Minhyuk, riding atop his white horse, silently took the lead as they entered the Stars’ Path.
As they continued to walk like that, Park, the centurion of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s legion, said, “Please listen to the instructions of the soldier right next to you. They will save you if you’re in danger.”
The new guild members all nodded at Park’s words. However, none of them could hide the disappointment that flashed across their faces.
‘So, Spear God Ben will not participate in this expedition?’
‘How about Lesser Demon Elpis?’
‘Ramyeon Boy Conir’s not here too?’
Not a single one of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s prominent NPC was present. The disappointment that they felt was not to be underestimated when they realized this matter. Especially when Park spoke. A part of his words even rubbed them the wrong way.
‘They will save you if you’re in danger.’
The new guild members that were participating in this expedition were all players that were stronger than their peers on the same level. Many of them were well-versed in control and had been unrivaled in the game so far. How would people like them receive help from ordinary soldiers? And not even from Spear God Ben, Lesser Demon Elpis or even Great Pirate Gorfido? They could only snort arrogantly at Park’s remarks. What was even funnier to them was the fact that the soldiers were all marching in a well-disciplined manner.
‘Why are they being so upright?’
‘This is the problem with NPCs.’
The soldiers were looking around vigilantly, their helmets pulled down and their hands gripping the hilt of their weapons tightly. It was as if they were going into a battlefield. In the end, the new guild members were players. Even if the air around them screamed for battle, they would eventually think that this was just a game.
“Hey, aren’t you hot like that?”
“Why don’t you take off your helmet?”
“Are you going to war, huh?”
“Please keep quiet.”
“We’re pioneering a new place, the place called the Stars’ Path. Don’t let your guard down.”
The soldiers maintained their discipline and spoke succinctly and bluntly. The difference between the players and the soldiers was like when the reserve and active forces came together.
Minhyuk turned his head toward them when he heard the commotion. Seeing his gaze pass by them made the new guild members flinch. Then, Minhyuk spoke in his dignified voice, “Heed my orders. The troops of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom will not participate in the hunt to gauge the skills of our new members, wait for my orders again before you move.”
“Sir, yes, sir!”
“Sir, yes, sir!”
“Sir, yes, sir!”
The soldiers saluted after hearing Minhyuk’s orders. Minhyuk judged that he did not need to dig deeper and delve into the conflicts between the players and the NPCs, ‘To see is to believe.’ Just like that, Minhyuk and his troops entered the Stars’ Path.
[You have entered the Stars’ Path.]
[A 2x EXP acquisition rate and item drop rate will be applied inside the Stars’ Path.]
The Stars’ Path was as big as several Athenae continents combined. Because of that, there were several hunting grounds and dungeons located inside it. And just like every new place, people from all over the world had already started to find hunting grounds and dungeons all on their own. These hunting grounds and dungeons were open to everyone, but it had to be known that each level had appropriate hunting grounds for them.
The people that joined the expedition this time were quite high-leveled. So, they went deeper into the Stars’ Path, until the ‘Wolves’ Sacred Land’ appeared in front of them. Werewolves were monsters that could be seen in almost any hunting grounds. However, these monsters in the Stars’ Path were different. It was a place with a ‘scenario’. Most of the monsters that existed inside the Star’s Path were related to the ‘Six Monster Gods’.
So, what were the Six Monster Gods?
Athenae, the God of Origin, bore several gods and monsters. Back then, these gods and monsters were equal in position. However, as time went by, the gods drove the monsters that Athenae bore down to earth. After being driven out, they eventually settled down on the Stars’ Path. In other words, these monsters could be said to be Monster Gods. And there were six of them in the Stars’ Path.
One of them was the Wolf King Loraudi, and the werewolves here were all descendants of him. Their aspects were on a different level from typical werewolves.
It was definitely still in the middle of the day but the moment they entered the Wolves’ Sacred Land, a darkness that enveloped everything fell upon them. This hunting ground, which was a dark forest, was rarely visited by players because the monsters in here were different from typical monsters. The monsters in this hunting ground usually appeared in groups. This hunting ground was also divided into several areas and the deeper one went, the more dangerous it became.
“Awoooooooooooo!”
“Awoooooooooooo!”
They finally appeared.
‘The black werewolves, the weakest among the monsters in the Wolves’ Holy Land, appear at the entrance of the hunting ground.’
‘Unlike ordinary werewolves, they are extremely fast and even a single scratch from their claws can be fatal.’
The werewolves’ glowing eyes stared at them from the darkness of the forest. There were a total of 500 new guild members and 500 Beyond the Heavens’ soldiers. The level of the soldiers and the new guild members were roughly the same.
“Did you guys hear His Majesty’s words? Just sit back and watch.”
“Don’t even try to cut us off and stay in the frontlines, NPC soldiers.”
However, the new guild members knew that they were stronger than others at the same level as them. Their arrogance knew no bounds.
Then, Minhyuk said, “I have a very important job to do so I will leave the hunting to you. Do you have any objections?”
“No, sir!”
“We’ll be fine!”
The soldiers answered briefly. However, the new guild members were very disappointed.
‘What? I thought I would be able to see the Food God in action in front of me?’
‘Why?’
‘Why is he not coming to the frontlines?’
Just as these questions flashed in their heads, the sword in Minhyuk’s hand was wrapped in a bright light. Everyone turned to look at it, their eyes sparkling. But the shape that appeared in front of them was none other than a ‘hoe’.
“…???”
“…???”
“…???”
Then, Minhyuk began to collect root crops and wild vegetables on the ground not too far away from them. This was the first time that they had seen a king squatting on the ground and digging for crops!!!
“…???”
“…???”
“…???”
The new guild members were dumbfounded and somewhat disappointed. Then, hundreds of werewolves began to show themselves throughout the forest.
“Better hide behind me, soldier.”
“Just watch how we perform.”
“Grrrrrrrrrrrr!”
“Grrrrrrrrrrrr!”
Not long after, the hundreds of werewolves leapt out from the cover of the trees and sped toward the guild members. They were extremely fast. If the players that were facing them only had ordinary senses, they would have already been hit by a fatal strike. But…
Baaaaaaaaaaang—
With their amazing reflexes, one of the players slammed one of the leaping werewolves to the ground. As if it was a signal, the new guild members began to step forward.
Slash, slash, slash!
Crack, crack, crack!
Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh—
Their swords were swift, their axes were tough, and their arrows were accurate. It was obvious that they were a league above their peers. Just like how there were Rankers Above Rankers, there were players above players. These people had amazing control, that they could even deal with at least two players of the same level as them.
Of course, the new guild members were not without damage either. Even so, it was small enough for them to continue the hunt. The number of werewolves present was so high that the same number of players who were on the same level as them would have already been wiped out at this point.
“Grrrrrrroaaaar!”
The werewolves kept on being cut down. As beads of sweat covered their foreheads, the new guild members looked around proudly and arrogantly.
“Did you see that, soldier? This is who we are.”
“Have soldiers like you ever seen anything like this?”
Their arrogance knew no bounds. Perhaps dealing with hundreds of black werewolves without much effort was truly worthy of praise. So, after finishing their first hunt, they continued to delve deeper into the area.
And Minhyuk…?
Thud, thud, thud, thud—
[You have gained 1 DEX.]
[You have acquired the Sacred Land’s Mushroom.]
‘Yeah! I got mushrooms!!!’
…he was working hard to eat happily once again today. Crouching down and harvesting new crops in the Stars’ Path was fun and interesting.
Then, Park approached Minhyuk and reported, “The fifth hunt is over. They are showing amazing skills, just as expected.”
After hearing the report, Minhyuk paused what he was doing and turned to look at Park, “Is that so? Who has the best performance?”
“The man named Orleed. He’s the one that cut down the most werewolves. He could easily cut down three by himself.”
Minhyuk just nodded before saying to Park, “It seems like the new guild members are getting more and more arrogant and ignoring our soldiers.”
Minhyuk glanced briefly at the new guild members before turning back to digging his crops once again.
“Are we just going to leave them alone?”
“…Well, isn’t it better for them to see it for themselves?” Minhyuk said, smiling bitterly. Park just looked at him with eyes filled with trust before bowing his head and turning around.
In just one glance, Minhyuk saw how the new guild members were giggling about and mocking the soldiers.
‘Arrogance brings about aggressiveness.’
Thud—
Thud—
Minhyuk chuckled as he continued to dig for his crops.
***
The eighth hunt ended just like that. As time went by, the new guild members grew increasingly disappointed with Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.
‘What the hell? There are no outstanding orders, no outstanding NPCs, nor any fancy swordsmanship from the Food God?’
‘Does the Food God not have anything to teach us?’
Their arrogance, after continuously winning battle after battle without suffering any casualties, had already reached the skies. Among them was Orleed. He was the one that cut the most werewolves and was the one leading the new guild members. Park and the other soldiers were just silently watching them and not even going to the frontlines at all.
Orleed, who was taking the lead, thought, ‘The Beyond the Heavens Kingdom… their assessment, the worst.’
Orleed was actually a spy. The person that he truly served was Richard, the one that had the class ‘Monarch’ and would be the second king to be crowned. Richard was an unofficial ranker that was gaining power at the same time as the server integration. It would not be too long before he could establish a kingdom of his own. Richard was someone that had received the Monarch class and would become an amazing class.
But what about the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom?
‘Trash.’
This was what Orleed thought. The NPCs that were said to be outstanding? Except for the Named NPCs, Orleed did not know about the others. As for the Food God being a smart and genuine king? All he did was look at them while digging the ground. As to why he would just sit back and watch them?
‘He probably doesn’t have the confidence to order us around with our skills.’
Would his military command be better than Richard? Probably not. Richard was a former colonel in the American army. The army that he had built was disciplined, systematic and powerful to the point that they could rival the empires’ armies. His army was obviously on an entirely different level from the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s troops that only knew how to quarrel at most.
After ending his thoughts there, Orleed thought that he should just enjoy the process and use this as a content for his report.
“Orleed, don’t you think things are a bit too boring now?”
“Yes, that’s what I was thinking too.”
“Yeah. With all of us here, I think it’s possible for us to increase the level of difficulty and raise our EXP at a faster rate. Besides, the king over there is not even interested in us.”
“Yeah.”
“The Beyond the Heavens Kingdom is disappointing. It’s completely different from what I thought.”
“Well, let’s just continue to hunt. Even the centurion over there told us that everything would be up to us.”
The new guild members immediately decided to aggro more werewolves and hunt them together. They even decided to send forward a scouting party to lure the werewolves their way.
But just five minutes later…
“Shit…”
“We’re f*cked.”
“…???”
Orleed and the hundreds of new guild members looked confused when they saw the scouting party rushing toward them from afar. Not long after, Orleed’s face turned ugly.
“Silver werewolves…?”
Silver werewolves were only one level stronger than black werewolves. However, the issue for the new members was that the number that appeared in front of them was easily three times more than the number that they hunted before.
‘From what I heard, nothing has been known about the silver werewolves yet. No one knew if they came out in packs or not…’
Today was the day that they knew that silver werewolves came in a pack of a thousand. Some of them were leaping from one tree to another, some were running on the ground, while some were jumping high up in the skies. Nearly 1,500 of the silver werewolves were swiftly running toward the new guild members.
‘We’re in danger…!’
Orleed could already predict the difficult and dangerous situation that was waiting for them. However, unlike their worried voices, none of the new guild members sported looks of concern.
‘We have the Food God!’
‘The Food God will save us!’
That was right. The Food God was at a much higher level than the new guild members. He even had an amazing skill that could sweep away a lot of enemies in one go.
Orleed saw Minhyuk receive the report from one of the soldiers. Minhyuk glanced at the charging pack of werewolves and gave his order to Park, “Soldiers, stand by.” Then, he returned to his digging.
“…!”
Orleed was shocked.
‘Is he f*cking crazy?! Is he going to allow all of his new guild members to die?!’
Orleed had never seen a more foolish king than him.
“F*cking bastard!!! That king has no intention of helping us!!! Prepare for battle!”
The new guild members were all shocked after hearing Orleed’s cry. Then, they met the onslaught of more than a thousand silver werewolves.
“Keuhoooook!”
Those that clashed first had no choice but to scream.
‘They are 1.5x stronger than the black werewolves?!!’
All of them were appalled by this discovery.
“Keuaaaaack!”
Scratches appeared on their bodies as their enemies' swift feet and sharp claws slashed at them.
“Grrrrrrrrrrr!”
The silver wolves leapt and opened their jaws to sink their sharp teeth into the necks of the new guild members. Meanwhile, the soldiers, who were left on standby, stood perfectly still as they waited for their orders.
“Aaaaaaack!”
“Urrghhhhh!”
It was just a split second, but in that instant, the entire battlefield was turned into a mess. The new guild members were starting to get pushed back. These people, who thought that they were above these werewolves, began to fall one after the other.
“Keuaaaaaaack!”
Even Orleed had allowed several of the silver werewolves to attack his body. Just when he was about to be bitten on the neck.
Slaash—
Orleed pulled the dagger on his waist and stabbed the werewolf on the neck before quickly stepping back.
‘We won’t be able to last for ten minutes. They’re too strong. We will all be wiped out.’
There were no casualties yet. But it was only a matter of time. Amidst their screams and falls, Minhyuk, who was digging the ground, rose from his position.
‘Right, if it’s that f*cking king then…’
If that king made a move, then all of these monsters would be wiped out at once. All of the new guild members recognized this fact and expected Minhyuk to make a move.
‘Finally, the Beyond the Heavens’ King will make his move!!!’
However, contrary to their expectations, Minhyuk approached his troops and said, “Soldiers, prepare for battle.”
Swoosh—
Swoosh—
Swoosh—
Swoosh—
Swoosh—
The soldiers, who were on standby, all stood up in perfect attention. All of them were ready to battle.
Orleed’s face turned ugly when he saw this scene, ‘What can you even do with those f*cking stupid soldiers?!’
There were only 500 soldiers. Nothing would change even if they joined the battle, especially since they could not do anything at all before. At that moment, Orleed saw the sharp glint of a werewolf’s teeth flashing in front of him, ready to sink into his neck.
‘I’ll die…’
Just when the thought flashed in Orleed’s head, Minhyuk finally uttered his order. Just like the usual, he said, “Wipe them out.”
Then…
Fwooosh—
The werewolf fell down on the ground, dead with an arrow piercing through its neck.
‘The shot is neat and precise.’
There was not even a millimeter of deviation. The arrow pierced through the werewolf’s airway and instantly brought it to its death. When Orleed turned to look at the direction of the arrow, he saw Centurion Park. And along with that…
Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh—
All five hundred soldiers took out their bows and arrows and began to shoot at the same time, creating a shocking, yet spectacular, scene. All of their arrows pierced through vital points, the neck or the forehead, and brought death to the werewolves closing in on the new guild members.
“…An archer unit?!”
That was what Orleed thought. But, that was wrong. Minhyuk looked at Orleed and thought, ‘Our Beyond the Heavens’ soldiers are actually the worst at archery.’
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The Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s soldiers had trained and mastered the way of the sword, the axe, the spear, the bow, and even the shield.
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