At the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat.
“Ice Field! Multiple Thin Ice!”
Pasasasak!
I used the skills I had always used on the ice terrain where I used to spread out the Ice Field.
“Ice Storm! Pouring Hail!”
Puck! Puck! Puck!
Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!
Clearly, there were many hunting grounds for me to choose from.
In particular, I was finally wearing the +4 Enhancement Ice Emperor’s guardian sword that I had looked forward for a long time since I had just reached level 700. Besides, I earned a lot of things from the previous quest.
But I still chose the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habit among them.
As a matter of fact, this was the only hunting ground where I could herd and hunt the monsters. Monsters that give a lot of EXP were generally powerful monsters, so users who herded such powerful monsters were inevitably strong, for there was no more miserable death for a user than dying while chasing a monster.
However, using such strong users to simply herd monsters was not only a big loss to them but also to their guilds. Besides, the users would be quite displeased to be used as monster herders when they had reached such a high level with a lot of effort.
So, I moved to this hunting ground even though I reached level 700 and improved my abilities a lot. What’s more, it took less time for me to herd the saber steel tooth tigers because they ran so fast, and they still gave me a lot of EXP.
Moreover, I had an additional 100% EXP gem and the title of the 4th Anniversary Event Winner.
Anyway, I kept hunting using Blink with zero cooldown.
For the next two weeks, I only focused on hunting.
And the time I spent on hunting was meaningful, and I was not bored at all during that time.
Hunting was rather fun to me.
However, when I achieved level 780 in two weeks, I felt that there was little more to gain, given the time and energy I needed to exert to gain even one more level. In other words, the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat still had its merits, but I felt that I needed a new hunting ground if I wanted to get more EXP and increase my efficiency of leveling up.
So, the first thing I thought about was whether I should lobby Daeyu hard for what I wanted, for Daeyu was the safest bet even if my identity was revealed in the future.
Besides, I approached the Daeyu to suck out their lifeblood from the beginning.
But I suddenly recalled what Daeyu’s Chairman Suh had told me.
‘Hmm. He clearly said he had no intention of supporting me anymore…”
Daeyu’s Chairman Daeyoung Suh was famous for doing everything in an organized manner.
In some respects, I also showed him that I was more thorough in terms of calculating the gains and losses than him.
I left a very strong impression on him by clearing the Salimaru Bandits quest during my first try. So much so that Suh suspected I was not a true member of the Daeyu Guild, and he decided to stop supporting me.
After that, he began to treat me differently.
Obviously, he tried his best to curry favor with me until then, but after the Salimaru Bandits quest, he seemed to have realized that he could not win over my heart no matter how much he tried.
Of course, Suh’s abrupt change in attitude was disappointing, but I could not afford to sandbag the Salimaru Bandits quest or give it up just to deceive him.
I felt disappointed about his change in attitude, but I had no regrets.
Although I approached the Daeyu to suck out its lifeblood, I had no choice but to stop when I wondered if it was really necessary for me to hurt them and even dig up their wounds.
Even if Daeyu knew everything about me, they would just feel they were deceived, but would not take action against me. But if I hurt them even more, it was come highly likely that I would be their arch enemy.
At that moment, my sister messaged me.
[Super Beauty: Brother, are you free to talk now?]
[Lumen: Yeah, sure.]
I immediately replied to my sister’s message.
[Super Beauty: The Mirae Group has contacted us about you.]
[Lumen: They contacted Myongjin and not Daeyu?]
It wasn’t a big deal for Mirae to try to contact me, but the fact that they contacted Myongjin, not Daeyu, was something very unusual because every knowledgeable person knew that I belonged to Daeyu.
Of course, Mirae knew I was affiliated with Daeyu.
[Super Beauty: Well, it seems that the Mirae guys know that you have been hunting in a hunting ground owned by Myongjin. So, it’s not unusual that they contacted us and not Daeyu.
Well, I thought that it was not that difficult for Mirae to investigate such basic information about me, so I asked while nodding.
[Lumen: Why did they contact us?]
[Super Beauty: They asked us to arrange a meeting with you since they have something very important to discuss with you. It seems they are in a rush because they have offered us a very attractive gift for arranging such a meeting.]
After hearing what she said, I recalled the current situation the Mirae Group was in,
They started ‘Revival Legend’ later than anyone else, but soon caught up with the other rival groups. Of course, their position was unstable right now because of the close alliance between Daesung and Kusan.
While I was pondering over it, my sister messaged again.
[Super Beauty: But of course we refused their offer. We also asked them to contact Daeyu, not Myongjin, but they said they had the impression that they would meet you by asking us instead. We want to reject their offer again, but I felt we should inform you first because you might benefit from it.]
[Lumen: Um…]
[Super Beauty: Of course, it’s up to you. Dad also said it’s totally up to you. You can decide whatever you want.]
[Lumen: Sure, let me meet them. I’m also curious about what they want to discuss with me.]
[Super Beauty: Okay. Then, I’ll contact you again as soon as we set the date.]
[Lumen: Alright.]
I then stopped and thought about Mirae’s offer.
“Mirae…”
Of course, the Mirae Group was unique, but I didn’t think they were extraordinary.
I may look conceited if I say this, but honestly, I think I may be more extraordinary than them.
There was just someone that bothered me though.
It was none other than the successor of the Mirae Group, Bora Yon.
No matter how stupid I might look to others, I knew she was interested in me.
I knew what was going on around me better than anybody else.
When I knew that I was not as smart as my brother and sister early on, and I could not be as successful as them, I became more and more tactful and skilled in finding out what was going on around me.
“Why?”
No one knew about my capabilities until I mentioned them to my family.
Moreover, even my family members, not to mention others, were very doubtful.
Most of those who knew me even said that it was a white lie that I was admitted into Seoul National University as the top student, but Bora Yon believed me.
Even though I remained lowkey, she still approached me with concern and interest.
“No way!”
I shook my head from side to side and stopped linking my meeting with the Mirae people to Bora Yon.
I didn’t know what they would say to me, but it would be inappropriate of me to reject their offer to meet because of Bora. Besides, nobody was aware of my real identity.
Anyway, I continued to hunt while thinking I should find a new hunting ground where I could herd monsters for hunting and increase my EXP gains. But my sister messaged me again much earlier than I thought. This meant that the Mirae was in much more of a hurry than I thought, so I could be bold enough to ask them for whatever I wanted. So, I felt much more comfortable now.
I even thought of walking out of the meeting if they made unreasonable demands.
The next day I headed to the new hunting ground.
“Move to the Dragon’s Grave.”
[You have moved to the Dragon’s Grave.]
I headed out to Lilia Castle, which I had never been to, then moved to the Dragon’s Grave.
And I heard from my sister in advance that the place called the Dragon’s Grave was a hunting ground carefully managed by the Mirae group. So much so that even Mirae members could not enter and exit freely.
Of course, I did not enter this place recklessly.
Honestly, it didn’t matter to me, but my family members were worried.
That’s why the Myongjin management told their Mirae counterparts that they would keep an eye on me because they arranged the meeting, and Mirae agreed.