Chapter 20
"Then, please enjoy your time."
The employee who had installed the capsule left.
It took quite a while to install the huge capsule, which occupied a third of the room.
"Wow... This is a 30 million won capsule. It looks amazing!"
Most of the capsules in capsule rooms were around 20 million won per unit.
Therefore, Ha-jin couldn't stop admiring the appearance of the capsule, which was a level higher.
"You can't have it just by looking at it."
Unlike public capsules, the capsule installed at Jeong-hoon's house was a personal capsule.
Genesis had registered Jeong-hoon as the capsule user, so no one else could log in with this capsule.
It was a capsule that only Jeong-hoon could log in to.
"Ugh, I'm suddenly annoyed. I should go play New World too."
Unable to bear the envy, Ha-jin left for the capsule room.
Jeong-hoon was alone at home because his mother had gone to work.
"It's better to tell her after I come back, right?"
The capsule was bigger than expected, so even though he had emptied the room as much as possible, the space was cramped.
Jeong-hoon opened the capsule and sat inside.
The smell of a new product stimulated his nose, and it felt good.
In capsule rooms, he had no choice but to sit in capsules used by others, so he was delighted that this capsule was completely untouched by human hands.
Is this why people buy personal capsules?
Enough with the sentimentality, it was time to raise the level of 'Poison Resistance' to 10.
[Logging in.]
Earth Korea User Management Team.
The management team was having a busier day than usual.
Why was the management team, known as salary thieves, having a busy day?
The reason was the phone calls.
Ring-
Every time the employees hung up the phone, the ringing resumed as if on cue.
"Yes, this is Earth Korea."
[Can you tell me who the martial artist who won first place in the event is?]
"I'm sorry, but even we don't know the details of the event held by Genesis."
[You can just check the program, right?]
It was all thanks to the martial artist who had achieved an unbelievable result in the event hosted by Genesis.
The management team had a vague idea of who the martial artist was, but no one was foolish enough to divulge confidential information.
"We can't even check the event through the program. If we try to force it, we'll be immediately sanctioned by Earth headquarters."
More than 90% of the callers were guild officials.
They intended to scout the martial artist if they had the potential to defeat the scarecrow dummy.
"Geez, why do they keep calling when they know it's not possible?"
Jin-Soo Oh pinched the bridge of his nose with a fed-up expression.
Only the management team, who managed the users, could watch the users' gameplay through the program, and because of that, he had been called to the higher-ups in the morning and just returned.
'Who is it? Do you have any idea?'
'...I'm sorry, but you know it's top secret.'
'Can't you just give me a hint?'
'You want us to get fired?'
Seven years ago, there was a precedent where the entire management team was disciplined and replaced after leaking information about a user who had completed an epic-grade job change.
It wasn't just a simple disciplinary action, but they were also charged with a massive amount of damages, and the amount was so astronomical that those who were disciplined even resorted to extreme measures.
Anyone with a brain wouldn't dare to leak it.
'If it's related to user privacy, the management team is always involved.'
Besides, if it was a martial artist who won first place... it must be that user.
The beginner user who had been showing extraordinary moves from the start.
He couldn't check the details, so he didn't know the nickname, level, or anything else, but considering the performance he had shown, it was highly likely that he had taken first place this time as well.
'Really... Wait, if he's un-job-changed, that means he hasn't done the job change quest yet, right?'
Suddenly, goosebumps rose all over his body.
What grade of job change would he achieve?
The highest grade anyone had ever achieved in the 1st job change in all of New World was unique grade.
James Marcus, known as the strongest paladin in the Americas.
No one else had ever achieved a unique-grade job change.
'...Could it be?'
Jeong-hoon headed to a mini-dungeon.
Unlike regular dungeons, mini-dungeons ended with just defeating the boss monster, so they were usually used alone.
The mini-dungeon he arrived at through the portal was empty.
It couldn't be helped because it wasn't popular.
Beginner users who entered the Primal Village were busy spending time at the training center or clearing the northern dungeon.
"Kyaak!"
Jeong-hoon's arrow pierced the monster's forehead, ending the battle instantly.
[You have gained a small amount of experience.]
Also, the experience gained in mini-dungeons was meager compared to other dungeons.
It was much faster to level up by receiving quests from instructors at the training center.
Nevertheless, Jeong-hoon chose the mini-dungeon.
[Resists poison.]
The most difficult mini-dungeon in the Primal Village.
This place was a forest full of poisonous plants.
Jeong-hoon deliberately chewed on those poisonous plants.
To raise the level of 'Poison Resistance' to 10.
'It's better to get this over with here.'
He could freely touch these poisonous plants because it was the Primal Village.
In other villages, not only would they be hard to find, but there would also be many poisons far stronger than 'Poison Resistance' in higher-level areas.
On the other hand, this mini-dungeon was perfect for leveling up because 'Poison Resistance' could react sufficiently.
'I'd like to fight Crusher, but...'
Crusher, who had already been severely beaten by Jeong-hoon, had lost the will to fight.
He probably wouldn't even spew poisonous gas if Jeong-hoon entered the dungeon.
Even if he forced it out, he had already raised his level considerably with Crusher's poison, so leveling up with it would actually take longer.
'Shall we continue?'
Jeong-hoon entered the portal to the next mini-dungeon.
[Lv.25 Orc Warrior]
The regular monster from the northern dungeon was the boss in this mini-dungeon.
"How dare you come here... Keok!"
Jeong-hoon's arrow pierced the Orc Warrior's neck.
The Orc Warrior died a heroic death, spewing blood.
[You have gained a small amount of experience.]
After killing the monster, Jeong-hoon once again plucked and ate the poisonous plants in the forest.
He repeated this for a long time.
['Poison Resistance' level increases.]
[Level up!]
[All stats increased by +1.]
[Bonus stat +1 awarded.]
Finally, 'Poison Resistance' reached level 10.
His level was 8 before entering the mini-dungeon, and he had raised it by 2 here to reach 10.
Roughly estimating, he had spent 22 hours just chewing on poisonous plants.
He was quite tired, but the proud feeling of finally being qualified to use Crushers Poison Fang made him forget his fatigue.
[Crusher's Poison Fang]
-Type: Consumable
-Grade: Rare
-Upgrades the Normal grade of the Status Effect Resistance skill to Rare grade.
-However, the skill level must be 10.
Jeong-hoon immediately used the Poison Fang.
['Poison Resistance (Normal)' has been upgraded to 'Resist Ten Poisons (Rare)']
Done.
He had used Crushers Poison Fang to upgrade 'Poison Resistance' to 'Resist Ten Poisons'.
Currently, he couldn't raise the grade with 'Steadfast Will', so he had to rely on external items, and this was exactly the case.
'Shall I stop here for today?'
Jeong-hoon logged out with a satisfied smile.
He wanted to endure it a little longer, but he was too tired after wrestling with it for 22 hours.
Whoosh-
As the capsule door opened, he saw his mother in front of him.
Startled, Jeong-hoon quickly got out of the capsule.
"Mom, when did you get here?"
"When did I get here? I came home yesterday after work, and you were playing the game, but I didn't know you'd still be playing now."
Today was Sunday.
The day his mother didn't go to work.
And the time was 2 PM.
He had installed the capsule and logged into the game around 4 PM yesterday, so he had been playing the game in front of his mother all day.
He had intended to log out around her usual return time, but he forgot in his determination to raise the level of 'Poison Resistance'.
"...I'm sorry."
"It's fine. But I didn't expect you to actually win first place..."
His mother's attention was captured by the capsule.
As befitting its high price of 30 million won, its appearance was quite sophisticated.
Who would think this was a capsule for playing games?
"I told you I would win first place."
"Well, even so, I didn't think you would win first place in an event with over ten thousand participants."
It was an event her son was participating in.
So, it seemed his mother had looked into the event information hosted by Genesis.
"I'm your son, you know. How could I not win first place in something like this?"
"You're right. I think I underestimated my son too much."
"Yes, you underestimated me too much. So let's go out for dinner together today."
"Dinner?"
"Yes, let's have beef together. It's on me!"
Today was a very good day.
"Hm? We just ate the other day."
"That was pork. This time, let's have beef."
"No, save the money for beef for when you need it later."
His mother didn't like her son spending money.
But Jeong-hoon wouldn't back down.
"Now is the time I need it."
"...What can I say?"
They say no parent can win against their child.
In the end, his mother raised the white flag.
Having received permission, Jeong-hoon finally went to sleep, and after a short 3-hour nap, he went out with his mother for a meal.
The restaurant was the most expensive Korean beef place near their neighborhood.
"Let's go in!"
"Jeong-hoon, isn't this place too expensive...?"
"It's okay! I saved up a lot of money in the military."
It was worth spending money at a time like this.
Jeong-hoon paid 400,000 won at the Korean beef restaurant he entered with his mother.
* * *
Yeo Min-Ji couldn't understand.
A week had passed since the event ended, so how come he hadn't come for the job change quest?
The first job change was a prerequisite for leaving the Primal Village.
So he had to revisit the Hall of Martial Arts.
But the owner of that fist technique still hadn't shown up.
"Don't tell me he's trying to level up more at level 50? That can't be it..."
If he had won first place, he must have already reached near level 50.
"...How long is she going to stay there?"
"Right? Wouldn't she get tired of just sitting there all day?"
The users were amazed by her patience.
They had visited the Hall of Martial Arts several times, receiving hunting and dungeon clearing training from the instructors, and each time, she was just sitting quietly in the corner.
But now it was reaching its limit.
[Whisper / In-Tae -> Minzi: Ma'am. You need to come back soon. You've been away for too long...]
[Whisper / Sunwoo -> Minzi: I heard from In-Tae. Stop it and come back.]
She had received whispers from Team Leader Park In-Tae.
And not only him, but also from her father, Yeo Soon-Woo.
'I feel like I just need to wait a little longer!'
Yeo Min-Ji bit her lip.
Not only Park In-Tae, but even her father had sent a whisper.
She couldn't stall any longer.
[Whisper / Minzi -> In-Tae: ...Sigh, I'll be back soon.]
[Whisper / Minzi -> Sunwoo: I'll be back soon.]
Finally, she got up from her seat.
"If you don't want to be criticized as Martial Artists, train properly. The results will follow your efforts."
Yeo Min-Ji gave advice to the users.
She had seen and felt a lot while spending time at the Hall of Martial Arts.
Unlike ordinary games, in New World, one's actions could lead to rapid progress, or one could remain stagnant even after a long time.
This was especially true for Martial Artists compared to other classes.
"...Yes."
"Understood..."
The users quickly nodded their heads.
"I'll be going now, instructors."
"Yes."
"Please go safely."
The instructors were polite.
Once upon a time, Yeo Min-Ji was a beginner user, and the instructors trained her, but now the situation was reversed.
Yeo Min-Ji had reached a much higher level, so it was natural for them to respect her.
"Take care of your health, Instructor Altio."
"Thank you."
Altio smiled kindly.
It was natural for him to have good feelings towards one of the few trainees who had endured his harsh training in the past.
"But who were you waiting for?"
"I don't know either."
The users didn't know why she had been sitting around in the Hall of Martial Arts for days on end.
They could only vaguely sense that she was waiting for someone.
And not long after, a user entered the Hall of Martial Arts.
"Huh?"
"Who is that?"
The instructors recognized him at a glance.
"It's been a while."
He was the user who had won the 1:1 duel with Instructor Altio.