Chapter 25 – LV.Two Warrior Lee Jongho – [Three]

Then Seo Yun’s eyes met with a boy’s. Seo Yun glared at the boy.

‘What are you looking at?’

The boy averted his gaze first, but Seo Yun couldn’t relax. Wasn’t this a situation where a single spark could start a fire?

Eventually, the two groups confronted each other. The two groups standing face-to-face glared at each other.

Seo Yun also wanted to stand beside her Party Members.

Just as she was about to take a step forward to do so, Kim Ak gestured and spoke quietly.

“Seo Yun, you stay back. Taeyang, you too.”

Seo Yun was usually the type to quietly follow the leader’s authority, but this time she asked for a reason.

“Why?”

Kim Ak continued whispering.

“You’re a Priest, right? If you guys get seriously hurt, a war between villages could break out. Just step back.”

Seo Yun was about to say that there were eight of them over there, so was it really necessary to be so cautious, and hadn’t Kim Jihyeok already left to inform the Seniors, but she stopped herself. In such a tense situation, she couldn’t drag out questioning orders.

In the end, Seo Yun reluctantly stepped back and stood with Park Taeyang. Still, feeling quite dissatisfied, she didn’t forget to add a word.

“If a fight breaks out, I’ll assess the situation and join in.”

“Alright, do that.”

So, as they watched the standoff from behind, surprisingly, no fight occurred.

Those eight didn’t seem to want to fight, despite approaching so aggressively. That is, they were just glaring at this side without taking any action. It was reminiscent of a bench-clearing brawl in Korean baseball, where everyone rushes out and just glares at each other, asking what they ate today.

Still, they couldn’t let their guard down. Seo Yun looked at their faces once more. Looking at the lifeless eyes in their hungry, pale faces, she thought. Those North Korean soldier-like appearances looked not only pitiful but also dangerous.

While the boy Warriors on this side weren’t exactly model students, their antics were at the level of teenage delinquents, but from those boys, she truly sensed an atmosphere reminiscent of child soldiers in Africa.

Their appearances carried an air of someone who would commit any terrible act with indifference. Because they were fantasy Monsters, the Basilisk somehow felt unreal, but they felt even more dangerous than that.

And as one of the only two adults present, Seo Yun felt a sense of duty to protect her Party Members, who were annoying, little shits, but still kids. She mentally prepared herself to draw and swing her sword at any moment.

This uncomfortable standoff ended after about five minutes.

Kim Jihyeok, who had slipped away unnoticed five minutes ago, returned. With a high-Level Player from Happy Village.

Seo Yun recognized the man standing behind Kim Jihyeok.

‘The Mage gentleman who hangs around Oh Haengbok…’

His name was probably Oh Haengun. Judging by the name, he seemed like Oh Haengbok’s younger brother, but actually, weren’t they not even relatives?

Oh Haengun strode over to this side. Towards the eight boys, Oh Haengun said with a smile.

“You guys? Go call an adult.”

One of the eight boys hesitated a bit, then opened his mouth.

“Why should we call an adult…”

“If I say call an adult, then call one, you brats.”

The eight boys seemed intimidated by Oh Haengun’s appearance. They cautiously stepped back, and seeing one of them run off somewhere saying he’d call their Hyung,

Eventually, that guy also brought their village’s Senior Player.

It was a bald man wearing Full Plate Armor, looking exactly like a gangster in armor. That menacing-looking man also seemed to recognize Oh Haengun. The man furrowed his brow and spoke to Oh Haengun.

“Mr. Oh Haengun? Why did you want to see me…”

Oh Haengun still spoke with a smile.

“Mr. Kim Jongil, this is our area, isn’t it? Is it okay for your kids to be here?”

“No, we’re not gangsters, what do you mean ‘area’?”

“Even so, there’s a usual hunting spot, right? Don’t you know various problems arise if hunting spots overlap? Why did you come here, leaving your original hunting ground?”

Seo Yun watched their conversation with a strange feeling.

Oh Haengun was someone she often saw even under normal circumstances. He was the village Mage. He took on various odd jobs, like using Magic Spells to identify the Classes of newly changed Players.

So, in Happy Village, he was considered something of a neighborhood Mister, but it seemed that wasn’t the case for Players from other villages.

“We came here because there were no Monsters where we usually hunt…”

As Kim Jongil tried to evade the question, Oh Haengun made an expression that said, “What do I care?”

“Anyway, go somewhere else. Last year, we gave you ten boxes of potatoes, didn’t we? You should yield this area to us, okay?”

Kim Jongil said with a dissatisfied expression.

“Alright, then… I guess we owe you for the potatoes. We’ll yield just this once?”

“Is that so? Anyway, thanks. See you later.”

Kim Jongil mentioned yielding because of the potato debt, but it actually seemed like he was bowing his head under pressure. Oh Haengun was smiling brightly the whole time he spoke, but Kim Jongil never smiled once. So, it was clear that Kim Jongil’s side had effectively surrendered.

‘Well, that Mr. Oh Haengun is the second highest Level Mage in Incheon at Level 11…’

With a triumphant, proud expression, Oh Haengun approached this side. Along with him, the eight boys hesitantly retreated.

Oh Haengun silently watched the retreating backs of the boys for a moment, then looked over Seo Yun and her Party Members and asked.

“Is anyone hurt?”

Kim Ak answered.

“No. We just had a good staring contest.”

“Then that’s fine.”

Lee Jongho burst out with dissatisfaction.

“Hey, if those bastards were going to back off so easily, why did they start a fight? Are they idiots?”

“Ah… They probably couldn’t help it either.”

“Couldn’t help it?”

In response to Lee Jongho’s question, Oh Haengun answered.

“Just looking at their appearances, you can tell they’re pitiful kids. From what I know, their village runs on a military culture? Among Players, they establish hierarchy and discipline based on just a 1 Level difference, treating each other as Seniors and Juniors. But imagine if they just backed down when meeting another village. They’d probably be afraid of getting scolded by their Seniors, things like ‘Don’t you have any pride?’ or ‘Why are you embarrassing the village and acting like fools?'”

“Ah, so even though they knew it was pointless, they still stubbornly…”

Oh Haengun smiled and nodded.”Anyway, our village really is great. That Oh Haengbok guy is so tall he didn’t even have to go to the military. Plus, he says he had a hard time with the seniority system back in his sports days, so he absolutely hates people making a big deal about seniority now? That’s why the atmosphere in our village is pretty relaxed. But over there, those worthless bastards are all about discipline and acting crazy, and honestly, it just looks pathetic from the outside…”

Seo Yun looked again at the small, retreating backs of the eight boys following their Senior. Just moments ago, they had seemed like a dangerous pack of hyenas, but now they looked pitiful and powerless.

Meanwhile, Kim Jongil seemed to find his recent defeat in the negotiation humiliating. As if wanting to vent his frustration, he shouted at the eight boys trailing behind.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and get over here!”

Then Oh Haengun stopped him.

“Mr. Kim Jongil, wait a moment.”

“Huh?”

Oh Haengun spoke to the eight boys.

“Hey, kids? It’s almost lunchtime. Have some potatoes with us before you go.”

As the eight boys blinked in surprise, Kim Jongil frowned.

“No, why would we…”

“They look hungry, that’s why. It’s okay, right?”

Oh Haengun smiled amiably, and Kim Jongil surrendered once again.

“Yeah, sure. These little shits eat a ton, but if you’re okay with wasting your Provisions, then whatever…”

In the end, it went as Oh Haengun wished. The eight boys and the seven Party Members sat down awkwardly opposite each other and began their lunch.

It was a simple meal of potatoes, eggs, and smoked chicken, but to the eight boys, it seemed like a feast. After cautiously checking each other’s reactions, they began eating greedily, looking no different from a pack of beggars.

Oh Haengun asked the boys,

“Why are you wandering around without even wearing Armor? Looking at your weapons, you all seem like Warriors, right?”

The eight boys glanced at the Full Plate Armor Lee Jongho was wearing. While the new Warriors from Happy Village were solidly armed, the eight boys wore nothing but tattered padding here and there.

One boy answered cautiously.

“We’re all Warriors, but at Level 1, we can’t wear that kind of stuff.”

Hearing that, Seo Yun was suddenly reminded of her trainee days. She was selected along with some others for dishwashing duty. They had to clean the utensils, but they weren’t given rubber gloves. When she asked the training camp instructor why, the answer came back that wearing rubber gloves was the right of the cooks, and trainees had to wash dishes bare-handed.

She couldn’t believe how absurd it was back then. Feeling that same emotion again, Seo Yun thought,

Is that village really forcing such ridiculous, nonsensical discipline on those kids? Or do they simply not have the resources to issue Full Plate Armor to everyone, so they make up absurd excuses to hide that fact?

Either way, the difference between villages was severe. Seo Yun sighed inwardly.

One of the reasons Seo Yun wasn’t leaving her current village immediately was precisely this kind of worry. Even though she wasn’t exactly happy in Happy Village right now, going somewhere else might be far worse.

Regardless of how Seo Yun felt, objectively speaking, Happy Village was clearly the best village.

Oh Haengbok might be a dictator, but the Leaders of other places were much worse than him. She had heard that in other villages, gangsters who couldn’t even become proper dictators had Class Changed and were now ruling. She thought it was just a rumor spread for propaganda, but seeing this now, it might have been true.

Park Taeyang muttered,

“Warriors can’t even wear Armor? They’re just straight-up beggar bastards.”

At the blatant insult, the boys from the neighboring village seemed to bristle. But perhaps because they were afraid of Oh Haengun, they didn’t dare get angry and instead argued back like this.

“You’re not all wearing Full Plate Armor either. You’re not wearing Full Plate Armor but some weird Armor, and that girl isn’t wearing any at all…”

Park Taeyang explained proudly.

“She’s wearing less because she’s a Priest? I’m a Sun Priest, so I only wear Chain Mail, and she’s a Hearth Priest, so she wears cloth…”

As he said the last part, Park Taeyang pointed at Seo Yun. The eight boys also looked at Seo Yun.

“You have two Priests?”

“Yeah, so?”

“That’s enviable…”

It was then that Oh Haengun spoke up.

“So, speaking of which, doesn’t your Party need a Priest?”

“Huh?”

“It’s all just Warriors, wouldn’t it be good to have one Priest? Right?”

“It would be good, but…”

Then Oh Haengun said,

“Then come over to our village, okay? This pretty Priestess here needs to join a new Party, you know? If you come to our village, you could form a new Party.”

At the sudden proposal, the eight boys’ eyes widened. They seemed unable to take their eyes off the ‘pretty Priestess’ for a moment, then looked at their companions standing beside them, gauging each other’s reactions. After all that consideration, they shook their heads.

“We can’t go to another village.”

“Why?”

“Because our families are there…”

“Well then, nothing we can do about it.”

From this conversation, it seemed Oh Haengun had invited them to the meal for the recruitment proposal, but he didn’t kick them out during the meal just because the eight had refused the offer.

“Try this too. Hmm, you eat well. Good…”

Oh Haengun even gave his own share of chicken and eggs to the eight boys. From Seo Yun’s perspective, his comment about wanting to feed them well because they looked hungry seemed genuine. As an adult who remembered the old days, Seo Yun also sympathized with that sentiment.

The eight boys, now full, soon left.

On their way out, one boy glanced back. That boy’s eyes met Seo Yun’s.

This time, Seo Yun didn’t glare. Instead, she waved.

The boy flinched, then cautiously waved back before turning around again and leaving into the distance.

After that, the Players of Happy Village continued onward. They were heading north, aiming to get closer to the monsters moving south.

But no matter how far they went, there were no encounters with monsters. No battles or hunts occurred at all.

The seven who were on an expedition for the first time just accepted it, but from the Senior Players’ perspective, something seemed off.

Oh Haengbok gathered everyone and asked,

“Has anyone here seen any monsters?”

A middle-aged woman answered.

“I saw a few Mothmen or flying bird monsters, but I haven’t seen any others at all.””I saw the flying mobs too. But those things are tricky to deal with, so I didn’t want to waste my stamina unnecessarily and just passed them by… The good ones to hunt are the four-legged ones, but why aren’t any showing up?”

Seo Yun, who had attended the meeting, only then realized how strange this whole situation was. Still, they resumed their march for the time being.

And another anomaly occurred.

As they continued advancing with the Party Members, mosquitoes began appearing one by two in their field of vision. Eventually, seeing the swarm of mosquitoes that seemed to fill the sky, the Party Members widened their eyes in shock.