n

n

nPiolan nodded.

n“Well… there are always exceptions.”

nThen, Kawin, who had been checking the guild’s member listed, called Herss.

n“Herss, you will reach Lv. 90 soon, right?”

nHerss nodded, “Yes, I think I will reach Lv. 90 by tomorrow.”

n“And your Reputation?”

n“My Reputation is… 190,000.”

nKawin scratched his head.

n“Ha… not even close to meeting the requirements.”

nThis time, Herss asked Piolan, “How high is your Reputation, Piolan?”

nPiolan had been checking that because she was curious about it, so she answered immediately.

n“Mine is a little over 160,000.”

n“I see.”

nPiolan was the second greatest ‘hunting lover’ right next to Ian, so her Reputation was relatively low.

n“But does our Reputation even matters? Isn’t the guild master supposed to meet the qualifications

nand be our Lord?”

nHerss shook his head.

n“I’ve checked that. Anyone in our guild can be the Lord as long as he or she qualifies. It doesn’t have

nto be me.”

n“Aha…”

n“The user who has the highest Reputation in our guild is…”

nHerss checked the guild’s information and was surprised, “What? Isn’t there an error?”

nEveryone heard his ‘violent’ exclamation and looked at him.

nPiolan asked, “Why? Is there a problem?”

nHerss answered, confused, “No, it just that the guild member who has the highest Reputation is…

nClovan.”

nKawin and Piolan pretended to be surprised, “What? Really?”

n“Huh? That gangster-like dude?”

nHerss scratched his head and answered, “That’s what I am saying. He just looks like someone who

nwould have a high amount of Evil Reputation, instead, he has the highest Reputation…”

nClovan glared at them, “What?”

nClovan was mad, but Herss didn’t mind it and continued to speak, “Your Reputation is over 270,000!

nWhat have you done that your Reputation is so high?”

nThis time, he wasn’t trying to mock Clovan.

nHerss really looked surprised, “I thought you only spent your time hunting…”

nPiolan was shocked, too.

nClovan, however, shrugged his shoulders, “Are you all surprised by my Reputation?”

nKawin teased him, “Herss, you sure you didn’t mistake Evil Reputation for Reputation?”

n“What?”

nWhile Kawin and Clovan wrestled, Herss and Piolan checked the Reputation of more than 200 guild

nmembers.

nHowever, no one had a higher Reputation than Clovan.

nClovan then explained why his Reputation was so high, “When I was Lv. 50, I participated in the

nRookies’ Arena League.”

n“Oh, really?”

n“Yes. It was before I joined the guild. I was lucky and met a weak opponent, so I made it to the semi-

nfinal. I received 50,000 Reputation then. Next, I did a lot of class quests to get more.”

nEveryone nodded. That made sense.

n“Aha, the Rookies’ League.”

nThe Arena was a 1:1 pvp system that was opened at the beginning of every month and there was a

nseparate Rookies’ League for users at Lv. 50 and lower.

nClovan wasn’t one of the strongest players but reaching the semi-final in the Rookies’ League wasn’t

nimpossible.

nHerss looked at Clovan,”Then Clovan is most likely to become our Lord?”

nPiolan nodded, “I guess so. His Reputation is higher than ours by at least 100,000.”

nHerss agreed, “Yeah… that’s strange. The gap is way too big, even counting the 50,000 he got from

nthe Rookies’ League.”

nPiolan shrugged his shoulders, “Well, only Clovan would know the answer.”

n“Hu… he looks like a bandit but to think that he has a Reputation higher than 270,000…”

nHerss shook his head.

n…

nMeanwhile, Ian fought Ghost monsters that were created endlessly while having Bukbuk on his back.

nHe was grinning widely.

nNo matter how many he killed, new Ghost Lizards kept coming.

nThis time, they were not Ghost Drakes but Ghost Lizards. They were weaker, so they gave less EP.

nHowever, that was good. This is because there were too many of them. Instead, if it had been Ghost

nDrakes with that amount, Ian would have been forced to leave quickly.

nPak-!

nIan heard something, so he glanced back.

nGhost Lizard aimed at Ian’s back, but Bukbuk’s shell was there to protect him.

nEven though Bukbuk received critical damage, it was only inflicted with 1 damage. Ian smiled with

nsatisfaction.

n‘Ha, a human is always meant to use his brain!’

nHe looked like a funny Ninja Turtle, but he didn’t care.

nEvery time an unavoidable attack came, he turned his back to it and Bukbuk’s shell perfectly blocked

nthe damage.

nIt was as good as a bulletproof vest.

nBukbuk’s shell was almost invincible. Thanks to it, Ian could freely move which it helped him greatly.

nThe enemies used to attack mainly Big Guy, now their attacks were forced to be divided. So, Ian could

nhunt more efficiently.

nIt already had been an hour since he passed through that suspicious-looking giant iron gate and

nGhost Lizards had been coming endlessly. However, Ian wasn’t going to turn around and leave.

n‘I have to get to the end. This room cannot be the end of this dungeon.’

nIan glanced at the wall opposite the door through which he had come in.

nThere was another iron gate that was similar to the one he had come through.

nHe didn’t know how long the Lizards would be coming at him, but he thought the door would open

neventually if he kept hunting them.

nBesides, he had experienced a few dungeons where monsters came endlessly like this one before he

nreset his character.

nSo, he knew how to handle situations like this. He wasn’t worried at all.

n‘It’s time for this to end now…’

nIan saw the last remaining Lizard getting killed by Ly and got ready again.

nIf this wasn’t the end, even more Lizards would show up.

nBut then, the room started to move in a different pattern than before.

n‘Finally. I wonder what will come out.’

nUuuung-!

nA large sound resonated while a blue light started to flow through the floor.

n‘Is this a Summoning Magic Circle?’

nThat was how the boss of a dungeon was usually summoned.

nIan started to get tense and stared at the light as it gathered in the middle of the room.

n“Ly, get ready to attack!”

nGrowl-!

nThe Magic Circle was finally activated and something emerged out of it.

nIan’s eyes widened, he had expected a huge boss monster, instead, a small old man appeared.

nHis body was made of blue light and his staff glowed in white. It was a ghost in the form of an old

nman.

nHe spoke to Ian first.

nIan was confused for a second, but soon he answered, “Yes, I am… who are you?”

nThe old man didn’t answer the question and muttered something Ian couldn’t understand.

n“Your name is Orkley?”

nIan asked curtly. The old man nodded.

n“Why are you here?”

nThe old man thought for a while and spoke again.

n“What?”

nIan thought it was ridiculous.

nThe old man just suddenly showed up and said things he couldn’t understand like a test, so he was

nconfused.

nBut then, the old man, who had been staring at Ian, raised his white staff and spoke in a low voice.

nIan instinctively felt something wasn’t right. Therefore, he got ready for battle.

nKung- Kukukung-!

nThe entire dungeon started to shake.

n‘What is going to come out? I am getting nervous…’

nOrkley raised his staff and shouted a summoning spell.

nWith that, a white light exploded in front of him and a giant Drake appeared.

nIt looked a lot like the Ghost Drakes Ian had fought on the ground floor, but it was twice as big. And,

nunlike the white Ghost Drakes, it was grey.

nIan lost his courage just after taking a look.

nAnd there was more.

n‘Lv. 75?! Hero rank?’ Ian despaired.

nHe was a genius gamer, but he and his pets were still at about Lv. 42.

nBig Guy, whose level was the highest, was Lv. 45, so there was no way for them to kill a Lv. 75 Hero

nrank monster.

n‘Is this even possible? A Lv. 75 boss in a dungeon where Lv. 60 players hunt?’

nIan hadn’t thought about that situation. So, he could only curse.

nThat kind of thing sometimes happened.

nIn cases of dungeons with high-rank related quests or dungeons related to hidden pieces, sometimes

na Lv. 95 boss could appear in a Lv. 60~70 dungeons.

nHowever, Ian was so unlucky.

n‘Uh… I was going to never die after resetting… am I really dying here?’

nIan glanced at Ly and Big Guy.

n‘I must dismiss them first when I’m about to die.’

nDeath didn’t destroy pets.

nHowever, they couldn’t be summoned for a certain amount of time according to their levels. When a

nLv. 40 pet died, it couldn’t be summoned for 4 days.

nPlus, pets got a level-down penalty as well.

n‘If I die, I shall die alone.’

nThe game over penalty for a character was losing 1 level and a 24-hour access limit, so his pets had

nto survive, even if he died.

nHe didn’t want to die but, as long as his pets were alive, he would be able to hunt again as soon as

nthe death penalty ended.

nAnd, most of all, he didn’t want to see his pets die.

nKaaaao!!

nThe Chaos Drake shrieked.

nIt was nothing compared to Dragon’s Fear, but Ian was only at Lv. 40. It felt quite deadly to him.

nIan clenched his fists.

nHe wasn’t going to go down so easily.

nSeeing Ian’s will to fight, the old man smiled and pointed his staff at him.

nKrrrrrr-!!

nThe Chaos Drake inhaled deeply.

nIan’s eyes widened a little.

n‘What, it uses Breath, too?!’

nIt was clearly preparing to fire Breath.

nIan leaped forward and shouted to Big Guy and Ly.

n“Big Guy, Ly, scatter to both sides!”

nWith that, a black Breath came out of the Chaos Drake’s mouth.

nIan quickly turned his back to it.

n