[Ding!]

  [System: Bid of 350,000 Lumina placed!]

  "......What?"

  I doubted my own eyes.

  [Ding!]

  [Ding!]

  [Notice: Bid of 420,000 Lumina placed!]

  [Notice: Bid of 550,000 Lumina placed!]

  In less than ten minutes, it had more than doubled the starting price.

  In real-world currency, it meant over 6 million won (roughly $4,500) had racked up in an instant.

  'This is crazy... Just how many rich whales are on this server?'

  In my entire life, I had never seen money multiply with such speed.

  My heart pounded as if it were going to burst.

  Struggling to suppress my surging excitement, I spoke to the scout, 'Veron,' who was guarding the entrance to the abandoned mine.

  After a brief conversation, we accepted a chain quest to 'Eliminate 30 skeletons inside' and immediately stepped into the pitch-black mineshaft.

  Upon entering the abandoned mine, the number of players was incomparably lower than at the goblin camp.

  Throughout the darkened tunnels, skeletal soldiers stripped to the bone and rotting corpses, their forms barely recognizable, staggered about.

  "Ugh... The graphic quality being too good is a problem in itself. This is seriously giving me goosebumps..."

  Ian turned pale and took a step back.

  Behind him, Succubus and Jude were also terrified by the sight of the rotting corpses, grabbing each other's clothes and shrinking back.

  To think they were scared by mere monster graphics. I chuckled and patted their backs.

  "They're just bits of data anyway. There's nothing to be afraid of. Just think of them as ugly EXP."

  Just as I quietly aimed at a target to lighten the mood...

  Twang―!

  Before I could even release the bowstring, a booming shout that shook the entire cave struck my ears.

  "Stop right there!"

  Turning my head, I saw a massive man with red hair swept back like a lion's mane looking down at us.

  A square jaw and a well-groomed mustache. He had the look of someone with a nasty temper.

  He declared in a cold, overbearing voice that echoed loudly through the dungeon.

  "As of this moment, the 'Wailing Mine' is under the complete lockdown of our [Toxic] guild."

  The man's eyes glinted murderously.

  "Regular players are to evacuate immediately. There will be no warnings. The moment you touch a monster, we will consider you an enemy and put a blade in you."

  'Hah, playing the 'Cartel' game here too, huh...'

  A scoff escaped me.

  Cartels. Massive guild alliances that rule like kings over regular players, not hesitating to wage war to monopolize honey-pot hunting grounds and bosses.

  That disgusting ecosystem where the powerful hog all the profits and play 'boss' had already taken root in this game too.

  The glowing blue nickname above his head caught my eye.

  [Toxic] Tyrant.

  What drew my attention even more than his nickname was the massive wolf guarding his side.

  The beast radiating a golden aura from its entire body, 'Fenrir', stood majestically.

  It was on a completely different level from a normal wolf.

  A massive frame that easily surpassed the height of an adult man. Silver-gray fur that looked like twisted steel covered its body like armor, and crackling golden electrical currents flowed ceaselessly between its sharp fangs.

  Especially the broken chain decoration wrapped around its neck, which emitted a ferocious pressure as if proving it was the monster that devoured gods in mythology.

  '......A Legendary-grade pet?'

  I instinctively swallowed dryly.

  'I'd better lay low for now. I shouldn't mess with that guy.'

  The pet grading system in this game is identical to the item tier system.

  [Common - Advanced - Rare - Epic - Legendary - Mythic]. And reigning above them all, [Mythic Constellation].

  What's important is the performance gap starting from the 'Legendary' grade.

  In Liberty, pets are divided into Mounts, Buffers, and Combat types, but from the Legendary grade onwards, they become an 'All-in-One' complete package possessing all three abilities.

  In other words, that single Fenrir was stronger than an average player party.

  "Ah... um, excuse me, but until when is the lockdo—"

  Just as I was about to attempt a negotiation as subserviently as possible...

  "Who do you think you are, telling us to leave or not? This is unbelievable, seriously!"

  Before I could even finish my sentence, Ian shouted at Tyrant, veins bulging on his neck.

  "Oho?"

  In an instant, Tyrant's eyes sharpened. Even the Fenrir beside him growled low.

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  'We're screwed.'

  As the atmosphere turned hostile, I hastily clamped my hand over Ian's mouth. Cold sweat poured down my spine.

  "Mmph! Mmph!"

  "Ah, hahahaha! I'm so sorry! My friend is playing a VR game for the first time, so he doesn't know any better! We'll leave right now! Let's go, come on!"

  I tried to forcefully drag Ian out, but he roughly shook off my hand with the strength of a bull.

  "Ah, let go of me! Savior! Did we commit a crime? We came here to do a quest, who do they think they are making such a fuss!"

  Following Ian's provocation, even the usually quiet Succubus and Jude caused an accident.

  At a time when they should be reading the room and stopping him, the two of them instead stood side-by-side with Ian, glaring at Tyrant with heavily scrunched faces.

  'Ah...... No...'

  Whether he knew my despairing feelings or not, Tyrant twisted the corners of his mouth up as if he had found a very entertaining spectacle.

  "Oho, you've all gone crazy as a group."

  He tilted his chin and spat out words that were no different from a death sentence.

  "Understood. Everyone in your party is now registered on the [Toxic] guild's 'Blacklist' as of this moment."

  His eyes flashed with murderous intent in an instant.

  "Blades are going in right now. Don't feel wronged after you die."

  A cold death sentence falling from his lips.

  "......Ah."

  The moment I heard those words, even though I hadn't been stabbed, my life flashed before my eyes.

  The character I had painstakingly raised, and the jackpot item I had just listed on the auction house. I saw an illusion of all my hopes shattering into pieces.

  Snapping back to my senses in an instant, I quickly spun around and blocked my party.

  And I yelled at them, mouthing the words silently.

  "(Are you all crazy? Is this your first time playing a game like this?!...)"

  I heavily distorted my face, sending a signal that screamed, 'Please, read the room.'

  However, the reaction I got back was despairing.

  Ian, Succubus, and Jude. All three of them were just staring blankly at me with eyes wide like rabbits.

  Those innocent expressions, as if asking, 'Did we do something wrong?'

  '......It really is their first time.'

  My head throbbed. These guys didn't have guts.

  They were just 'complete newbies' who could be brave because of their sheer ignorance.

  "(From now on, stay behind me, don't say a single word, and make the most pitiful expressions you can. Got it?!)"

  Glaring as if I was going to eat them alive, I fiercely mouthed the words.

  At my murderous expression, the trio pouted as if wronged, but eventually nodded obediently.

  They then awkwardly hid behind my back, their eyes wide like frightened rabbits.

  'Good, prep complete.'

  In a flash, I swapped my expression to my 'customer service smile'.

  "I apologize, Lord Tyrant! My friends are complete newbies, so they don't know the gaming culture very well."

  I tried my hardest to look pitiful.

  "We burned 25 million won on our capsules. We spent a lot of money to start, and we don't want to be marked by you big brothers and have to quit. We are truly sorry! Please, with your broad generosity, let us off just this once!"

  I bowed 90 degrees, my head practically touching the ground.

  Tyrant stroked his beard as if pondering for a moment.

  "Hmm..."

  Did the sum of 25 million won work? Soon, as if losing interest, he waved his hand.

  "We aren't a thug guild that puts a blade in just anyone. As long as you follow our [Toxic] guild's lockdown well, unfortunate incidents like just now won't happen. You may leave now."

  'You may leave now...?'

  That tone, thrown out as if ordering a subordinate. I ground my molars together to suppress the anger flaring up in an instant.

  However, I am a 10-year veteran gold farmer. I threw away things like pride to the dogs a long time ago.

  "Ah, thank you! Keep up the good work then!"

  Smiling so hard my facial muscles twitched, I bowed 90 degrees once more.

  And, snatching the blankly standing trio, I hurriedly dragged them out of the dungeon.

  As soon as the dungeon entrance distanced itself behind our backs, my suppressed true feelings burst out.

  '......If I ever met you in real life, you'd be dead.'

  "Unbelievable, Savior! We should've just rammed straight into them! Who do they think they are? Tsk! Ptui!"

  Ian, seemingly unable to vent his anger, violently spat towards the dungeon with a heavily scrunched face.

  Succubus and Jude were the same. They had always been docile, but this time, their fists were tightly clenched.

  "Because of us...... I really hated seeing you bowing and scraping to guys like that, Savior."

  "That's right. We can fight too. Let's just kill them all together!"

  The look in their eyes was genuine.

  Truthfully, they weren't wrong. Even though there are only four of us, if we set our minds to it and engaged in guerrilla warfare, we could make the [Toxic] guild's lives quite a headache.

  If we interfered with their hunting, struck them in the back, and ran away, we could harass them plenty.

  'But...... then my gold farming plans would be ruined.'

  Because war is a hippo that devours money and time.

  Swallowing a bitter smile, I patted the excited trio's shoulders.

  "I appreciate the sentiment, but hold it in. If you get wrongly tangled up with guys like that, the game becomes 'labor'. It just gets exhausting."

  I shrugged, pretending it was nothing.

  "Do people avoid dog crap because they're scared of it? No, they avoid it because it's dirty. Let's just think of it as stepping in crap and brush it off. Our goal isn't fighting, it's growth, right?"

  The trio, their feelings of injustice seemingly unquenched, let out deep sighs as if the ground were caving in.

  However, my mind was filled with a suspicion stronger than anger.

  'Just what on earth drops in there for them to lock it down so early in the game?'

  If it were simply a place to clear quests, there would be no reason to block the entrance and buy the players' resentment.

  'Lockdowns' are accompanied by 'practical profit' rather than justification.

  It definitely meant there was 'something lucrative' hidden there that they didn't want others to steal, or that they absolutely had to monopolize.

  Questions followed one after another, but with our current combat power, it was like striking a boulder with an egg.

  Even if it's unfair, being pushed aside if you lack power is the law of the game.

  "It can't be helped. For now, let's retreat to the 'Goblin Camp'. We'll focus on leveling up there first."

  The Goblin Camp we returned to.

  However, the atmosphere was 180 degrees different. The suffocating tension from when we first stepped foot here was nowhere to be found.

  Thwiiip— Thwack!

  "Kieeeek!"

  The arrow that left my hand cleanly pierced through the heads of two goblins standing in a straight line in a single breath. 'Two birds with one stone'.

  At the front, Ian was dancing.

  "Euhaha! Sweep 'em all away!"

  CRASH!

  Every time Ian swung 'Matus's Greatsword', four charging goblin warriors were sent flying into the air like falling autumn leaves.

  An overwhelming difference in firepower.

  As if venting the frustration of being unfairly chased out, we began to crazily enjoy the taste of growth.

  "Wow...... there are already people that strong."

  "What's up with that party? It's tough for us to catch even one, but they're grinding them up like a blender."

  The surroundings grew noisy.

  Regular players, who had been struggling with three or four people clinging to catch a single goblin, stopped what they were doing and stared at us blankly.

  Especially whenever Ian swung [Matus's Greatsword] to hit a home run with four goblins at once, the onlookers' jaws dropped.

  "Hey, look at that greatsword. Do you see it glowing? Isn't that an enhancement effect?"

  "Whoa, they must be rankers......"

  It felt like becoming a monkey in a zoo, but it wasn't bad.

  The pouring gazes of awe and envy. Wasn't this also the taste of an RPG?

  "Excuse me! Do you guys happen to have a guild?!"

  A spirited voice heard from behind.

  I stealthily loosened the bowstring I was drawing towards a goblin's forehead.

  Turning my head, a man with a good-natured impression was waving his hand brightly.

  A neat appearance with natural brown hair styled dapperly. He was a swordsman wearing a sleek longsword at his waist.

  Above the crown of his head, a glowing blue nickname caught my eye.

  [White Night] Kangyu

  In complete contrast to 'Tyrant' whom we met just before, he was a man whose very nickname exuded a refreshing vibe.

  I silently tapped the calculator in my head.

  'A guild, huh... Is it a benefit, or a poison?'

  What if they act annoyingly like those [Toxic] bastards from earlier?

  Or would they force mandatory login times or donations?

  Before my pondering could drag on, Kangyu hooked his way in with his unique sociability.

  "Ah, please don't feel pressured! I was just admiring how refreshingly you hunt. You're clearly experts just by looking at you, so I ran over to recruit you before another guild snatches you up!"

  He added, his eyes sparkling.

  "Let's clear difficult quests together, share various information with each other, and aim for a Win-Win. How about it?"

  It was before the calculator in my head could even finish spinning.

  Ian, who had been slicing down goblins on the side, rested his greatsword on his shoulder and suddenly interjected.

  "Ay, Savior! What are you weighing so much? He looks like a good guy, let's just join what the heck!"

  "Oh! You're hot-blooded as expected! I look forward to working with you!"

  Not missing this opportunity, Kangyu grabbed both my hands and shook them up and down.

  "Uh, eh......?"

  [System: You have joined the 'White Night' guild.]

  [System: Welcome to becoming a member of the 'White Night' guild!]

  There wasn't even time to stop him.

  Swept up by Ian's thoughtless hearty nature, I ended up pressing the guild join button semi-forcibly.