*BOOM!!!!*

A violent shockwave detonated the air, rippling outward.

Beneath that impact, the lower half of the ‘Sharp Goblin Battle Chief’—its upper body gone—stood pathetically on the ground.

“Holy shit…”

“That’s insane.”

Players who’d been writhing in despair stared at the sight in disbelief.

A Boss Monster so powerful, defeated in a single blow.

*SPLAT—*

The moment the Boss Monster’s headless lower body drummed pitifully against the earth.

*SPLAT—*

*THUMP—*

The reanimated Sharp Goblin, too, lost its strength and collapsed.

*Ding-*

[You have defeated the Sharp Goblin Battle Chief.]

[Sharp Goblin Fortress Recapture! Cleared!!]

[Awarding rewards.]

Along with the welcome notification, *vwoom*—an item descended from the sky.

‘The Sharp Goblins’ treasure…’

It was the Sharp Goblins’ treasure—the reward for this sub-quest.

A small palm-sized box blazing with light.

The quest they’d just cleared was a fifty-player exclusive. The reward would be monumental.

Gulp—

But the players couldn’t care less about the reward.

“What the hell is that?”

“A demon?”

Two massive horns, a crimson aura covering the entire body, and even the tail—a demon’s emblem.

They only stared at the being that had crushed a powerful boss monster in a single blow.

‘No way… it can’t be a monster, right?’

‘Fuck, we’re screwed.’

The players felt the terror of death, not the joy of victory.

Then, in the midst of that silent moment.

Ding—

[You have dispelled Demonization.]

The demonic form began to shift, as if melting away.

The crimson aura that covered his entire body, the giant horns, the tail—

Slither—they turned to dust. And in front of their eyes appeared a man with a familiar face.

“Mr.… Mr. Ha Gangwoo?”

“Holy shit, was that a Trait?!”

Jaws dropped wide. They swallowed dry spit.

Han Seongdae, too, stared at the colossal being approaching him, doubting his own eyes.

‘That… that’s L-Grade.’

L-Grade Player Ha Gangwoo.

Rumors had been rampant, full of absurd tall tales.

-Heard he was sparring Antero on Floor 5 like it was nothing?

-Out of Tutorial and already going toe-to-toe with an Association instructor!

‘All bullshit.’

He’d thought they were lies. Rumors always exaggerated.

But seeing it with his own eyes, he realized.

‘It’s a different dimension.’

The title L-Grade. It wasn’t a rank given lightly.

‘Thank god.’

And Han Seongdae felt relief as he looked at Ha Gangwoo.

What if that player had been on the other team? Just thinking about it was terrifying.

That was when everyone, stunned into silence by Ha Gangwoo’s power—

“Good work.”

Ha Gangwoo extended a hand for a handshake toward Han Seongdae.

“Ah! No, sir. Thank you so much!”

Han Seongdae bowed his head deeply and grasped Ha Gangwoo’s hand with both of his.

Gulp—

He swallowed dry spit without realizing it, and hardened his resolve.

Originally, he’d planned to politic his way into being the Blue Team’s leader. But now, only one thought filled his mind.

‘Shut up and follow.’

As everything was winding down.

“Whoa~! That’s fucking sick.”

“We cleared it!!!!”

The support players, who’d been waiting in the forest for the clear to end, came over.

“Holy shit, that’s a lot.”

“Whoa… You’re saying twenty of you took down all of these?”

The players marveled at the five hundred dead Sharp Goblins lying around.

Sure, they’d held Aggro, but to kill this many Goblins?

Especially—

“That’s insane… What kind of skill did you use?”

He saw the lower half of the massive Boss Monster and barely stifled a gasp.

What skill could have ground the upper body away like that?

Everyone stared at the carnage, frozen in shock.

“We’ve got casualties! Someone get over here, we need healing!!!”

“Ugh…”

The support team spotted the wounded and sprang into action.

Meanwhile—

Ding-

[Level up!!]

[Level up!!]

[Level up!!]

Ha Gangwoo cracked a satisfied smile at the system windows blinking before his eyes.

‘No way.’

All he’d done was kill a single Boss Monster. And his level shot up by three.

Not to mention—this was a fifty-player exclusive quest.

*Thump— thump—*

The rewards would be something else.

Ha Gangwoo walked toward the box floating in the air.

It was only palm-sized, but it blazed with intense light.

‘What kind of reward is it?’

Slowly, he reached a hand out toward the box.

But just then—

*Shrrk— Thud!*

A black figure snatched the reward midair, then skidded across the ground on two legs, screeching to a halt.

It lifted the box high with tiny hands and shouted,

“Item!!!”

The object was none other than Mimic.

‘That’s fast…’

Ha Gangwoo pulled his empty hand back and stared at her.

Did her item-pickup skill come with bonus movement speed?

Even his eyes had nearly lost her for a moment.

—Bring it here.

Ding-

[Your intent has been conveyed to Mimic.]

Ha Gangwoo held out his hand to her. Mimic pricked up her ears, then handed over the reward box.

“Mik!!”

“Whoa… what is all this? Our team really took down the whole thing, right? Feels good!”

Kim Jisoo and the players guarding the luggage came running from a distance, packs slung over their shoulders.

They too couldn’t help marveling at the five hundred Sharp Goblins and the instantly killed Boss Monster.

Amid the clamor, Ha Gangwoo checked the reward in his hand.

[Status Catalog Pack]

Grade: B

Description: A pack containing Status Catalogs. Comes with a total of 20 Catalogs.

“Status Catalogs?”

A very familiar item.

A Catalog that boosted stats the moment you used it.

Ha Gangwoo tore open the pack right away.

Ding-

[You have used a Status Catalog Pack.]

[You have acquired Status Catalog x20.]

Twenty cards sucked into Ha Gangwoo’s palm with a *shlick*.

[Status Catalog]

Grade: E

Description: Grants 2 unallocated stat points upon use.

“Nice.”

A Catalog that permanently raised stats.

Any Player would want an item like this. Stats that climbed independently of level—stacked up, they’d become an enormous power.

A reward worthy of a fifty-player quest.

And the Catalog wasn’t the end of the rewards.

*Shiiiiiing-*

Before the corpse of the slain Sharp Goblin Battle Captain.

An item blazed into existence, radiant and bright.

“Whoa!!! An item!!!”

Mimic had already scooped it up in both hands by then. Ha Gangwoo walked over to her and checked the item’s effects.

[Sharp Tribe Chain Leggings]

Grade: B

Defense: 345

Strength: 186

Vitality: 171

Description: Sacred leggings handed down through the Sharp Tribe. They possess a special energy that only the Sharp Tribe can wield.

Effects

– Allows the use of Plaintive Cry. (Cooldown: 1 hour)

*Plaintive Cry — Controls a slain monster as a minion for 10 minutes.

The leg armor bore an antique pattern, its silver sheen impossible to miss.

‘Not bad.’

A full-fledged B-grade Artifact — just in raw market value, it was worth nearly 100 million Gold.

And the effect was outright broken.

Resurrecting a slain monster for ten minutes — every Player here would be eyeing that with hungry looks.

Ha Gangwoo stared at the satisfying reward, lost in thought.

‘How do I split this?’

In his heart, he wanted to keep everything — from the Catalog to the leg armor. But he couldn’t.

These rewards were the fruit of fifty party members working together.

As he wrestled with how to distribute the items, Jo Seunghyun limped over.

“Whoa… did you take it down, hyung-nim?”

Seunghyun was clutching his stomach, hobbling along. He’d taken the Boss’s greatsword head-on and still walked around like nothing — his armor must have had some effect built in.

Ha Gangwoo held the rewards in his hands and headed toward the city gate as he spoke.

“Yeah. I’ll hand out the rewards later. Rest a bit until then.”

“Yes!”

With Ha Gangwoo’s command, Jo Seunghyun flopped onto the ground and began resting.

“Everyone did great. Hang in there just a little longer. Healers, focus on recovery. Anyone with energy to spare, move the Goblin corpses to a single pile. I’d appreciate it if you brought the rewards from this clear to the front of the gate!”

“Yes!!!”

At Ha Gangwoo’s order, over forty Players moved into action, bustling about.

About thirty minutes passed. Everything went like clockwork.

Roughly ten or so injured — all recovered enough to move. The five hundred Goblin corpses were gathered into one pile and burned.

And so, forty-nine Blue Team members assembled before the city gate.

“Everyone, thank you for your hard work. Now, I’ll distribute the items we got as rewards.”

Ha Gangwoo pointed at the spoils from this battle.

Items from killing ordinary Sharp Goblins totaled about thirty. All of them were E-Grade and D-Grade — nothing impressive.

But the Status Catalog and the Sharp Tribe Chain Leggings gave off a radiance that set them apart from the rest.

The Blue Team members had already confirmed the effects, ignoring the thirty items entirely and fixing their gazes only on the Catalog and the leggings.

“The fact that not a single casualty occurred is entirely thanks to Mr. Han Seongdae.”

As Ha Gangwoo pointed to Han Seongdae and praised him, the party members clapped in response.

“That’s right. You really worked hard.”

“We’ll be counting on you from now on too.”

Ha Gangwoo scanned the faces of the applauding players.

‘Not bad.’

“We totally got carried. Are we winning this? A hidden class! Let’s go!”

While some players grinned, drunk on victory,

“……”

Others sat with cold, hardened expressions, utterly composed.

The ones who wore stern faces were all players who had fought the boss. They had been pushed to the brink of death, and so they knew.

Even in a group battle, the moment you let your guard down, it was over.

“What’s with you guys?! We won, so let’s enjoy it!”

But Jo Seunghyun was still brimming with ease.

Whether it was a lack of tension or an overflow of confidence, that kind of mood-maker breathed life into the party.

“Captain! How are we divvying things up?”

Jo Seunghyun raised his hand high and asked Ha Gangwoo.

“The Status Catalog. I really want it.”

“And the leggings… a B-grade Artifact. That must be worth a fortune. Who’s gonna get it?”

From Jo Seunghyun’s words, the players’ attention focused back on the rewards.

All forty-eight of them, except for Mimic, stared at the same treasure with glinting eyes.

‘There’s really only one way to go.’

Ha Gangwoo had already finished thinking about the distribution. But a sudden curiosity struck him.

“Mr. Han, how do you think we should split them?”

He wanted to hear the thoughts of the Blue Team’s best brain.

“……”

In response to Ha Gangwoo’s question, Han Seongdae kept his expression flat and his mouth shut.

‘What’s he going to say?’

Item distribution in a party. Normally, you’d decide by rolling the dice in the party system.

But that method wasn’t available now that the party system was blocked.

So they needed a distribution that satisfied every party member.

If discontent arose, who knew if a traitor might appear over the remaining six days?

That’s why this distribution was such a critical matter.

Han Seongdae, seeming to have finished his deliberation, slowly opened his mouth.

“I believe the correct method is to determine the contribution ranking, pick the top twenty, and distribute evenly. The hierarchy is already settled in a party of fifty. But the battle just now changed my mind. I think it’s better for the number one to take it all.”

Han Seongdae’s opinion was: [The top-ranked player monopolizes everything.]

It was an absurd idea. Something that invited dissatisfaction from every party member except Ha Gangwoo.

“What are you talking about? We all risked our lives clearing this, so why should one person get everything?”

“What makes you think you’re number one? The top in this team is Ha Gangwoo. Or did you two already cook this up between you?”

Complaints erupted from all sides.

Only the twenty-three who’d seen Ha Gangwoo’s Demonization kept their mouths shut.

As the complaints swelled, Gangwoo stepped forward and spoke.

“Don’t worry. I just wanted to hear your opinions.”

He turned a thin smile on Han Seongdae.

‘Is he serious?’

Seongdae watched him, his face unreadable.

‘Not bad.’

Funnel everything to the top ranker,

Seongdae’s strategy wasn’t half bad.

The Job-Change Quest’s final goal was Blue Team’s prosperity.

Seongdae had figured: better to invest in one sure bet than spread resources across mediocrities.

Gangwoo scooped the twenty Catalogs off the ground.

“All rewards from now on belong to Blue Team as a collective. The Catalogs get distributed on the final day, when the trial ends.”

He laid down the final arrangement. It wouldn’t make everyone happy, but it minimized the friction.

Of course, there was grumbling.

“What? Why wait? Just hand them out now!”

“Yeah! Who knows how long until then?!”

All from the support squad—people who’d contributed nothing but holding Aggro and guarding the supplies, and still they frowned.

Gangwoo’s expression cooled as he looked at them.

Gulp.

The ones who’d been silent swallowed dryly, tense.

“I’m fine with it.”

“Me too. I think it’s a good call.”

Those were the ones who’d seen his Demonization—scrambling to stay on his good side.

‘…’

Gangwoo scratched his brow, watching them grovel.

Was it because the Boss had been harder than expected? He’d only meant to dial up the tension a notch, but he’d carved pure fear into their image of him.

Still, it wasn’t all bad. Fear was a necessary tool in any war.

He let out a deep sigh and spoke.

“Inventory’s locked. Gold can’t be withdrawn. That means everything we take now is currency—Catalogs, items, all of it. It could become bargaining chips against hostile factions. That’s why I’m saying we hold it collectively instead of individually. Understood?”

“……”

His reasoning shut them up. And so the distribution session ended.

***

The fifty members of Blue Team gathered at the fortress’s center and selected their base.

Ding—

[Would you like to set the Sharp Goblin Fortress as Blue Team’s base?]

Ding—

[The Sharp Goblin Fortress has been established as Blue Team’s base.]

[You have cleared the Daily Quest!!!]

[Bonus points have been awarded.]

-Cooperation +30 points acquired.

-Exploration +20 points acquired.

The notifications popped in rapid succession. A blue glow rippled at the party’s feet, then spread outward as if scanning the surroundings.

Ding—

[The area within 1km is now Blue Team’s territory.]

[Rewards are being distributed.]

Fifty party members stared at the system window as it flashed up in succession.

It had only been a few hours, but exhaustion was plain on their faces.

*Whoooosh-*

A lavish feast descended from the air.

The reward for completing Build the Base! — twenty portions of food.

*Thump!*

A splendid table groaned under the weight of mouthwatering dishes.

Freshly roasted meat still steaming, bread, soup — it was a full Western-style banquet.

For a moment, the fragrant scent of charcoal smoke brushed against their noses.

*Gulp-*

More than forty players hesitated, food laid out before them.

Perhaps because group living had been drilled into them, they waited for Ha Gangwoo’s order.

“Please, eat your fill.”

At Ha Gangwoo’s words,

“Let’s eat!!!”

Blue Team’s party members began wolfing down the food.

“Whoa~! Meat!!!”

Of course, Mik was first among them — she hopped onto the table and grabbed the biggest barbecue rack.

‘I’ve been wondering.’

Ha Gangwoo watched Mik, licking his lips.

The Daily Quest was cleared. Now he could finally satisfy the curiosity he’d put off.

With his Inventory blocked, could he still use Mik’s storage function?

‘I’ll check later.’

She was eating with such a bright smile — he didn’t want to interrupt.

Besides, there was something else to confirm, aside from Mimic.

Ha Gangwoo pulled a small key from his pocket.

[My Room Exclusive Key]

Grade: ???

Description: A key that allows entry into My Room. If lost, re-entry is impossible forever. Please be careful not to misplace it.

‘Will it open?’

*Thump-thump-*

The My Room he’d bought for a situation like this — he wondered if it would actually work.

Ha Gangwoo climbed up to the castle’s empty keep.

The room, once the Boss’s chamber, was littered with filth and corpses, a foul stench hanging heavy in the air.

*Gulp-*

But Gangwoo ignored the smell, held the key out into empty air, and turned it clockwise.

*Ding-*

[My Room system is now operational.]

A door connected to My Room materialized before his eyes.