Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Agas Land F-43
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A heavy weight.
A cold touch.
Even its thick size.
It was a sensation he'd felt once before.
'Fighter.'
That's right.
A class that primarily fought using hands, feet, and the entire body.
It was the feel of the steel gauntlets worn by such a fighter.
'Which means...'
There was only one answer.
"Oppa!"
It could only be Mira, the fighter whose job he'd heard about in advance through messages.
'As expected.'
Cotton-like beige hair.
A ponytail that suited her especially well.
The owner of looks that couldn't be hidden even in the game stood behind him, drawing tons of stares from those around.
Deer—a nickname meaning doe.
It seemed like she'd matched it with her little sister's Rabbit when first creating her character.
"Oppa, why are you so late? It's not like I'm here alone—Haneul's with me too. Making two girls wait like this."
Yoo Mira.
No, Deer puffed out her cheeks with a sulky expression as she approached.
"Sorry, sorry. Something came up."
"Jeez... Still, glad you made it before the event starts."
"Yeah, right—huh?"
As he grinned awkwardly and glanced around.
A woman who hadn't been visible before peeked out cautiously from behind Deer.
Sapphire-like blue hair.
Flowing long straight locks.
An instantly cute face to boot.
It was none other than Rabbit.
"...H-Hi."
"Oh, Haneul. Sorry for making you wait because of me."
"N-No way! Not at all!"
"R-Really?"
"Ah..."
She flushed red with embarrassment and hid her body again.
"Y-Yeah."
Muttering in a voice so quiet it was barely audible.
"Ahahaha. She must still be shy even after meeting once before."
"I-It's not that."
"Then stop hiding behind me and come out confidently..."
"I'm not ready yet!"
"What kind of prepa—!"
Deer tried to push her forward.
Rabbit resisted for all she was worth.
Luke, watching from the middle, couldn't help but chuckle.
'They look close.'
He'd seen them together in real life once too, but their sisterly bond seemed as strong as ever.
A heartwarming sight for a doting big brother.
'Hm.'
But then.
The stares he'd felt since first arriving.
"Whoa, those girls over there are super pretty, right?"
"Isn't the one on the left a celebrity?"
"One's the pure type, the other's cute style. Should we try talking to them?"
"But who's that guy in the middle? No way he's their boyfriend, right?"
The male players passing by the city fountain were fixating especially hard.
Some were even circling around with intentions of striking up a conversation.
This wasn't good.
This atmosphere was absolutely not good.
Of course, it just went to show how stunning Deer and Rabbit's looks were, but as their big brother, he couldn't let it slide.
'Can't let my guard down even in the game.'
His eyes turned icy cold.
'Just try coming closer.'
He'd chew them up, gold teeth and all.
Luke glared around with a warning in his eyes.
Flinch!
Flinch!
"Hey, looks like he's the boyfriend."
"Ugh, check out that murderous glare. Let's go."
Some left disappointed.
Others fled the glare.
Only then did Luke relax his face a bit and scan the retreating players' gear.
'Anyway...'
As expected.
True to a dungeon city, the players' gear was pretty high-end.
'Well, it's only a slight upgrade from Parten, but still.'
Beggars can't be choosers.
Where else could a thief find better hunting grounds?
Crowded places.
Those were prime spots for him.
'Might as well swipe a few things before the event kicks off?'
A quick while strolling around, and items would pop right up...
"Oppa, what are you eyeing so hungrily?"
"Ahem, nothing."
He couldn't forget Deer and Rabbit were right there, though.
"Oh, right. Oppa, we should add each other as friends!"
"Yeah, slipped my mind."
"Um, me too..."
In the end, Luke suppressed his rising urges and exchanged messenger contacts with them.
'Wasted days hunting that hidden dungeon, and their levels are still nearly double mine? No, mine's double theirs.'
Deer was 30.
Rabbit was 31.
He, meanwhile, had shot past 60 coming down Horn Mountain.
No matter how much more playtime he logged, they'd been even when escorting the carriage.
Now? His level was double theirs.
That was how fast he'd grown.
'Stat-wise, it's closer to triple.'
His level and class were hidden for now, but playing together would reveal his level eventually.
'Eh, I'll just brush it off later.'
Say he got lucky or whatever.
They chatted lightly like that, passing the time together.
Finally, the event start message appeared before his eyes.
"Ooh, it's up!"
"Parties allowed? Anyone wanna team up for the event?"
"Ah, so exciting. Hope it's something we can clear easily!"
The atmosphere buzzed.
Players waited excitedly amid the clamor.
Everyone seemed to have even higher expectations than last year.
'Well, Yong Hoseop himself spoke up about it.'
Low-level players or those with poor gear were probably hopeful too.
For a shot at top ranks in the event.
"Ah, Oppa. We should party up too!"
"Yeah, sure."
Parties formed quickly around them.
And soon, the awaited message popped up.
'No need to think about it.'
Deer and Rabbit nodded too.
A pillar of light surged from the ground.
The three figures vanished from the city simultaneously.
A sudden dizziness.
A bit of nausea.
Even blurry vision.
Teleportation effects he still hadn't gotten used to after two years.
He grimaced and looked around.
A strange new backdrop unfolded before him.
Ding-ding-dara, tara!
First came the colorful balloons floating in the air.
Then, all sorts of rides installed everywhere caught his eye.
Agas Land.
Agas's own amusement park field, introduced in a promo video before.
"Ugh, my head."
"Huh? That song..."
"What? This is the event spot? Agas Land for real—they built an actual amusement park."
Other players had been warped nearby too, it seemed.
They recovered quickly and looked around the field with wonder.
"Whoa, it's been forever since we went to an amusement park, right?"
"Yeah!"
Deer and Rabbit were the same.
But Luke scanned the surroundings with indifferent eyes.
Rides implemented just like in real life.
Shops and souvenir stands everywhere.
Even vibrant, well-decorated streets in between.
Agas Land's field looked massive at a glance.
Yet the summoned players weren't that many.
Unthinkable for a game with tens of millions concurrent.
'So they split players across multiple zones.'
Meaning dozens or hundreds of identical fields existed elsewhere.
'Or even more.'
Luke checked the nearby players.
Levels, classes, items.
All sorts, no common traits.
'Random zone assignment.'
Proof: some high-level players dotted around.
Gulp!
His mouth watered involuntarily.
'Don't know the event yet, but if I play it right...'
He could loot those inventories too.
His eyes sparkled at the thought.
Then.
An excited voice boomed from thin air.
"Ooooh, it's the GM!"
"Whoa, it even knows it's an NPC. Goosebumps."
Poof!
Pink smoke.
A clown popped out like magic.
The host Pierrot from before.
"Look at this!"
He hoisted a sign high.
F-43.
Wooden sign reading just that.
"You're in Zone F-43! Total players: 10,000. Some of you guessed it, but there are tons of zones like this. You've been sent to one of them!"
"Question!"
"Yes? Go ahead, GhostAndCalories-nim!"
"...Ahem! So rankings and rewards are per zone?"
"Correct!"
Players' eyes spun at the answer.
Individual zone rankings.
Rankings based only on the 10,000 here, independent of other zones.
Simple.
Top spots were easier to snag.
Just compete among these 10,000.
They could aim high too.
'Depends on the event, but still...'
'We have a shot!'
Optimism spread.
'Their eyes changed.'
Makes sense.
Dozens or hundreds of zones suspected.
Random assignment per zone.
Fewer rivals.
If no rankers in this 10,000, they had a chance.
That's what they thought.
'F-43 means dozens per letter.'
Even equal events had gaps in RPGs.
Rankers were annoying regardless of rules.
'With so many zones, what are the odds a ranker lands in mine? That's their logic.'
Obvious.
Too obvious.
'But...'
Not that pitiful.
'Low chance of overlap.'
Top 10,000 rankers.
High rankers: top 1,000.
Top rankers: top 100.
Them all piling into one of hundreds or thousands of zones?
'Would take insane bad luck.'
Low odds.
So Luke kept top ranks possible too.
But then.
"Sigh, talk about bad luck. Ending up in the same zone as trash like you."
"Ditto."
The exchange cut through the hush.
Familiar voices everyone had heard somewhere before.
Heads turned.
There.
Visible now.
A man and woman, hidden in the crowd till now, came into view late.