Monopoly?
“Monopoly?”
The unexpected story raised a question. Was the system even structured to allow that in the first place?
“What the hell did they do?”
“I don’t know the details either. They apparently cleared it all in a rush just a bit ago... Let me check.”
Yeonwoo quickly pulled up the RP community site. His expression hardened visibly.
“What, that bad?”
“It’d be faster to find the posts without the hate.”
Yeonwoo slid his smartphone back onto the table. Hanbit tapped one post and let out a hollow chuckle.
“It’s blowing up.”
First-come-first-served rewards claimed. Limited to 100 Hero-grade ones.
Now if you get the Atsbel quest, rewards come out Rare-grade. Get there later and it might drop to High or Normal.
What a bunch of trash bastards.
-Fucking shit.
Black Dragon, Roper you fucking bastards!
-No wonder there wasn’t a single bomb slime in sight. Fuck.
-Wasted all that time for nothing.
-So Lashten’s lackeys rigged it after all?
-Still no bomb slimes spawning.
└Shove your head up Lashten’s ass.
└Not even a hunting ground—you gotta buy the damn monsters. lol
-Corporate trash for real.
-21 hours of grinding hitting hard now.
-Was dreaming of clearing second and skyrocketing...
-So when’s Roper and Black Dragon going live? Spill it, for real.
The packed comments split neatly into two camps. Half were rants and laments at the megacorp. The other half targeted Black Dragon and Roper with vitriol. The vibe had already solidified: those two were the corp’s puppets.
“Exactly 100 Hero-grade ones.”
“Yeah. Man, this is bullshit.”
Hero-grade skill rewards had fired up players’ motivation big time. If one corp swept them all—not through skill, but manipulation—the sense of deprivation would be massive.
“We gotta go live ASAP. I don’t care about me, but you can’t take the heat, hyung.”
“What, you managing me now?”
“It’s ridiculous to hate on baseless speculation. They were all ‘great info!’ when they got it.”
Yeonwoo furrowed his brow, clearly pissed. Hanbit smirked at the sight.
“Why get worked up? Just say it ain’t so.”
“Words won’t cut it—they won’t listen. Trolls’ll swarm as bad as the real haters.”
“Yeah?”
Yeonwoo shook his head like he could see the future. Were there really that many people who’d stir shit just for kicks? Hanbit was kinda curious himself.
“Anyway, that corp behind the monopoly? Staying quiet?”
“Lashten out of Germany... They just posted a statement on their homepage. Claiming they took all the Atsbel quests.”
Lashten’s site had a curt notice.
“What middle-school edgelord crap? Buncha clowns.”
Hanbit snorted at the auto-translated notice. That “true” before conquerors was clearly mocking him.
“If they’ve got a vanguard, must be a big-shot corp, right?”
“Rainzer’s their mid-9,000s vanguard—not strong among rivals. Probably hyping themselves with this.”
“Hm.”
Corp rivalries were outside Hanbit’s wheelhouse. But Lashten had picked a fight with him first. Even if he leaked info, they’d cling to their monopoly like grim death. Hanbit wasn’t the type to get openly used or take it lying down. Paying them back properly was only right.
“Your streams? Keeping ‘em going awhile?”
“Til the company plan’s done, I’ll tag along as your manager and cameraman. Especially today—the trolls’ll go nuts.”
“That’s fine. I’ve got a way to handle it.”
“...A legal way, right?”
Hanbit’s face screamed mischief. The guy who’d rocked the RP world on day one—Yeonwoo felt equal parts hype and dread.
“Oh yeah, gotta brief you on streaming too.”
“Streaming?”
“Building fixed viewers is key first. If you stream yourself, reactions and all that’ll distract you...”
Yeonwoo rattled off advice. Hanbit, who’d planned to wing it, listened seriously.
“Get the vibe?”
“Mm.”
Hanbit nodded after taking it in, then declared confidently:
“Nah, I’ll do it my way.”
***
Back home, Hanbit dove into the guidebook he’d bought. By the time he’d checked desired info and future needs, hours had passed.
*Ding.*
[Hyung, you’re late.]
Yeonwoo’s message hit right as he logged into RP. They’d parted hours ago.
Hanbit glanced around, headed into the forest, and replied.
[Was skimming the guidebook. That Adventure A who wrote it—is he vanguard? Any corp affiliation?]
[Vanguard yeah, but rank undisclosed. Solo? Not sure. Why?]
[Just curious. Gotta check something—hit you up later. Stream then.]
[Ok. I’ll be working, just call.]
Yeonwoo went offline after that. Hanbit closed the window and pushed deeper into the woods.
‘Pretty empty.’
A bit farther, the cliff from the bomb slime hunt appeared. Word of the monopoly had spread—few players scouting now.
He descended, scanning cliff cracks.
‘No slimes.’
At least a few should’ve spawned by morning. Even regular bomb slimes nowhere? Suspicious.
*Thud!*
Hanbit dashed along the cliff. After 10 minutes, something caught his eye.
‘There.’
A tree in dense underbrush hard to reach. Hole under root-covered crevice.
*Click.*
UI and info hidden, Hanbit hit record. He crouched, squeezed inside.
Narrow tunnel for one person. Dark path led to vast cavern.
‘Bingo.’
Blackish slime filled his view. More gathering from sides and back.
Dark, but definitely bomb slimes.
*Gurgle.*
Something moved where they converged. Wall writhing? No—massive body undulating.
[Elite: Bomb Slime King (Lv.7)]
‘Not bad.’
Bomb Slime King: lured regulars to bulk up. Loved big trees, so not natural here.
*Crackle!*
Spark from it. Hanbit zoomed camera to ceiling above.
Black disc with mark embedded.
‘...Monster Lure?’
One-use from northern dungeon. Drew nearby monsters, as named.
‘Puts it together.’
Lured the king here, activated lure. Its traits plus lure’s effect stacked explosively. All local bomb slimes converging? Obvious.
Someone monopolized it? Culprit clear.
‘Even Lashten logo.’
Zoomed closer: mark matched homepage logo, stamped on lure.
Required on items? Or sure wouldn’t get caught? Either way, leaving it was dumb.
*Click.*
Stopped recording, Hanbit raised hand.
“Fireball.”
*Whoosh!*
Red orb flew at giant slime. Hanbit ducked behind low dirt mound.
*Boom boom boom!*
True to name, flames ignited perfectly. Peeked out: all gone clean.
Too easy when just killing.
*Ding.*
[EXP gained: 7,720.]
[Level up x4.]
[4 stat points awarded.]
‘How many piled up?’
Unlike stingy regulars, kings gave fat EXP. Bigger than thought—way more than visible. Kept gathering post-Lashten grab.
*Ding.*
Heading out, more messages.
Hanbit spotted new ones.
[Title: Bomb Slime Slayer added to list.]
[Achievement: Elite Monster Subjugation unlocked.]
[1 stat point awarded.]
“Gives one here too.”
[Bomb Slime Slayer]
Damage to slime monsters +5%.
First title from play, unlike 55 Regressions’ Recorder. Collect as many as possible—passive effect on hold.
*Drip.*
Pushing through debris to exit. Priority: Lashten’s monopoly.
“Doesn’t add up no matter how I slice it.”
Sat by tree stump,整理 thoughts.
No hidden spot like that in guidebook. But Adventure A knew it for sure.
[Zentromber]
Guidebook NPC: old miner who dug here. Lives solo on another peak—normal not to know without meeting.
Adventure A held back info.
‘Yeonwoo said solo... Selling intel not in guidebook?’
No rule to reveal all. Key: Adventure A’s knowledge depth. Weirdly vast info, spotty accuracy, outright wrongs—all nagging.
Intentional? Even weirder if not.
*Click.*
Pulled friends list, messaged Yeonwoo with video.
[Meet at Atsbel’s shop in 1 hour. Anon-post this vid to community.]
***
“Hyung, insane. Didn’t expect that.”
Outside Atsbel’s shop. Hanbit and Yeonwoo—chars parked—chatting IRL. Gear on standby, simple.
“Reactions lit?”
“Who wouldn’t curse Lashten after that? Their site’s probably crashed too.”
RP community had the video post.
Whose work? Up to you.
-? Why are they there?
-Info: Bomb Slime King spawns only in central great tree shade.
-Info2: King lures and absorbs other bomb slimes.
-Monster Lure’s got Lashten logo?
-Dragged it there on purpose to set up?
-Insane effort lol
-How’d they even cram it in?
-???: We are the true conquerors of Atsbel quest.
└That was Black Dragon bait. lol
└Sneaky bastards;
-Told ya Roper and Black Dragon unrelated.
└Mobbed innocents then flip-flop. lol
Views exploding, comments endless. Firestorm showed no sign of dying.
Comedy gold from afar for Hanbit.
“Misunderstanding cleared. Now just learn next fire spell.”
“...Huh?”
Yeonwoo’s voice shifted at Hanbit’s casual drop.
“What? Proficiency?”
Sounded utterly baffled. Hanbit shrugged it off.
“Filled it all.”