Closed Beta That Only I Played

Chapter 73: I Do Quests for This Sort of Thrill (2)

Of course, the quick relocation of the 3rd and 4th Leagues was only possible thanks to my father’s quick approval. Nonetheless, I had to admire the way Director Sok handled this matter so smoothly.

While I was admiring his excellent performance, I noticed someone running toward me quickly.

“Asirante!”

It was Kihanna who gave me this quest.

“Asirante! People… A lot of people are entering this Pioneers’ City!”

“Really? That’s a good thing.”

I wanted to say it calmly as if I didn’t know anything about it, but I couldn’t control my smile because her actions clearly showed that the quest was about to be cleared.

Then, with wet eyes, she kept talking to me while I silently listened.. But I didn’t care much.

Even though I didn’t say anything, I could still find some important information in her words.

For example, she said that if this phenomenon persisted for 3-4 days, they would send a letter to the king, and then the king’s secret organization would come to verify it.

In other words, another 3-4 days had to pass before I could complete this quest.

As for after that? It didn’t matter to me if this place turned into an empty city of pioneers again later. Anyway, the goal of Kihanna’s Salte race was to escape their slavery status.

Of course, it seemed that a certain number of people would still remain because of the stone squirrels’ undigested mineral masses.

“Move to Pioneers’ City!”

[You have been moved to Pioneers’ City]

After conversing with Kihanna, I moved to Pioneers’ City to hunt in other hunting grounds I had in mind for three to four days before I could clear the quest .

Of course, I could hunt here, but although I know who they are, they don’t know who I am.

Therefore, there might be some friction between us because the speed at which I hunt and the areas I clear are far above average.

That’s why I was looking for an unpopular hunting ground.

At that moment a message appeared.

[A-level quest ‘Light the Lamp of Hope for the Salte clan’ is underway.

-If you leave Pioneers’ City during the quest, you cannot complete the quest

-Would you like to move?]

“Sure.”

There was no such restriction before. The only restriction was that the Salte clan would destroy the quest if there was no progress for more than a month.

“I wish I had known this in advance…”

In fact, I could only learn that restriction after accepting the quest.

And I could only know this new restriction now after trying to get out of Pioneers’ City for the first time.

So, I first stopped by several hunting grounds belonging to Pioneers’ City. However, there were Myongjin Group users in all these areas. The only place left wasr the Rocky Area where the stone squirrels appeared.

‘Hmm.’ I found myself agonizing for a moment because I could only get very little EXP from hunting the stone squirrels. Of course, I could not hunt among Myongjin Guild members.

I didn’t think that all of them were gentlemen with nice manners since they belonged to Myongjin.

After all, they moved not only because of Myongjin, but also for their own interest.

For example, they could be hostile to others simply because they were hunting more monsters than them.

‘Should I tell them that I also belong to Myongjin?’

I haven’t actually signed up, but I’m definitely a member of Myongjin, for the chairman was my father. But I decided not to.

I could put up with it for the next three or four days to clear this quest.

Thinking like this, I ran towards the stone squirrels to acquire even one more EXP.

It was now the 5th day, way beyond the expected 3rd or 4th day.

I could not help but get a little nervous because I didn’t level up even once by the 5th day, even if I have collected a lot of mineral masses that would be of great value in the future.

However, I just kept hunting without any complaint because being impatient or nervous would be of no help.

A message rang while I was busy catching the stone squirrels with Ice Fields, Pouring Hailstones and Ice Blasts.

[You have successfully cleared the Grade A quest ‘Light the Lamp of Hope for the Salte clan.’]

The message popped up suddenly while I was hunting.

“Hhhhhhhhh.”

I burst into laughter like a madman, and I didn’t try to restrain it because I had finally cleared the quest.

Of course, the message didn’t end there.

[A reward is given for clearing the Grade A quest ‘Light the Lamp of Hope for the Salte clan.’

-You have earned 25 million golden rings.

-You have earned a significant amount of EXP.

-You have earned 1500 coins.

-You have obtained 300 remaining stats.

-You have obtained a random box that has one item between the Precious and Legendary grades.]

[You have levelled up]

[You have levelled up.]

[You have levelled up.]

“Yeah, I do quests for this sort of thrill.”

I forgot all of my hardships after confirming this series of messages.

Of course, I couldn’t really say I had hardships because it was easier than expected for me to get rid of the Gahwa Guild.

And the biggest headache, the revival of the Pioneers’ City, I solved it easily with my family’s help.

Another message rang again when I was about to open my status window to confirm my rewards.

[Pioneers’ City’s name will be changed to ‘Asirante’.]

“?”

Asirante was the pseudonym I introduced myself with to Kihanna. Throughout the quest I used this pseudonym. Of course, I was a little embarrassed, but I tried to ignore it because I could not stop them from using that name for the city

At that moment another message rang, which suggested I should not try to veto the use of that name.

[Congratulations. Asirante! Your achievements are so great that your name is widely known among the locals. You are rewarded for such recognition..

-You have obtained 10,000 coins.

-You can upgrade one skill beyond its maximum level once.

For example, if you select Ice Weapon, whose maximum level is 3, you can upgrade to the next level, level 4.

Once you select the skill, you can’t change it.

-You have earned the title ‘Honorable Name’.]

[Congratulations! The total number of your titles is now five. You’re rewarded for that.

-The titles you currently hold.

: Only Closed Beta maximum level user.

: Scarecrow destroyer.

: Have you enhanced as much as me?

: The man who doesn’t approve.

: Honorable name.

-You have earned 300 remaining stats.]

“…”

First of all I’ve obtained as many as 10,000 coins by clearing this quest.

Not only my father but also my sister particularly emphasized the importance of coins.

But honestly, I couldn’t believe it because I had no use for them.

And although the coins were believed to be difficult to obtain, I got 12,000 coins in a reinforcement quest limited to level 100, I got another 500 as the reward for clearing the Scorpion King, and I just now obtained 1,500 for clearing the A grade quest ‘Light the Lamp of Hope for the Salte clan.’

It was a huge amount.

Moreover, my sister told me that even though there were many high level users, they did not even have 100 to 200 coins, let alone 1000..

But I obtained 10,000 coins only a few minutes after getting 1500.

I got lots of these precious coins so often that I could not appreciate its real value, so I took my eyes off the coins without any hesitation because I had heard some other things from my sister.

“I saw that I can upgrade a kill past its maximum level…”

I liked this reward a lot because it meant that I could upgrade my Ice Field skill, which I used most often these days and opened the battle with, to level 8 or 9 from level 2, 5, or 7.

However, I didn’t have to choose now because my Ice Field was not yet level 7. Besides, I might find a better skill.

“Check title ‘Honorable Name’.”

So, I examined the newly acquired title first.

[Title: Honorable Name.

-It is a title that can only be obtained by one who has made such brilliant achievements that people praise and remember his name.

: You are loved by the locals.

: Increases vitality by 50,000.

: Increases mana by 5 million.

: All stats increase by 300.]

“Wow!”

The title that I acquired first, Only Closed Beta Max Level User, was extraordinary.

It was a title nobody else could achieve.

So, I considered my title, Scarecrow Destroyer, as the threshold for a good title.

Scarecrow Destroyer, which increased vitality by 100,000, mana by 100,000, and stats by 200 did not fall behind any other title I knew of.

Of course, the title, Honorable Name, was behind Scarecrow Destroyer since it increased vitality and mana by 50,000 respectively, but it increased stats by 300 which was 100 more compared to the increase given by Scarecrow Destroyer.

So, I felt good about it because I had yet to feel that I was lacking in vitality and mana.

This time I obtained another title that gave me 300 stats, my fifth title Honorable Name. In fact, during the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Closed Betas, I did not have a single title.

Chapter 74: I Have Two IDs?

I didn’t know there were such bonuses like these coming from having five titles.

And I can confirm that no one else knows this because there are very few who have even one title.

So, after checking everything, I opened my status window full of anticipation.

“Check status window!”

[Name: Lumen, Asirante

Level: 235

Kills: 1096, Deaths: 0

Title: Only Closed Beta Max Level User and four others.

Vitality: 1,124,000 / 1,124,000

Mana: 913,000 / 913,000

Strength: 1170 Agility: 1170 Physical strength 5480

Mental Power: 3390 Intellect: 5790

Remaining Stats: 950

Remaining Skills : 0

Traits: Iceman, Mutual Growth, God of Reinforcement]

“…”

After reaching level 200, I did not open my status window because I had used all my remaining stat points and skill points acquired previously, and I could hardly hunt because I was focused on the quest..

Since I still remember my status window at level 200 in great detail, I could easily find out the changes since then.

For example, aside from my number of kills changing from 11 to 1096 and myl stats increasing by 300 thanks to the title ‘Honorable Name’, I could even remember that my agility had not exceeded 1000 previously.

“Asirante?”

I could understand changes like this, but I could not understand one new change that did not fall under the category of increases. .

It was none other than the name Asirante written by my ID, lumen.

Of course, an ordinary person usually had one name.

And it was the same in games.

Most of the time users only had the one ID that they decided on initially.

“But this isn’t applicable to me?”

And something immediately happened that confirmed this.

[You have a friend request from BOSS Kang.]

Soktae Kang used to be theGahwa Guild’s leader.

Vowing revenge, he warned me never to forget his ID before he was killed by me.

Of course, I’ve never let him know about my real name or my ID lumen. It was my pseudonym Asirante that he remembered, the Ice Emperor who was the original owner of the Ice Emperor’s guardian sword.

In other words, Kang probably added me as Asirante, not Lumen, because that’s the only name he knew.

So, I accepted his friend request to confirm whether it was the same guy.

[You have accepted BOSS Kang’s friend request.

-You can whisper to BOSS Kang.]

[BOSS Kang: Hey, you son of a bitch!]

[Asirante: 1]

[Asirante: 2]

[Asirante: 3]

[Asirante: Man…this guy really…]

Soktae spat out swear words right off the bat.

However, I didn’t care at all about it because I was more concerned about the word “Asirante” appearing instead of Lumen.

[BOSS Kang: What the heck is this crazy bastard saying? What a jerk? How could you sell this information to Myongjin? How much did you get for this? 100 million won per month is more than enough! You greedy bastard!]

“Delete friend BOSS Kang.”

[Would you like to delete BOSS Kang from your friend list?

-When you delete, you cannot whisper with him anymore.]

“Sure. Delete.”

[BOSS Kang has been deleted from your friend list.]

Gahwa Guild? Soktae Kang? I am not afraid of them at all.

Moreover, he and I have already crossed a river that could never be crossed again.

In other words, I had nothing to talk about with him, even though he had a lot to argue with me.

Despite that, I had a reason to accept him as a friend because I wanted to test whether Asirante had become my ID or not.

And one single test was enough to confirm it.

“Man, I have two IDs now?”

I was a little embarrassed, but concluded it wasn’t a loss for me because my two IDs, Lumen and Asirante could cause a lot of confusion to opponents later on.

Thinking like this, I invested all my remaining 950 stats into Intellect.

As a result, my Physical Strength increased by 950 and Mental Power by 475 thanks to the Mutual Growth trait.

“Hhhhhhh.”

After checking my status window, I laughed like a villain once more, then moved forward to increase my level which had remained the same for some time.

Of course there was one hunting place that I had set my heart on, but I had to stop for a moment because there were numerous NPCs waiting for me in the Safety Zone of the Rocky Area.

One of the NPC group members stepped forward. It was none other than Kihanna who initially gave me the quest.

“Thank you very much, Asirante.”

“You’re welcome.”

Honestly, I received more rewards for my performance than deserved.

Besides, I received a huge special reward that I had expected for the simple reason that Pioneers’ City was renamed Asirante. In fact, it was thanks to these people right in front of me that the city was renamed ‘Asirante’. No one else would have a reason to rename the city with such a strange name.

So, I acted as polite as possible, forgetting about my calculated actions until now.

“We’re thinking of leaving this place because we are no longer chained down by the status of being slaves,” Kihanna said.

“Where are you leaving to?” I asked because I was a little curious.

“To our hometown in the north. They say it is a barren and dry land, but it is our hometown.”

“Ah…”

I saw clearly in the quest that the Salte clan were a northern tribe.

“I hope you guys are happy there. I also hope that you won’t go through that terrible slavery again.”

“Thank you. Asirante, if you come to the northern area someday, please visit our Salte clan. We don’t easily forget someone’s help. You can use this when you happen to look for us. This is the mark of our Salte clan.”

Kihanna handed me a pendant engraved with a Mountain pattern.

I received it without hesitation because refusing to receive a gift offered in good faith is rude. Besides, I had no intention of ruining the good atmosphere between us.

Anyway, I shook hands with Kihanna and the Salte clan people in the Rocky Area’s Safety Zone with all of us smiling, then left.

***

Sok-tae Kang’s house in Seoul. Several people were chatting on the sofa in the living room.

“What a crazy bastard! He deleted my friendship request? Damn it!”

After that, he kept friend requesting Asirante, but it was up to the other party to accept it or not. So, he got more angry because his revenge plan fell flat completely.

At that moment, a man sitting on the lead sofa opened his mouth.

“Be quiet. Sit down.”

“Yes, sir.”

Soktae reigned almost like an emperor within the Gahwa Guild because he had money.

But not any more. He had to know his place here.

“So, the Myongjin Guild established a base there?”

“That’s right.”

“Myongjin Guild is…”

“It’s almost one of the top three guilds in Korea. Rumor is that their guild members alone almost number 100,000. What’s more, the guild members aren’t simply ordinary people. It’s unthinkable to fight against them.”

“Hmm.”

When he said that, the person sitting on the lead sofa groaned.

Then he opened his mouth after some time.

“In the end, it seems that we need to somehow get rid of the server wall blocking countries in game to do business .”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Good. Let us give up the stone squirrel’s undigested masses. But you have to make this guy Asirante, who messed with our business, unable to play this game again. Got it, Sakamoto?”

“Sure, I will do it!”

Sakamoto was born to a Korean father and a Japanese mother, and his Korean name was Jiwan Oh. But he abandoned his Korean name just like his Korean father abandoned himself and his mother in Korea.

Anyway, after his Korean father disappeared, he was treated as an outcast for the reason that he was of a mixed-race. Perhaps he was even more ostracized because his blood was mixed with the Japanese.

So, Sakamoto immersed himself in a game in search of an escape from reality.

It was none other than ‘Forgotten Legend’.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t participate in the 1st Closed Beta, so he started from the 2nd Closed Beta.

During the 2nd Closed Beta, Sakamoto achieved the maximum level and earned a trait in the ‘Tracking’ series that was a common series in game.

However, what Sakamoto gained as a trait was so excellent that it far surpassed a simple tracking skill. That’s why his trait name was ‘persistent pursuit’.

“I will track him down and kill him ruthlessly so he can no longer access the game.”

Sakamoto responded loudly to the man on the lead sofa.

Hearing Sakamoto’s determined response, the man opened his mouth with a nod.

“Good. But don’t let your guard down because this Asirante has a very high level. Stay alert.”

“Yes, sir. We have summoned all those who can be considered as strong among the people we hired. So, no matter how powerful Asirante is, he won’t beat us this time.”

Since they could not do anything about the Myongjin Guild, they made Asirante their target because they had to pay back what they had suffered.

But they didn’t know that during the span of only a few days, Asirante, or Lumen, had become much stronger than before, as if he was now a completely different man.