Chapter 149

* * * * *
“Great job!”
[You have completed the quest].
[Helioca’s notoriety increased by 200,000].
[Gain an additional 10% Merit for being recognized by Canon].
[Helioca’s notoriety increased by 20000].
After returning the equipment and completing the quest, Ming Hu smiled at the message.
Jumbled
“That’s a lot of money for twice as much.
I was already accumulating merits at an incredible rate, but now that I’ve doubled up, I’m accumulating them twice as fast, if not faster.
“Why is he looking at me like that?
Arriving at the forge, Ming Hu shook his head as he saw users staring at him with a mixture of respect, envy, and other emotions. It was a completely different reaction from Nara’s.
Sigh
Ming Hu turned away from the users and approached Nerfai.
“I’m done, I’ve returned it.”
“Oooh, I trusted you after all!”
Nerfai smiled broadly. And then he said
“There’s one more thing I’d like you to create… is that possible?”
“Which one?”
“The armor of the Knights of the Red Drake. I have eight days to forge fifty daggers, fifty longswords, and fifty pieces of armor out of black iron.”
<Armor of the Knights of the Red Drake
The armor of the Red Drake Knights is currently in disrepair, as they slay monsters to advance their cause. The Emperor has ordered new armor for the Red Drake Knights to be forged from iron. Craft the armor before the Red Drake Knights return from their vacation and head out to the frontier again!
Time remaining: 8 days
[Heavy Iron Dagger: 0 / 50]
[Heavy Iron Longsword: 0 / 50]
[Heavy Iron Armor: 0 / 50]
Difficulty Level: B
Quest Reward: 220,000 Helioca Merit
"I'll make it and return it."
"Good luck!"
[You have accepted the quest].
After accepting the quest, Ming Hu did not return to his seat, but left the forge.
"Oops… I need to log out."
If I didn't have an appointment tomorrow, I would have pulled an all-nighter to create the item, but tomorrow I had an appointment with Delay.
Jumbled
Ming Hu walked out of the imperial palace to the exchange to buy the elixir.
"Buy merits, buy second floor items, talk ratios!"
"Merit badge. Third floor only!"
After arriving at the exchange, Ming Hu went straight to the third floor to purchase the elixirs. After purchasing the elixirs on the third floor, Ming Hu turned his head and looked at the stairs leading upstairs.
'The fifth floor… It was a once-a-day purchase, right?
Only one item on the fifth floor could be purchased per day. Ming Hu, who hadn't purchased an item on the fifth floor since the last Life Orb, checked his ample merit and started walking upstairs.
Jumbled
After passing through the fourth floor, Ming Hu arrived at the fifth floor and looked around the interior.
"What to buy."
He didn't come here to buy anything in particular. Ming Hu walked around the fifth floor to see if there was anything worth buying.
"Wow… You're on the fifth floor and you have nothing better to live on than the fourth…"
There were many items on the fifth floor, but to Ming Hu, they were no better than the fourth. Ming Hu muttered to himself as he looked at the corpses that took up more than half of the fifth floor.
"Pets are a bit of a scam."
I had one space left in the pet window, but I didn't need it, nor did I need to create a pet when I couldn't keep the Prominence I had with me.
"…I'll have to write that up in the Imperial Report."
Ming Hu had a key to the imperial treasury, and he didn't need to use it on the fifth floor.
"I think I'll go to bed now."
Reminded of his appointment tomorrow, Ming Hu logs out to get some sleep.
* * * * *
The plains of Denba, in front of the black castle in the center.
Woof, woof, woof
There was a huge crowd of players and NPCs gathered there. The reason for their gathering was the sacking of the Black Castle.
"How am I supposed to catch them all… I'm not going to get any credit."
"They're offering $5,000 just for joining, but I'm guessing most of the users will be newbies, and the newbies will die as soon as they get in, leaving only the advanced players."
"Sure, but when did you start?"
"In 20 minutes!"
Pooh-pooh!
Twenty minutes later, the horns started blaring to see if the user was right and the slaughter was about to begin.
Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo
The horns blared, and the waiting NPCs began to move. The players saw the NPCs rushing toward the black castle and quickly turned to look up at the dais, where their representative player and the NPC in charge were standing.
"Here we go, follow them in and beat the shit out of them!"
The representative user at the top of the podium opened his mouth and spoke. The players cheered and followed the knights into the black castle.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Don't steal it, you crazy bastard!"
"Where's the steel in Torvall!"
"Aha, there's a knight!"
"Knights, knight first, knight second, good for you!"
"Ouch! Fuck!"
Soon, knights appeared. As expected, low-level players began to die quickly once the knights arrived. Since most of the players were low-level, the number of players entering was drastically reduced.
"Fabian, what are you going to do?"
"I have to go."
Meanwhile, Fabian and Ramus's party, who had originally hunted here, were advancing with ease, hunting down the knights despite their appearance.
"Will there be?"
"You know what? No matter how strong you are, you can't do it alone…"
At Fabian's question, Ramus trailed off with a puzzled look on his face. At Ramus's words, Fabien turned back to the gargoyle knight and spoke.
"I, uh, somehow, I don't think so. Let's go!"
They would find out when they got there. Fabian and Ramus' party quickly made their way inside, killing knights along the way. The palace slowly began to close in on them, and after a while, Fabian and Ramus' party was able to reach the front of the palace.
"Are we done?"
In front of the palace are a number of NPCs, all of whom are staring at the door to the palace.
Profit
Soon, the palace doors opened. And out walked Haim, the deputy head of the frontier headquarters.
Whirring
Once inside, Haim held out his hand. The NPCs saw it and began to form a line and head out.
"Huh?"
As Fabian watched the NPCs move about, he couldn't help but be puzzled by the message that appeared.
[The castle of blackness has been successfully pioneered].
[Successfully defeated].
[Merit based on contribution].
[Helioca's Merit is increased by 56000].
"…"
When Fabian saw the message, he was speechless and looked toward the palace where Haim had come from.
"Again."
The NPCs moving around didn't look like they had been in combat. It was clear that the palace had already been cleaned up by someone.
* * * * *
beep beep beep
Alarms started going off in the room.
"Has it gotten this late already?"
Turning off the alarm, Ming Hu muttered to himself as he looked at the time, then quickly began to get ready to leave.
"Oh, I told you to call me before you left."
Getting ready to leave, Myung-hoo remembered Delay's words and made a phone call.
-Yes! Minghui!
"I'm on my way."
-G..now?
At the sound of Delay's voice, Ming Hu smiled and said, "I'm sorry. However, at the sound of panic in Jian Chen's voice, Ming Hu shook his head.
"Yeah, what happened?"
-Ah, no! Slow down!
Ending the call with that, Myung-hoo walked out of the house and began to pace as Ji-yeon had said.
Jumbled
Some time later, Ming Hu arrived at the shop and was puzzled. There wasn't a single customer in sight.
"Hello?"
At that moment, Ming Hu heard Jie's voice and turned his head toward the direction of the voice, and when he saw Jie, he couldn't help but stare at Jie.
'Wow…'
Delay was wearing a short black miniskirt, exposing her white thighs, and a sheer blouse that showed a bit of skin.
'There…black.
Normally, I don't wear strongly colored underwear when I wear sheer blouses that show through. But not Delay. Ming Hu swallowed hard as he looked at the blackness of her blouse.
"Oh, my God, you have a shave.
Up until now, all he'd ever known about Ji-yeon was her innocence and cuteness, but now there was something sexy about her.
"…Why are you staring at me? Shame on you."
Blushing slightly in embarrassment at Ming Hu's gaze, Jian Chen spoke quietly enough for only Ming Hu to hear. Myung Hu, who flinched slightly at Delay's words, smiled and said, "I'm sorry.
"Because it's pretty."
"…Huh? Thanks!"
At Delay's bewildered reaction, Ming Hu smirked.
"But… there aren't any customers in the store?"
"Oh, we're getting ready to move. I've decided to stop accepting customers from today!"
"Okay, so how do we go out and eat?"
Honestly, before I saw her, I thought she was going to eat here, but judging from her outfit, I don't think she's going to eat here. However, Ming Hu couldn't help but laugh at what she said next.
"No! Let's eat here. Sit over there. I'll be right back with it."
"Yes."
Ming Hu went to the place where Jian Chen pointed and sat down. As Ming Hu took his seat, Liu Chan went into the kitchen and began to bring out meat and other food.
"Wow. Did you make all this?"
"Oh, that's… that's…"
Ming Hu asked Jian Chen, looking at the many dishes. He stuttered and hesitated in response to Minghu's question, and then a voice came from the kitchen.
"Ho ho, Delay helped me a lot!"
Hearing a voice from the kitchen, Ming Hu quickly stood up and looked toward the kitchen. Delay's mother was coming out of the kitchen.
"Hello!"
"I'm off to an appointment, have a great time! Oh, and don't you love our delay, ho ho."
"Yes. You look a lot like your mother."
"Uh, Mom!"
But her mom just walked out of the store, and she glanced at Ming Hu. Ming Hu happened to be looking at her, and she blushed even harder.
"Sue. I'll get you a drink."
Hudadak
Ming Hu smirked as he watched Jie Li walk away quickly, then began to grill the meat.
* * * * *
Ming Hu thought, alternating between the bottles of liquor piled high beside him and the delay.
"…I think I've had too much to drink.
I felt like I drank too much. No, not like I drank a lot, but I definitely drank a lot.
"Hey! You. You!"
Jie Yan pointed a finger at Ming Hu and shouted. As he shouted, his eyes glazed over.