Former Hero, Solo Play Oriented – Chapter 32

Chris’s eyes didn’t miss the white wolf’s tail.

She ghostly spotted the white hair swaying at the edge of the dungeon entrance behind a pile of rocks in the rocky mountain area.

“…Rain?”

“Eek!?”

Wobble.

Rain’s body, just about to enter the dungeon, froze in an awkward posture. Then, she turned her head towards Chris.

“…Chris unnie?”

Chris approached Rain with a full smile on her face.

“Rain, I missed you! Are you challenging the outpost too?”

Rain hesitated as she looked at Chris.

At that moment, Chris’s eyes went to the weapon hanging at Rain’s waist.

“…Zarkan’s weapon?”

Chris’s thoughts momentarily stopped.

Shortly after the No Name party’s clear, Chris’s party had cleared.

There were no weapons listed on the auction house yet.

The fact that Rain is wearing this weapon now means…

“…No way?”

Chris looked at Deathly Death. He shook his head. It meant other advance parties hadn’t cleared yet either.

Chris hurriedly grabbed Rain’s shoulders.

“Rain, are you perhaps the tank of the No Name party?”

Rain’s body shrank and her expression became a bit uncomfortable.

Seeing that, Chris came to her senses.

She had just barely lowered this small animal’s guard, and such behavior might make her wary again.

There was a lot she wanted to ask, but Rain seemed to have something to do now.

If Rain was the tank of the No Name party, she would need to continue farming now.

Rain’s party members seemed to have entered the outpost first. Only Rain was around.

Chris took her hands off Rain’s shoulders.

“So-sorry. Did I surprise you? You need to farm, right? Did I bother you?”

“No, it’s okay.”

Rain gave Chris a small smile.

Receiving that smile, Chris beamed.

“Hehehe! Okay, Rain! Work hard!”

Rain waved her hand slightly at Chris and then.

Hop.

She jumped into the dungeon.

Chris looked at the spot where Rain had disappeared with eyes dripping honey.

“So cute….”

After standing blankly for a moment, Chris’s party members soon approached her.

“Kyaa…! Chris unnie, what was that? That cute white animal!?”

“Hehehe, she’s my friend!”

Chris grinned broadly. Seeing that, Bae Merong stuttered.

“Ch-Ch-Chris unnie is making a strange smile…!”

“Chris. Did you clearly confirm the weapon that child was wearing?”

At Deathly Death’s doubtful question, Chris instantly wiped the grinning expression off her face. She quickly returned to her raid leader demeanor.

“Yes. I’m certain. It’s Zarkan’s Sword.”

“As we confirmed earlier, other advance parties haven’t cleared yet either. Most are still struggling with parking mines at the 2nd named, let alone the 3rd named.”

“No Name party.”

Deathly Death nodded.

“Given the circumstances, we can be sure.”

“That tiny character is the tank of the first clear team? Bae Merong finds it hard to believe.”

“No. Small characters get a bonus to agility stats. Thanks to that, they would have had an advantage at the 3rd named.”

“But still, with the synchronization rate….”

“There’s a high probability they actually have a small body in reality too.”

“A minor? But it’s a 19+ game?”

“Just because someone is short doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a minor, right? There are certainly adult women under 150cm tall too.”

Seeing Rain’s childlike behavior, she might really be a minor though.

Thinking that, Chris laughed inwardly.

“Is that why our white-loving small-animal-loving Chris unnie is interested?”

At Bae Merong’s mischievous question, Chris blushed slightly and stammered.

“W-well, I can’t say there’s absolutely no such feeling.”

“They’re a valuable talent. It’s hard to find excellent tanks. The main content now is 4-person elite dungeons, but.”

“Thinking about the legendary difficulty dungeons and raids for 12 or more people that will surely come later, they’re a top priority recruitment target.”

“If the No Name party and Chris’s Raid Party joined forces, they’d be invincible!”

Chris nodded.

She now had a reason to become even closer to Rain.

But Chris, who couldn’t stand losing, showed her competitive spirit towards the No Name party.

“We can’t lose either. We gave up the first clear this time, but we must win next time. Come on, we have no time to rest. We need to farm quickly, right? Did you finish preparation? Let’s go for the second clear!”

Chris encouraged her party members, putting aside her regrets.

And.

Cherni, who had been lost in thought alone a little behind, suddenly muttered.

“…Right. That kid, surely….”

* * *

[Title]

Graduating from Zarkan gear seems harder than expected (+76)

[Content]

From here on, accessory stats are random.

To get accessories with desired stats and high options, you need to run quite a lot. PVP users and PVE users have different option preferences too.

And the newly added socket item, echostone, is the biggest problem.

There are attack power echostones, and PVP ones like lifesteal, stat increase, status effect additional damage, etc.

But the drop rate is extremely low. Advance parties have cleared quite a lot over two days, but only a few have dropped. They’re still more expensive than the first weapon sale price.

You can exchange them later by steadily collecting ‘Zarkan Coins’ added as daily quest rewards, and you get a few of these when changing accessories too.

In the end, what does this mean? You have to grind like crazy.

[Comments]

-Weapons have become affordable now, but the echostone drop rate and price are crazy lololol

ㄴ These will all fall later anyway. When people do daily quests diligently and it becomes possible to buy at fixed prices, tradeable echostones won’t be very expensive either?

-I still haven’t cleared it once. I heard advance parties are starting to form bus tactics taking customers with 3 people, but why am I still rolling in try parties.

ㄴ Which party is already running buses? Chris’s Raid Party? Kind Taoist Party? No Name Party?

ㄴ Lolololol Chris’s Raid Party got beaten to first clear by No Name Party this time. For real, where did No Name Party come from?

ㄴ By the way, does anyone know even one member of No Name Party? I asked my advance party acquaintances too, but no one knows.

* * *

The sunset light seeping in from the window tickled my eyes.

I opened my eyes at that tickling sensation.

“Mmm.”

I looked around the room while stretching slightly.

It was my small nest, just like any other day.

But the amount printed on the smartphone bank app I checked while rubbing my eyes was not like any other day.

[Lee Seulbi]

[Hanwa Bank]

[Balance 21,504,010 won]

“Wow.”

An amount that doesn’t feel real.

It was in my bank account.

I hugged my smartphone preciously to my chest.

Rain, you’ve worked hard all this time.

Finally, a day in the sun is coming for me too.

This time, I didn’t miss the golden time of the advance party.

It’s a victory in the struggle with the weak body of ‘Lee Seulbi’, who torments ‘Rain’ of the Astria continent.

When I got the first sellable weapon and listed it on the auction house, I was anxious because it didn’t sell quickly.

Because the prices of the two elite dungeon weapons I had gone through so far plummeted in a day or two, people didn’t easily open their wallets this time.

Fortunately, there were rich people overflowing with money even at this point. I was able to sell the first weapon for a decent price.

As with the Orc King and Sealed Demon series, weapon prices continued to draw a downward curve after the first sale.

Still, maybe because the difficulty was quite high this time, there were still many parties that couldn’t clear the outpost. The downward curve of weapon prices was certainly gentler than the beginner area elite dungeons.

Thanks to that, I was able to earn a lot of gold by farming all day long.

“But I rested for too long.”

I let out a deep sigh.

Eighteen hours of farming followed by eighteen hours of sleep.

But this time, there was significance in that I had fully utilized the advance party’s golden time.

By the way.

“I’ve made a lot of money, but what should I do with this money first?”

Is this the common worry of people who suddenly make a lot of money?

A house? Considering the expensive housing prices in Seoul, it’s still far from possible.

Astria Online will continue to adjust the cycle of dungeon openings. If I keep clearing quickly as an advance party and continue farming each time, I can make a lump sum once every month or two.

If I keep saving money like this, it might be possible to buy a house someday, but do I really need a good house?

Considering the narrow range of activity of my inconvenient body in the first place, I don’t need such a big house.

I looked around the single room once more.

“This size of house is enough.”

There’s no need for a house to be in the city center since I don’t have to go out far.

Although it’s just a monthly rental room in a poor neighborhood, the landlord doesn’t visit as long as I deposit the money regularly.

If I save money to buy a house, should I aim for a cleaner and cozier house than here?

How about a car?

I’ve heard there are cars with devices that allow people with leg disabilities to drive. Plus, there are autonomous driving systems in this era.

But I’m just cooped up at home playing games, will I have any reason to go out?

Looking at it this way, there’s no need to earn cash desperately, but having extra money is always good. Typically.

“Food.”

I opened the delivery app and smiled broadly.

Just not having to save on immediate food expenses was enough reason to earn money.

If I keep earning a lot of money like this, will I someday throw away yogurt lids without licking them?

No, Rain. Remember the hungry spirit. Think of when you were hungry.

All my current joys are inside ‘Astria Online’, but.

For the joy of eating delicious modern food, the only joy left in reality, and for energy recharging, I’m earning real money too.

Before returning to my world, the Astria continent, for now.

Beep.

I pressed the payment button on the delivery app.

“Oh, let’s have pizza today too….”