Oh, So That's How It Works
"Oh. So that's how it works."
The reward for claiming first place exceeded all expectations. A 30% boost to combat power and 20% increased experience gain. These weren't numbers to take lightly. To achieve that kind of efficiency with pure equipment would cost tens of billions at minimum. And the higher your level, the worse it got—for high-level hunters, it was a buff worth hundreds of billions. On top of that, it lasted a full month. So the feat he'd accomplished today wasn't just impressive; it was monumental. A simple calculation showed the guild's overall combat power had jumped by 30%.
"Anyway, time to head back. I'm starving."
Taejeong eyed the return portal, released all his skills, and stepped right in. In an instant, the scenery shifted, revealing the familiar plaza. And there were hundreds of hunters milling about. They clustered in small groups, chattering away, all on the exact same topic, as if by some miracle.
"What? Honor buff?"
"Who made the rankings?"
"It said Throne, right? That's first place, yeah?"
"Hey, do we have anyone that strong in our guild?"
"No way. Even the top of our country's rankings is stacked."
"But we got it, didn't we?"
"What the hell?"
Everyone was buzzing with excitement over the guild buff they'd received for the first time in their lives. It had always been the exclusive domain of top-tier guilds, so how could they not be thrilled to snag it out of nowhere?
Taejeong slipped past them and headed back to the dorms, where he asked Park Se-ah, "Anything happen while I was out?"
"Happen? Like what?"
"Did Ju-ah stop by or anything…?"
"No. But where'd you go? I checked the battleground, and you weren't there."
"Just out blowing off some steam. Hey, is there food at home?"
"I'll whip something up quick."
* * *
Arena Guild Master's study.
"What the hell happened? Why didn't we get a single point of Throne Honor?"
To the master's question, the training chief—who'd just been summoned—bowed his head low. "It looks like we failed across the board."
"Damn it, after all that prep, not even one… Wait, the current standings failed too?"
"Yes. We came in third."
"Third? Not even second? Do you have any idea how much gear we threw at this? And you settle for third? Were you slacking?"
"Full clear up to stage 30."
"What? Then we lost on time. Who took first and second? Hansan-do bastards?"
"No. First place was anonymous, so we couldn't tell. Second was a hunter from some mid-tier guild, from what we dug up."
"What? So we got beaten by total nobodies? This is humiliating for the guild."
Arena Guild Master Han Young couldn't help but seethe. He'd dumped nearly 60 billion won just on the 300-400 bracket, a relatively weak zone. He'd bought up the absolute best gear available for that level range and provided total support. They should have taken first there. But losing to no-name mid-tier guilds? It was absurd.
Sensing his mood, the training chief ventured cautiously, "But I heard something weird."
"Spit it out."
"They say first and second place had abnormally high stage clears."
"Abnormally? What does that mean?"
"Well, the max reachable stage for 300-400 is normally 30, right?"
"Yeah. And?"
"Second place hit 34."
"34? Are you kidding me? That's impossible. Never happened in Survival history. If it were possible, we'd have found the way by now. Who said that?"
"Pretty much everyone who participated."
"And the kicker… first place cleared 127 stages."
"What?"
This time, the reaction was explosive. The scale was just too different.
"You mocking me?"
"Why would I? I wouldn't dare, Guild Master…"
"Then think about it. Does 127 even make sense? Even flying high-levels can't touch that. You know there's wait time between stages, right?"
"But it's all over the guild chats already. Unless everyone conspired, how could they all say the same thing?"
"Check other guilds. How'd Hansan-do rank?"
"Fifth."
"Fifth. Contact them and dig around. They might know something."
"Got it. I'll look into it right away."
Hansan-do First Operations HQ.
Unless something major was up, the small conference room was always locked—but now it was packed with top brass. The atmosphere was a bit chaotic.
"What's going on? Some dispute blow up?"
"You didn't hear? It's about Mwoya Byeolgedaissne."
"Mwoya what?"
"Tsk tsk. Info that slow? 'Mwoya Byeolgedaissne'—the nickname of whoever took first in the 300-400 Survival."
"First place? Oh yeah… last time it was Arena, right? Anyway, so what if first changed? We gave up on that bracket. Why call everyone in?"
"Thing is… Ah, looks like it's starting. Just listen."
As seats filled, the intel chief pointed to a large display window.
"Thanks for coming on short notice. Straight to it—this is the rankings screen our team mirrored. As you can see, first and second place final stages are extremely abnormal."
Most already knew; rumors had spread like wildfire through the guild. But a few isolated workers, like the engineering chief fresh off leave, were hearing it for the first time. He peered curiously. "That possible? It's been stuck at 30 forever in that bracket. How'd they hit those numbers?"
"That's why I called in the key department heads. Anyone know anything about this?"
Silence. Of course—no one would have held back if they did. The chief hadn't expected an answer anyway.
"Survival runs 7 hours total. But 127 stages? Wait time alone is 21 hours. Even without waits, you'd need 3.5 minutes per stage—impossible by any class data we have."
"Even in ideal conditions, nah?"
"Exactly."
"Then this is…"
"A new class for sure. One that dwarfs anything we've seen."
"Hmm. Makes sense. So what's the plan?"
"We find the 127 hunter."
"They went anonymous. Any leads?"
"That's where second place comes in. They broke 30 too—the magic barrier. Might have clues on first."
"Alright. What do you need?"
"Mobilize every intel unit in every department. We can't miss a single detail."
"Done. I'll coordinate with everyone here and notify."
"Thank you, Commander."
Meanwhile, Butterfly Guild—which had snagged its first-ever Survival buff since founding—was in full party mode.
"Incredible, just incredible. I knew you'd pull off something huge. I'm so proud. You're a treasure to this guild."
Do Min-ah had endured the guild master's same speech for an hour straight. She just wanted out. She had her own thoughts to sort, but this oblivious guy kept looping.
"Just luck."
"Luck? Second in Survival? Nah, that's your sweat and tears paying off. Incredible, really."
"You're too kind. But I should head to my room…"
"Whoa, don't say that. Can't send off our guild hero like this. I ordered a feast—join me for a drink later, yeah? You know."
She forehead-palmed internally at his grin. 'No thanks, old man. Let me go already?'
Do Min-ah had etched her name in guild history with record-breaking results, but her mind fixated on one thing: the monster that burst through the wall. That's why she'd scored so high—it had cleared the path to the next stage.
'What the hell was that? Not a monster, felt like…'
As she pondered, the door opened.
"Oh, Chief Lee. What's up?"
"Visitors."
"Visitors? Out here?"
"From Hansan-do."
"What? Hansan-do?"
The master shot up. Chief Lee pointed at Do Min-ah. "They want to take Min-ah to Seoul."
"Min-ah? Why?"
"Dunno. But it seemed urgent."
"Hansan-do… Let's go. I need to greet them myself."
"Uh… they said just bring Min-ah out."
"What?"
"Or else there might be trouble…"
"What? Even for Hansan-do, that's too much. This is my turf. And Min-ah's like my kid. What the—? Total lack of manners. Come on. I wanna see their faces. This ain't a joke."
Butterfly Building parking lot.
Vroom.
A car peeled out fast. Chief Lee and the ashen-faced master watched. Lee ventured, "Y-You okay?"
"Ahem. Hansan-do secretaries pack a punch."
"But sending Min-ah off like that…"
The master wiped blood from his nose and glared. "If you're so worried, why didn't you stop them?"
"S-Sorry."
"Let's go in. Feels like my nose is broken. Ow, hurts. Anyway, what mess did that girl cause? Tsk. Useless."
"…"
"What's with the face?"
"N-Nothing. Let's go."