Chapter 3: A Hellish Tour

[You are lacking 20 ‘Ancient Fragments’ required for crafting.]

“Ugh… I’m already out.”

The next day.

I tried to get over being scammed, but neither crafting nor opening [Royal Kits] was going as planned. On top of that, I had run out of the quest items needed for crafting.

“Damn it… I have to go to the Celestial Ruins to get Ancient Fragments…”

I was more passionate about crafting, a secondary skill, than combat.

I wasn’t particularly good at combat, the game’s main content, and I didn’t enjoy it much either. I only participated when others did. I did, however, enjoy watching others fight.

So, when I needed to gather items from dungeons that were too difficult for me, I had no choice but to ask for help.

If it were like before, I would have asked my guildmates… but since I had transferred servers, that wasn’t an option. (And I wouldn’t ask those jerks for help anyway.)

“Should I join a guild…?”

However, most of the [Recruiting Guild Members] posts on the official forum were looking for combat-focused players. There were no guilds that welcomed crafters like me.

That made sense, as Chaos Online awarded guild points for clearing dungeons and completing quests. There wasn’t really a way to earn guild points through crafting, so crafters were often treated as dead weight. Naturally, no guild welcomed dead weight.

So, instead of joining a guild, I decided to pay for a carry.

It had been an hour since I listed my request in the party finder.

[Looking for Celestial Ruins carry. 8 million gold per run.]

I had adjusted the price twice during that time.

First, it was 6 million, then 6.5 million, and now 8 million. The amount steadily increased with the waiting time.

Even the initial offer of 6 million wasn’t below market price, and now it was a blatant 2 million over, yet no one was taking it. Well, I understood why.

The Celestial Ruins, or CR for short, had tricky monster patterns and mechanics, making it difficult to clear. Even high-level players could easily get knocked around if they missed the timing due to the monsters’ invincibility skills.

So, I left the party finder listing up and went to complete other quests.

I couldn’t increase the price any further. That bastard Ban-ye had run off with 22.5 billion gold, so my funds weren’t exactly overflowing.

Of course, opening [Royal Kits] would generate gold, but after losing what I had barely managed to get yesterday, I was demotivated.

After about two hours, ding, a notification finally rang, signaling that someone had joined the party.

I greeted them enthusiastically.

[Party][Ah-ang] Hi

[Party][HellTour] Hey

A [Dark Knight] wielding a large greatsword had entered the party.

HellTour clearly showed signs of having diligently leveled their character. The greatsword emitted a faint golden glow, suggesting it had been enhanced quite a bit.

This should be doable.

I came to a conclusion and set my coordinates to HellTour’s location. As soon as I arrived, HellTour spoke to me through the chat.

[Party][HellTour] How many runs?

[Party][Ah-ang] Until I get all the quest items I need.

[Party][HellTour] How many runs is that?

[Party][Ah-ang] About three?

[Party][HellTour] Okay

[Party][HellTour] Pay up front

“Pay up front…?”

Is this how this server operates?

I really didn’t want to, but I had no choice. I was the one in need, and I didn’t have a guild… I sent a trade request to HellTour and handed over 8 million gold, the price of one run.

[Party][HellTour] Let’s go

I diligently took screenshots, worried they might run off with the money like the last time. Fortunately, HellTour, perhaps not a scammer like Ban-ye, led the way into the dungeon.

[You have entered ‘Celestial Ruins’.]

After entering the dungeon, I became extremely tense.

My gaming skills… were abysmal compared to the top rankers. I could follow instructions well enough, but I lacked quick reflexes. Even when things went well, if an unexpected situation arose, I would inevitably freeze up.

Even though it was a carry, I couldn’t just lie down and do nothing… Perhaps due to the tension, my hands on the keyboard trembled slightly.

[Party][HellTour] I’ll group them up, so keep your distance.

[Party][Ah-ang] Okay

If I lingered too close and drew the monsters’ aggro, it would be troublesome for HellTour and dangerous for me. So, I readily agreed.

HellTour, after saying so, went ahead and skillfully dispatched the monsters.

“Huh? What?”

The problem was that they were killing them so fast I didn’t even have a chance to attack.

Quest items only dropped into my inventory if I hit the monsters at least once. However, HellTour was grouping the monsters together and killing them before I could even get a hit in.

I let it slide the first couple of times, thinking they were just in the zone.

However, as we progressed through the dungeon and the number of monsters dwindled, it became something I couldn’t ignore.

This wasn’t carrying; it was hunting!

[Party][Ah-ang] Hey

[Party][HellTour] Yeah?

[Party][Ah-ang] You can’t just kill them all yourself;

[Party][Ah-ang] I’m getting carried so I can get quest items. Match my pace.

I thought that if I spoke nicely, HellTour would naturally be more considerate. It was a reasonable request.

But… this guy was a complete lunatic.

[Party][HellTour] You’re supposed to hit them yourself.

[Party][HellTour] Do I have to take care of that while carrying you?

[Party][Ah-ang] I told you I needed quest items.

[Party][HellTour] Then you should have specified that in your party finder listing.

[Party][HellTour] You said you wanted a carry, so I’m carrying you. What are you complaining about?

[Party][Ah-ang] ? ㅡㅡ;;

I was so speechless at their audacity that I couldn’t even retort.

Meanwhile, HellTour ran ahead again, grouped up more monsters, and started killing them all by themself. I quickly ran over and tried to deal some damage, but a significant number of monsters had already perished from HellTour’s skills.

[Party][Ah-ang] Hey, give me time to attack!

[Party][HellTour] Then run over and hit them.

Despite my protests, HellTour remained shameless. This jerk, who had taken 8 million gold, had no conscience.

[Party][Ah-ang] You told me to keep my distance earlier!

[Party][HellTour] Can’t you even follow and attack when I group them up? Lol

…I should have run off instead of paying for the carry. HellTour was truly living up to their name.

In the end, I half-heartedly finished the dungeon run. When we came out, HellTour sent me a trade request. Wondering why, I declined, and they sent another one.

[Party][Ah-ang] ?

[Party][HellTour] Trade.

[Party][Ah-ang] ?

[Party][HellTour] For the other three runs.

Would you do more runs after that?

“This crazy bastard!”

I finally exploded.

[Party][Ah-ang] Why would I pay for more runs after that cr*ppy carry? ㅡㅡ;;

[Party][Ah-ang] Do you have a conscience?

[Party][HellTour] You’re the one without a conscience.

[Party][HellTour] You said three runs, so I prepared for three. What am I supposed to do if you back out now? ㅡㅡ

Prepared? This jerk rushed in as soon as they arrived… I wouldn’t do another dungeon run with HellTour if my life depended on it.

[Party][Ah-ang] Forget it. I’ll find someone else.

[Party][HellTour] Unbelievable.

“What’s this jerk’s problem…?”

Unbelievable? I’m the one who can’t believe this.

But HellTour started turning the tables on me.

[Party][HellTour] I used all my buffs because of you. What are you going to do about that?

“What?”

[Party][Ah-ang] ㅡㅡ What do you want me to do?

[Party][HellTour] Pay for the three runs.

[Party][HellTour] You wasted my time.

[Party][HellTour] Hey

[Party][HellTour] It’s common courtesy to cover buff costs if you cancel a reservation.

“Wow, this jerk is truly absurd.”

Talking about courtesy after that kind of carry?

I was furious, but HellTour continued to pester me with endless party chat messages and trade requests.

To prevent them from sending trade requests, I initiated a conversation with an NPC (Non-Player Character) character and pretended to be AFK (Away From Keyboard). However, this guy seemed to have a lot of time on his hands, as he stood stubbornly in front of me.

[HellTour] Not answering, huh? Lol

[Party][HellTour] Adding pettiness to the charges

“Argh, seriously! Why are all the people on this server like this?!”

I despaired.

My decision to transfer from my quiet countryside server to a bustling city server for a fresh start had led to such a disastrous outcome…

I had heard that the city server community wasn’t great, but I never imagined it would be filled with lunatics and scammers. Who knew the server would be this awful?

I had wanted to be surrounded by people… I regretted transferring. I should have just left the guild on my previous server and pretended to quit without actually moving.

Just then, someone suddenly whispered to me.

[Whisper][Ban-ye] ?
[Whisper][Ban-ye] Hey
[Whisper][Ban-ye] Are you online?

It was the scammer, that bastard Ban-ye.