Chapter 16

Earth Korea Management Team.

Park Ju-ho and his colleague were engrossed in watching a user's gameplay.

"Wow... they finished all of that in just two weeks."

"They're a real monster, that person..."

Initially, the two had been disappointed when the user started doing village quests, but their expressions changed as time went on.

Ninety-five percent of the quests in the starting village were grindy and repetitive.

From the beginning, the starting village was designed to indirectly guide players to the training center to learn basic skills, level up, and proceed to the job advancement quest.

However, this user did the opposite, starting with the village quests and completing them without taking a break.

The user finished quests that would normally take at least two months to complete in just two weeks.

"You two, stop watching and get to work!"

Team leader Oh Jin-soo reprimanded them.

"Sorry. We'll get back to work right away."

With his scolding, Park Ju-ho and his colleague finally closed the monitoring program and resumed their tasks.

Until the Crushers hunt, the team leader himself had been captivated by the user's gameplay, but his interest waned a bit after seeing the village quests.

He had risen to his current position with a certain amount of knowledge about New World.

'Those village quests only give you a symbolic title and nothing else.'

These village quests were already completed and verified by a few YouTubers, and no one else bothered with them anymore.

At first, he was very interested in the user's unusual behavior, but seeing them pursue the village quests, which had more drawbacks than benefits, made him wonder if it was just an incredibly lucky coincidence.

'Is it really just luck?'

On the other hand, he couldn't shake the feeling that there might be something more to it.

* * *

With a whoosh, the capsule door opened and Jeong-Hoon stepped out.

He had compressed two months' worth of quests into two weeks and cleared them.

It was proof that he had been running nonstop.

If it had been something rewarding, it would have been fine. But it was all manual labor, so it was natural that he was mentally stressed.

"Phew."

He bought a drink to take a short break and sat down on a chair.

He figured he'd be able to start the quest once he visited the alchemist's house next.

As he sipped his drink while planning, someone sat across from him.

It was Lee Hyun-woo, the owner of the capsule room.

"Are you taking a break?"

He was close with Ha-jin, so he spoke informally, but this was Jeong-Hoon's first time seeing him since he started coming to the capsule room.

Therefore, he couldn't speak informally to Jeong-Hoon right away.

"Yes."

Jeong-Hoon nodded.

"Did you know this is your first break in two weeks?"

How could he not know?

Jeong-Hoon had reduced his sleep time to a mere two hours for the village quests and focused the rest of his time, excluding travel, on the quests.

Dark circles were etched under his eyes, and he was so tired that he would fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

"It's okay. I'll just rest a bit and go back in."

Since he had come this far, he planned to finish the alchemist's quest and then rest properly.

"Huh..."

Lee Hyun-woo was speechless at Jeong-Hoon's determination.

'Ha-jin... he has an incredible friend.'

He had thought that appearing on the Genius program at a young age was impressive enough, but now he realized that his true strength was his mental fortitude.

Even if you're deeply immersed in New World, it's not easy to invest over 21 hours a day.

Virtual reality and reality are completely different.

The more time you spend in the capsule, the more mental damage accumulates, and you quickly become fatigued.

That's why most users don't exceed eight hours.

Addicted users often exceed 12 hours, but even they can't maintain that for more than a week.

Their brains start to scream.

But Jeong-Hoon was investing close to 21 hours, far exceeding 12 hours.

For two whole weeks, without a single day of rest.

'He must be so tired, how can he endure it?'

Anyone could see that Jeong-Hoon's face was not in good shape.

It looked like he would collapse and faint if you just poked him.

"I'll head back to the capsule now."

"Huh? You're going back in already?"

He had only rested for five minutes?

"Yes. I'm a bit busy."

With that, Jeong-Hoon entered the capsule.

"...Take it easy, man."

Lee Hyun-woo left a fatigue recovery potion next to the capsule and went out for a smoke.

* * *

A small building located a little distance from the starting village.

Users called it the alchemist's house.

[Newbie Question!]

-I'm a gunslinger who reached level 17! I was wandering around the village and found a building where an alchemist lives. What's this place for?

└Just ignore it~

└It doesn't give you anything lol

└It's a useless place. It doesn't even give you a common quest lol

└Don't go in there without a reason. The alchemist gets pissed and curses you with a debuff lol

└Oh, right lol That YouTuber who was going around trying to clear the village quests went into the alchemist's house and got hit with a 6-hour debuff that reduced experience gain by 50% and all stats by 20% lol

The crazy alchemist who curses you with a debuff if you visit without a reason.

It's understandable.

To receive a quest from him, you need to complete all the village quests and have a Poison Crusher's Core to fulfill the quest unlock conditions.

"Excuse me, user."

As Jeong-Hoon was about to leave the swordsmanship training center, a user stopped him.

A male user who looked to be in his early 20s.

[Player Information]

-Nickname: Aren

-Level: 32

-Class: Apprentice Warrior (1st Class Change)

He was a warrior who had recently completed his first job advancement.

"Did you call me?"

"Yes! I'm Aren, a variety gaming YouTuber!"

Variety gaming YouTuber.

A streamer who plays various games and interacts with viewers.

Why was this YouTuber approaching him?

"And?"

"I was wondering if there's a reason you're going around the village clearing quests?"

"Are you streaming right now?"

"No. I'm still getting used to New World, so I'm playing hard even when I'm not streaming."

Since his smart lens wasn't activated, it seemed he wasn't lying.

"I just need to."

"Need to?"

"Yes. It's absolutely necessary."

Jeong-Hoon answered briefly and left.

* * *

Aren was a fairly well-known YouTuber.

He was originally a YouTuber specializing in the FPS game "Uran," and he had even been a professional "Uran" player.

With his IQ of 77 and his background as a "Uran" pro gamer, he was lucky enough to get a lot of views, and he was able to grow into a YouTuber with 180,000 subscribers.

However, Uran recently announced its service termination, forcing him to switch to variety gaming.

"Is there something special about the starting village quests?"

He was a latecomer to New World.

So he was growing with the help of viewers in the early stages, and he was definitely told that the village quests were a waste of time.

"Hmm, maybe it's not a waste of time?"

Aren felt sincerity in the eyes of the martial artist he had just spoken to.

Someone with eyes like that wouldn't lie!

"Alright. I'll try it too!"

The starting village quests were just simple, repetitive tasks.

Aren boldly entered the community and declared his ambition to complete all the starting village quests.

Soon, comments started pouring in.

└Dude, stop talking nonsense and level up.

└All you get for completing the starting village quests is a useless title. Didn't you watch World Com's video?

└He doesn't watch World Com's videos... He hates reading, so he always asks us lol

└Why is a former Uran pro gamer acting like this...?

└lol Didn't you know this guy is an idiot? His IQ is 77 lol

└He was a pro gamer who relied purely on physical skills. The reason he was always in third place was because of his severe flaws in tactical thinking lol

These guys...!

It seemed he needed to show them.

He would secretly complete the starting village quests and prove them wrong.

* * *

The Alchemist's House.

As if to deny access to anyone, a barricade was placed in front of the entrance.

Jeong-Hoon reached out his hand to the barricade.

[Resisting poison.]

He knew the barricade was coated with poison, but he intentionally touched it.

The more times he resisted poison, the higher the level of his Poison Resistance skill would become.

Creak.

He pushed the barricade aside, creating a passage to enter.

Jeong-Hoon used the passage to enter the building.

A stench so foul it was impossible to tell when the last cleaning had been done wafted towards him.

The floor was littered with garbage, which seemed to be the source of the smell.

It was impossible to pass through without stepping on the trash.

Step. Crunch. Step.

Jeong-Hoon walked on, stepping on the garbage as if it were nothing.

He arrived at the laboratory.

Creak.

The laboratory door opened easily when he pushed it with his hand.

A man was sitting on a chair, engrossed in his research.

[NPC Information]

-Nickname: Bleo

-Level: 30

-Job: Alchemist (Poison)

The owner of this building, a man who looked to be in his 40s, was the NPC alchemist Bleo.

His head was already bald, with not a single hair to be found.

"How dare you enter this place?"

The alchemist raised his head as Jeong-Hoon entered the laboratory.

His pale complexion and lifeless green eyes sent chills down one's spine.

'It's definitely working.'

Jeong-Hoon chuckled inwardly.

He, too, had once visited the alchemist's house out of curiosity.

Back then, the alchemist's eyes were filled with wariness, but now there was no trace of it.

"I have something to show you."

He took out Crusher's Core from his inventory and placed it on the table.

A red question mark began to blink over the alchemist's head.

It meant that a hidden quest could be initiated.

[Hidden Quest: Alchemist Bleo]

-Requirement: Obtain the "Contributor of the Starting Village" title + Possess Crusher's Core

-Reward: Poison Attack

-Description: Help Alchemist Bleo develop a cure.

A quest to help develop a cure.

'Since you guys got it, should I tell you a story? It was when I was active as a Poisoner.'

A traitor who was once a comrade.

Min Jin-ho, the Poisoner.

The main character of this hidden quest was Min Jin-ho.

He, originally a Poisoner, approached level 60 users who had defeated the Poison Crusher, paid them a large sum of money for Crusher's Core, and sought out Alchemist Bleo.

Of course, he also mentioned that the alchemist didn't give him the quest right away, and he had to clear all the quests related to the starting village to receive the hidden quest.

"That's?!"

Alchemist Bleo jumped up from his seat.

It was the reaction Jeong-Hoon had expected.

This Crusher's Core was an essential ingredient for completing his research.

"Crusher's Core. Don't you need this?"

"Gulp..."

Bleo gulped and nodded.

"Hmm, I don't think so. Your attitude is not very..."

"Oh my! Please, have a seat here, in this humble place!"

Bleo dusted off an empty chair with his hand.

Finally, he switched to honorifics.

"Now we can have a proper conversation."

Jeong-Hoon sat down on the chair.

"Well... I saw you helping the villagers. It's been a while since I've seen such a kind foreigner."

Bleo fundamentally disliked people.

So it was natural that he disliked the foreigners who filled the village.

This was the reason why the process of receiving a quest from Bleo was so complicated.

"How did you know I was helping?"

"Ahem... I can't go outside because of my research, so I hear about the outside situation through Pero."

Pero was a crow that Bleo raised.

Of course, they couldn't communicate with each other, but he had attached an artifact he developed to Pero, and through it, he indirectly saw and felt the outside situation.

The reason why the villagers' quests were prerequisites was to break down Bleo's wariness.

"So, what do I have to do to help you with your research?"

"Hmm... First, can I extract the poison from this Core separately?"

"Do as you please."

As long as he received the reward.

"Thank you!"

What he was researching was a hair loss cure.

The cure he had been researching for ten years was lacking just one ingredient.

Crusher's Core.

Not only was the level high, but he didn't know where the Poison Crusher was hiding, so he hadn't been able to complete it until now.

Bleo put Crusher's Core into a special pot of boiling liquid.

It was a process to melt the Core and separate the poison and the medicine.

He skillfully extracted the poison and put it into three cylinders containing purple liquid, as if he had done it many times before.

Some had no reaction, while others bubbled and vaporized.

Finally, he poured the part to be used as medicine into a cylinder containing yellow liquid in the corner.

The yellow liquid glowed slightly and turned green.

"It's done! I've completed it!"

Bleo cheered.

He had completed the experiment by adding the last missing ingredient, Crusher's Core.

'Well, I wonder if that's really the case.'

This was a quest that could only be undertaken after completing all the village quests and possessing Crusher's Core.

It wouldn't be completed this easily.

Bubble bubble.

The liquid that had turned green started to bubble.

"Huh? What, what's happening...?!"

Bleo was bewildered by the vaporization of the cure.

Bang!

The cylinder exploded, and the resulting gas engulfed everything around it.