Pioneer Land (2)

The chaos in the new continent was finally quelled only after emergency maintenance began.

The developers seemed to have tried to make changes in their own way, but when do things in this world ever go as planned?

In the end, they had to backtrack and use the same method as the existing continent.

However, even in chaos, some people see opportunity.

I, who had practically cleaned up the neighborhood, was able to secure a pretty hefty share.

The sweet gold mine didn’t last long.

Even if you steal money through PK, you can’t touch the gold coins stored in town.

After realizing that the new continent’s field was much more dangerous than expected, users stopped carrying around gold coins.

In other words, killing gamers near the town became pointless.

You could say the purpose of the new continent was ruined, but this problem will naturally resolve itself soon.

The top-tier hunting grounds have always been far from towns.

InBl’s hunting uses a lot of consumables.

It’s obvious that efficiency would drop if you had to go back to town every time for supplies.

To replenish consumables from nearby merchants in time, you’d need to carry around sufficient gold coins.

The intention is for strong ones to fight each other rather than bullying the weak as much as possible.

[Do you want to store 80,000,000 Gold? Y/N]

[Storage complete.]

Anyway, the fact is that user hunting has lost its merit for now.

If that’s the case, it’s time to seriously explore the new continent.

Not much information about the new continent has been revealed yet.

There’s a lot of information released with the intention of amplifying expectations, but in the end, the important things had to be discovered by users themselves.

Relying only on community sites at times like this is amateur.

The monopoly of profitable information, the so-called “honey pot,” can’t be discovered without moving directly.

Naturally, this kind of work was more efficient with multiple people than alone.

“You’re not streaming right now, are you? If you are, turn it off. All the honey pots will be broken.”

“Do you think I don’t know that? But I am recording. I’m planning to edit and upload later, is that okay?”

“On the condition that I review it before you upload.”

“Of course. What do you take me for, some kind of thug?”

A warrior with a large greatsword on his back.

Soolbbang shrugged his shoulders.

…He was the only person I could call right away.

It can’t be helped.

What can I do about my narrow social circle?

There aren’t many guys in this field that I can take around as allies.

Especially at a timing when the structure of the siege scene is rapidly changing.

It’s not easy to find a high-level user without affiliation.

Surprisingly, Soolbbang was a guy who satisfied these conditions.

He had only been active as a mercenary until now, and he had decent specs and skills.

He could even stand as vanguard instead of me, so the composition was usable even as a two-person party.

Actually, Traveler’s name did cross my mind.

But he needs to prepare for the league now.

Even if I asked, I would have been rejected right away.

– Q Prime vs Sigma, Big Match for this season’s opening game!

– Korean League, sustainability of Luche and Traveler-centered system?

– Sigma E-sports, Camellia shock call-up to first team!

It’s time for the pro league to start along with the new continent patch.

Since the first match is against Luche, he must be on edge.

I was looking forward to it, as Luche would have prepared thoroughly too.

The Luche I saw in the Arena had become stronger than before.

Ah, I want to watch the match quickly.

“Se… Ahem. Isn’t unni coming?”

“It’ll be difficult. Elderin is originally a customization specialist, right? She’ll join after uploading reviews of all the newly added things. Dulgul hyung said he’d come tomorrow.”

“Sansae unni also said she could only log in tomorrow. Can’t be helped. Let’s go around just the two of us today.”

By the way, this is a big deal.

I’m starting to get used to saying ‘unni’.

I know there’s no point in worrying about this.

Still, words that didn’t stick at all are gradually coming out of my mouth.

Is this what they mean when they say humans are animals that adapt to their environment?

I’ve even become more lenient with skinship, you could say.

Unlike with other people, being close to them seemed to strangely stabilize my mind.

So at the karaoke, I just sat on Sansae’s lap the whole time.

It’s absolutely not that I had any ulterior motives.

It was just really comfortable. I think I understand why girls hold hands when walking.

‘It’s warm and soft… No. This isn’t right.’

Anyway, it was a huge difference compared to before when I felt discomfort as soon as my body touched others.

I don’t know about touching men yet, but it’s not something I can carelessly test.

Was I actually an easier person than I thought?

I started to feel a sense of crisis.

While I was lost in thought, Soolbbang opened the map.

Undiscovered areas were still shrouded in fog.

Still, you could see rough silhouettes.

Soolbbang suddenly pointed to the middle of the fog.

“It seems most people are trying to break through the center first. Especially here.”

“The siege guild guys will go that way. Don’t they think good rewards are concentrated in the center?”

“Then, are you going to the center too?”

“No. Don’t say such horrible things. Why would I go there and face who knows what?”

Even if you find any treasure, it’s not yours if you can’t protect it.

If I make a mistake and get involved with siege guilds, the situation becomes messy.

There’s a reason why the siege scene is said to be dirty.

They’re basically guys who band together for vested interests.

Just as reason and logic are meaningless in front of a starving beast, these guys aren’t much different.

Carnivores with strength but greed.

Jackals that target weak prey first because instincts remain.

This was the essence of siege guilds as I saw it.

So it’s more rational to head elsewhere.

I had one place in mind. The canyon at the corner of the map.

It was expected to be the most difficult and complex course on this continent.

“Let’s go here.”

“…Really?”

“Why, scared?”

A smile naturally crept up.

Soolbbang clenched his molars.

“I’m just too excited! Let’s go right now!”

* * *

The blood in my mouth was sticky.

Hot and viscous. The strong iron taste spread throughout my mouth.

Even after spitting it out on the ground, the unpleasant feeling remained, so I had to rinse my mouth with water.

Feeling annoyed for no reason, I kicked the head of the fallen monster.

It hurt me more instead.

I pretended to be fine, thinking it would look really pathetic if I grabbed my foot here.

It seems all the monsters coming out in this area are Minotaurs.

Beastmen with human bodies and bull heads. I didn’t particularly like them because of their tenacious vitality.

Biological type monsters also easily dirty your body because of the blood.

“Ugh, I still feel the fishy taste in my mouth.”

“Want some more water?”

“Yeah.”

Certainly, the monster specs in this section were high.

Even the Minotaur we just hunted was beyond the level of the best hunting grounds on the main continent.

Until we entered the entrance, we could see a few other users, but now we can’t find any.

Most of them either died or ran away.

It’s tricky to deal with even at my equipment level.

It should be considered impossible to hunt at the level of ordinary users.

Moreover, due to the canyon terrain, it was difficult for many people to move at once.

That’s why I could be even more certain.

This is the right answer.

“If we keep going, we’ll find something, right?”

“Yeah. I have a good feeling about this.”

There were two reasons why I chose this place among many areas.

One is that it’s a place difficult for ultra-large siege guilds to enter.

Narrow terrain and strong monsters is synonymous with being vulnerable to small numbers.

It wasn’t an area that those with many enemies could easily choose.

The second reason was ultimately similar.

This canyon is most efficient to pass through with a small elite force.

But most users with specs like mine are already involved with guilds.

With most of the large guilds’ forces focusing on central conquest now, this area could be said to be the most quiet place in the new continent.

The fact that it’s difficult to handle monsters one by one was also a good sign.

It means it’s not impossible, at least.

If it wasn’t a normal conquest route, there would have been monsters impossible to overcome even with my specs.

Then we must move forward.

Infinity Black is a game, and therefore faithful to rules.

In games, there’s always a reward at the end of hardship.

Unlike reality.

“Ah, what should we do with the spoils?”

“Just keep everything for now. Let’s settle up all at once later.”

“What, it feels good that you seem to trust me?”

“…Well, something like that.”

Actually, I’m quite grateful to Soolbbang.

He must not have had very good feelings towards me since I killed him several times, but he never showed it.

Not only that, but he even readily extended his hand to me.

Even I don’t return gratitude with enmity.

But if you ask whether the childish jealousy has disappeared somewhere… that’s probably not the case.

He just has enough flexibility to avoid me when bad emotions fill my heart again someday.

“Let’s go. We’ve rested long enough. Let’s keep moving and try to find something.”

“Aye.”

“Aye?”

“Yes.”

“That’s right. Pfft…”

Sorting out my complicated feelings in various ways – I set out on the journey again.

The path of not being alone wasn’t too bad.