abcnovels
Chapter 94
Chapter 94
Chapter 94
A high-class Korean restaurant.
‘My mom would love this.’
Jeong-Hoon, looking at the meal being served, thought that he should bring his mother here next time.
“Does it suit your taste?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a relief. I was worried that you might not like it.”
Yeo Sunwoo was sitting across from him.
Jeong-Hoon, who had parted ways with Ha-Jin, was having dinner with Yeo Sunwoo.
The reason was simple.
“I assume you finished the search?”
“Yes. Thanks to you, the guild suffered no damage.”
“That’s a relief.”
Thanks to Jeong-Hoon’s help, his daughter, who had gone missing, returned safely.
That alone was a huge favor to Jeong-Hoon.
Today’s meeting was to repay that favor.
“As a father with a daughter, I can’t just let this go. Please allow me to repay you.”
“Repay me?”
Jeong-Hoon’s eyes momentarily sparkled.
It was human nature to be materialistic, and even though he hadn’t done it for a reward, he naturally felt anticipation when the guild leader of the renowned Ho-Yeong offered to repay him.
“Yes. Here’s the list.”
Yeo Sunwoo handed him a few documents.
The documents listed various items.
They were all Unique grade equipment items.
Moreover, he wasn’t offering just one, but a whole set.
If he chose Wolfgang’s Knuckles, he would also receive Wolfgang’s Hood, Uniform, Shoes, and Protective Bandages.
The condition was that he would be given all the necessary set armor at once.
‘That’s a generous offer.’
With this level of equipment, he could easily use it until at least level 300.
But the item Jeong-Hoon wanted wasn’t there.
“Can you give me something else instead?”
“You don’t like the rewards…?”
Yeo Sunwoo looked a little flustered.
The equipment he had listed were all expensive items.
If he were to buy them with cash, he would have to invest at least tens of millions of won, and since the quantity was limited, it wasn’t easy to obtain them.
He had even promised to guarantee at least +5 enhancement on each item.
+5 enhancement meant that the enhancement had succeeded five times, and at +5, the value could range from hundreds of millions to billions of won.
It was a rather excessive reward, but it also contained the intention of making Jeong-Hoon stay in Ho-Yeong longer by repaying the favor.
“No. It’s not that I don’t like it, but there’s something else I want.”
“…What is it?”
“Enhancement stones.”
“Enhancement stones?”
Yeo Sunwoo frowned.
Although enhancement stones were valuable depending on their grade, they weren’t as valuable as the equipment listed.
He mistakenly thought that Jeong-Hoon was indirectly asking for enhancement stones because he thought the reward was too much.
But that wasn’t it.
“I want a Legendary Enhancement Stone.”
“L-Legendary?!”
Yeo Sunwoo’s face was filled with bewilderment.
Legendary Enhancement Stones were different from ordinary enhancement stones.
They could only be dropped from monsters after level 300, and only from boss monsters with a low probability, so they were traded at a very high price.
‘It’s better to go for a full set of Unique equipment with set effects than to try and get a full set of Legendary equipment.’
It wasn’t just about money.
It was about quantity.
The supply was so low that it was impossible to even attempt enhancement.
Moreover, the success rate of enhancement was only 10%, and if it failed, there was a 20% chance that the equipment would be destroyed and lose its abilities.
That’s why people said it was better to get a full set of Unique equipment than to try and get a full set of Legendary equipment.
‘That’s why Unique equipment sets are traded at such a high price.’
A typical example of a Unique equipment set was the Dragon Set.
The Black Dragon Set that Sword Emperor Sa Jae-Hyeok was wearing was Unique grade, but when the set effect was activated, it was evaluated to be better than most Legendary equipment.
And then there was Lee Hwa-Rang, who had collected the Red Dragon Set except for the weapon.
If Lee Hwa-Rang had also obtained the weapon, it was clear that the Myth Guild would have risen even higher.
‘There’s no way Jeong-Hoon has Legendary equipment at his level…’
There was no reason for Jeong-Hoon to need a Legendary Enhancement Stone.
“It’s okay, so please get me a Legendary Enhancement Stone.”
“…May I ask why?”
“Do I need to explain?”
“Huh?”
“Weren’t you supposed to be repaying me?”
He was right.
Whatever it was, this was a meeting to repay Jeong-Hoon’s favor.
He had been invited to give him the item he wanted, so he couldn’t force his own opinion on him.
“…I apologize. Will a Legendary Enhancement Stone be enough?”
The value of a Legendary Enhancement Stone was 100 million won each.
Although the supply was very low, the enhancement success rate was so terrible that the price wasn’t that high.
“Yes.”
“How many do you need?”
“One.”
“Just one…?”
“Yes.”
One was enough.
It wasn’t about the money, but Legendary Enhancement Stones were so scarce that it was difficult to obtain them unless you were at least an executive of a renowned guild.
If Yeo Sunwoo stepped in, there would be no problem in obtaining a Legendary Enhancement Stone.
‘And I’ll steal Haruto’s skill.’
If he could just steal that, the possibility of him being active in the future would disappear.
It would be a perfect revenge.
Jeong-Hoon’s next plan was already in motion.
‘What an amazing man.’
Yeo Sunwoo, unaware of his plan, couldn’t help but admire him inwardly.
The fact that he mentioned a Legendary Enhancement Stone, which wasn’t on the list, meant that he had also recognized the value of the items on the list.
If it were anyone else, they would have chosen items worth billions of won, but he ended it with just one enhancement stone.
While still maintaining an air of nonchalance, he showed no signs of regret.
‘This is the first time I’ve wanted to get close to someone like this.’
The more he saw him, the more curious he became about this man.
* * *
At the same time.
Whirr-
Ha-Jin took out his smartphone from his pocket and answered the call.
“Yeah. Bro, did you check the video?”
“Dude! What is this?!”
Jang Dae-Hwi’s excited voice came from the other end of the phone.
“Bro, calm down first.”
“How can I calm down? How did you know about this?”
He thought it was just an entrance unlock quest.
But it wasn’t.
This quest was about finding cultists, and it was a honey pot quest that could raise your level by 3.
“Hehe, that’s a trade secret. Anyway, can you edit it?”
“…I can edit it. Are you going to upload this to YouTube?”
“Yeah. That’s why I asked you to edit it.”
“Hmm, if it goes well, this could be a huge hit…?”
At Jang Dae-Hwi’s murmur, Ha-Jin was convinced.
This video would definitely be a hit.
And a day later, after receiving the video from Jang Dae-Hwi, Ha-Jin immediately created a YouTube channel.
‘Create the channel however you want.’
Jeong-Hoon had left the YouTube matters to Ha-Jin.
So all the decision-making power was in Ha-Jin’s hands.
[Honey Tube]
Jeong-Hoon said that the direction he wanted was to upload videos that taught various honey tips of New World and help users grow.
Then Honey Tube would be perfect, right?
Ha-Jin, who had created the channel name, immediately uploaded the video, compressed to 15 minutes.
[Uploaded.]
‘The ones who seem like they have nothing are the real masters.’
A video with a thumbnail showing the Märchen Kingdom temple background and a rather provocative caption saying ‘A quest that raises your level by 3?!’
Ha-Jin whistled and turned off his computer.
* * *
A while after the video was uploaded.
World Com started to heat up.
[Hey! Did you see the YouTube video?]
– Fuck, what’s with Märchen Kingdom? There was a 3 level up quest?
? Wow hahahahaha
? How do you even come up with the idea of knocking out an informant?
? No way, we were supposed to drift here?
Most of the users who had been through Märchen Kingdom were dumbfounded.
[Wow! I leveled up by 3!]
– That video already cleared the hidden quest, so if you just find the guys with the mark and drag them to the temple, you get 3 levels up hahahahaha
? It’s true lol
? It’s only possible up to level 200… Shit
? Awesome lol I was 192, but thanks to this, I’m 195 now hahaha
? It’s really a honey pot lol
? I acknowledge Honey Tube lol
And users under level 200 went to Märchen Kingdom and did the temple quest to level up by 3.
Thanks to that, Honey Tube’s subscribers were increasing in real time.
[Wow lol Honey Tube has over 20,000 subscribers]
– So when’s the next honey tip coming up?
? It’s a one-hit wonder lol
? There can’t be honey tips like this easily.
? They’ve already been discovered and sucked dry.
? There’s absolutely none lol I’ll donate 1 million won if there is one;
* * *
At that time.
“Amelie!”
A boy who looked to be in his early teens came looking for his sister, calling her name.
“Huh? Why are you in such a hurry?”
Amelie, who was organizing notes in her room, greeted the boy warmly.
The boy’s name was Matthew.
He was the younger brother of her friend, Leila.
And he was also a guild member who was active in the same guild.
“Breaking news! Breaking news!”
“Breaking news?”
Amelie’s eyes changed at the word ‘breaking news’.
“Yeah! Just like you said, a video of some guy catching cultists was uploaded on YouTube!”
“Okay. I’ll check it out right now.”
Her class was the hidden class Heretic Inquisitor.
She was currently level 435 and hadn’t yet achieved her 5th job advancement because she hadn’t met the conditions.
[Cult members caught 0/1,000]
The condition was to catch a whopping 1,000 cultists.
This was the final stage of the quest.
As befitting a hidden quest, the job advancement conditions were so demanding that it took a very long time, but if she could just meet this condition, she would be able to successfully complete her 5th job advancement.
But there was a hitch in her plan.
If what Matthew said was true, it meant someone had already ruined her plan.
She hurriedly went to the YouTube channel Matthew had told her about.
‘South Korea?’
The owner of the YouTube channel was Korean.
Korea was quite famous when it came to New World.
In a bad way.
‘I heard it’s a backward country… but it seems there’s someone quite clever there.’
Amelie played the video.
The background was Märchen Kingdom.
Damn it! Of all places, it had to be Märchen Kingdom.
‘Ha, as expected…’
The recent cult uproar in Märchen Kingdom.
She had obtained that information, but she deliberately didn’t act and waited for the right time.
She had to catch not 100, but 1,000.
It wasn’t a small number, so she was planning to catch them all at once.
But if they tried to save it, it would turn into poop.
‘Even though the video was cut off, there must have been more quests after that.’
“Damn it!”
A curse slipped out of Amelie’s mouth.
“Sister?!”
Matthew, who had just come back from the bathroom, was startled.
He had never seen Amelie so angry.
Amelie quickly composed herself and waved her hands.
“No, Matthew. I’m angry at myself.”
“Why?”
“…I was too complacent and missed an opportunity.”
“I was so surprised… You got angry.”
“I’m sorry. Were you very surprised?”
Amelie hugged Matthew gently with a kind smile.
Thank goodness. She’s back to her usual self.
“It’s okay.”
Matthew smiled and snuggled into her arms.
And Amelie’s eyes were cold.
‘Korea… Who the hell is that guy?’
* * *
After meeting with Yeo Sunwoo.
Jeong-Hoon didn’t log into New World for a few days.
This was because he had planned to go on a trip with his mother for the first time in a long time.
‘Son, do you want to go on a trip with Mom for the first time in a long time?’
His mother had a lot of free time after quitting her job.
Since he had disrupted Amelie’s plans, Jeong-Hoon also didn’t have any big plans for the time being.
‘It’ll take some time to get the Legendary Enhancement Stone too.’
So he went on a 2-night, 3-day trip to Gangneung with his mother.
They saw the sea, relaxed at the hotel, and ate delicious food.
The most important thing was that he went on a trip with his mother.
‘I should go on trips with Mom more often.’
Jeong-Hoon resolved to travel with his mother whenever he had free time.
After returning home, he logged into New World and met Ha-Jin.
“Hoon! It’s a hit! It’s a hit!”
Ha-Jin shouted “jackpot” as soon as he saw Jeong-Hoon.
The reason was simple.
“The video we uploaded on YouTube has over a million views?”
“That’s right! It seems like a lot of people watched the video and followed it to level up by 3!”
“Really?”
It was more explosive than he had imagined.
But the number of subscribers was less than 30,000.
This was because only one honey tip video had been uploaded, and people didn’t expect more honey tips to follow.
“But it seems like foreigners are watching it too. There are a lot of comments from foreigners.”
“That’s to be expected.”
It was fine.
This honey tip video was released for users under level 200.
He would slowly narrow the gap.
“So how should we film the next video? Is there anything worth calling the next honey tip?”
The good mood didn’t last long, and Ha-Jin soon fell into worry.
This was because he had no source material for the next video.
“Don’t worry, I have something.”
“You do? What is it?”
“The Red Evil Spirit Golem.”
The Red Evil Spirit Golem was one of the many boss monsters in the Märchen Kingdom.
However, it was a monster that most people didn’t even attempt to raid because it was so difficult to strategize against.
[Whisper/Sunwoo -> Hoon: We’re short on supply, so it looks like you’ll have to wait a bit longer. I’m sorry.]
[Whisper/Hoon -> Sunwoo: It’s okay. Just make sure you get it for me.]
[Whisper/Sunwoo -> Hoon: I’ll make sure to do that.]
Haruto… It wasn’t just the enhancement stone that would change his future.
This Red Evil Spirit Golem.
By defeating this golem, he would complete his next plan.