What Does "Chaos" Mean to an NPC? 1

Kang Jeonghun stared at the headless corpse of the Poison Drake with hollow eyes.

"Is it really okay for this to be this easy?"

The only difference from the previous battle was Kim Suho's potion. Yet thanks to that potion, the fight had become ridiculously simple. Especially the antidote potion's effect—it was insane. Once their most terrifying weapon, the poison gas, became useless, the Poison Drake was nothing more than a big lizard.

In the end, they cleared the quest in under an hour since setting out to hunt the Poison Drake.

"Forty right off the bat? Did it come from the poisoning symptoms before? But what's forty even mean?"

Jeonghun was curious about the poison resistance he'd gained as a quest reward. So he tested it by taking the Poison Drake's poison gas head-on. He wasn't worried about getting poisoned anyway, thanks to Suho's potion.

But the effect of 40 poison resistance exceeded Jeonghun's imagination. The Poison Drake's poison gas did absolutely nothing to him. It just felt like everyday dust—annoyingly gritty, but no real harm.

"...I really gotta stick right by Suho hyung's side."

"Fuck, find that crazy dragon bastard quick. I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch!"

Crash!

Recovering from the injuries inflicted by Jeonghun, Lee Sang-sik vented his rage by hurling furniture at his subordinate guild members.

Only after rampaging for a while did his anger subside enough for him to slump into a chair.

"Goddamn it! Why the hell won't that bastard just die, and why does he keep showing up again?"

The fact that he'd been beaten twice now—once three years ago and again today—refused to let his fury fade. But going to full war against the Mad dragon wasn't easy either. He'd felt it firsthand this time too: the opponent was one of the Five Dragons, the Mad dragon. Even after three years of rest, it was still overwhelmingly strong. The gap that couldn't be bridged by stats alone remained as wide as ever.

If the Mad dragon hadn't held back, he wouldn't even be here fuming right now.

"You bastard! If I can't kill you with my own hands, I'll borrow someone else's to do it."

That's why he'd been cozying up to one of the other top five guilds all this time—for a moment like this. Especially since the guy he'd hooked up with was also a dragon and trembled with rage just as much as he did.

With sufficient compensation, that guy would step up for sure. And right then, the item he'd prepared as payment came to mind.

"Hey, Park Cheol-su! Where the hell is Park Cheol-su?"

At Lee Sang-sik's shout, the guild master's office door opened, and a man entered.

"Yes, Guild Master? You called?"

"How's the Cheongho Building deal? It should be finished by now. Just lowball it at a cheap price."

Park Cheol-su's face darkened dramatically at Lee Sang-sik's words. Sensing something was off, Lee Sang-sik bellowed.

"What? Spit it out straight, you punk!"

"S-Someone... bought it for cash on the spot."

"What? Bought it? Who the hell? Everyone knows Justice Guild was working on it—who dares snatch it up?"

"I-I'll find out right away."

As Lee Sang-sik's eyes bulged and he roared, Park Cheol-su bolted from the office. Inside, the sound of more furniture shattering echoed.

"Kim Suho? And you saw that bastard with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Mad dragon? The building owner is definitely Kim Suho, not the Mad dragon?"

"Yes, confirmed."

At the mention of Suho's name and the Mad dragon, Lee Sang-sik's rage peaked.

"That motherfucking bastard dares screw me over? Flaunting his shit in my face, then snatching my stuff behind my back? This fucking prick."

Lee Sang-sik's face flushed beet red, his anger boiling over to the brink of explosion.

"Hyungnim, looks like the Mad dragon targeted us from the start."

"Grit... Yeah, that crazy dragon bastard is messing with me. Goddamn scum!"

"Hyungnim! I've got a good idea. The building's legally under Kim Suho's name. From what I dug up, he's got no real connection to the Mad dragon. So if Kim Suho dies, the building floats free. It won't go back to the Mad dragon. Then we can..."

A smile crept onto Lee Sang-sik's face for the first time—a cruel one.

"Hey! Round up the guys now. Hide your identities—no slip-ups, or if anyone's ID gets exposed, I'll kill 'em myself."

It wasn't his first or second rodeo, so there was no hesitation in Lee Sang-sik's orders.

"Fucking prick! You thought you could screw me over and sleep soundly? I won't let you."

Jeonghun returned from completing the quest, his face beaming with a smile that said it all.

"Rewards any good?"

"Yeah, insane! Poison Drake's got some high-grade poison, but it felt like just dust."

The poison that had turned Jeonghun into a wreck for three years felt like mere dust now. I couldn't help but envy him.

'Damn, can't I give quests to myself?'

I'd hoped, but no dice. Just like with Seo Taeju and Seo Taehee, trying it on myself did nothing.

Instead, Jeonghun's quest alert rang out again.

It was a perfect quest for the current situation. We needed companions anyway, so giving a quest on top of that was killing two birds with one stone.

"Jeonghun, take the next quest."

Having been through it before, he didn't freak out this time. Instead, after reading it all, he reacted with wonder.

"Quests pop up for stuff like this too? Feels just like a real game now."

His words sparked an idea, and I acted on it immediately.

It worked. On a hunch, I tried it, and it actually did. Jeonghun's "game" comment reminded me how games let you run multiple quests simultaneously, so I tested it—and boom.

'Auto ones are main quests, and these forced ones are sub quests?'

"Jeonghun, one more."

"Huh?"

"Hyung, what's this? Anyway, I love this quest."

Special stats were way harder to raise than regular ones. Among them, Jeonghun's Madness was one of the toughest. He'd only managed 30 so far. But clearing C-rank dungeons for +10 Madness? I couldn't stop grinning.

"First was main quest, this is sub quest."

"Whoa~ Hyung! Love you!"

"I like women."

"I used to like women too, but lately I'm kinda wobbling. Heh!"

I fired off a termination notice at the smirking Jeonghun.

"Get out. You're fired effective immediately. Go report me to labor board or human rights commission, whatever."

"Jeonghun, this the person you were thinking of?"

I asked, eyeing the woman shouldering a massive greatbow far larger than herself, half her face hidden by a mask.

"Yeah, that's her."

I'd figured anyone Jeonghun brought wouldn't be ordinary, but I never imagined it'd be another of the Five Dragons.

Bow Dragon Ha Yeji. A member of the same Five Dragons as Jeonghun, famed for her near-mythical archery skills.

And notoriously peculiar too.

"Uh, um... Hello. I'm Kim Suho."

Ha Yeji bowed her head instead of replying. Not rude at all—her bow exuded dignity, and her eyes held a hint of apology.

"Hyung, sorry. Yeji's not much of a talker? But she's polite and kind, so no misunderstandings. Just circumstances make her quiet."

Her peculiarity was her silence—extreme silence. Among hunters, you could count on one hand those who'd heard her voice.

Yet she wasn't rude or dismissive. As her greeting showed, she came off polite, just like Jeonghun said.

"No worries, I get it. And thanks for joining us. Here's a welcome gift."

I assigned the quest to Ha Yeji right away. No need to nitpick since Jeonghun vouched for her. Trust fully when you trust.

And sure enough, she got the same quest as Jeonghun. Perfect.

Her eyes widened and mouth dropped at the sudden quest. I perked my ears expecting a gasp, but not even that came.

A weird pang of regret hit me. Meanwhile, she quickly composed herself, bowed in thanks, and I welcomed her aboard.

"Do your best from now on."

Jeonghun and Yeji left for their quest, leaving me alone.

"Two of the Five Dragons with me now. Life really is unpredictable."

Not long ago, I was a perennial job seeker. Awakened as a hunter, back to job-seeker hunter. Now wrangling two of the Five Dragons—quite the rags-to-riches vibe.

Her stats definitely outshone Jeonghun's. Proof that those three years sidelined weren't short.

"Ah, do I really need to assign a quest first for Status Check? Would be nice if I could check without."

After assigning quests to Jeonghun, I could use Status Check directly. But not on just anyone yet. Seemed like quest assignment was required for now—maybe another condition?

Yeji was the same. Couldn't check at first meet, but post-quest, it worked.

"Eh, worst case, toss a quest and check."

Simple fix, so I dropped the worry. Unaware that a shadow of threat was closing in on me.

"Guild Master, we've pinpointed the Mad dragon's destination. Entered a dungeon in Daejeon."

Killing intent flashed across Lee Sang-sik's face at his subordinate's report.

"The guys?"

"All assembled, awaiting dispatch orders."

"Good. Let's go. Kill that Kim Suho bastard."

To be continued in the next chapter...