GBAS 14

Is it because there are a lot of people? For some reason, it feels like I get into a fight every time I come here.

Ignoring him was one option, but right now, he was hiding from his guild members, and there were many eyes watching here. And above all, Hyunwoo preferred to resolve things as peacefully as possible.

‘Fine. I’ll do it for you, I’ll do it.’

Instead of opening his mouth to answer, Hyunwoo brought up a keyboard in front of him, typed out a message one character at a time, then changed his expression and replied.

[General] Jeonguk-noye-jarang: sry sry

At the unexpected reply that came from him, the eyes of ssolid, a newbie who was four months into <The Frontier>, twitched and widened.

He had learned of this place thanks to the kind guild master of a guild he’d sent an application to a few days ago. The GM had told him they would approve his application if he just leveled up a little more, and had passed along all sorts of information on repeatable quests and hunting grounds that would help with level grinding.

While recommending this place, he had also mentioned two things to be particularly mindful of. The first rule was “do not form a party of three or more if possible,” which he said was created to prevent a single guild or group from monopolizing the hunting ground.

And the other was a rule that had been firmly established through near-daily squabbles since the server’s early days: “spot etiquette.”

Giving priority to the person who claimed a spot first was an unspoken rule everywhere, but this area, being a popular one, had much stricter rules than other places.

The concept of a “spot” here had a clearly defined standard. It followed the circular auto-targeting radius displayed around a user’s position.

In the game’s detailed UI settings, there was an option to see not only your own targeting range but also that of others. Users entering this place were supposed to turn on this range display option as soon as they set foot in the hunting ground and find a spot that didn’t overlap with the blue dotted circles scattered about.

And yet.

‘This person wasn’t like that.’

His gaze moved from the man’s feet upwards.

As his eyes traveled up the semi-matte silver armor plates, which seemed to have been intentionally dulled, he saw a piece of white cloth wrapped sloppily from the nape of his neck to the top of his head.

When he first saw it, he had wondered what on earth it was, but looking closely, it seemed to be a bandage.

‘But why a bandage?’

In-game bandage items healed and disappeared simultaneously upon application, restoring health. There was absolutely no reason to walk around with a bandage wrapped on a wound like in real life, so why make such a choice? It couldn’t be that he was wearing it because it was cold. Ah, maybe he had a complex about his face, or was someone who disliked showing his expression.

‘…Or maybe not?’

Catching a glimpse of well-shaped features through the loosely wrapped strips of cloth, ssolid decided to stop thinking about his appearance.

Right, right. That wasn’t the problem right now. The biggest question was why, for what reason, had those incredibly sensitive people given up their spots without a single complaint.

The man in front of him was staring blankly at him with an unconcerned look.

The man, who had dropped into the middle of the hunting ground on a large wolf, had let his monster loose without a second thought or even a glance around as soon as his feet touched the snow-trodden ground.

Just letting his monster run rampant all over the hunting ground was a rude act deserving of a beating, but this person took it a step further, pulling the aggro from mobs that other users were already fighting and mob-hunting them.

And then, he had merely glanced this way once with a bored look on his face.

‘…!’

ssolid couldn’t help but be flabbergasted.

If he was a monster-taming class, he must be a Summoner, known as the powerless commoner among supporters. How dare he act so bold? No, was that even possible in the first place?

His train of thought was thoroughly steeped in the mainstream opinions of the game community he had been engrossed in for the past few days.

Simply by belonging to the tanker class—a group treated like royalty because they were essential for party formation but scarce in number compared to the demand—ssolid had forgotten that he himself was just a newbie with nothing much to boast about.

‘Absolutely not!’

What confused the confident ssolid even more was the reaction of the people whose spots he had encroached upon.

These were people who would lecture you as if they were going to eat you alive for accidentally moving a few steps and overlapping their lines, yet their reaction to his rampage was utterly dull. They didn’t even seem to mind having the prime central clearing spot stolen from them.

[General] Bake: h…

Just, just a single sigh.

Watching them move spots without a word, ssolid was at a loss for words.

As ssolid watched the backs of the people who gave up their original spots and moved to the outskirts every time the wolf changed its position and rampaged, he was able to catch one commonality among them. This situation seemed strangely familiar to them.

‘Just what is this guy.’

ssolid lowered his gaze and looked at the chat window.

[General] Jeonguk-noye-jarang: sry sry

The message still remaining on the screen was just four consonants, but for someone who had been committing such outrageous acts, he seemed to be a surprisingly reasonable person.

ssolid nodded and took in his nickname once more.

Although he hadn’t been playing the game for long, he knew the nicknames of quite a few famous rankers. It would be more accurate to say it was hard not to know them, as a list of the TOP 20 for each class was displayed every week upon login, even if you didn’t try to learn them.

‘And this nickname is definitely a first.’

Jeonguk-noye-jarang.

It was a nickname he felt he wouldn’t have easily forgotten if he had seen it even once.

‘Since I don’t remember it, he’s probably not a ranker, so is he a hopeless newbie? The kind that’s a waste of breath to nag at… No. For that, his damage is going in way too well.’

For someone using basic elemental magic that even mages of a similar level to him rarely used anymore, his speed at taking down monsters was incredibly fast.

Without realizing that he had never once checked the Summoner ranking tab himself, ssolid racked his brain hard. Eventually, he pressed on his throbbing temples and shook his head.

What did it matter one way or another?

This was a golden opportunity to legally get party bonus experience in a place that discouraged party hunting. All he had to do was party up with this person and sweetly gobble up the experience that would flow in.

He would be pushed to the outskirts in exchange for giving up a large area, and the monster respawn rate might be a little lower, but even at this moment, the wolf was breathing out bluish steam and easily handling a hundred foes on its own.

‘This person isn’t a nuisance, but a bus driver.’

After chanting this to himself about three times and completing his mindset shift, ssolid put on a friendly-looking expression and opened his mouth.

[General] ssolid: hehe

[General] ssolid: I’m sry for being harsh too

At that, Jeonguk-noye-jarang pointed to his monster, which was engaged in a fierce battle in the distance, and spoke as if he couldn’t help it.

[General] Jeonguk-noye-jarang: It’s a bit difficult to leave right now

[General] Jeonguk-noye-jarang: It’s been a while since he’s been out

[General] Jeonguk-noye-jarang: For a walk

[General] ssolid: Ah

A walk?

Is that what you usually call something like that…

ssolid stared blankly at the wolf, covered in bright red bloodstains, rolling around in the snow with its tongue hanging out. In the meantime, Jeonguk-noye-jarang gestured in the air a few times with a cheerful flick of his hand, then nodded and continued.

[General] Jeonguk-noye-jarang: OK, I’ll open a party

[General] ssolid: Now you’re talking

[General] Jeonguk-noye-jarang: hehe

Now he finally felt relieved. With a satisfied look, ssolid glanced back at the people standing sporadically behind him and gave a shrug. It was a shrug of the “I did it” variety.

[General] Jeonguk-noye-jarang: I just sent the password

[General] ssolid: Oh

Nice.

He was cheering inwardly and about to offer a handshake as a sign of reconciliation when.

General messages popped up at the bottom of the chat window.

[General] CorrectionTape: Omg

[General] Ar: Yesss I got in lol

[General] Karen: Thank youㅠㅠㅠ

ssolid, who had glanced at the chat window, soon tilted his head. For some reason, he had a bad feeling.

Just as he looked up again, his eyes widened when he spotted the window floating above the head of the person he was facing.

[Party] M N O R [8/8]