Intentional Failure: Skipping Three Episodes
“Is info on this bow skill too hard to come by? I'm thinking this price.”
“Nah, that's way too cheap. Why's a chaebol heiress being so stingy?”
Luna nitpicked the terms Lee Hansol had proposed. The haggling went back and forth like that.
‘They're offering way more than it's worth.’
Thanks to the deal with Bestige, Kang Hanbit at least had a benchmark. Yet Yeonhwa Gaming was offering prices far above that—likely thanks to Luna's meddling, of course.
“I must've hired an industrial spy instead of a little sister.”
Once things wrapped up, Lee Hansol sighed. Luna, sitting beside Hanbit, sipped her drink leisurely with a grin.
“Dealing with Black Dragon's a huge opportunity, right? Don't regret it later—go all in. First impressions matter.”
“Haa...”
Lee Hansol let out another deep breath, but her face was bright. Five pieces of intel traded for items worth 3 billion won. Three main categories.
One: Dozens of materials for crafting and rerolling weapons, armor, and magic tools—1.6 billion.
Two: Mid-grade elixirs for instant HP and mana recovery, plus situational consumables—400 million.
Three: Materials for five sets of Whirlwind Tower entry tickets—1 billion.
All items tailored for use inside the Whirlwind Tower. Far more valuable than expected, raising Hanbit's own targets.
‘I was gonna have to hustle for these.’
The priciest, rarest material for the tickets: Storm Seeds. No listings up yet, so he'd been scouting pioneer teams active in those zones. Securing enough for five full sets, with spares? Pure luck.
“I figured you'd want strategies for the Investigation Squad's verification episodes.”
Hanbit, scanning the list with satisfaction, asked Lee Hansol. The five intel trades covered items, skill quests, dungeon clears—high value for their ranks, but zero episode-related info.
“Ah, Yeonhwa Gaming's directive is to follow Black Dragon's lead and reset all episodes from scratch.”
“The whole company?”
“Luna's already doing it, and we had doubts about the existing guides anyway. Forcing ahead just leads nowhere—that was the call.”
Lee Hansol and her players' resolve was impressive. Scrapping up to two years of progress? No easy decision. Same for Luna and Odin—straight-up admirable.
“Resetting Edlen halts everything after, right?”
Hanbit tossed out a sudden question. Luna nodded.
“Yeah. Episode 8 on Pheria Island? Zero progress. Reset Edlen, and you clear everything fresh from there.”
Raven Kingdom's storylines tangled in complex ways. Front episodes could butterfly-effect massive changes—or fizzle out. Halting the back half for stability made sense.
“Black Dragon, mind if I ask when you're planning the next episode?”
Lee Hansol asked cautiously. They were waiting on his clears, so hoping for speed was natural. Sadly, he couldn't fully deliver.
“Heading in today, but give it two weeks. Got places to be.”
“Related to those items you picked?”
Hard to see the link from her view.
“Dungeon run. Episode progression'll differ from the norm too—best to watch and wait.”
“...Understood.”
With that, the trio left the cafe. At her parked car, Lee Hansol bowed politely.
“Thanks for today. The details make briefing the team easy.”
“My pleasure. Hit me up if you need anything.”
Hanbit returned the gesture, then glanced at Luna beside him. Yawns nonstop—she'd been awake over 40 hours, no wonder.
“Still waiting on the final wave, right? Crash for a bit.”
“Yeah, need a few hours at least.”
Another yawn as she shuffled to the passenger seat. Window down, half-lidded eyes:
“See ya next time.”
“Yeah, catch you later.”
The car pulled away after the quick goodbye. Hanbit watched, then headed home.
***
“Got everything I need.”
Home, Hanbit finished buying trader items he'd eyed. Yeonhwa Gaming's haul covered the rest with pocket change.
“Community's blowing up.”
RPG forum, mid-info hunt, was chaos. Topped by yesterday's Snow Drake subjugation.
<Breaking) Black Dragon Raid Team First Snow Drake Subjugation Success.>
<8-rank Rewards Drop. lol>
<Black Dragon Raid Team Details.jpg>
<Zipped Patterns Collected.>
<Next Clear Raid Guesses GO>
...Endless repeats. Hanbit clicked the top post.
<Breaking) Black Dragon Raid Team First Snow Drake Subjugation Success.>
Black Dragon's raid team cleared field boss Snow Drake first. Leader Black Dragon + 30 mid-tier pioneers. Briefing and on-site orders all by Black Dragon...
-Black Dragon pulled this off?;
-Check the lineup. lol
-I'd die leading those guys.
-Fr, they'd flame you to oblivion and disband.
└Nah, flamed and disbanded before forming.
└They don't care about you anyway.
└?
-Wtf is Black Dragon?
└Dude just games hard.
└Fr, thought he was some novel one-trick.
└Still believers? lmao
-Rewards hella jealous.
-Fr, 8-rank insane;
-Dropped 8-rank hero mats to raiders?
-Fml, should've gone;
└You?
└lol;
Article quoted the stream verbatim: Flow to the explosive finale. Bolded reward list and episode reset notice.
“Who's next?”
Snow Drake reclears possible in a week. Guesses flew on second-clear contenders. No first-blood glory, but honor and loot still juicy. Some for the challenge.
Slick—time check. Hanbit geared up, hit the bed.
Whirr—game connected. Ifrit outskirts materialized.
“Black Dragon!”
Voice from afar. Avant-garde and Kim Jaeha approached.
“Hey. Feels like ages.”
“Same. Ah, Snow Drake subjugation? Masterpiece! Classic Black Dragon. That on-site briefing especially...”
Avant-garde rattled off highlights like he'd binged every stream. Kim Jaeha nodded along.
“Was wild. You commanding pioneers, Haemu showing up? Mind blown.”
Haemu's appearance shocked him most. Hanbit agreed—it was nuts.
“Luck, mostly. Avant-garde, where you been?”
Passed on raid for skill gaps, join post-Drake.
“Checked ruined guild ruins east of the capital. Player black market—entry's a pain. Shares hidden spot intel continent-wide.”
“Black market?”
Unexpected; Hanbit blinked.
Avant-garde grinned. “Pondered helping DD Studio lately. Bounced ideas off Roper and Jaeha.”
“Eh? You're already plenty helpful...”
“Grateful, but I feel lacking. Can't just bus along enjoying Black Dragon's company—adventure's my identity. Wanna contribute that way.”
He'd been mulling roles. Skipped Drake raid firmly. Growth gaps, viewer expectations as streamer—natural worries.
“Got it. Need anything, say the word.”
“Details once shaped. Off-radar pioneer/player intel should help you.”
“...Intriguing.”
Player-run black market? Elite info. His adventures could unlock multi-use intel.
“Whirlwind Tower as planned?”
“Of course. Can't sleep from excitement.”
His eager eyes rang true. Role shifts aside, levels/stats matter. Strength frees actions.
Hanbit checked mail.
[Edlen-Challenge Dungeon Reward]
[22,381,000 Gold]
Monday's top challenge payout. No Black Dragon record-breakers yet.
“Jaeha-hyung, you good? Proficiency grinding tough?”
“Your 5 mil gold got me to 4-rank already. But those gear notes? All unstable as hell—one slip and fail.”
“Blacksmithing levels faster on quality gear, tough tech. Progress is good.”
Jaeha's growth tied to his. Max support key.
“Gotta grind harder. Tower now?”
Mace gripped, ready. But prep first.
“Nah. Episode 3 first.”
“Main quest? Won't that screw us? Two weeks in tower, and it tanks unattended?”
Jaeha fretted episode rules. Main quests tick forcibly—ignore, and it ends in disaster.
“You've got a plan.”
Avant-garde eyed Hanbit's calm.
Sharp guy.
“Short version: Intentionally tank Episode 3.”
“Huh? Tank it? Why?”
“That means...”
No normal player says that. Hanbit grinned at their shock.
“Simple reason. Gotta prep to skip three episodes.”