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#5 - The S-Rank Newbie Wants to Play One of the Most Hated Party Classes
After creating a new newbie character named GoldenTaeyang1234, I skipped the entire tutorial and sent a friend request to Celial1234.
Celial accepted it in less than five seconds.
While exchanging a few messages with her, I walked toward the storage warehouse.
[Hello, it's Taeyang.]
[Celial1234: Hello~]
[Celial1234: By the way, you matched your nickname with mine?]
[Ahahaha...]
[I was actually trying to make it just GoldenTaeyang... but someone had already taken the name, and before I knew it...]
[Celial1234: Adding 1234 to duplicate names is basically tradition]
[Celial1234: Since we're leveling together, I think it's fine!]
[Haha... thank you for understanding...]
Around the time our conversation ended on a warm note, I arrived at the warehouse.
After a simple identity verification, I began taking out various items.
Things for me to use.
And things to give to Celial.
Of course, I had no intention of giving her things like Concentrated Experience Elixirs that instantly boosted levels.
It's more important to gradually grow and become familiar with the game the way Elysion Sermo intended.
So I prepared beginner equipment to make the early combat easier, rings that increased experience gain, buff potions, and thirty Return Scrolls.
Then I used Helios's Chariot Wheel to immediately travel to the entrance of Golem's Labyrinth, where Celial was waiting.
It was the absolute GOAT utility item that allowed you to travel anywhere you'd ever visited before, based on the combined exploration records of every character on your account.
The problem was that it was absurdly difficult to craft and bound to your account.
You couldn't even give it away.
Seriously, they should patch that.
And don't even think about telling me the teleport stones in each village are a substitute.
As soon as I arrived at the entrance of Golem's Labyrinth, Celial spotted me and began waving her hands frantically.
It was exactly the sort of motion that deserved the sound effect flap flap.
"Taeyang! Over here! Over here!"
Jogging over casually, I spoke in a teasing tone.
"Why are you still here?"
It was a light joke.
She could've left already.
Celial avoided my gaze slightly before answering.
"W-Well... I contacted you as soon as I logged back in... because I wanted to apologize..."
Ah.
She's ridiculously cute.
How did such a kind and gentle newbie end up in my life?
Celial, I swear I'll raise you into an excellent high-ranking player.
Maybe getting you into first-progression raid groups would be difficult.
But I was confident I could take you right up to that level.
Anyway, I handed her the Return Scrolls.
"Here, Ms. Celial."
"This is..."
"This is basically a carriage ticket. You can use the carriage at dungeon entrances to travel to nearby villages."
"Oh...! But isn't this pretty expensive?"
"No? These are pretty cheap. About three silver."
"Three silver means..."
For reference, the currency system in this game went:
Copper, Silver, Gold, and Franc.
Each denomination was worth one thousand times the previous one.
"About three thousand copper."
"U-Uh...? Isn't that... pretty expensive...?"
For a newbie, it definitely was.
But honestly, you could kill a few golems right over there, sell their materials, and earn one silver easily.
Two silver if market prices were favorable.
Recommended newbie quests also threw these scrolls at you regularly.
More importantly, once you obtained the Chariot Wheel, you practically never used carriages again.
They only became emergency transportation when the wheel was on cooldown and you lacked village-return scrolls.
"Seriously, don't feel pressured. I have way too many sitting in storage anyway. Besides, I'm heading to Asine using a Village Return Scroll. Are you staying here?"
"T-Then... thank you..."
Just as Celial reached for the ticket, I moved my hand away and stopped her.
"Ah, wait, wait. There's something important first."
"Huh...? Something important?"
There was.
Something very important.
"That is..."
"What class are you playing, Ms. Celial?"
Her class.
This game had an enormous number of classes.
Swordsman.
Spearman.
Paladin.
Martial Artist.
Archer.
Hunter.
Mage.
Warlock.
Assassin.
And even those branched further.
For Swordsmen, there were one-handed swords, two-handed swords, dual swords.
For Spearmen, there were standard spears and crescent-bladed polearms.
Even Warlocks split into Shade, Puppet Master, Shaman, Necromancer, and more.
Which made Celial's answer extremely important.
I'd brought weapons for all the major classes, but depending on her answer, I might need to return to storage.
"Um... I'm a Magic Swordsman... Is there a problem?"
The moment I heard "Magic Swordsman," I felt uneasy.
Worried would be the more accurate word.
A Magic Swordsman was exactly what the name implied:
A swordsman who used magic.
Even within the class, there were two main approaches.
Magic-focused Magic Swordsmen who used swords as support tools.
And sword-focused Magic Swordsmen who used magic as support.
Given how unbelievably cool the concept was, everyone expected the class to become insanely popular upon release.
The concept was pure fantasy.
The weapon requirements were simple too.
Just use the existing one-handed swords.
No need to farm a completely new weapon type.
Sounds like the perfect popular class, right?
...That opinion lasted exactly one day after release.
The class was indeed cool.
The problem was that its performance couldn't live up to its concept.
First, there was the weapon issue.
You technically used standard one-handed swords.
But they needed Magic Power as an equipment option.
The problem?
Any sword with Magic Power had long since been melted down into crafting materials.
Then there was the role issue.
Sword-focused Magic Swordsman?
Less tanky than actual Swordsmen.
Similar damage.
Healing so weak it wasn't even five percent of a Priest's output.
If you wanted a support-oriented sword user, you'd just play Paladin.
Magic-focused Magic Swordsman?
Why not just play Mage?
Compared to a Mage's high-level spells, Magic Swordsman magic looked pitiful.
Ironically, the class excelled in PvP and solo content.
True to its concept of mastering both swordsmanship and magic, it was ideal for veteran players tackling solo raids.
In PvP, it could function as an all-purpose frontline damage dealer capable of both melee and ranged combat.
Especially in one-on-one arena content.
There, Magic Swordsmen were practically gods.
Which was exactly why they were one of the most avoided classes in party play.
The moment you entered a party, the class became mediocre at everything.
To be honest, Magic Swordsmen got a lot of hate because of that.
People called them selfish players who only cared about themselves.
Hmm...
That wasn't enough to make me give up on raising a newbie.
I was just worried Celial might get hurt because of it someday.
"Could I ask why you chose Magic Swordsman?"
"Magic Swordsman...? Um..."
If she'd said PvP, I would've respected that.
If she'd said it looked cool, I'd explain the class and still encourage her to follow her heart.
But her answer was completely unexpected.
"...I wanted to do something on my own."
It wasn't detailed.
It wasn't logical.
Whatever had happened in her past was something I neither knew nor could know.
From my perspective, her answer was vague and impossible to fully understand.
Yet somehow, it strengthened my resolve more than any answer could have.
"Ms. Celial."
"Y-Yes...?"
"Take this."
I handed her a beginner sword I'd always planned to use someday if I ever decided to raise a Magic Swordsman.
Kedalion's One-Handed Sword.
The legendary "ultimate newbie weapon" that players were told to keep no matter what options rolled on it.
Its level requirement was only ten.
You could equip it immediately after finishing the tutorial.
The problem was that its stats were absurd.
How absurd?
Forget comparisons.
It was slightly stronger than the Azure Dragon Sword, a level-150 weapon.
Of course, since it was a growth-type weapon, its level-10 performance wasn't literally identical to its level-150 performance.
Still, if you owned a Kedalion weapon, you wouldn't need to replace it until level 150, when serious raiding began.
The particular Kedalion Sword I possessed even had a Magic Power option.
It was specifically designed for Magic Swordsmen.
If veteran Magic Swordsman players knew I owned this weapon, they would've thrown mountains of gold at me while begging:
"Please sell me that sword."
It completely trivialized the notorious level-120-to-150 dead zone where Magic Swordsmen struggled to improve because they couldn't reliably join raids.
Giving away something this valuable felt a little painful.
But honestly, I didn't care much for the class.
I'd only kept the weapon because I thought I might raise a Magic Swordsman someday.
If it ended up with a good owner, that was enough for me.
More than anything, Celial's words about wanting to accomplish something herself had genuinely moved me.
For a newbie like that, I could invest a hundred Kedalion Swords.
Anyway, Celial stared at the weapon and blinked.
"What is this...?"
"A gift. If you don't accept it, I won't give you the scrolls, and I won't help you either."
"E-Eh...? U-Um..."
As she hesitated, I spoke to ease the pressure.
"It's okay. It's not really a rare weapon. It's good, sure, but I have much better ones. So let's keep playing together for a long time. Sound good?"
Holding the sword with both hands, Celial nodded.
"Thank you so much... I'll work really hard in Elrmo from now on...!"
Ah.
Why is she so adorable?
I want to raise this newbie into a proper high-ranking player as soon as possible.
Seriously, I'm going crazy.
Is this what people mean by the joy of raising newbies?
"Wow... This sword is incredible... Are you really sure I can have this...?"
"Of course. I told you, it's not that rare."
"Thank you so much... I'll keep it forever, even after I become a veteran player...!"
Ah, fuck.
That's unbelievably seductive.
Why would anyone watch porn?
Raising a sweet S-rank newbie like this is the real porn.