It was a bizarre fish that seemed to live in the deep ocean, but it was gigantic and had lots of edible meat. After people removed its head and peeled off its scales, it looked like an ordinary fish. Also, its texture and taste was no different from regular fish once it was grilled. The front of the warehouse was crowded with people because more joined in on the meal as time passed by.
“I told you I’d give you food if you bring me two mana stones. We have plenty of fish meat, so just bring them in.”
Seong-Il hated people, but he couldn’t ignore those suffering from hunger. However, Odin had set the rule.
He said firmly, “When a new area opens, go get it then.”
“Are you telling us to fight against monsters?” one person complained.
Seong-Il shrugged. “Why not? If you guys fight with your lives on the line, you’ll be able to defeat them. Well, there’s a possibility that you might die before then. Anyway, you got this.”
Another begged, “Please just give us some. We should all help each other.”
Seong-Il refused, “You guys have no conscience. Just wait for the wave if you are afraid of the dark. Should I repeat that again? You will have to fight monsters no matter what.”
The fifth wave would occur soon. Seon-Hu had blocked four of the five infiltration paths in advance, but the villagers had to handle the last one.
All roads had been open during the fourth wave. When the fifth wave quest message appeared, the end of one road had been divided into two and a new area opened up. The System had given them sixteen hours of preparation time.
With the new currency, the mana stone, Cheol-Yeong had more options on what to do.
“Odin said if we catch any monsters during the wave, he will consider them as ours. He also won’t stop us from going into new areas.”
Cheol-Yeong gave a glance and passed the floor to Seong-Il.
The older man trumpeted, “Are you still this scared when you have so many people here? You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Secure mana stones and learn how to fight. Then, return to the village within the given time.”
“I heard the entry of the boundary is less dangerous, right?” one person commented.
Seong-Il nodded. “Right. Don’t go in too deep and be aware of your surroundings. Just think of it as if you are hunting frantic bastards.”
Thank you, Hyung.
Cheol-Yeong moved his lips silently, and Seong-Il smiled.
Cheol-Yeong ordered, “We don’t have much time. I want those in the vanguard to follow Odin.”
“Wouldn’t it be better if we all stayed in the village?” one man asked, and there was a distinct edge to his voice as he was hungry.
“We will keep in tune before the wave.”
Cheol-Yeong looked at people in the spearhead team one by one. It had been difficult to convince them to volunteer, but he had managed to succeed.
“It’s also an opportunity to secure many mana stones. Mr. Kwon Seong-Il here has also decided to go into the vanguard and help us. As you may have noticed, he is a very strong guy.”
Everyone was looking at the older man. Even without Cheol-Yeong’s explanation, the sight of Seong-Il touching the ground with a frightful blunt weapon reminded them of a human goblin.
An old man who had gone fishing with Seong-Il slowly opened his mouth.
“Doctor. I’m so grateful for those who are on the frontline, and I also feel ashamed as they are taking the brunt. Shouldn’t they have more privileges?”
Cheol-Yeong nodded. “So I need to ask you for your understanding. You might not know about computer games, but many among us are familiar with them. Everyone in my generation, in particular, has probably been hooked on them at least once.”
Cheol-Yeong continued, “When the lieutenant had planned the initial strategy, many people gave him the advice to treat it as a computer game. However, we are in reality, not in a game. We cannot stay stagnant in our roles, as if we were characters in a game. Our flesh will fall off when we get injured; it’s not as simple as dropping HP points. It is a horribly painful experience to recall.”
The memory of the lieutenant and those who were deceased made the hall fall quiet.
“Nevertheless, there are people who have decided to participate in the vanguard again. If I call your name, could you please stand up?”
Cheol-Yeong called out the names, and he didn’t even need to look at a list as he had memorized them all. He clapped, and the entire hall became noisy with applause.
“As I mentioned earlier, we are not yet ready to take on our roles. Skills and items won’t help us get stronger until then. Our mindset is the most important thing we have now. Those who were determined to participate in the frontline are stronger than anyone else. Plus, they have so much love for the people. I respect you all and highly appreciate it.”
Cheol-Yeong bent his waist forward, then straightened his posture.
“But unilateral sacrifices don’t last long, and at some point, we will take them for granted. Therefore, I made a promise to these people. They refused, but I also thought there should have been privileges for those who make sacrifices as those wiser than me have mentioned earlier.”
Someone exclaimed, “The doctor is right. Without the privileges, who would make a sacrifice?”
Another followed, “True! True!”
Cheol-Yeong smiled. “So, I want you all to agree on these two issues.”
First was distributing the most mana stones they collected in each wave to the people on the frontline. The second was collecting twenty percent of the entire mana stones and using them for the village and spearheads.
***
“Oh, yeah?” Seon-Hu raised an eyebrow.
Seong-Il nodded. “Yes. He is a good speaker, and the more I see of him, the better he becomes. I feel bad to say this now, but he is a better leader than the lieutenant was. Doctors are on another level for sure.”
“How will you manage the mana stones that get collected from the village?” Seon-Hu asked.
“Too many cooks spoil the broth, so Cheol-Yeong said he will handle it himself.”
“Did he actually say that too many cooks spoil the broth?”
Seong-Il shook his head. “Nah, that’s what I think.”
“Did you back him up?”
“No, I kept my mouth shut the whole time. People were looking at us. Why? Do you think Cheol-Yeong is playing tricks? Don’t worry. He would never do such a thing. Why don’t you have a long talk with him one day? He’s a nice guy.”
In Seon-Hu’s eyes, Cheol-Yeong was good at pulling a stunt. He basically announced that he would collect twenty percent of the mana stones as tax as he knew they would soon become the currency of this world.
Seon-Hu then joined the villagers for the first time. There were thirty people in the vanguard, but Cheol-Yeong wasn’t there. Seon-Hu had thought about initiating a conversation with Cheol-Yeong because Seong-Il had asked nicely but that thought soon disappeared. Seon-Hu then smirked.
Was he really a doctor before?
It was common to leave a good impression by lying to others during the Stage of Advent. Doctor? No one would know the truth unless he met someone else in the same profession. In addition, skilled vipers didn’t tell lies that would be caught easily from the beginning. They deceived others when they already had enough power.
Seon-Hu thought lying was natural. Whatever the truth was, the leaders of the first stage were usually quick-witted. They were characters who also knew how to look attractive to other people. These types of people survived and became stronger as that was how the Stage of Advent worked.
Seon-Hu led the way, staying far away from the group of people, while Seong-Il took the head of the vanguard. Seon-Hu crossed the boundary and hid. He let the rookie group deal with the monsters at the entrance while he cleared the middle to the summoning nest.
The items he had brought with him were definitely supporting him a lot. If the System didn’t allow them to bring in items to the Stage of Advent, he would have struggled a lot in trying to decide whether to choose the Second Round of Privileges or not. He smashed the summoning nest and received one hidden quest under the ‘Wave’ as a solo reward.
Each time he blocked one infiltration road in advance, three gold boxes fell from the sky. He was just in Act One. This time, he was lucky enough to get stat upgrades to his Strength and Sense. However, he had a complicated expression on his face as he looked at his status window.
***
Seon-Hu came out to the village to block the next infiltration pathway.
He suddenly murmured, “Guide, I know you are watching everything. Come out.”
The Spirit, who had been in hiding for a long time, instantly showed up in front of him. He checked the color of the Spirit first as it would give him kind messages when it was colored in a blue hue and vicious messages when red. At this moment, the Spirit was blue.
However, it was too early to be relieved since no one knew when it would turn into a bloody color and play a hideous prank.
[It’s an honor and a burden to have a challenger on my stage. To be honest, I didn’t expect to run into a challenger in Stage of Advent.]
Seon-Hu bluntly said, “I have a question about the challenger.”
[You know what challengers can do, right?]
He nodded. “That’s why I called you over.”
[Is there any part of the System you would like to modify?]
“There must be a difference in the level of difficulty for everything I’d like to fix, right?”
[For example?]
He responded curtly, “Making you stop play tricks on us.”
[ ( Ծ_Ծ ) ]
Seon-Hu grumpily continued, “Stop using weird emojis and answer me.”
[The answer is blocked.]
…
[The answer is blocked.]
The same messages kept coming up as if there was an error occuring. Before long, his entire message log was filled with them, and they piled up on one another at a much faster rate than he could clear.
He grumbled, “Stop.”
[Did that help?]
Seon-Hu frowned. They were always playing obnoxious pranks on people. He then decided to change his line of questioning. In fact, getting an answer to this new question was the real reason why he had called the Spirit over.
“What if I modify the box system?”
[To what extent?]
Seon-Ho patiently explained, “The rewards are currently given out in a random way. Skills, items and stats increases come up willy-nilly. Even if I secure points or receive a box for compensation, I have to depend on my luck.”
The Spirit pointed out, [That means you want to fix the entire System.]
He nodded. “Yes, then what challenge should I go through to make that change happen?”
[It’s not just a simple challenge as they are all challenges. It’s not about fixing one or two things. Pick one out of those.]
“What if I want to get stat increases only for certain stats from the boxes?”
[In order to do that, you would need to be able to choose the type of reward. Are the stat increases you currently receive random?]
“That doesn’t matter much to me. Most of the numbers I get seem to be on the average side anyway.”
[If you’re able to get to that point, wouldn’t it be worth trying?]
“…Do you not know about it?”
[I’m just guiding you according to the baseline of the System. I can only find out the details of the system if you accept the challenges.]
Seon-Hu suppressed his anger. He was actually quite lucky as he had been able to listen to the Spirit’s explanation in a calm manner as it didn’t suddenly change its attitude in the middle of the conversation. Seon-Hu suddenly felt something that was stimulating his sixth sense. He stared at the message window with wide eyes.
[Challenger has been activated.]
[The quest ‘Majestic Challenge’ has begun.]
[Majestic Challenge (Quest)
Without the involvement of Doom Kaos, the design of the System would have been perfect…]
It was different from the previous messages he had received. Those had popped up in a complete form, unlike this one. Seon-Hu idly wondered if someone was typing it up somewhere or if the System was lagging. The notification window in front of him was slowly writing out the sentences one by one.