Whoosh! Whoooosh!
I've never seen anything move this fast before.
Is this a person or an intercontinental ballistic missile?
The bald man, carrying the newbie on one shoulder, was tearing through the rooftops like a supercar on a highway.
The scenery was changing so rapidly that my eyes were spinning.
"Where on earth are we going?"
Amidst the scenery reflected on his bald head, a single building was growing larger and larger.
"W-what is that? A person? No, a building?"
It was a building that looked more like a statue than a building.
To be more precise, it was a building shaped like the upper body of a colorful, muscular man showing off his physique.
"Haha! Can you see our association's building? Isn't it cool!"
The bald man shouted as if proud of it.
"How should I put it! It's… a bit avant-garde!"
"Hehehe! Everyone says that!"
He nodded shyly.
No, don't take that as a compliment.
The building, which had initially been about the size of a person in the distance, had now revealed its massive grandeur.
He didn't stop until he reached the gate attached to the most awkward part of his body.
(I'll leave that awkward part to your imagination.)
He gently set him down.
Only then did they have a moment to talk.
The newbie brought up the most fundamental question first.
"So, why did you bring me here?"
"Why, of course! Securing fresh newbies is the very destiny of us old-timers! Or should I say, our instinct?"
It was a truly baffling answer.
It was a strange explanation for a kidnapping, but the newbie's curiosity was piqued nonetheless.
"So is this where the guild's strongest players gather?"
"Strongest, you say! There are many kinds of 'strongest,' but... if we're talking about combat!"
He struck a pose, flexing his muscles.
Then...
As he finished the pose, a massive aura suddenly burst forth.
Complete with a weird sparkly effect...
"This place is definitely the best!"
"But, why did you bring me here?"
"Why else! We have to start with a welcome ceremony, of course!"
"No, a welcome ceremony is a bit..."
He was a newbie who had already endured three days of triple torture: food torture, sleep deprivation, and a barrage of questions.
He wanted to stop any further 'F' activities.
" "You don't seriously think just eating, drinking, and making noise is a welcome party, do you, Newbie-chan?"
As he said that, he raised a finger and tutted.
"No, no... That's not a welcome party. I'll have to show you what a real welcome party is."
With that, he lifted Newbie right up and gave him a piggyback ride.
"W-what are you doing?!"
"Hahaha! Alright, here we go! Hold on tight, Newbie-chan!"
"No! You're not even dressed—where am I supposed to grab you...!"
Bam! Crash!
As if no further words were needed, he charged toward the door.
In a way, he was fair.
He even smashed through the front gate of his own building with a body slam as he burst in.
"Oho-i! You idle, jobless rabbit princesses! Everyone, look this way!"
As if stung by those words, the people who had been busy with their own tasks began to gather one by one.
But...
They were all quite a sight to behold.
Regardless of age or gender, everyone here greeted the newbie wearing nothing but underwear or swimsuits.
Standing before them, the most intimidating of the bunch, Vald, still had the newbie perched on his shoulder as he shouted.
"Finally got something to do!"
*
Anyway, Vald and the other old-timers were kind (?) to the newbie in their own way.
"Sshh! Sshh-sshh! Sshh! You little shit!"
"Yes, sir. What did I do wrong?"
"Ah, no, sorry. It just slipped out. Sshh! Sshh-sshh!"
The veteran who introduced himself as a tailor measured the newbie's body dimensions at lightning speed.
(Despite claiming to be a tailor, his outfit consisted of nothing but a pair of underwear, a red tie he'd draped on for some unknown reason, and a bowler hat.)
"Alright! Great body proportions! I'm busy now, so take him away! Ideas ssssh! Inspiration ssssh!"
After that, he passed through several other veterans.
There were indeed many different kinds of veterans.
"As the saying goes, weapons are everything when it comes to damage!"
"What nonsense! It depends on your skills!"
"Why are you lecturing a noob on damage meter logic? You gotta stay alive first!"
Weapons, skills, defensive gear—everyone had their own take.
The newbie's head was spinning from being tossed around by all kinds of old-timers.
A century's worth of tips and information from the veterans burrowed into his brain.
He couldn't understand even half of half of half of it.
And so, after being tossed around by all sorts of veterans, he returned to Vald.
Just as the newbie was reaching his limit and his head was about to explode, Vald brought him a green potion.
As if it were laced with some kind of radiation, it was glowing with a brilliant emerald light.
"What is this?"
"Protein… no, no, it's a rare treasure that's so hard to come by, you can't even drink it."
"You're not telling me to drink it, are you?"
"Hahaha! You're not joking about not drinking it, are you? Right? Our little Newbie-chan?"
"Haha… . Well..."
"Ah, this tastes great too! Power!"
With those words, he flicked the lid off the potion with the edge of his hand.
At the same time, with that dazzling sleight of hand, he instantly pried open Newbie's mouth.
"Ugh!"
"Alright, here it comes! Ooh-ooh, ooh-ta-ta!"
Gulp!
That mysterious liquid went down Newbie's throat.
Hmm, a refreshing green apple flavor. It's not as bad as I thought.
Ding!
[5th Anniversary Celebration: You have used a Level-Up Potion]
[Your level has increased by 5!]
[Your level is now 10!]
In the blink of an eye, his level had doubled.
Seeing this, Bald was so moved that tears streamed down his face.
"I never thought I'd see a level-up effect again in my lifetime... Hmm! Hmm! Excuse me."
He quickly wiped away his tears and clapped his hands.
"Alright, that wraps up Day 1 of the welcome ceremony!"
"Day 1?"
Wait a minute.
If it's Day 1, does that mean there's a Day 2 and a Day 3?
"Are you planning to just stand up, take one step, and call it a day? No way, no way! You've got to at least try to take a few steps, don't you think?"
Well, to them, having lived a hundred years, a newbie must be the baby of all babies.
But I wonder what on earth they plan to do with such a baby.
"Um, what if I hide or run away?"
"Hahaha! We'll have to go find you ourselves! It's only natural for us lowly old-timers to go fetch our precious Newbie-chan!"
"B-but you might not be able to find me."
"You mean our Newbie-chan is trying to hide or run away from us? That's impressive in its own right! If that's the case, we'll have to call you a Super Newbie! So, is Newbie-chan a Super Newbie?"
"No..."
He accepted it immediately.
Because a newbie doesn't really have a choice...
"Don't worry! Today's hardships will turn into tomorrow's gifts!"
"Huh? What do you mean by that?"
"Oh ho ho, you'll see tomorrow, I swear! You'll definitely find out! Or do you want to use our place? We'd be more than happy to let you!"
"Ah, goodbye! See you tomorrow!"
Newbie quickly made his way away from that bizarre, old-timer association building.
Just when he thought he might finally find a little peace...
"Hey, there's a newbie! Grab him! He hasn't party'd with us yet!"
"Waaaaaah!"
It was truly a day-long game of cat and mouse.
And so, the next day.
"W-what is this?"
"What else could it be! It's the beginner's package!"
"I-is this all?"
In the newbie's trembling hands was a pile of items as tall as a skyscraper.
No joke—it was at least 10 meters high, like a tower.
At the newbie's puzzled look, Vald laughed heartily and patted him on the back.
"Sure, you can't use much of it because of the level cap, but don't worry! Time and effort will solve everything!"
Actually, just a week ago, I'd thought the beginner's package the game company gave out was pretty stingy.
I never imagined I'd receive such a generous service from a fellow player.
"How do I take this?"
"Ahahaha! As expected, Newbie-chan is amazing! Every word you say is so sexy and alluring!"
Along with that slightly risqué remark, he kindly showed him how.
"Item acquired."
At those words, a golden portal appeared beside Newbie, and the mountain of items was sucked right into it.
Ding!
[You have acquired the 'Sword of Adaq'!]
[You have acquired the skill book 'Sword of the Emperor'!]
[You have obtained the item 'Super! Super! Awesome Tuxedo!']
[You have obtained the equipment 'Ancient Emperor's Golden Armor Set'!]
...
The chime rang in the newbie's ears for quite a while.
It hurt his ears so much that he even considered asking Vald to mute the notification sounds for a bit.
Normally, this would be enough to make him a "munchkin" character who gets flak even in web novels...
But Newbie had a massive problem.
"But... all of these have level restrictions, don't they?"
"That's right... That's the only hurdle our dear Newbie-chan has to overcome. And that's something only Newbie-chan's own efforts can solve!"
For the first time, Bald spoke in a surprisingly serious tone.
"Do you remember that level-up potion I gave you?"
"Ah, yes!"
"Unfortunately, there are almost no ways left to level up in Seeker World right now."
"Huh?"
What are the usual ways to level up in a game?
Hunt monsters. Complete quests. Use items related to leveling up.
That's about it.
But hunting monsters was mostly restricted by the Kingdom.
In fact, there weren't even any monsters in this guild.
"This place used to be a PvP-only zone. Thanks to that, while those damn NPCs can't come here, it's also a zone with no monsters, so you can't level up by hunting. Well, most people were already max level before the world turned into this mess, so it didn't matter to them."
"So, are there no hunting grounds near the guild?"
"The Kingdom cleared them all out. It's as if the monsters themselves developed some sort of intelligence; they started hiding and disappearing one by one."
It was truly a headache of a world.
Then there was the second quest.
There was no need to even mention it.
"A quest, ha ha ha! The ones who're supposed to give us quests are trying to take us down? No way!"
In the end, the third option was our last resort.
But given the nature of this game, there was no way such an item would be common.
"So, how many of those did you give me before?"
"Well, that was the only one left in the guild."
"Oh man..."
"Haha! It's tough even in the game world, huh? Hahaha!"
He patted my shoulder as if to comfort me.
"Don't worry, our little newbie. The world is designed to leave veterans behind for latecomers like you."
As he said that, he pointed at himself with his finger.
Honestly, everything had happened so fast that it was still hard to wrap my head around it.
Still...
"For some reason, you're the first person I've ever trusted, Bald."
"I'm just a bit of a hothead. Especially when I see genuine newbies like our little newbie."
He grinned again and struck a pose to show off his muscles.
"Alright, then! Shall we get started on our little newbie's tutorial guide in earnest?"
"Huh? You mean it's just starting now?"
"Of course!"
For a moment, Newbie considered running away.
*
"That's clear. And you saw the account creation date, right?"
"Yeah."
A darkroom filled with nothing but black and white.
There, Grandmaster Dursus was listening to Rancher's report.
If anyone were to see this, they'd likely pull back the curtain, shouting, "Are you the children of darkness?!"
But if they were to catch a glimpse of Dursus's solemn face through the darkness, they wouldn't dare speak out of turn.
However, despite his stern expression, his voice was filled with sighs and worry.
"It's happened before. Newcomers forcing their way in, claiming they'll save us. Though even that has become rare since fifty years ago..."
The real world hadn't just been sitting idly by.
It was a massive catastrophe to begin with, with hundreds of thousands of Koreans trapped.
Everyone—from the government down to individuals who had lost family members—had tried to force their way into this game world to solve the problem.
...Of course, if that had succeeded, none of them would be here now.
All those attempts and failures had only brought endless despair to Dursus and the other players.
I'm afraid. That sense of anticipation... that hope... because it's kept ruining us. Don't you know how much we've pinned our hopes on it and lost everything?
"I know."
"
"That newbie can't do anything either. Just make him adapt to this place."
At that moment, Rancer pulled something out.
It was the necklace he'd received from the newbie during the investigation.
"Arien hasn't mentioned it yet, but... the captives weren't wearing collars. No, to be precise, it was this."
Durus's eyes widened at the sight of the necklace.
"Does that mean..."
"Yes. It means he handled the bug."
Immediately, Dursus's attitude changed completely.
"Do you really think he handled it? What if someone else did?"
"Based on Lady Arien's testimony and her gameplay footage, it was Newbie—and no one else."
"If he really knows how to handle the bug..."
"Yes. The Seven Apostles. We might even be able to defeat them."
At the mention of the "Seven Apostles," Dursus shuddered with fear.
He slowly turned toward the window—the only source of white light in the dark room—and fell deep in thought.
"After all, we've already secured that boy. If the Masters guide him well..."
At that moment, for the first time, Lancer stammered as he added.
"B-but... there's a problem."
"A problem?"
"Newbie was kidnapped by Vald. And a few hours later, he sent me a text."
Druusus slumped into his chair after seeing the message Lancer had screenshotted.
[Mess with our Newbie and you're dead~?]
A simple, clear warning.
"Ugh... These damn troublemakers... Looks like Arien made the first move."
It was a sigh deeper than ever before.