grind.
'Not daily PK fields—hit unpredictable timings. Month of that, no Taeseong solo-fielding with guild tags.'
Bit by bit, one guy—me—would grind their growth to a halt. Till that massive Taeseong castle crumbled.
Whiiiing. Ferari ride got me to Wyvern Nest peak in no time. Taming her slashed travel-to-hunt time massively. For my sky-high efficiency, perfect pet.
Lately, wyverns were my main grind. Level 400 beasts, nest buried deep in mountains—no normies around. Ignored non-boss drops anyway; ideal pure XP spot.
Early on, summoned titan twice for mob trains and powerleveled.
'Mob trains wear titan HP too fast, long cooldowns—fatal flaw.'
Never knew when I'd need Luitus, so less titan farming than planned. But each run vacuumed absurd XP—unbelievable for 300s.
Now at 335, blade dulled a bit; soloed fine without.
Always grinded 60-70 levels over—while others stuck same-level mobs.
Mana Shield absorbs 3,155 physical damage.
Shk, shk, shk! Even 3-meter mid-large wyverns crumpled fast to Holy Sword autos. Solid attack power, but solo-spaced—no parties, comfy hunt.
Sealed attacks here; buffed autos only. Instant skills eat MP—PK burst aside, autos maximized uptime, no rests.
'But Merlin-style no-cooldown skills, endless Ghost Step...?'
Leveling revolution! Mid-wyvern slaughter, brain stuck on that item.
Thirty minutes circling the nest peak, Yeon Woo whispered.