Chapter 32

"This is amazing!"

The World Com server was in an uproar.

[Evolution stones have appeared in Idenharc!]

-Did you check it out?

└Yes, I'm logging in right now and heading to Idenharc.

└Wow... What? Isn't an evolution stone worth about 100 gold each?

└Crazy! I'm going to get it right now!

└We need to find the person who got the reward first and give them a prize lol

The value of an evolution stone is a whopping 100 gold.

The first evolution stones appeared in the Asga continent, which can only be crossed after reaching level 200.

Therefore, it was known as a very rare item, but to be able to get it in Idenharc, the beginner zone...

Naturally, users flocked to Idenharc.

"Quest! Please give me a quest!"

The users approached the old man and accepted the quest.

"Really?! Thank you! Thank you!"

The old man gave the users a quest with tears in his eyes.

The pendant is a quest that is generated at the same time as the quest is accepted.

However, the location where the pendant is generated varies, and you cannot touch the pendant, which is another person's quest completion item.

In other words, you can only complete the quest if you find the pendant that was created when you received the quest.

"But where do you get this pendant?"

"I know, right?"

"It's really difficult..."

The users, who couldn't even imagine that it was buried in the ground, were just stamping their feet.

* * *

By disclosing the reward to the server, Jeong-Hoon was able to obtain 10 stones.

Of course, it was impossible to mine more from the ore vein, and it was in the form of receiving 9 from Jorden.

"Thank you."

Jeong-Hoon put 10 evolution stones into his inventory.

This was more than enough to evolve the Red Dragon Bone Bow.

'I can sell one or two.'

It was impossible to raise the grade simply with evolution stones.

It takes a while to upgrade through evolution.

This is because the weapon cannot withstand receiving all the energy of the stone.

"No. Thanks to you, I had a valuable experience too."

[NPC Jorden's affinity has increased.]

Jorden smiled happily as he looked at the vein.

He was a treasure hunter before he was an interpreter.

Therefore, he would have recognized the value of the evolution stone at a glance.

Jeong-Hoon checked the question mark on his head.

[General Quest: Jorden's Letter of Recommendation]

-Restriction: User who gained Jorden's trust

-Reward: Increased affinity with blacksmith Vulcan

-Description: Take the letter of recommendation written by Jorden and find the blacksmith Vulcan.

Oh, Jorden writes a letter of recommendation himself?

He didn't expect this.

This is because the blacksmith Jeong-Hoon was going to visit was Vulcan.

'If there is a letter of recommendation, the story will be a little easier.'

The NPC's attitude changes as their affinity increases.

Originally, Jorden would never have written a letter of recommendation, but the fact that his attitude changed as his affinity increased is proof of that.

As soon as he accepted the quest, Jorden took out a piece of paper on the spot, scribbled it quickly, and handed it to Jeong-Hoon.

"Take this and go find Vulcan in Idenharc. He is the most skilled blacksmith I know. He is also the one who can handle the energy of that evolution stone."

"Thank you."

"Haha, you'll be the only one I've written a letter of recommendation for. I hope you have good luck in your future endeavors."

* * *

Psshik-

The capsule opened and Jeong-Hoon came out.

"Phew."

Jeong-Hoon, who came out, immediately ran to the refrigerator, took out the water, and gulped it down.

Is it because he spent two days in the capsule?

He was very thirsty.

At the same time, he felt hungry and his limbs lost strength.

It was because he didn't get enough nutrition.

"Oh my, you finally came out."

In the living room, his mother was sitting and looking at Jeong-Hoon with a worried face.

"...You came?"

"Yes. It's so hard to see your face even though we live in the same house..."

"Haha..."

Jeong-Hoon scratched his head with an embarrassed face.

Then, his mother got up from her seat and prepared a meal for him.

"It's good to be absorbed in something, but you have to take care of your body too."

"Yes."

His mother knows nothing about the future.

Nevertheless, she did not touch the game much.

She was just worried about her son's health.

"I want to break that capsule."

His mother glanced at the capsule installed in the room with a displeased face.

"Cough...!"

Suddenly, the rice went down the wrong way and he choked.

"But my son worked hard to get it... What should I do?"

"...Ahem, I'll do it in moderation."

"Correct answer. At least sleep at night. You can keep that much, right?"

"Yes."

From now on, if there is nothing else to do, he will have to come out at night for 3-4 hours and go to bed.

His mother is worried about her son.

After the meal, Jeong-Hoon went outside for a while to get some air.

"Hey!"

As he went down to the first floor, he made eye contact with Ha-Jin, who was running in a hurry.

"Huh? What? Why are you here?"

"I'm speechless. I sent you so many whispers, but you didn't answer, so I came here myself!"

Oh, come to think of it, he saw the whisper icon ringing.

However, he was in the middle of a quest, and right after the quest, he was mentally exhausted and logged out immediately, so he couldn't check it.

"I was busy so I couldn't check it."

"Oh well, you said the place you went to was Idenharc, right?"

"Yes."

"Great! I came to tell you the good news."

"Evolution Stone?"

"Huh? What, you knew?"

He thought he would be a little surprised, but Jeong-Hoon nodded with a calm face, so it felt like he had come all the way here for nothing.

Then a fleeting thought crossed his mind.

Could this guy have revealed the evolution stone reward?

"Anyway, good. I wanted to ask you a favor."

"A favor?"

"Yes. Let's talk while we walk for a while."

Okay. No matter how extraordinary this guy is, it can't be an evolution stone.

Ha-Jin shook off his thoughts and followed Jeong-Hoon.

"What the hell is it?"

"Please get me one item."

"Item?"

"Yes. I saw a decent item on World Com."

Jeong-Hoon was not yet able to use the auction house.

To use the auction house, you must be over level 100 or have completed the second class change.

So he asks Ha-Jin for a favor.

Of course, it's not free.

His intention was to ask him to sell one evolution stone instead and buy an item with the gold.

In that process, he intended to give all the remaining profits to Ha-Jin.

"What? You have an evolution stone?"

"Yes."

"...Wait a minute, then you were the first user to get the reward?"

Ha-Jin asked in a trembling voice.

It was natural to be suspicious since he had shown such incredible results so far and even had an evolution stone.

Jeong-Hoon nodded.

"Yes."

"...Crazy. Now you're getting even that kind of reward?"

"I was lucky."

"Is that something you can end with just saying you were lucky? Ha... It's so unfair."

Jeong-Hoon shrugged his shoulders once and went into a convenience store and bought two ion drinks.

"Anyway, drink this and come to Idenharc."

* * *

Ha-Jin, who parted with Jeong-Hoon, headed to the capsule room early the next day.

"Oh? You came earlier than usual today?"

As always, Lee Hyun-Woo greeted him warmly.

"My friend asked me a favor."

"A favor?"

"Yes. He asked me to get him an item."

"Really? What is it?"

Lee Hyun-Woo showed interest.

Jeong-Hoon, Ha-Jin's friend.

He was a friend who visited the capsule room and invested 20-21 hours a day.

Moreover, he was a talented person who even appeared on the program "Child Prodigy" because of his excellent memory.

Jeong-Hoon's student days were captured in an old video uploaded on YouTube.

He placed all kinds of pictures and letters in more than 10 themes, and it was chilling when he remembered them perfectly without missing a single one, and then applied them to solve the task.

And since he won first place in the event hosted by Genesis and took a capsule worth 30 million won as a prize, he had no choice but to leave a strong impression on him.

"Well. He said he would tell me once I get in."

"I'm curious about that. Which village did your friend go to? He must have left Beginner Village by now."

"Idenharc."

"Idenharc? Idenharc has been really hot these days."

The Idenharc Evolution Stone Acquisition Quest posted on World Com.

Because of that, a countless number of users are currently flocking to Idenharc.

"That's right."

Ha-Jin didn't bother to mention that Jeong-Hoon received the first reward.

Lee Hyun-Woo, who didn't know that, clicked his tongue.

"It'll be tough. He chose a difficult village anyway, and if there are a lot of users, it will be a hassle to go around to get quests."

Evolution stones are used to evolve items regardless of level.

Therefore, there were a lot of high-level users in Idenharc.

"What can I do? It's his own fault."

Ha-Jin answered roughly and logged in by entering the capsule.

He immediately moved to the portal to move to Idenharc.

But there were nearly 20 users waiting in front of the portal.

They were all users moving to Idenharc.

'There are a lot of them.'

They were all going for the evolution stones.

'Since it's like this, should I try it too?'

He would ask Jeong-Hoon how to get evolution stones while he was at it.

* * *

There's quite a crowd.

Jeong-Hoon thought to himself as he looked at the village, which was more crowded than usual.

And among them, named users were occasionally seen.

Thanks to this, the corners of Jeong-Hoon's lips rose crookedly.

This was because he saw familiar faces in Jeong-Hoon's memory, who had an excellent memory.

'Jung Chang-Ho, Oh Min-Ji.'

There were two named users in the square.

Before returning, they were not traitors.

This is because they had already died before Jeong-Hoon was betrayed.

However, Jeong-Hoon did not have very good memories with them.

It was when Jeong-Hoon had just opened his power.

'Ha, why did you accept such an incompetent martial artist?'

'Hey, if you get in the way, I'll kill you, so stay quiet.'

From the beginning, they despised Jeong-Hoon for being weak, and whenever they met, they showed their contempt without hesitation.

That wasn't all.

They touched Jeong-Hoon many times where others couldn't see.

Thanks to them, he was in crisis more than once or twice.

'I want to hit them, but...'

Just because he didn't have good feelings doesn't mean he has a reason to run wild here.

He'll run into them eventually as time goes by.

He'll crush them then.

[Whisper/zl-John-Ha-Jin12 -> Hoon: Hey, I'm at the square. Where are you?]

A whisper arrived that Ha-Jin had arrived.

[Whisper/Hoon -> zl-John-Ha-Jin12: I'm in front of the fountain.]

[Whisper/zl-John-Ha-Jin12 -> Hoon: Okay, I'm going there now.]

Not long after the whisper arrived, a handsome man who looked to be in his early 20s stopped in front of the fountain and wandered around.

It was Ha-Jin at a glance.

'Kid, it's been a while since I've seen you like that.'

When New World became a reality, the customization disappeared and he returned to his original appearance.

Therefore, it has been a long time since Jeong-Hoon saw Ha-Jin's customization.

"Hey. It's me."

Jeong-Hoon approached and tapped Ha-Jin on the shoulder.

"Huh? Oh, was it you?"

Ha-Jin was able to recognize Jeong-Hoon only after checking his player information.

"Yes. By the way, your level has risen a lot?"

[Player Information]

-Nickname: zl-John-Ha-Jin12

-Level: 159

-Class: Formal Knight (2nd class)

The class was Rare grade, but the level was close to 160.

It was evidence that he had put a lot of effort into

"Anyone who hears it will think you are higher."

Before returning, it was like that.

Jeong-Hoon, who was an all-master, was level 703.

If he hadn't found a way to raise his level in a short period of time, he wouldn't have been able to reach 300, let alone 700, but anyway, Jeong-Hoon was able to raise it to 700 in a short period of time through that opportunity.

And this time too, he will find that opportunity and level up quickly.

There is no need to think impatiently.

The condition to find that opportunity is something that only Jeong-Hoon knows, both before and after returning.

"Anyway, take this."

Jeong-Hoon sent Ha-Jin an exchange request and handed him one evolution stone.

"Awesome! Free evolution stone!"

"If you run away with it, you're dead."

Ha-Jin laughed heartily in response to his playful voice.

"Okay. I can come back here tomorrow, right?"

It took that much time to sell and buy items.

"Yes. Whisper me if you're going to be late."

"Okay. Then tell me what to buy."

"Forgotten Intermediate Knight's One-Handed Sword."

The item Jeong-Hoon was trying to get was the 'Forgotten Intermediate Knight's One-Handed Sword'.