Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Offline Investigation
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After completing the two quests given by the NPC Dun, Lee Yoo-hyun logged out of the game for the first time in ages.
The moment he logged out, his vision went completely black, and sensation returned to his entire body.
“Gasp, huff.”
Lee Yoo-hyun, freshly logged out, breathed heavily. His breath came in ragged gasps, so he pounded his chest with his fists, forcing out coughs to catch his air.
He clutched his dizzying head and crouched for a moment before slowly lifting it.
It was the familiar sight of his own room after so long. A tiny studio apartment where the game capsule took up nearly half the space.
Since time flowed at the same rate in the game as in reality, the room was shrouded in darkness.
“I’m hungry…….”
Lee Yoo-hyun trudged to the kitchenette and started boiling a pack of ramen.
“Ugh…… Ack.”
Lying in the game capsule for so long had left his whole body numb and tingling. It felt like he’d been zapped with electricity. A normal gaming capsule would have let him get up feeling refreshed, but this was a “hunter-grade” capsule. And a beta version at that.
This game capsule trained the body in-game and grew the real body alongside it. It was a recent development, and civilians probably had no idea it even existed. Regular players used standard gaming capsules.
The reason Lee Yoo-hyun had one that wasn’t even on the market was simple.
It was a high-paying gig. A net 4 million won a month. And if he survived a year using this beta “hunter-grade” capsule, his pay went up even more.
If he died during use, the wealthy unofficial group called the “Hunter Association” would cover his little sister’s hospital bills and tuition for life, plus provide for his surviving family. That was the high-risk, high-reward contract he’d signed.
They’d recruited in secret, but there were tons of applicants besides him. Yet he was the only one still alive.
Everyone else had run into problems and died midway.
He might drop dead any day himself, but for now, he was grateful to be alive. He’d minimized logouts because frequent ones were bad for the body, and somehow that had kept him going this long.
The gig ended when he “awakened.” After that, he’d officially join the Hunter Association and live on an even higher salary.
What exactly did hunters do, though? He’d signed up for the money, but he had no clue what the job entailed. A quick internet search just turned up some Japanese anime—no real info.
Money was money, and it helped his situation, so he dove in blind. He wasn’t in a position to be picky.
Lee Yoo-hyun sighed and cracked an egg into the bubbling ramen.
“Even if an S-rank hidden class pops up, why does it have to be crafting…….”
He knew it himself. Stats-wise, going down the “crafter” tree was the right call. But the Association had recommended a “warrior” class.
Theoretically, warrior classes synced best with the body. Higher survival odds. But he saw no hope in warrior for himself.
Even if he dumped every point into strength so far, it wouldn’t catch up to the toe of his “luck” stat.
Should he just give up on being a hunter? Surviving in this capsule alone paid 4 million a month.
Plus, with a crafter class, he could auction items for even more.
Crafters were unpopular because even the best ones only made common junk. But an S-rank hidden class changed everything.
Users with epic items were a rare handful even on game forums. Rares sold for hundreds of grand; uniques would be insane.
He could already craft epics in early game. Money would pour in from here on.
No more agonizing. He’d blindly follow Dun and class change.
Leveling to 100 might be tough, but not impossible.
His heart raced thinking of the responsibilities ahead. Not excitement—anxiety. Side effect of the capsule? His legs shook.
“It’ll be fine, right?”
Lee Yoo-hyun muttered as he slurped the ramen down.
His sister’s face in the hospital bed flickered in his mind. No matter what, he had to use the capsule, so next login might be his last. The face he’d seen last week could be her final one.
He stopped eating, dropped his gaze, and let out a deep sigh. A mosquito buzzed in his ear. Mold blooming in the wall corner caught his eye—sprouted while he’d been logged in.
His chest tightened more. He chugged the scalding broth to burn it away. It went down the wrong pipe; he hacked, then sighed again.
“But thanks to her, I’ve bought some time again.”
After washing up, Lee Yoo-hyun pulled out a notebook labeled “Game Guidebook” on the cover. He fired up his secondhand laptop and logged into the Nina Pinta community.
Tons of strategy posts as usual.
Lee Yoo-hyun put on his glasses and spun a pen between his fingers.
He wet his fingertip with spit and flipped through the notebook pages rapidly. It was thick, but already half-filled with community strategies he’d compiled.
Lee Yoo-hyun skimmed posts and filled in his notebook again.
“Rankers already hit the Continent of Elements?”
He clicked the top-recommended post while browsing.
The Continent of Elements had a rep as the toughest hunting ground. Base monster levels over 90.
Lately, rankers had partied up to tackle the Water Nation Ulr. How, when they hovered at 70-80? As expected, too hard—failure.
Fire Nation Yoharaum was the trickiest entry. Instant heat debuff slowly drained HP, and smart monsters made it the highest-difficulty zone.
“Oh right, gotta look up Dun too.”
Lee Yoo-hyun had vowed to search for “Dun” info right after logging out. The NPC gave off weird vibes all around.
He’d gone to the Genesis Village general store owner Rihaowel to raise affinity for early-game boosts, but chased that odd feeling from Dun and struck gold.
Dun was known as a stingy NPC: errand quests with measly +1 affinity rewards.
But she was a walking treasure chest. A unique item from an E-rank quest? Eye-popping.
Per Nina Pinta lore, Genesis NPCs were weak overall. Player-friendly, average level 20-30.
Starting village, so monsters and NPCs felt tame compared to elsewhere.
So why did an NPC there have a unique item? How’d she get it?
Nina Pinta NPCs were eerily human-like. Not just coded for game areas—the devs built a world where each had some will to act independently, then overlaid the game system.
So NPCs got items like players: hunting monsters on their own, not server handouts.
“What’s her deal…….”
Lee Yoo-hyun narrowed his eyes and typed “NPC Dun” into search.
Just a copy-pasted basic profile and a few posts. He clicked the Genesis NPC list first.
Flipping profiles, he soon found familiar ones.
「Genesis Village_NPC Rihaowel
Owner of Rihaowel’s General Store.
New to Genesis compared to other villagers.
Former knight, now retired.
Total daughtercon.」
「Genesis Village_NPC Dun
Rihaowel’s daughter.
Rude and arrogant personality.
Gives tons of pointless quests. Mostly proxy errands for her mom.」
Lee Yoo-hyun stared at Dun’s profile pic. Her mid-marble-flipping with village kids.
He recalled her snapping irritably while helping him.
She’d drilled sword basics relentlessly, fixing his form till perfect. Even spat curses right in his face when frustrated.
“Guess she’s strict ‘cause her mom was a knight.”
One thing clear: systematic training. Kid or not, she had real experience.
Recalling his encounters, Lee Yoo-hyun smiled faintly and scrolled on.
No more useful info in the profile.
Just in case, he scrolled to comments.
-Know Rihaowel’s store puts epic stuff on auction Tuesdays?
-Yeah, owner slipped one on the counter last time, nearly snagged it cheap lol scary
So that’s where Dun got her rare items—from Rihaowel.
Weird, though. If Rihaowel’s the source, why hand weapons to her kid? Risky, and she couldn’t sell them. Stolen?
-So if store’s epic supplier, guild rush and attack?
-Possible but not recommended
-Some guild tried last time, got wrecked instantly. Owner lightning fast. I know
-Nah, eyewitness said it wasn’t the owner. Just brewing potions when attacked
-Then who
-Don’t, village affinity tanks to stone age, no more village leveling
-Lmao we’re game testers not roleplayers, snag epic and divvy Gangnam apts go~
-Success strat drop
-Riha so cute ㅠㅠ
Lee Yoo-hyun frowned reading comments. Game or not, everything went in-game didn’t sit right. Maybe he’d grown fond of those characters. Hoped players left them alone.
Gathering courage, he typed under.
-Leave the well-living NPCs alone!
-Immersion freak gtfo
Internet folks are scary.
Stung, Lee Yoo-hyun deleted his comment fast. Pride hurt.
-Gonna log soon, casuals gtfo too!
-Wtf retard
More abuse; heart pounding, he hit back quick.
Just sharing an opinion, and it’s brutal.
Lee Yoo-hyun kept browsing posts without closing the tab.
Dun mentions were rare as hen’s teeth. Mostly side character in “village kids marble cute” cap posts.
「[Humor] Isekai brat making housewives do dishes;;;
Reward: Dun affinity fml」
Even rare posts weren’t flattering. Rude, annoying—tons of that.
No gems in comments.
“Weird. Thought more posts with all she does.”
Lee Yoo-hyun liked Dun-related posts and comments. Good ones only.
‘Dun’, ‘Genesis kid’, ‘Rihaowel daughter’.
Tried every keyword variation, but nothing new.
Then he typed the nickname slung her way.
“I…… se…… kai…… brat…….”
Didn’t know the word, but obvious slur. Always tagged Dun posts like a pet name, so he searched.
「[Humor] Anyone do big Genesis quest?
Our isekai brat pulled one lol
Herded dozens for day of manual labor, reward +1 affinity;; insane
If giving, give proper, but someone mouthed off end and she smacked dislike lol」
“Ah, that’s the one I figured wasn’t posted.”
Finally, a related post. That absurdity still fresh.
Back then, Dun seemed “what’s with this kid”; now too, just different shade.
Lee Yoo-hyun scrolled to comments.
-lol pissed
-Genesis quests below Rihaowel are trash idiot
-Dun quests peak inefficiency, shoulda checked strats idiot;;; read guides
-(OP) Thought Riha crumbs at least ㅠ too tragic
-Hey but tons of these posts vanished lately, yours next?
-(OP) ?
Lee Yoo-hyun refreshed for more.
「This post does not exist」
What?
Said it’d vanish—gone.
Uneasy, he re-searched old keywords. Maybe similar posts.
Dun posts wiped clean. One left.
「Dawn Open Chat
https://open.kakao.com/o/gb2TxLPc
Isekai brat haters booted
PW: Her name + bday」
Just a link, nothing else. Weird vibe, but clicked—chat had password.
Steam lost. Probably gamer buddies’ hangout.
Eyes tired from long screen time, Lee Yoo-hyun shut the laptop and crawled into bed.
Body wrecked from hunter capsule, he groped for Association meds.
Grabbed bedside pillbox, popped two, swallowed. Pain from earlier eased as they went down.
‘Better not post Dun strats.’
Muttering, Lee Yoo-hyun pulled blankets to his chin.
He always shared helpful info. Shared knowledge grew it; plus, he liked the thanks.
Back in school, he’d photocopy notes for classmates. Still wrote game analyses, nearly posted one recently but held off.
‘If it spreads, life gets messy.’
NPC AIs felt scarily alive. He worried Dun mobbed by players.
If she blew up, less time for him too. For now, he monopolized her ignored quests. Lucky.
Soft-hearted by nature, Lee Yoo-hyun would sell his soul for his last family.
Mind fogging from capsule side effects, but sister’s treatment worries fading—his heart fluttered lightly.