Chapter 15: Is that really enough? (2)
"What an imbecile"
The young man covered in acne, Jeong HoJun, said while frowning.
"HoJun oppa, just ignore him. Usually, there are many arrogant people among the newbie players."
"Ha… This fucking newbie."
Jeong HoJun said after listening to Seo YeRi, who was trying to calm him down.
After going through numerous near-death situations, he’d reached the 3rd awakening. But once he had, Jeong HoJun had realized he was a 'talentless player.'
The attribute he had unlocked in his third awakening was C-rank.
His previous attributes were E and D.
Since his attributes were low-rank, he couldn't join the party of a higher-ranking gate, and that's why he’d ended up staying at a D-rank gate.
He’d reached a point where he couldn't get any more experience from monsters of D-rank gates, so he’d given up on his dream of going to higher-ranking gates and created a bus party.
The players that were part of his bus party were people with low or average-ranking attributes who couldn't reach higher-ranking gates.
'I'm not sure how good you are…'
Jeong HoJun clenched his fists while biting his lips.
He was an arrogant newbie player who didn't have any equipment at all. That meant one thing:
He had been lucky and unlocked a high-ranking attribute.
'I'll take this opportunity to teach him a lesson.'
With his eyes burning because of envy, he looked toward the gate.
Although his attribute rank was low, one couldn't ignore the difference in level.
If he was a player who had just unlocked the 2nd awakening, even if he'd been really lucky, his attribute should be B-rank.
A difference of one rank wasn't enough to compensate for the gap between the levels.
"YeRi, it's the first time you've seen that guy. Right?"
"Yes. We've recently been coming to this gate, and I've never seen his face."
"Then he's definitely someone who just unlocked the 2nd awakening."
There was no reason for a high-level player to come to a low-ranking gate.
Because of the difference in level, one wouldn't be able to gain experience. Not only that, but there was also a huge difference in the price of mana stones.
Some high-level players went to low-rank gates from time to time to help a newbie member from the same guild level up, but since he was alone, that probably wasn't the case.
"Among the people who have completed basic education, there wasn't anyone who had obtained an A rank or higher, right?"
"Yes. There's none, at least during the past month."
"Good."
Now that he knew that the opponent was someone who had an average talent and was an arrogant newbie, there was nothing to be afraid of.
"We aren't going to do the bus party today."
"Oppa, are you thinking…"
"Let's teach him a lesson."
The rest of the party members smiled at Jeong HoJun's words.
Seo YeRi laughed while covering her mouth with her hands and nodded.
"I think that it's going to be fun."
"It's been a while since we had fun."
"I also agree."
The rest of the party members were in a similar situation to him. Because of their low-ranking attributes, they couldn't enter a higher-ranking gate.
Their envy toward lucky players was at the same level or more than Jeong HoJun's.
They also had experience teaching arrogant newbie players lessons in the past.
"Then, should we get going?"
Jeong HoJun entered the gate while smiling.
* * *
"What do you want?"
KangWoo asked back toward Jeong HoJun, who had talked to him while walking in his direction.
It wasn't the first time he'd seen his face.
'It's the guy from before.'
It was the guy who had offered him the bus party service.
He was looking at him as if he wanted to make fun of him.
"As someone more experienced than you, I was worried about whether your hunting was going well," Jeong HoJun said with a fishy smile.
KangWoo smirked at his attempt to make fun of him.
'Cute.'
It wasn't hard to understand the situation.
Just looking at their expressions was enough to know why they had decided to approach him.
'Are they trying to play a prank on me?'
Stepping over the weak…
That was a basic desire that all living things had.
Trampling over the weak made them feel better about themselves.
'But…'
They were wrong about something.
* * *
'I'm not weak.'
He wasn't someone weak who couldn't do anything for himself.
He was the demon of demons. The predator of predators.
KangWoo's lips twisted up, and he opened his mouth with deep, sunken eyes.
"As you can see, hunting is going well."
"Hmm."
Jeong HoJun looked around the area.
"But there isn't even a single corpse."
KangWoo had said that hunting was going well, but there weren't any lizardmen corpses around him.
KangWoo shrugged and calmly talked.
"I was just taking a rest."
"Really? Hmm. But aren't you being too rude toward your superior?"
"That's because the superior is too annoying."
Jeong HoJun frowned after seeing that KangWoo wasn't discouraged by the harsh atmosphere.
"This fucker…"
He wasn't sure what rank his attribute was, but KangWoo's attitude made him angry.
'I'm sure he's rank B at most.'
If you managed to get a B-rank attribute in your 2nd awakening, you were considered a talented player. If that happened, you would receive lots of calls from different guilds and parties.
Of course, there was a chance that they wouldn't be able to unlock a higher ranking attribute in the future, but many people became arrogant until they found that out.
"Are you here to pick up a fight or what?" KangWoo asked Jeong HoJun with his arms crossed.
"Ha."
"This asshole…"
Even the other party members who were silently watching picked up their weapons while frowning.
Jeong HoJun extended his hand toward his party members.
"Stop."
"But…"
"Don't worry. There are other ways to teach him a lesson," Jeong HoJun said while smirking.
There wasn't a need for them to get their hands dirty.
'There's a better way.'
The scariest thing for newbie players wasn't other players…
"Fufu, I'll make him regret being so arrogant."
The scariest thing for them was monsters.
"I'm waiting for it.
"Hmph, let's see where you’re getting such confidence from."
Jeong WooJun took out his short sword.
He extended his arms which were covered with a wrist guard while smiling.
It seemed like the other party members knew what Jeong HoJun was about to do. They looked at him expectantly.
"Did you know that lizardmen are extremely sensitive toward noise?"
"…"
That was information KangWoo already knew.
'I see.'
KangWoo understood what Jeong HoJun was trying to do and smirked.
He’d taken out the short sword and brought it near the wrist guard…
And then he mentioned that lizardmen were sensitive toward the noise…
There was only one possible course of action based on those two things.
Clang-! Clang-! Clang-!
Jeong Ho Jun hit his wrist guard with the short sword.
A metallic sound began spreading.
'As expected.'
KangWoo smiled at Jeong HoJun's petty, predictable behavior.
Rush-!
"Kiieekk!!"
He could hear the screams of lizardmen.
Jeong HoJun spoke while smirking.
"The best way to teach a rude newbie a lesson is through monsters."
Most people became more scared of people after they leveled up and got used to fighting against monsters.
That was because monsters just tried to kill you, but players often inflicted damage worse than dying.
But in the case of newbie players who weren't used to fighting monsters, they were often more scared of monsters than players.
Enemies that were putting humanity in danger…
They were monsters that tore apart the skin and drank the blood.
It was normal that newbie players who had never experienced a real battle in their lives were scared of them.
"So you're going to do it like this, huh?"
"Why, are you scared?" Jeong HoJun said while laughing.
"There's going to be at least ten lizardmen. I'm not sure how strong your attribute is, but will you be able to face 10 simultaneously?"
"…"
"Haha. You don't need to worry. We're going to help you if you're about to die. Although… You may get severely injured. And maybe you won't be able to use some parts of your body again. But it's a cheap price if you think of this as a life lesson."
Jeong HoJun swung his short sword with a bigger movement after seeing that KangWoo was silent.
Clang-!
A cleaner metallic sound spread through their surroundings.
KangWoo remained silent while watching Jeong HoJun's actions.
In Jeong HoJun's eyes, KangWoo looked like someone who was scared.
"Why? Why don't you act as cheeky as you did before? Huh?"
"…"
"Hahaha! You became frozen after seeing monsters approach!"
Jeong HoJun laughed excitedly.
KangWoo smirked after seeing his reaction.
"Is this okay?"
"Huh?"
"Are you really going to be satisfied with that?"
"What nonsense…"
"If you're going to do it, do it properly, at least."
KangWoo extended his hands and clapped with all his strength while looking at the confused Jeong HoJun.
Slam-!!!
A scarily loud sound spread through his hands.
‘Authority of Deafening Roar.’
It was an Authority that used demonic energy to make an extremely loud sound.
"Eek!"
"Wh-what did you do?!"
The faces of Jeong HoJun and his party members turned pale.
The Lizardmen were sensitive to noise.
Making a loud sound like that in their territory was something suicidal.
Rush-!!
"Kiieekk!!"
The sound of lizardmen could be heard all around them.
The lizardmen began approaching the source of the loud noise.
"Y-you crazy…"
Slam-!
Slam-!
KangWoo didn't stop at once. He used the Authority of Deafening Roar multiple times. A loud sound like tens of bombs exploding spread through their surroundings.
"Hahaha! Yes! It should be at least this much!"
"What are you doing, you crazy bastard?!!"
Jeong HoJun's scream spread along with the explosive sound.
It was then that he realized that he had picked up a fight with someone who was insane.