Yooseong arrived at the Western Road. He stood at the entrance of the path, gazing at the grey landscape.
'Not a very pleasant view.'
For Yooseong, who enjoyed Ark's vibrant scenery, the inorganic, grey, rocky terrain wasn't a particularly appealing sight.
Only a few hardy shrubs, having stubbornly rooted themselves in the rocks and grown, offered some solace to his mind.
Small figures were moving on the road.
'Are those Kobolds?'
They didn't look very threatening. Their small stature and crude wooden clubs contributed to this impression.
Even their sharp claws and teeth visible between their long snouts seemed rather cute compared to the monsters and beasts in reality.
'Shall I assess their level first?'
According to the strategy guide, they weren't dangerous monsters for him. Still, there was no harm in understanding the enemy's level.
He took out his gun and approached the nearest Kobold.
As the strategy guide advised about them moving in groups, the three clustered Kobolds all looked at Yooseong simultaneously.
'If one notices, do the others automatically know? Or did they all notice at the same time because their detection ranges are similar?'
Either way, it seemed difficult to lure them one by one.
-Kieeeeek!
-Kee-eek! Kee-eek!
-Kooiiieek!
The Kobolds shrieked and approached Yooseong. Their wild swings with wooden clubs would likely make someone unfamiliar with combat quite nervous.
Of course, this didn't apply to Yooseong.
Bang!
[A critical hit has occurred.]
One Kobold, shot in the head, slammed its head into the ground. The other two Kobolds shrieked even louder.
A moment ago, he would have had to hastily reload. But the pistol he was holding now was the Aeonir Pistol—a revolver.
Bang! Bang!
Two clean gunshots rang out, and the other two Kobolds also fell.
'Easy.'
Reloading the spent cartridges, Yooseong walked to where the Kobolds had fallen. The Kobolds' bodies turned into light and disappeared, replaced by several item bundles.
A small amount of money and miscellaneous items. After gathering them, Yooseong moved again.
'Let's move quickly.'
Diligently accumulating money would brighten his future prospects. Yooseong approached other groups of Kobolds that caught his eye.
Players and NPCs also existed in Tar. They were hunting monsters, reasonably well-equipped, and their initial clumsy novice appearance had largely disappeared.
Yooseong hunted among them. At first, some of them, who were engrossed in their own hunting, began to watch Yooseong.
Since similar things had happened in the Village of Green Plains, Yooseong paid no mind.
Bang!
A Kobold fell with a single gunshot. Among the NPCs who had put their own hunting aside to watch Yooseong, exclamations of 'Ohh!' burst out. Some even clapped softly.
Around the road, caves sloping downwards were occasionally found. Those were the Kobolds' lairs.
There were quite a few Kobolds roaming the road, but to hunt them in earnest, entering their lairs was better.
Yooseong picked a suitable lair and entered.
The lair was dark. The only light came from tiny holes in the ceiling. It couldn't even compare to the rats' hideout, which was fundamentally quite bright.
'It's going to get even darker from now on, isn't it?'
Providing light in a lightless underground area was a story for low-level fields.
The strategy guide had said that as the field level increased, the light source would gradually diminish until it completely disappeared at some point.
'Still, this much won't interfere with combat.'
He passed the lair entrance and entered a passage. He didn't see any player NPCs, of which he had found many on the road.
'They said it's dark and dangerous, so they don't like to come in often.'
Yooseong didn't disagree, but quickly hunting a large number of Kobolds was more important to him.
The lair wasn't very large, but it had its complex aspects. There were several forks in the path, and occasionally there were caverns with passages leading in various directions.
-Kyaaaak!
A Kobold, encountered as soon as he turned a corner, rushed at Yooseong. Those unfamiliar with combat would often be startled in such situations.
However, this, of course, did not apply to Yooseong.
Bang!
The Kobold, about to swing its club, was thrown backward. A bullet mark was clearly visible on its head. There were two other Kobolds, but their fate was the same.
Three Kobold corpses instantly appeared. Soon they vanished, leaving behind several item bundles. Yooseong collected them.
'Still not enough.'
After walking a few more steps, he encountered another group of Kobolds.
Another reason why lairs were dangerous was the close proximity of Kobolds.
If one couldn't quickly deal with encountered Kobolds or hesitated and moved even a little too far, they could immediately run into the next group.
Naturally, as the number increased, combat became even more difficult, and in the worst case, one could be surrounded by dozens of Kobolds.
Then it was over. The majority of players couldn't overcome that situation and would often get a game over.
However, this also did not apply to Yooseong.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
He fired his gun at the rushing Kobolds.
No matter how crude a wooden club was, it still possessed its own attack power.
However, even if it were an amazing club item with immense attack power that could instantly kill anything with a single hit, it would be useless if it didn't connect.
The last Kobold fell right in front of him. The wooden club the Kobold dropped rolled and nudged his foot.
Yooseong picked up the club. Its rough texture disappeared along with the Goblin's corpse the moment he picked it up.
'It's a bit boring.'
While Yooseong didn't particularly enjoy fierce combat and, in fact, desperately wanted to avoid it, he couldn't help but feel bored by this monotonous hunting.
It seemed to be even more so because the hunting targets were all identical.
【All monsters in this vicinity are common Kobolds. Would you like me to guide you to a place with other monsters?】
'No, it's fine. The quest target was common Kobolds, right?'
It was boring, monotonous work, but he could endure it indefinitely for free black bread.
Yooseong kept accepting the quest repeatedly. He swept through several lairs, and it was when he entered another one.
'Did the NPCs come first?'
No Kobolds were visible. This situation had happened a few times before. In all those cases, an NPC had entered first and hunted.
'I should go to another lair.'
There were plenty of lairs anyway. There was no need to cling to one lair and compete with others.
It was then.
A commotion was heard from deeper within the lair. Many footsteps were mixed together, suggesting a group was rushing towards them.
'Is it a Kobold pack?'
However, there was something a little strange. Although the light pitter-patter characteristic of Kobolds made up most of the sounds, a slightly heavier sound was also heard along with them.
No matter who the opponent was, he would just eliminate anyone who attacked.
Yooseong opened the gun's magazine, confirmed all bullets were loaded, and looked ahead.
It didn't take long to identify the opponent. A figure came hurtling around the corner.
It was an NPC dressed in leather armor reinforced with iron plates, typical attire for this area.
He saw Yooseong and cried out in a flustered voice.
"R-run away!"
Following him, nine Kobolds appeared around the corner. It seemed he had entered the Kobold lair and was fighting, but ended up surrounded by multiple groups and was now fleeing.
It seemed obvious that if Yooseong stayed there, he would also be attacked by the Kobold group.
However, Yooseong didn't run. Instead, he calmly extended his gun forward.
"W-what...!"
Did he think Yooseong was aiming at him? The NPC was flustered. But Yooseong's gun was aimed at a spot slightly away from him.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out. The number of rushing Kobolds decreased to eight.
"Huh?"
The NPC, who had turned back, was surprised. Yooseong continued to pull the trigger. Gunshots rang out consecutively. Along with that, the sound of the Kobolds' scampering also diminished.
When all the bullets in the Aeonir Pistol's magazine were empty, only three Kobolds were chasing the NPC player.
"At this rate...!"
The fleeing NPC turned around and began to fight the Kobolds with the short sword he was holding.
The three Kobolds swung their wooden clubs.
He blocked the clubs several times with his short sword or arm guards. But it seemed difficult to block them all, as he took a considerable number of hits.
It was impossible to fully deplete his HP, and eventually, the Kobolds were all killed by the NPC.
"Hoo!"
He let out a long breath, then took out a potion from his belt and gulped it down. He tossed the empty potion bottle aside and looked at Yooseong.
"Wow, you're incredibly strong!"
He approached Yooseong, his eyes sparkling.
"Ah, before that, I should introduce myself. Thank you for saving my life. I really thought it was game over for me this time."
"It's fine."
Yooseong replied gruffly, then walked past him towards where the Kobold corpses had been. He began picking up the bundles from the Kobolds he had killed.
"Ah, that...!"
Seeing that the NPC seemed to have something to say, Yooseong stopped picking them up and looked at him.
NPCs were entities linked to the important 'Attention' stat. Even if it was a bit troublesome, it was better to engage with those who initiated conversation.
"Is there something you want to say?"
Perhaps it was about item ownership? But all he did was run away from the monsters, wasn't it?
The items from the six Kobolds he had killed were clearly his.
"Are you perhaps Yooseong? The one who consecutively subjugated two Extra Bosses this time."
So that's what it was. This NPC seemed to be another one curious about him, just like the others.
"That's right."
"As I thought!"
He made a fuss.
"I never thought I'd meet the famous Yooseong here!"
Those who usually spoke to Yooseong often highly praised him. But the intensity of the NPC in front of him was even greater.
Yooseong responded appropriately while collecting all the items. They were just miscellaneous items, but each one could buy him another black bread.
However, he didn't pick up the items from the Kobolds that the NPC had killed.
"You can take those too."
The NPC said something unexpected.
"Are you sure?"
"Well, if it weren't for Yooseong, I would have died anyway. It's a cheap price for my life, I guess."
"Thank you."
Yooseong showed no sign of refusal and picked them up. Thinking that it was equivalent to getting dozens of black breads, he spontaneously felt excited.
But this wasn't enough. He needed to hunt more Kobolds.
"Then."
After a slight nod to the NPC, Yooseong was about to continue hunting.
"W-wait a moment!"
"Why?"
He looked at the NPC who had called him. The NPC hesitated, then spoke to Yooseong.
"Would you mind if I hunted with you?"
As expected, he also had the same request as the others.
"It doesn't matter."
He had already hunted with many NPCs until now. Adding one more wouldn't be strange, and it would also benefit the increase in Attention.
"Thank you!"
He bowed his head deeply. Yooseong silently nodded and pointed a finger deeper into the lair.
"Then let's clear this place out first."
"Yes!"