<<Moving to ‘Malak Island’.>>
Malak Island was a place where the weather changed constantly, and when we arrived, the sky was perfectly clear. A foreign beach I’d only ever seen as a computer wallpaper unfolded right before my eyes.
The party members, except for me, must’ve been used to the scenery because they walked straight along the coastline without much reaction. With every step, my feet sank deep into the sand, and a notification appeared at the top saying my movement speed had been reduced by 10%.
The monster we were hunting was a crab about half the size of a person’s lower body. But it was incredibly alert—if you got even a little close, it would burrow straight into the sand.
“I’ll block the holes.”
The three of them all had different attributes. Judging by the name, SonOfWindKimTaepung sounded like a wind-type, but he was actually a summoner. Most of what he summoned were venomous creatures—poison spiders, poison frogs, venomous snakes. Everything about them was creepy. Still, all he had to do was summon them and fire off skills alongside them, so it honestly looked like one of the easiest abilities out there.
Another player seemed to be an earth-type, freely sealing the holes the crabs tried to escape through. He even caused small tremors and kicked up nearby sand to pin the monsters down.
The last one was also a summoner, but his summons were surprisingly cute. Since his level was still low, he said he could only summon wolves or bears that still looked like cubs. They chased after the poison spiders and bit at the crabs together.
“They’re cute.”
The animal summoner, [ColdBloodedSwordsman], said that when he was first created as a summoner, he’d thought about remaking his character—but couldn’t bring himself to.
“Right? They were even cuter at level 1. They were this tiny, and seriously adorable. That’s why I just stuck with summoner. But when you see high-level summons, they look like dinosaurs or something. Some people think that’s cool, but I like them just like this. That’s why I don’t level up on purpose.”
Watching SonOfWindKimTaepung and ColdBloodedSwordsman made me realize one thing: if I ever became a Psychic later, I shouldn’t pick a name carelessly. You didn’t know what attribute you’d get until you logged in.
If I ever switched to Psychic, I wanted to be a summoner. You didn’t have to risk your own body, and even though hunting was slower, it looked more relaxed. Even if creepy bug monsters appeared, you could just step back and fight from a distance. Still… I definitely didn’t want to be a summoner like Kim Taepung.
The crab monsters here dropped various kinds of loot, and their legs could be eaten like potions to restore HP. A rare drop called <Chitosan Extract> lowered PG or GG; the effect was minor, but it was popular enough that selling bundles of 100 in personal shops made decent money.
Maybe because Malak Island was a low-level zone, it was well-designed so players could level up through self-sufficiency. Still, when a crab’s massive claw split a summoned monster clean in half, I couldn’t bring myself to get too close.
Every so often, I cast shields on my party members and used Relax. To help the summoned creatures keep up with the fast-moving crabs, I also used Rapid on them, which burned through my MP quickly.
After hunting nonstop for over an hour, even chugging potions wasn’t enough—every status bar was running dry.
“Ah, hold on. My wife’s calling me.”
When the earth-type Psychic stepped away, there was no one left to block the crab holes, so we naturally decided to take a break. Honestly, I wanted to go to the bathroom too, so I said I’d log back in after ten minutes and disconnected.
We’d hunted nonstop for an hour, but I’d only gained one level. Compared to the huge jumps I’d gotten from killing bosses before, it felt slow—but maybe this was the real charm of gaming. We split the loot even though none of us were particularly well-off. If something didn’t divide evenly, we gave way to each other—it felt warm and friendly.
After just grabbing some water, I put the helmet back on and logged in again.
<<Welcome to Blood Planet.>>
<<Moving to your last login location.>>
When I reconnected, Kim Taepung and ColdBloodedSwordsman were already there waiting. We sat beneath a large palm tree.
Kim Taepung lit a campfire under it and tossed herbs that boosted vitality into the flames. A warm fragrance spread through the air, and energy surged through me as my HP and MP refilled rapidly. I cast Relax as well.
Naturally, we sat staring into the fire and started chatting. Listening to them talk, it felt like we were all around the same age. Watching the crabs die, Kim Taepung asked if anyone had tried steamed crab at Dongmyeong Port in Sokcho. Everyone except me had, and they started talking like middle-aged guys craving a shot of soju.
“GentleTouch… I’ve seen that name somewhere a lot. You’re… that guy, right?”
ColdBloodedSwordsman suddenly looked at me and asked meaningfully. Kim Taepung glanced between us and went, “Ah!” as if he’d figured it out. I already knew what they were about to say, so I just scratched the back of my head and laughed awkwardly.
“Why’d you break off your partner link? If it was ShutUp, that was basically hitting the jackpot.”
“Well… our personalities didn’t match.”
“Hmm. I’ve heard he’s kinda vicious. Goes around massacring people for fun, even breaks items. When I heard you were his partner, I thought you were the same kind of person… but you really live up to the name GentleTouch. So, aren’t you looking for another partner?”
“Yeah. Not for a while.”
Maybe he’d been thinking of proposing a partnership if I said yes—Kim Taepung looked slightly disappointed but nodded, saying he understood.
We added each other as friends and said we should hunt together again if needed. While we were in the middle of adding each other, the Psychic who’d stepped away returned.
“My kid keeps crying… I’m gonna log off. Sorry.”
“It can’t be helped.”
Honestly, without him, hunting here would be difficult. Still, maybe out of courtesy, he logged back in just to drop the items he’d taken on the ground before disconnecting.
The rest of us tried to keep hunting crabs, but even with Rapid on the summons, we couldn’t stop them from escaping into their holes.
“What should we do?”
After a few failed attempts, we gathered back near the campfire. I absentmindedly petted the wolf sitting beside me. Maybe because its movements were limited to basic animations, it just stared forward no matter how much I touched its paws or tail. Still, the feel of its fur was so real it felt like petting an actual puppy.
“Let’s head deeper into the forest for now. Maybe hunt some man-eating flowers.”
As ColdBloodedSwordsman stood up, the wolf that had been sitting quietly beside me jumped up and moved to his side. I felt oddly envious of that sight. Then Kim Taepung rose as well, and venomous snakes that had been hiding underground slithered around him. That… I did not envy.
We decided on a destination and started walking carefully. The deeper part of the forest required more caution. There were all kinds of miscellaneous monsters, and visibility was limited. Thankfully, the summoned creatures automatically detected enemies, so all we had to do was follow them.
Unlike the coast, the man-eating flowers released poisonous gas, so I created a [Safety Zone] on the ground where they fought. Maybe because the hunting speed was slower than before, after killing about five of them, my MP hit rock bottom.
“I need to recharge MP.”
We sat down wherever we were and recovered HP and MP together.
“At this rate, we’re too slow. The loot’s not great either.”
Honestly, when hunting poisonous monsters, having a long-range Psychic helped a lot. The two summoners were already burning through MP by repeatedly resummoning creatures whenever they died. On top of that, the poison constantly drained HP. In many ways, this hunting ground just didn’t suit us.
“Maybe we should go back to Velvet Town and regroup.”
“Right? Let’s head back for now?”
“Yeah.”
We’d just agreed and were about to stand when—
KWAANG—!
A bolt of lightning suddenly struck the tree beside us, splitting the massive trunk clean in half. Seeing a blinding flash in the dim forest was shocking enough, but watching a huge tree snap apart in an instant filled me with an overwhelming fear of natural disaster.
“Was that lightning?”
“Hard to tell—the trees block the sky. Malak Island’s weather changes a lot.”
As we talked about meeting again in front of the party board and asked if everyone had Return Scrolls, another bolt struck a tree directly behind us.
The thunderclap made me flinch, and every hair on my body stood on end. I’d lowered environmental sound settings, but lightning was still impossible not to react to.
“Let’s go. Quickly.”
We raised our arms to use the Return Scrolls in our inventories.
“Freeze.”
A deep, cavernous voice I knew all too well sounded from behind my head. Kim Taepung looked past me and froze instantly, while ColdBloodedSwordsman stiffened mid-motion with his arm raised.
Kim Taepung’s eyes darted between my face and whatever was behind me. I stayed frozen too, my hand still lifted. Heavy footsteps crushed dry branches as they approached, and then a large hand came down over the back of my neck, gripping it.
“What are you doing here?”
At ShutUp’s gentle question, I turned my head slightly to look at him. I finally understood the source of the lightning. His eyes glowed with a blue radiance, and sparks of electricity flickered intermittently around them.
“Uh… hunting…”
I thought he was about to slam me into the ground by my neck like he had at the lake. Even though this was just a game, I couldn’t completely shake the fear of death.
In front of me, Kim Taepung and ColdBloodedSwordsman watched ShutUp’s movements carefully.
“If you want to bully someone, just bully me. Let them go.”
ShutUp smiled and whispered into my ear.
“Don’t want to. I’m killing everyone.”
At his words, the two in front of me glanced sideways at their summoned creatures. Of course, they didn’t stand a chance against ShutUp. Maybe thinking they could buy time by reading the situation, the panic that had frozen them earlier slowly turned into killing intent in their eyes.
“You’re a ranker but you act like a thug.”
“Got high-level just to bully lowbies, huh?”
“Shut it.”
They say people get brave when they’ve got nothing to lose. Luckily, none of us were wearing expensive gear, so even if ShutUp wiped us out, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. Still, the thought of losing our progress after leveling for an hour bothered me. We’d spent that whole time together… As I searched for a way to save them, I made up my mind and suddenly dashed toward where ShutUp stood.
“I’ll lure him away! Go!”
Right now, splitting ShutUp’s attention was the priority. If he chased me, my party members could use their Return Scrolls and escape this crisis.
I ran through the trees, but an enormous explosion sounded behind me, forcing me to cover my ears and turn back. Dozens of lightning bolts rained down on the spot where we’d been moments ago—a literal waterfall of lightning pouring from the sky.
I stood there, stunned, staring at it.
“Ah! That… crazy bastard.”
I hurried back to where we’d been. The ground was gouged so deeply I couldn’t even see their bodies, and the equipment they’d been wearing lay scattered across the charred earth. They were probably already dead, waiting at the respawn screen. They could’ve reconnected, but knowing ShutUp would be standing guard, there was no way they would.
I looked around at the blackened, scorched surroundings, then turned to ShutUp, thinking it was my turn now. Fine, kill me then—I stood right in front of him, openly daring him.
