Mook had considered himself a lucky person. He had felt confident about this since encountering Fog Island on the 7th island of the Behen Archipelago. However, that idea had changed since coming to the East Continent. It was a environment different from what he expected. The difficulty was beyond imagination. Due to this, Mook was isolated in Pangea for a month.
‘Ah, I really have no luck.’
He crossed over to the East Continent just to run errands for the NPCs and take care of easy mobs? The situation was different from what he imagined. It would have been better if he hadn’t come here. The days when he was a high ranking player on the West Continent were much more interesting.
It was bad luck, not good luck, that he encountered Fog Island. This damn East Continent, he wanted to get away from it. But it wasn’t a decision that could be easily made. Mook only had two East Continent Portal Scrolls. It was a phenomenon caused by lacking points because he encountered Fog Island too soon.
Mook spent his days in Pangea feeling frustration. Then that thought once again changed today.
‘I am really lucky!’
Why had the hamsters weakened overnight?
’Heaven is helping me!’
The hamster hunt was very easy. Before, there were dangerous moments because he had to fight two every time. Then he would have to rest for a few minutes after hunting four or five. Even if he didn’t manage his stamina or mana, the hamsters were so weak that he could hunt for 30 minutes without stopping.
Of course, the amount of experience that they gave was lower. However, the number of hamsters that could be hunted at the same time was greatly increased. In the process of advancing to the center of the monster community, they steadily gained experience. The gallbladders also dropped constantly, so he could probably achieve a 30% poison and confusion resistance.
‘Should I just stay here and hunt? If I could increase my poison resistance to 30%, I will be able to catch the poisonous trolls on the West Continent that I couldn’t before.’
Honestly, the golden walnuts were too valuable to be wasted like this.
‘It’s better to save the golden walnuts... Isn’t this better?’
Even spoke as Mook started to feel conflicted. "We can raise our level on the West Continent. And the gallbladder of the big poisonous rats can be collected later. Don’t forget our purpose. Our real purpose is to gain titles, skills, and items first.”
Lane agreed. “Evan is correct. Mook, don’t get bogged down by the immediate benefits. We have an obligation to escape from Pangea.”
"It’s important to act quickly to monopolize various benefits first. The gap with the front runners can’t become bigger. We might be chasing after them forever.”
Oshihoz’ words broke Mook’s conflicted thoughts.
"That’s right. Your words are correct.”
The newbie who came to the East Continent with good timing a.k.a. the masked man. It was time to use him to leave Pangea. Mook controlled his mind again and checked the party window.
Lane - Level 311
Class: ???
Mook - Level 310
Class: ???
Evan- Level 312
Class: ???
Oshihoz - Level 310
Class: ???
?? - Level 320
Class: ???
Lane, Mook, Evan and Oshihoz got to know each other on the East Continent. They might be in the same position, but the time to get to know and trust each other was too short. They only occasionally established a party in order to challenge the big poisonous rat community. But even if they were in a party, they set their class to private like now. That’s why the classes were just question marks.
However, Mook judged there was no need to be so vigilant.
‘The PvP gap isn’t that big between combat classes. The balance is right.’
It was disconcerting that the masked man was level 320. The skills that could be learned at level 320 were famous for being powerful. But there were four of them and he was alone. Even if the plan failed and their intentions were revealed, he wouldn’t be able to face them...
‘There is nothing dangerous!’
Mook concealed a wicked smile with his hand.
"Everybody, please wait.”
They were close to the center of the community. It was night and the moon wasn’t out. In the distance, the large tent of the Queen Rat could be seen.
"Half-face.”
‘Me?’
Was he called Half-face because of the half mask?
‘This naming sense...’
If he was going to have a nickname based on the mask, he would prefer something like Mask Man. Grid felt regret as he replied.
“Yes.”
"Do you see that big tent over there?”
“Yes.”
"The leader of the community lives there.”
‘I killed her.’
The respawn time for a field boss was approximately three days. In particular, the Queen Rat that Grid killed earlier was likely a named boss. As soon as the Queen Rat died, the big poisonous rats were weakened overall. It was likely that the future Queen Rat would be very weak.
It was unfortunate. Mook wasn’t aware that the Queen Rat had already been hunted. He’d never dreamt of it.
"It’s impossible to catch the leader with the number of people we have in our party. In particular, the Queen Rat is strong. How strong... Um, yes. Do you know the big name players like Kraugel, Zibal, and Grid? They wouldn’t be able to hunt it even if they formed a party.”
‘Why is my name at the end?’
His ego was pricked by his name being after Kraugel’s. Grid snapped out, "So?"
“Unfortunately, it’s our duty to defeat the leader. Why? It’s necessary to enter the fantasy hunting grounds much better than this.”
’If that fantasy hunting ground is the next monster community... I can just go since the queen is already dead.’
He didn’t bother speaking his thoughts. It would be annoying if he had to explain how he killed the Queen Rat.
‘In the first place, I wonder how they were planning to defeat the Queen Rat.’
Grid was feeling interested when Mook handed him a small pouch.
“What’s this?”
Mook let out a laugh at the question.
“Open it. It’s just walnuts.”
“Walnuts?”
“All of the big poisonous rats, including the Queen Rat, are partial to walnuts. It will lure them.”
“Hrmm.”
Grid opened the bag and saw that it really contained walnuts. They were walnuts in a perfect condition before being peeled. They were big with an extraordinarily smooth surface.
“Starting from now, set the walnuts at 2 meter intervals leading up to the entrance of the Queen Rat’s tent. The Queen Rat will be attracted by the smell of the walnut and will be led away.”
"You will leave the community during this gap?”
Grid’s eyes flashed behind the mask.
‘What? At this moment, he seems like an entirely different person...’
His eyes were fierce. It was like he was looking down at them with arrogance. To exaggerate it a little bit, he was like a king of heaven. The eyes behind the mask were similar to a raptor contemplating its prey. It was a force that felt difficult to resist. It happened because Grid was born with naturally sharp eyes and a high dignity stat.
“Haha...” Mook forgot to breathe in front of those eyes. Then he responded calmly without losing his smile. “What are you saying? No. We naturally won’t leave without you.”
Grid’s eyes returned to normal.
“Oh, what is this? Won’t I become the target of the Queen Rat if I place the walnut at the entrance to the tent? Are you going to run away while I’m attacked?”
“No. The Queen Rat is only attracted to walnuts and won’t notice you.”
“How can I believe that? Why won’t you play this role?”
“Haha, didn’t I tell you? We know a lot of good hunting grounds. We always use this method to move to another fantasy hunting ground. Putting walnuts at the entrance to the Queen Rat’s tent is something we do all the time. We want to give you this role so that you can experience what it is like to move to another hunting ground.”
‘Isn’t this strange?’
It was impossible for it to be the truth. But Grid was filled with kindness. In the first place, the Queen Rat wasn’t present. There was no danger and no reason to refuse, so Grid nodded.
“I understand. I will trust you and do my part.”
"Good choice."
Mook looked at Grid with relief, while also having a nasty grin on his face.
‘The Queen Rat does like walnuts. But she likes the flesh of humans more. She will try to taste you before the walnuts.’
Be the scapegoat as planned. In that gap, they would leave this place and say goodbye to Pangea! The blissful Mook’s party left Grid behind. Grid looked at them in the distance and pulled out a walnut from the pouch.
"There’s no need to scatter this on the ground for the Queen Rat.”
It was better to eat the walnuts while moving to the next hunting ground. He had close to 3,000 strength. The hard walnut shell was useless in front of Grid’s strong fingers. He easily exposed the insides. It was amazing that the husk was completely powdered while the insides were fine. This was the result of Grid’s legendary dexterity.
"Yum."
Grid placed the walnut in his mouth. At that moment.
‘Delicious!’
Grid’s eyes widened. As soon as the walnut was placed in his mouth, a unique nutty flavor exploded? Then sweetness spread as he chewed. It was so much better than Idan’s food that Grid was in tears.
"I have to eat more... Eh?”
Grid swallowed one walnut and was placing his hand in the pouch when he stopped. He was completely stiff, like a stone statue. He was amazed at the incredible effects.
[You have eaten a golden walnut.]
[All stats will rise by 10% for one hour.]
[The kernel of the golden walnut is perfect without any damage. It provides a complete supply of nutrients.]
[Intelligence has risen permanently by 5.]
“...Eh?”
Grid couldn’t understand the situation.
“Ah...”
Grid was filled with emotions. It was better than joy.
“Those people... They are big pushovers.”
They mistook this amazing walnut for common walnuts and tried to feed them to monsters? How pathetic. They couldn’t even take care of their own rice bowls.
"Aigoo, tsk tsk. I don’t think they’re scammers.”
Grid clicked his tongue and placed the walnut pouch to one side of the inventory. Of course, there was no way he would return the walnuts to Mook.