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1.

“Ergh!”

It was a man in his early 40s with a sturdy body and a thick beard. He was also wearing thick horn-rimmed glasses.

“Are you alright, sir?”

The man tried to open his eyes when he heard a worried voice.

“Ehh…..”

However, his eyes wouldn’t easily open and only the sound of his moans was heard.

Was it why?

“Here is dangerous. Wake up! Hurry! Hurry!”

The worried voice urging the man became higher.

“If you don’t wake up quickly, I might kill y…. you are going to die.”

It sounded like a threat.

Finally, the NPC, Yoshi, opened his eyes.

“Who, who are you?”

As soon as he opened his eyes, he asked about the person’s identity.

“I am Midas.”

The person introduced himself right away.

“I’m an adventurer from Wiga city and we are at the Cursed Forest where there are many zombies.”

He talked very kindly.

“You have fainted and I found you. This is urgent. If there is something you left behind or there is something you need to ask me to do, please feel free to tell me. What can I do for you?”

He was too kind and asked additional questions.

Had Yoshi been moved by Midas?

He had a blank face for a moment and soon nodded.

“Thank you for helping me. My name is Yoshi.”

Then he explained his situation.

“I came to investigate the Cursed Forest. Then I was suddenly attacked by zombies, and lost everything I had.”

He explained every single thing about his pitiful situation.

However, the person who was listening had no reaction.

“Lucky, there is nothing other than this?”

Woof!

“No?”

Woof!

He was even doing something else in front of Yoshi.

Yoshi didn’t care about that and continued explaining.

“…….So, can you do me a favor?”

Now, he asked for a favor.

“I’m thankful for your help and I know I’m being shameless, but I only have you to ask to find all the data I have lost for my research. Could you please find 100 of the cursed traces from the zombies?”

This was literally a shameless favor.

However, Midas smiled and answered.

“Of course, I will help you.”

Woof!

2.

[ Yoshi’s favor (hidden) ] – Rank: Unique – Level: Level 39 and below – Content: Find 100 of the cursed traces for Yoshi who researches the Cursed Forest. You can get the cursed trace with a high probability when hunting zombies. – Reward: Skill card book (Unique)

Midas smiled at the quest.

“This is a win-win.”

He had to hunt 1,000 zombies anyway, so the quest was killing two birds with one stone.

“Good job, Lucky.”

Woof!

He gave Lucky unstinted praise.

“No, I have to look up to you. Mr. Lucky, I’m so impressed!”

Woof!

He flattered Lucky.

‘He’s my Mr. Lucky.’

These earnings were so incredible that Midas’s reaction wasn’t weird.

As inferred, most of the skill card books were rewards from hidden quests through randomly appearing NPCs.

In other words, a skill card Midas could get through this quest was tradable.

‘If I can get a tier 1 grade, it’s 10,000 gold……… Approximately, 10,000,000 won.’

It was common that a skill card was over 10,000 gold, which was 10,000,000 won depending on its type.

Gulp!

He couldn’t help swallowing his spit.

‘It’s the first time touching over 10 million won after I got the down payment.’

The last time he received over 10 million won was when he was paid 30 million won upfront as a pro baseball player.

It was now a distant memory.

‘This is crazy that I can touch a large sum.’

He had prepared some money to live off of but it was merely for living expenses.

To play the game safely, he needed a large sum of money.

Of course, he could worry about it after getting rewards.

“Mr. Lucky, let’s get back out to hunt.”

Woof!

Midas started hunting again.

3.

In the Cursed Forest, players shouted everywhere due to the black fog.

“Shit, run away!”

“Fucking zombies! What about hunting them?”

“We can’t! Just run! Running away is the priority!”

“But we’re only running away!”

“It’s better than dying and wasting 80 hours!”

The players got surrounded by the zombies and shouted desperately.

However, not all the players were busy running away.

There were always stronger players.

A party finished hunting very fast while being surrounded by monsters.

“Ok, I killed it!”

“There is one more coming!”

“I can just kill one more then!”

There was no special secret.

“Spending lots of money was worth it. The zombies are dying easily.”

“Do you understand now why I bought this skill?”

There was only one certain way other than good skills and good items.

“Definitely Louis! Your hunting ability is beyond imagination!”

“Of course! His main character’s level is over 150! He’s entirely different from us!”

Experience.

It was sometimes the key to surpass skills and items.

They were all what Midas had at that moment.

‘Zombies spawn less in the area where other zombies gather while chasing players. The number of monsters that appear at once is controlled. So, the area where many zombies are is a good place to hunt them.’

Midas had experienced the conquest of the Cursed Forest.

When he first started the game, he was called a master at the beginning of God Wars.

His efforts to be called a master was unspeakable.

‘The zombie orc and zombie goblin’s range of recognizing a target is 35.4 meters. It’s possible to aggro them if I attack them further than that……. I’ve done ridiculous things several times to get this information.’

There were too many competitors so he had to get information on his own a long time ago.

‘Talented players didn’t have to do that.’

Meanwhile, Midas felt his limit in the Cursed Forest.

He realized that he couldn’t be equal to those talented players even though he analyzed and tried so much.

Of course, he could fight like them now.

However, he didn’t force himself too much.

‘Zombies are slow anyway. I don’t need to try to hit them fast. The most important thing right now is hitting exactly in the middle. The point is to reduce the damage loss, not attacking fast.’

He attacked only when he was secured and achieved what he wanted.

He knew that avoiding danger was better than wasting time to escape the danger.

‘Coach Jinyong used to teach me not to be sure of victory if I’m uncertain.’

It wasn’t that he just listened and understood in one or two days.

He had learned through so many lessons from many people since a long time ago.

That was why Midas could hunt the number of zombies faster than others.

[ You have killed a zombie orc. ]

[ Your level has risen. ]

‘Good, I’ve hunted 200.’

Finally, he was almost at the goal.

‘I’ve accomplished the target number.’

Midas tried to rest at this point.

“Good work, Lucky.”

Woof!

“I’m going to go and rest a little bit.”

He played for a long time so he tried to log out and take some rest time.

Whine…..

Lucky whined like he didn’t want Midas to leave.

Midas pet Lucky’s chin.

“I’m going to be back after eating a meal, drinking some coffee, and eating some treats. It won’t take that long.”

Lucky dropped his head.

He dropped it as deeply as his nose touched the ground.

Midas smiled slightly.

“I’m sorry, Lucky. I’ll be back soon.”

Then Lucky answered to stop him.

Woof Woof!

“…..Oh, Mr. Lucky. I’m so sorry. I forgot to call you Mr.”

Lucky’s words perfectly stopped Midas.

4.

“Come to visit me in Wiga city. Then I will reward you.”

An archer with leather armors instantly disappeared inside the black fog.

Midas stared at the NPC and turned his back.

[ Zack’s favor ] – Rank: Rare – Level: Level 35 and below – Content: A soldier, Zack, from Wiga city has asked you to hunt 100 zombies. Hunt 100 zombies and then talk to Zack. – Reward: Skill card book (rare)

A new quest greeted Midas.

“This is weird.”

Midas unconsciously talked by himself.

‘Getting two quests like this doesn’t make any sense.’

Picking up money on the street is definitely delightful.

People like Midas would put the money in their pockets and leave quickly before someone saw them.

However, what if they pick up money twice?

‘The Cursed forest is abandoned, but there are still players………’

He couldn’t help doubting.

Did someone drop the money on purpose by any chance?

‘The Explorer’s guild is also here.’

Besides, there was also the Explorer’s guild’s line and the guild members stayed to manage the line.

Some of their roles in the forest were hunting the boss monster, finding a hidden dungeon, and discovering a hidden quest.

The guild was founded to make money so they wouldn’t leave these precious items.

‘Indeed, I haven’t seen many of the Explorer’s guild members. They only offer their rescue service.’

His doubt changed Midas’s view.

‘It’s certain. The workforce that manages the Cursed Forest has definitely been trimmed.’

Of course, it wasn’t like something had changed so much.

‘This is kick ass.’

If the Explorer’s guild was really not there at that moment, it was a chance for Midas.

“Lucky.”

Woof!

“Should we play the game more?”

He couldn’t give up on this chance.

Woof!

Lucky’s bark was rich and full, and Midas smiled at him and grabbed his wand again.

“Ok, Lucky. Let’s get it!”

5.

The rest area in the Stinky Forest was a place where players gathered and gossiped.

“Have you seen the solo kill video?”

“Which one? The slayer orc?”

“Yea.”

“His items, holy beast, and skills. Those three did everything.”

“But he did hit well, right? It’s not easy to hit a target from that far.”

“That’s possible if we practice. Nothing’s going to happen with his items even if he misses. He can just hit it again. He just got lucky. Oh, we need to add his luck onto the list.”

“By the way, who is he?”

“I heard he’s BJ Archmage.”

“No, not his game ID. I meant who he really is. He’s not an ordinary man by the looks of his holy beast and damage dealing.”

“Some people said he’s a son of a conglomerate in Korea.”

“I heard he’s someone that Azmo raises.”

“So what is his channel’s name? I’ve searched BJ Archmage many times but couldn’t find it.”

“Someone said it’s a secret channel only for VIPs, so free gifts are crazy. He gives out a Mercedes as a gift.”

“Wow, how rich is he?”

The gossip became a boundless rumor.

However, it didn’t last long.

“By the way, I’ve seen many of the Explorer’s guild members. Did something happen? I even saw them outside of their line.”

“Aren’t they expanding their boundary? It was mostly like that. They also called all the combatants near Wiga city.”

Their topic naturally changed to something else.

“This is just a rumor, but I heard the Explorer’s guild is trying to find something.”

“What?”

“A quest.”

“Bullshit.”

“Yea, actually I just made that up.”