Chapter 4

The next day.

Jin-woo arrived at the company.

“You… … you… …!”

The boss’s face turned pale as if he saw a ghost.

“You’re alive? What happened to you?”

The boss asked him.

He then explained what had happened.

“That day, the clients were actually mercenaries from competitors. One of the men hit me, and I almost lost my life. They stole the map and left me to die. I failed to exit the dungeon because of my injuries; I failed to get out there … but fortunately, I was able to escape somehow before the dungeon fell apart.”

“Dogs!”

The boss cursed when he heard that.

“They’re definitely from Shinil!”

Shinil Guide.

It was a guide company recently established in Bucheon.

They were also in the same business.

“Would you be able to find the exact culprit if you trace those client guys?”

Jinwoo asked.

“Okay, I’ll call the police. And when do you want to go back to work?”

Jinwoo shook his head at the boss’s words.

“Now, I want to stop.”

He said.

“What?? But why?”

His boss was shocked.

“After going through all this… it’s too scary now.”

“Ha…Is that so?”

The boss nodded; he understood what Jin-woo meant.

“Unfortunately, I cannot help it, but if you ever want to come back here, feel free to contact me, okay?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“In a few days, I’ll give you some severance pay.”

“Severance allowance?”

It was unexpected, he thought.

Guides were basically freelancers.

It was an irregular job, and there usually wasn’t any severance pay.

“I’ve been a guide company for quite some time, but it was the first time I’ve met someone sincere like you. Don’t refuse me; just think of it as my way of thanking you for the things you’ve done.”

“If that’s so, thank you.”

Jinwoo said with gladness.

“Yes, let’s often get in touch.”

His boss said.

“Yes, boss.”

He bid goodbye and leave the office.

He looked down at the old company building and bowed his head again.

‘Thank you, boss.’

He whispered.

Assistant Kang Jin-woo is now signing off.

He took a step forward.

* * *

There are three ways to be strong.

First is to level up.

When you hunt monsters, your level will go up.

If you level up 1, you get 1 point.

Players can invest points in the status of Strength, Agility, Intellect, Stamina, and Mana.

When you invest in Strength, your strength gets stronger.

Agility increases speed, and Intellect increases magic.

Health and Mana increase HP and MP, respectively.

The second way is through items.

It could be obtained by catching monsters or purchasing dungeon treasure chests made by item manufacturing companies.

There are different types of items, and there are endless variations of specs.

From old weapons like swords, spears, and bows, to pistols, bazookas, or railguns.

There were countless items, and each of them had a rating.

They are divided into five levels; general, advanced, rare, hero, and legendary, while it is known that there are only four legendary grades worldwide. There were many cases where low-level players beat high-level players, depending on the items they were using.

The last way to be strong is through your “Skill.”

Like items, skills are divided into five levels; general, advanced, rare, hero, and legendary. Although, unlike items, a legendary skill has never yet been discovered before.

“‘I already have such legendary skills.’

Jinwoo could not help but smile.

Even if you have only hero-level skills, your annual salary is already over a billion.

What more if it is a legendary level skill?

He can now live the life he always desired.

“Brother! Brother!”

Sun-woo hurriedly cried as he entered the house.

“They started attacking the King’s Guild Dungeon!”

“Oh, I’ll be there soon.”

“Please, Hurry!”

In the beginning, people watched runs in the obligation of gaining insight to stay alive, but now it was just for entertainment.

At first, they filmed dungeon attacks for documentation purposes.

But as time passed by, the level of players increased, and the videos of the players’ dungeon clear became very popular.

It became known to everyone as it reached global status through YouTube.

Companies designed different ways to advertise their products.

Some of them paid the players in exchange for the condition of promoting their products.

When it became known that it would be for money, players began to care about the content.

As the quality of the content increased, people became more excited. Naturally, the effect in advertising increased, and along with it, the sponsor cost also rises.

Players became very popular after a few cycles.

These days the media didn’t have celebrities such as idols or actors. Instead, they were replaced by players.

They were often interviewed in different new channels and were featured in the morning shows.

As their popularity increased, their profits also skyrocketed.

Related companies appeared, and some players made their own guilds to take advantage of this.

The King’s Guild announced that the cost of sponsorship in one year was hundreds of billions.

South Korean players rank second.

Tae-gil, the master of Park Tae-sung, was ranked 7th in the world’s guild rankings.

The King guild earned astronomical money through sponsorship contracts.

Their dungeon attack was broadcasted all over the world live on YouTube.

It was popular with millions of people, even though it was a streamed event.

-Fire Dragon Sword! Hwaryongsu!

-Quoo, oh-!

A man yelled as he lifted the red sword.

The flame from the sword turned into a dragon and wiped out the monsters.

The drone camera accurately captured the scene from the air and highlighted it.

“Wow ah ah-!”

Sun-woo opened his mouth and exclaimed.

For the children like Sun-woo, the high-level players were literally heroes.

It was the same with Jin-woo.

“I also wanted to be like that, and I got the chance to be.”

Jin-woo said.

Even though the Hwaryong sword was hero rated, it still had ample destructive power and was magnificent.

It was possible to check the skill description of the legendary Dokgogu skill. Jin-woo was curious.

Indeed, what is the effectiveness of the Dokgogu sword?

“Skill confirmation, Dokgogu sword!”.

When he shouted the command, a window appeared in front of him.

[Dokgogu Sword]

[Rating: Legendary]

[Skill: 1]

[Description: The form does not bound the Dokgogu Sword.]

[Skill Effect: Increases the user’s sword attack power by 1,000%. Mana is continuously consumed when the skill is activated.]

[Type: Continuous Skill]

Nothing flashy happens.

However.

“Isn’t this a scam? Its effect was broken.”

Jinwoo thought.

* * *

One of the reasons why people use good items was for the item’s stats.

As reality turned into a game, all the abilities of a person became numerical.

Everyone had the same basic stats.

And through level up, they gained stats to strengthen themselves.

It was like growing.

When you have an item, your stats are increased further.

For example, if a player named A with 10 attack power uses a long sword with 10 attack power, he will get a total of 20 attack power.

The question is, does it really have the ability to increase the sword’s attack power by 1,000%?’

The average damage of long swords sold in general weapon shops is 10.

If it worked, the attack power would be increased to 100 when using the Dokgogu skill with it.

In general, when leveling up, to increase attack power by 90, you had to invest 90 points in the power stat.

In other words, it means that you had to increase your level by 90.

However, it was only possible to receive such drastic corrections through skill effects.

“This is amazing.”

It was unfortunate that it didn’t have a flashy offensive skill, like the Hwaryong sword. However, due to the Dokgogu Swords’ broken effect, Hwaryong swordsmanship was incomparable.

“What will happen if I get Muramasa into this skill?”

Jinwoo asked himself.

Muramasa.

A Legendary item.

There are four legendary grade items spread all over the world.

Each one of them had fraudulent stats and additional options to perfect the world.

Muramasa will do the same.

‘I’d be an endgame raid boss character … ….’

Immediately, there will be perceptual changes in player ranks around the world.

“How much will Muramasa do?”

“Well, I could not ask for the price.”

However, if you think about it based on previous experience, it is not that expensive.

The problem was money.

The bankbook had only hundreds of thousands of won.

It took money to purchase Muramasa.

“I have to be stronger than the other guys. Certainly.”

Jinwoo said.

The average level of 150.

That was their specs.

If you add items and skills into it, it will become stronger.

Revenge would only be fruitful if he gained an absolute victory.

He needed to plan for it.

“First, I need to make money.”

“How do I make money?”

“I have to go to a dungeon.”