Chapter 72

The Wind Cave Dungeon.

Just three months ago, it was a hunting ground that beginners had to pass through, and the "Wind Essence" quest by blacksmith Sieg was considered a must-do quest in the Luana region.

The wind spirits, which were the main monsters in the cave, gave 1.2 to 1.3 times more experience compared to other monsters of the same level, and the drop items were also quite good.

Most importantly, the possibility of getting a "one-shot" was a major factor in its popularity.

-Actually, for a place to become popular, the drop items need to be better than the experience. After all, you can always spend more time to kill a few more monsters to gain experience.

But not with items.

To obtain specific items, you had to kill specific monsters or complete specific quests.

But what if those specific items were superior to other equipment of the same level?

The Wind Cave was exactly such a case.

"Hmm, so what is that specific item?"

-The wind spirits drop 'Wind-infused Equipment' at a very low probability.

Actually, if you look at each piece of equipment individually, they weren't that special.

In fact, their performance was slightly lower than other rare-grade equipment of the same level.

However, the true value of the wind equipment only becomes apparent when you have multiple pieces.

Commonly known as the 'Wind Set'.

It turned out to be a very rare set item.

-If you complete a 2-set, your agility increases by 3, and if you complete a 3-set, it increases by 5. If you complete a 5-set, your agility increases by 10, and your attack speed and casting speed also increase by 10%.

"Wow, that's really good?"

-That's why people flock here. Once you have the full set, you can achieve effects almost equivalent to a hero-grade level.

However, because it drops at a "very low" probability, if you're unlucky, you might not even get one piece even if you hunt until you reach the graduation level.

-That's why there's the 'Wind Essence' quest.

If you collect wind essences and give them to blacksmith Sieg, you can choose one piece of the Wind Set.

Of course, since the drop rate of wind essences wasn't particularly high, it required a lot of effort, but it still provided a "fixed price" way to obtain the equipment through effort alone, even if you had no luck.

-Unlike monster drops, the Wind Set obtained through the quest is not tradable... but so what? It's hard to get a 5-set, but with a bit of luck and effort, you can get a 2-set or 3-set. Once you have it, you can use it until your second job change.

"That's true. For a dungeon, it's surprisingly user-friendly, unlike Rase."

Except for the fact that it's an open dungeon.

In any game, there are always greedy people. Such people wouldn't just sit and watch a sweet hunting ground like this.

Where there's honey, there are always bees.

After accepting the quest, Carpe came out of the blacksmith's shop.

He then logged into Rase's bulletin board and searched for posts related to the 'Wind Cave'.

"Wow, this is serious."

It seemed to be a well-known topic, as there were countless related posts.

Most of the posts were complaints about the current controlling guild, KD.

-Damn, because of those KD bastards, what's going on? The auction price for the Wind Set has risen tenfold compared to a month ago. Those bastards.

-But why are they so strong? They tried to push them out with a coalition of other guilds, but they got completely wiped out. Are they really backed by one of the top 10 guilds?

-When I saw their equipment, most of it was hero-grade. Why are they controlling rare-grade equipment?

-Ah, it's so disgusting. The rich get richer. Are they robbing low-level players because there's nothing else to steal?

-Rase's system is to blame. In other games, high-level players would come and beat them up, but in this game, high-level players get a huge penalty for entering low-level zones, so this is what happens.

└ What are you talking about? If high-level players could come, they would have controlled it. It would have been even worse.

-Ah, I want to see justice. Is the white horse hero coming? I'm willing to pay 100,000 won to anyone who can take down those KD bastards.

└ Me too 222222

└└ Me too 100,000

└└└ I'm poor, so I can only pay 10,000...

After browsing the posts, Carpe got a rough idea of the situation.

The first control incident happened three months ago.

A medium-sized guild suddenly occupied the Wind Cave and started killing all the players in the area.

However, their control didn't last long.

About a week later, users who had a grudge against them formed a new guild and drove them out.

People cheered.

It was only natural to cheer when justice was served against evil.

But it was only for a short while.

The coalition that was formed to break the control started to control it themselves.

The reason was ridiculous.

"We worked hard to break the control, and you just watched."

"It's only right that those who worked hard get the rewards."

People protested against the fallacy of those who wanted to monopolize the honey pot, but they indiscriminately killed players.

When one controlling guild was driven out, an even stronger controlling guild took its place.

"Human greed has no end, and history repeats itself..."

So, a guild that drove out a controlling guild would control it, and when it was driven out, another guild would control it...

The one that broke this endless chain was none other than the KD guild.

A month ago, this guild, which drove out the controlling guild, was incredibly strong.

Numerous guilds tried to drive out the KD guild, and even several guilds formed a coalition to challenge them, but the KD guild was like a fortress.

They solidified their control by crushing all the guilds that challenged them.

Even this crazy guild would transfer equipment to new members to maintain their power level when a member leveled up and left the Wind Cave.

As a result, the KD guild was now an impenetrable wall, and the price of the Wind Set was skyrocketing.

What was once called the "national school uniform set" had now become a luxury item only the rich could afford.

All this happened in just three months.

"Anyway, such groups always exist in any game. Games should be enjoyed as games. Tsk tsk."

-They probably think controlling the area is how they enjoy the game.

"I don't like it."

It was like reality.

There are always people who try to fill their bellies by any means, and the weak are always the victims.

Some people play games to escape from such realities... but even games are the same as reality.

To Carpe, who enjoyed playing games, this was a very annoying behavior.

"Enjoyment players. They love to ruin other people's fun."

Especially if the fun is being caused by bad guys, it's even better.

-You're a champion of justice. Well, honestly, it does make me angry to see this. I'll support you this time.

"Of course, you have a warm heart."

"Indeed, my lord. As a knight of honor, I must not show mercy to those who trample on the weak!"

"No, it's not really like that..."

Actually, Carpe wasn't the type to go all out for justice.

He wasn't a champion of justice. He was the type to avoid troublesome things as much as possible.

The reason he was going to the Wind Cave was only one.

"It gives a lot of experience, right? The Wind Cave is the place that gives the most experience at my current level, right?"

-Right. It's definitely the best. There are similar places, but this one has the most densely packed and numerous monsters.

"Then I'm going. Who are you to stop my leveling up!"

Carpe's goal was only to level up!

He was just going to teach a lesson to the group that was hindering his leveling up.

* * *

"Is that it?"

After walking north from the north gate of Luana for about 30 minutes, a large cave entrance appeared as the wilderness ended.

In front of the cave, a group of about ten people were guarding.

In front of them, a grayish corpse was fading away, having just died.

"You came at the right time."

The group was rummaging through the spot where the corpse had disappeared, chuckling.

"Ah, this guy is also a pauper. Why are all the ones who come here broke?"

"They come here because they're poor. If they had money, they would buy equipment from the auction house and level up, not come here."

"True, I guess. Anyway, it's no fun without good drops. Let's finish this and move to a higher-level area... What? Who are you?"

As Carpe approached, a man at the front of the group reacted.

He was a skinhead with a greatsword.

"Hey, this is a no-entry zone. If you don't want to get hurt, get lost."

"No-entry? Why?"

"Ah, you're still one of those. Rase is a great game, but it seems there are still many newbies who don't know the ropes."

Swoosh.

The skinhead drew his greatsword from his back and pointed it at Carpe.

"I'll say it again.