Settlement and the True Beginning
As soon as we were transported outside the dungeon, an enormous crowd came into view. Thousands of people had gathered in the square.
“They’re out!”
“It’s the winners!”
“What did they get? What kind of rewards?”
“Move! I can’t see!”
Wow, we’re not zoo monkeys. Why did they dump all the winners out at the same time? It looked like every dungeon’s prize recipients had been ejected simultaneously. I spotted Juniel, Daejang-ajeossi, and Si-eun glancing around. The moment they saw me, their faces brightened and they hurried over.
Si-eun, wearing sunglasses and a hat, clung to me and said, “Oppa! It’s been so long!”
“Yeah, it really has. You worked hard, didn’t you? By the way, where’s Ji-yoon?”
At my question, Si-eun finally looked around for her. “Hmm, we got sent to a different spot because of the awards ceremony… Ah, there she is!”
“OoooppAAAAA!”
Ji-yoon burst out from the crowd and sprinted toward me. I caught her in a hug and smiled. “Ji-yoon, it’s been a while. Did you do okay?”
“I was fine, but… I’m sorry, oppa. I didn’t make it into the rankings…”
Her voice was so dejected that I gently stroked her hair. “What are you talking about? Thanks to you working so hard, both Si-eun and Daejang-ajeossi were able to rank.”
“That’s right, Ji-yoon. Without you, we never would’ve made it into the top spots,” Si-eun added.
“Exactly. Because you held the front line with your shield, Si-eun and I could attack without worry,” Daejang-ajeossi said warmly.
Hearing all three of us, Ji-yoon’s face finally brightened a little. While I kept stroking her hair, I turned to Juniel standing off to the side.
“Good work, Juniel.”
She stared at me silently for a moment, then gave a small nod in reply. Typical Juniel—zero manners. Still, the axe she was holding, Granteil, had grown massively. The handle that used to be about 45 centimeters was now nearly a full meter long, and the blade itself had become enormous. The sight of Juniel casually resting that huge weapon on her shoulder was impossible to ignore.
Just how much blood had she fed it?
Anyway, while we were happily reuniting after a week apart, the crowd surrounding us gradually tightened their circle.
“Hey, show us what you got!”
“Yeah! We’re all survivors here—sharing a little info won’t hurt!”
“It’s her! That bitch killed our party!”
“Stop pushing, damn it!”
The area had turned into complete chaos. I thought I heard something unpleasant in the middle of it, but never mind. The reason these people could approach us so fearlessly and shout like this was because we were still inside a Safe Zone. Since no one could harm anyone else here, they felt free to crowd around the ranked winners without worry.
Looking at the other winners, I saw their respective groups had already formed tight defensive perimeters. Most of the top rankers seemed to be leaders of fairly large organizations. Even Lee Su-a was completely hidden behind her guild members.
The event has ended. From now on, a greater variety of monsters will appear. The Safe Zone at your current location will disappear in 10 minutes.
The message floated before my eyes. Everyone must have seen the same thing, because a loud murmur rippled through the crowd. Then—
KUOOOOOOOOO—!
A massive roar echoed from far away. It must have been one of the newly spawned monsters. The tutorial was over. The real game had just begun.
Anxiety began to spread across the square. From among the murmuring people, Geunyuk-ajeossi stepped forward from one of the ranked groups.
THUD!
He slammed the greatsword he was carrying into the ground. The heavy impact rang out across the entire plaza. Once all eyes were on him, he bellowed in a booming voice.
“Until the Safe Zone disappears, anyone who remains near my guild will be considered an enemy and cut down without mercy!”
His shout triggered an explosion of angry shouts from the surrounding crowd.
“What the hell kind of bullshit is that?! We just wanted to see what items you got!”
“Yeah! Showing them off once isn’t that hard!”
“Are you crazy? Do you even realize how many people are here?”
“Stop pushing! If you want to step forward, do it yourself! Don’t shove innocent people!”
The crowd was worked up enough to look like they might rush us at any moment. But they didn’t actually dare. Anyone with a brain could figure it out—if someone had ranked in the event dungeon and received items, they were clearly an incredible powerhouse.
Right as the standoff between the crowd and the winners was about to solidify after Geunyuk-ajeossi’s declaration, another voice rang out.
“Our guild feels the same! Back off! Once the Safe Zone ends, we will cut down anyone closest to us without hesitation!”
Lee Su-a had stepped forward and shouted at the crowd surrounding us. With that, a clear confrontation formed between the winners and their forces on one side, and the encircling crowd on the other.
Numerically, the crowd had an overwhelming advantage. But not a single winner seemed the least bit intimidated by the ragtag mob surrounding them.
In the end, people began slipping away from the outer edges of the crowd. They must have realized it would be dangerous to stay once the Safe Zone timer ran out—especially with new monsters appearing. The streets were about to become far more lethal.
Once the outer layer started dispersing, the entire gathering collapsed in moments. Even the agitators at the front, sensing the crowd shrinking, hurriedly slipped away. Before long, only the winners and their respective groups remained in the square.
An awkward silence settled over the ranked players. Geunyuk-ajeossi glanced around at the other winners, then pulled his greatsword from the ground and spoke to his own people.
“We’re leaving. With new monsters appearing, we need to reinforce the base’s defenses.”
At that moment, a middle-aged woman who appeared to be the leader of another group stepped forward and addressed him.
“You’re just going to leave like this?”
“If we’re not leaving like this, then what? You want to fight?” Geunyuk-ajeossi replied aggressively.
This guy always acts so meek in front of me, but turns into a total badass with other people.
The middle-aged woman shook her head. “Fight? Why would we waste time on something so pointless? What I’m saying is that the people gathered here are the ones who will lead this new world. Shouldn’t talented individuals like us take a moment to build some friendly connections?”
Geunyuk-ajeossi snorted. “Friendly connections? Ridiculous. I don’t know how someone with such idiotic thoughts has survived this long, but if you keep thinking like that, you’ll be dead soon. Stop talking nonsense and get lost. Actually, I’ll leave first. I was going anyway.”
His harsh words left the woman stammering. Without another glance at her, Geunyuk-ajeossi led his group away.
My pocket vibrated. I pulled out the communication stone and held it. Immediately, Geunyuk-ajeossi’s voice echoed directly in my head.
Hah. What an interesting man.
The middle-aged woman stood there trembling as she watched him leave. She ground her teeth, then turned to the remaining winners and shouted.
“Are you all thinking the same as that bear-like brute? Think carefully! In a world like this, the only ones we can trust are fellow humans! And we—the capable ones who can lead everyone—”
“I agree with that bear-like man,” another male winner interrupted. “Trust only fellow humans? It seems you’ve had it too easy navigating this hell so far. I don’t trust anyone except my own guild members. With that in mind, I’ll be taking my leave as well. Goodbye.”
He stepped forward, spoke to the woman, then led his group away.
Ah, that auntie must be dying of embarrassment right now.
Her face flushed red and then purple. Unable to say anything more to the other winners, she simply huffed angrily before taking her own people and leaving.
One by one, the winners and their groups departed. The square gradually emptied. Even as people left, I was busy exchanging telepathic messages with my subordinates. We were discussing whether any of the winners might be the Hero we were looking for.
Juniel said there had been no one who seemed like a Hero in the first dungeon.
—Are you sure there wasn’t?—
—I’m telling you, there wasn’t. They were all scrawny weaklings. And they didn’t even hunt alone. Their subordinates would drag monsters over, beat them half to death, and the leaders would just swoop in for the last hit to farm points. From second to fifth place, they were all like that.—
Hmm. In that case, it made sense there wouldn’t be anyone who could be considered a Hero. Incidentally, the middle-aged woman who had embarrassed herself earlier had taken second place in the first dungeon. I could roughly gauge the level of that place now.
As for the second dungeon where Si-eun, Ji-yoon, and Daejang-ajeossi had gone, they said there hadn’t been anyone particularly outstanding there either. The person who dealt the most damage to the raid monster and took first place might have been the Hero, but that winner was someone we already knew very well.
“…We meet again like this.”
The man greeting us with a gloomy face was Jeon Seong-jun, leader of the Hope Guild. He looked around nervously and asked in a shaky voice, “J-Ji-su…”
Why is he looking for my woman? She’s resting comfortably in the Cradle of Rest.
Si-eun stepped forward. “Ji-su is doing well. Don’t worry.”
“Ah, no, I wasn’t really worrying… I just…”
Mumbling awkwardly, Seong-jun eventually turned and walked away. Even after witnessing that intense scene between Ji-su and me, he still hadn’t sorted out his feelings? If we meet again, I’ll have to show him something even more intense.
Now the only groups left in the square were ours, Lee Su-a, and her guild members. I walked over to her.
“We have things to discuss, don’t we? How should we do this?”
Su-a looked a bit troubled as she glanced at her guild members, then said to me, “If it’s alright with you, would you like to visit our guild? It’s not far from here.”
“That works. Just tell me the location and we’ll head over.”
“Wouldn’t it be better if we went together…”
I shook my head. “I need to talk with my own group first. I’ll contact you using the communication stone I gave you. You can return the stone when I visit the guild.”
Su-a stared at me quietly for a moment, then nodded. “Understood. We’ll head back first. I’ll be waiting for your call.”
Once Su-a and her guild left, the square became completely empty.
The Safe Zone is disappearing.
The translucent barrier covering the square faded away with a soft rustle. I summoned the Gate of Rest, then looked back at the group.
“Alright, let’s go in. Time to do the settlement, right?”
It was time for a very enjoyable settlement session.