Ch.58F. F.

# 58. F. F.

“This strategy is already a freebie. Why are you so disappointed?”

“Freebies are the very essence of strategy guides and inherently righteous.”

“Oh, please.”

When I openly expressed my disappointment, Yebeop-nojeong scolded me.

It was unfair. Why else would my strategy guides receive so many recommendations and dominate the best guides section for so long?

It’s because there are so many people who want to freeload comfortably after seeing the work of pioneers like me or those who create strategy guides!

In other words, it also meant this was a game where you’d likely suffer terribly if you tried to figure things out without a guide, but still.

“This theme might have other gimmicks too. Don’t get too fixated on freeloading.”

“Freeloading is romance. This can be scientifically proven. In fact, the first consonants of both words are the same. Quod erat demonstrandum.”

“Stop being ridiculous.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I deliberately tried to lighten the mood with some nonsense. While this theme didn’t require much tension until meeting the Guardian, I was half-serious.

Because there were 12 treasure hiding spots across this entire mountain.

Where the treasure would be found was purely based on luck.

If lucky, we’d meet the Guardian at the first spot; if terribly unlucky, at the twelfth.

If things went wrong, we might have to wander the entire mountain, and depending on circumstances, camp midway or even descend and climb back up again—a most unfortunate scenario.

“But Subin unnie, I’m curious about something.”

“Yes?”

“How can you memorize all these paths?”

“I memorized them while clearing the game.”

“What?”

Yebeop-nojeong answered without any particular emotion, as if she’d simply fallen asleep when closing her eyes from fatigue at night.

“I’m the type who needs to clear things myself to feel satisfied. When I was trying the mountain theme back then, I memorized all the paths of this entire mountain. Well, it’s more accurate to say they became memorized after several attempts.”

“Wow, what kind of brain do you have?”

“A brain with unnecessarily good memory that can’t forget things I want to forget or things I want to quickly forget.”

Hmm.

While memorizing a map and actually finding your way seemed like different issues, I reconfirmed that Yebeop-wiki’s memory was indeed remarkable as we moved to the second spot.

“Honestly, finding it at the second spot would still be quite a freebie, right?”

“Don’t say that! You’ll jinx it! Stop the freeloading talk!”

“Please!!!”

However, there was no Guardian at the second spot either. Though we called it the second spot, the actual distance traveled was several kilometers by mountain standards…

“Nooooooo!”

“The next spot is even farther.”

“Arrrrrggghhhh!”

The freebie was essentially gone. Although we were directly visiting known hiding spots, which was 100 times better than searching the entire mountain, an inexplicable sense of unease began creeping in.

“Ah.”

The third spot too.

“Ugh.”

The fourth as well.

“Damn it.”

The fifth too.

The sixth too!

The seventh too!!

The eighth too!!!

All were complete busts.

By this point, even Yebeop-nojeong, who had criticized my freeloading mindset, was gritting her teeth.

“At this rate, the sun will set again.”

“Um… there’s no chance that new spots have been added, right?”

All three of us immediately focused our gaze on Cutjukyeora. She slightly shrugged her shoulders.

“Ah. Sorry for saying something that might jinx us.”

“No, no need to apologize. I just thought of an even more terrifying possibility.”

“Oppa, could you please not say that out loud?”

“Hehe.”

I seemed to have slightly lost my mind. I was quite annoyed too.

“What if the treasure moves between treasure spots? That hypothesis?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Calm down. Seonghyun’s just talking nonsense. If the treasure moved randomly, the probability of finding it would approach zero. That won’t happen.”

Yebeop-nojeong calmed Cutjukyeora and Saeax while secretly pinching my side.

“Thish hursh sho mush.”

“Nngh!”

“Captain?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

I instinctively suppressed my cry of pain, knowing I shouldn’t show it. Yebeop-nojeong’s already somewhat sharp eyes had turned completely fierce.

Apparently, the frustration of having to endure a long mountain trek in a place where freeloading should have been possible had quickly brought back my senses that had momentarily departed. Yebeop-nojeong, who made this possible with a single gesture, was truly a wizard.

“Ha, haha. Subin, please lead us to the next spot.”

Though Yebeop-nojeong pretended otherwise, I could see her holding back a sigh. She probably found it quite amusing, remembering how I had worried about the others when we started.

“Ahem.”

I cleared my throat unnecessarily and followed Yebeop-nojeong’s guidance without complaint. However, it quickly grew dark in the mountains, and we had to make a choice before even reaching the ninth spot.

“We haven’t fought many monsters today, but walking mountain paths for so long has likely consumed quite a bit of stamina. So I’ll be quick. Should we try the ninth spot, prepare to camp nearby right now, or push ourselves a bit more and descend completely? Choose. Saeyeon first.”

“Oh, me. But before that, just one thing. Subin unnie, could you tell us how far it is from here to the next spot?”

“I don’t know the exact scale so I can’t give you the precise distance, but comparing my direct walking experience with the map distance… roughly about 30 minutes away.”

With Yebeop-nojeong’s answer, the party members quickly made their decision.

“Then I vote for trying.”

“Me too. Let’s walk a bit faster this time and reduce it from 30 minutes to 20 or 15 minutes.”

“I agree. If we go down now, I won’t be able to sleep.”

The ninth attempt was unanimously decided, and we traversed the remaining distance at a faster pace as Saeax suggested. Thus, we were able to reach the ninth spot in about 13 minutes, contrary to our initial expectation of 30 minutes.

“It’s—!”

“Shh!”

Whether it was my stubbornness or the desperate frustration, sighs, and wishes of all party members that reached the heavens, a being presumed to be the Guardian was standing firmly like a statue around the ninth spot.

We retreated slightly while keeping quiet and silently cheered.

“See? I told you we should try the ninth spot.”

“It was unanimous, you know?”

I ignored the minor objection.

“If we follow the strategy guide I wrote, defeating that Guardian shouldn’t be too difficult. This theme was originally about ‘treasure hunting,’ so finding the treasure itself was the more significant part. But the current time is the issue.”

“It’s gotten even darker in the ten-something minutes it took us to get here. It’ll be pitch black soon.”

“Fifteen minutes.”

I stated the operation time limit I had set while coming here, assuming the Guardian would be here.

“If we can’t defeat it within 15 minutes, we run. Since the Guardian can’t leave a certain area, running itself should be easy.”

“Fifteen minutes?”

“Fifteen minutes?”

“Fifteen minutes, huh.”

The party members expressed reluctance.

“We have to defeat that incredibly tough thing in 15 minutes? Even following your strategy, that seems impossible, oppa.”

“That’s right. I remember that Guardian’s patterns weren’t that difficult. But it has high physical and magical defense as a baseline, plus high strike and slash resistance, and high resistance to all elements…”

“If we can’t defeat it within 15 minutes, it’ll get so dark that we might cross the Jordan River after taking a blind Guardian punch or Guardian kick.”

That was a nice way of saying we’d die. Though slow and sluggish, each of its hits was at instant-death level.

In the actual game, fragile DPS characters often died from just one normal attack. Though they were ridiculed for getting hit.

“Normally, I’d suggest resting for a day and trying again since time is tight. But thinking about it, there’s no guarantee it won’t reset tomorrow, and I’m not just saying that to be unlucky. All three themes so far had additional gimmicks, but this one hasn’t shown any yet. We might end up wandering like this tomorrow too and have to spend another day if it gets too late. So I want to be bold this time.”

I wasn’t just trying to create tension. In the worst case, we could end up being mountaineers for days.

Everyone seemed to agree with me, nodding and focusing. I quickly continued.

“Raise your hand if you’ve died trying to defeat this Guardian.”

No one raised their hand.

That was expected. They were all rankers.

None of them had been rankers from low levels, but they were still the supreme gamers of each class.

Still, just to be sure, I asked once more…

“Seriously. If you really have, don’t be embarrassed and raise your hand. It will change our plan.”

Again, no one raised their hand.

Good.

I shared a modified version of the original strategy adjusted for the current situation.

The party members’ reactions were positive.

Alright. Let’s quickly defeat it and get to the reward room!

**

[WaterKnowsTheAnswer: Mulchiiiii!!!]

[WaterKnowsTheAnswer: (crying emoticon)]

[WaterKnowsTheAnswer: (brightly smiling emoticon)]

[StolidBackDoor: Mul]

[StolidBackDoor: chi]

[StolidBackDoor: da]

[StolidBackDoor: Mulchidaaaa!]

[PhysicalTherapist: Good evening]

[PhysicalTherapist: (embarrassed smile emoticon)]

Even though I had only been offline for a few days, such an enthusiastic welcome made me feel both embarrassed and pleased.

‘I was planning to say hello, chat a bit, and log off, but with such a warm welcome, I feel bad doing that.’

[WaterKnowsTheAnswer: Mulchi!!]

[PhysicalTherapist: Yes?]

[WaterKnowsTheAnswer: To clear my complicated feelings]

[WaterKnowsTheAnswer: After a long time, with BackDoor]

[WaterKnowsTheAnswer: How about homework!]

[StolidBackDoor: Agree!]

“Homework?”

[PhysicalTherapist: The missing party members are…]

I instinctively started to type this but deleted it all.

[PhysicalTherapist: Sure]

[PhysicalTherapist: Let’s go]

[WaterKnowsTheAnswer: (cheering emoticon)]

[StolidBackDoor: Yaaay!]

“I’m really worried, but there’s nothing I can do except hope they’re safe. Sigh.”

So I’ll just do what I can do.

Ah. It’s been 3 days since I logged in and about a week since I did homework… Should I warm up a bit?