Taming Master

Inside the refreshment room of LB Soft.

Two men were drinking while talking.

The two men weren’t just someone else. They were Na Ji-chan and his disciple Im Chul-woo.

“Sir, I’m curious about something.”

“What is it?”

“I’m really glad that things are going our way… but, aren’t we leaving the plan a little too much to luck?”

“Luck? What do you mean?”

“Well, Muran’s Crystal is an item that very randomly drops… if it wasn’t Ian but some other powerless and skill-less user who gets it, isn’t it likely for the scenario to be ruined completely?”

Im Chul-woo’s question made Na Ji-chan laugh.

“Who said that Muran’s Crystal would just randomly drop?”

“Huh? Wasn’t it a separate drop rate?”

Na Ji-chan jerked his head aside and replied,

“The system will drop it when certain conditions are met.”

“…?”

“Think about it. Even if the drop rate was low, and if it was a random drop, wouldn’t it have been dropped at least once now?”

“That… that makes sense.”

It had been six months since he came to the planning team.

It was a matter he heard for the first time since he came to LB, which raised the brows of Chul-woo.

Na Ji-chan continued spewing out interesting things.

“Bottom line is, in order to get Muran’s Crystal one needs to satisfy a whole lot of conditions.”

“And they are…?”

“I’m not so sure about everything, starting from the average quest achievement level, skill uses, and ability—excluding control abilities—all the conditions are needed to be met before one can get Muran’s Crystal. Also, the item will drop as the quest progresses.”

What Na Ji-chan said made Im Chul-woo’s eyes grew wide.

“Is that really possible?”

“Yes.”

“Even then, there is one thing that I find strange, senior.”

“What is it?”

“If a user met all the conditions for acquiring Muran’s crystal, could he sell or transfer it to another user. Ian might get lucky and be the one to buy the crystal from someone.”

“Who would want to sell it? No way that’s going to happen. Only a fool would do that. Muran’s crystal is an account-related item, right?”

“Ah… Of course.”

Na Ji-chan kept touching his head then spoke,

“Anyway, that is why if a user tries to transfer Muran’s Crystal, the receiving user needs to be someone who deserves the crystal. He should be someone who had the ability to solve a lot of quests.”

“If that is the case, will Muran’s Crystal drop as the system planned?”

“Could be or couldn’t be.”

“Ah…”

Na Ji-chan’s explanation continued, and Im Chul-woo took out his notebook and began taking the notes.

In the case of Kailan, its scale was vast despite the company only releasing one update every six months. There were still loads of content that wasn’t released yet.

Im Chul-woo, who understood an outline of the situation, spoke with that giddy head of his,

“Sir, now that we’ve played the Muran card, doesn’t this scenario worry you?”

Na Ji-chan nodded and replied to him,

“I feel that. Well, Ian isn’t a user who lacks the ability to solve quests… maybe it will go smoothly.”

Contrary to what he said, Na Ji-chan was actually feeling uneasy.

‘Ian is a user who can be understood… however, if something goes wrong, then what?’

* * *

In the southeast of the Colonial Continent.

A powerful empire that was the first ever to unify the whole continent under a single banner was once there.

The ruins of the empire were Muran, the capital of the Luspel empire.

A magnificent castle towering to the sky was there to prove the splendid glory of its past.

The structure lined up along the castle.

However, those were just remnants of the past. The present Muran was just a ‘ruin’ now.

These ruins were once crowded with people. However, it was now filled with dungeons and monsters.

As of the moment, Muran was just one of the many hunting grounds in the southeast continent.

It was a great hunting ground for ranked users, as it had monsters with levels over 300.

At the center of the city, which was currently a hunting ground, was a unique place.

It was a place that wasn’t being approached by monsters, it was giving out a sanctuary kind of vibe.

In the space of about 50 meters from the center of the ground, a huge statue was standing, and no monster seemed to have set foot on that ground.

That space turned into a shelter for users who came there for hunting.

Young-hoon and Semi who just reached level 290 were there, and they were the biggest beneficiaries of that safety zone.

Originally, the place was overflowing with the power of a two people play, but all thanks to the safety zone, the hunting ground was viable.

“By the way, Young-hoon-ah, why aren’t monsters coming in here?”

“Not sure. Maybe the statue has something to do with it?”

Young-hoon and Semi thanked the statue by touching it gently.

The dirt on the statue had piled up, and there were a few chips here and there. However, the statue still gave out the splendid grandeur of a warrior.

The statue was that of a hero on a horse with a sword in his hand.

Muran, the absolute hero, and leader who ruled the Luspel in the past. A warrior who was called the hero of the continent for his valour.

Semi tilted her head and responded to Young-hoon’s guess earlier,

“Maybe it is? So what remains of Muran is stopping the monsters?”

“Well, you know about the details of the planner, so.”

Young-hoon responded with a slight irritation and checked his equipment.

Semi then suddenly pulled Young-hoon’s shirt.

“Uh, Young-hoon.”

“Ah, what now?”

“The statue just moved…!”

After seeing Semi all flustered, Young-hoon turned back to check it for himself. However, the statue still looked the same.

Young-hoon just sighed and shook his head.

“Huh, the statue suddenly moves, really? You were sleepy when we were hunting and now you’re dreaming?”

“No… not that! I mean it. It’s true!”

“Enough! Stop talking about nonsense. If you’re tired, take a break or a nap. I’m going to hunt a little more before I sleep.”

Young-hoon gave up and rose from his seat.

He then suddenly heard a voice, but it wasn’t from Semi.

“Euk! Monster!”

“What? Why would monsters suddenly come here in the safety zone?”

Both Semi and Young-hoon got ready for battle.

If monsters started to enter the safety zone, then there was no way they could calculate when the monsters would reach the place they were resting at.

“What happened suddenly?”

“Yeah. A monster hasn’t come into the safety zone for months now.”

Semi responded while keeping a lookout.

Krrrng- kukung-!

They suddenly heard a thunderous roar, and the statue behind the two began to crumble down.

* * *

[The darkness had finally descended upon….]

In the sky city of Muran.

A translucent body was floating in the air and looked at the ground with a gentle expression.

The man’s appearance was very identical to that of the statute that just crumbled.

[Chalian… that wicked human eventually released the Devildom…]

The man closed his eyes and brought his closely clasped hands to his chest.

With white light coming from his hand, a great sword of history sprang up before his eyes.

[Now is the time to tell me everything.]

A man murmuring unknown words put the sword into its sheath.

After a while.

The man floating in the sky suddenly disappeared without a trace.

Only the white clouds were the only ones that could be seen, and the wind started to flow again.

* * *

Kwang- Kwang- Kwang-

[You have successfully defeated the ‘Dark Guard’ monster!]

[You have earned experience points of 19,827,198!]

[You have successfully defeated the ‘Dark Salamander’ monster!]

[You have earned experience points of 13,875,421!]

A party of the strongest rankers was hunting monsters with Lugarix who was level 500.

They were rankers and yet Ian could still see flaws from their play, so he nagged them,

“Yu Shin, your timing is too fast. Some monsters got away!”

“Hoonie, you should have cast a single skill when doing the Soul Decay. The wide area efficiency is very low in a similar situation.”

Looking at that scene, Remir shook her head.

“Phew, that is indeed a rare species.”

Upon hearing Remir’s mumbling, Levya laughed and responded,

“Even then Remir, he hasn’t said anything wrong, right?”

“That… that is true…”

“Check the experience points we’re getting. Won’t a few complaints be alright?”

“…!”

Remir who looked at how much experience she was getting was surprised.

The hunting speed was never low. She earned more than half the experience points she would get if she hunted by herself.

Even when considering the difference that was in a solo-play and a party-play, it was a figure that made no sense.

‘I think I’ll have to come right away if I get a call at dawn…’

The temptation was sweet. Almost like a drug with a force that made it impossible to stop. That was what Ian and hunting with Ian were like.

Once a party play was done, it couldn’t be done again for a duration of time.

So if one misses the opportunity to party up with Ian once he called, the party hunt would be over by the time they begin to regret it.

“Nice! This is good…”

Remir was trying to rationalize herself.

She began to cast spells just as Ian ordered.

“Nice, let’s clear the basement in 30 minutes and then go down!”

Upon hearing what Ian said, Hoonie grunted in response to Ian’s enthusiasm.

“Hyung, we’re still close to half in the 3rd floor, how do you plan on clearing this in 30 minutes? Do we have to hunt as fast as we possibly can? Let’s rest for 10 minutes.”

However, Ian—being himself—ignored Hoonie.

“Idiot! This is the enemy’s place. We don’t know if the Rataphel nobles are already aware of us. We need to clear it as soon as possible and find what is at the end of the dungeon.”

This time Yu Shin asked with a grim look on his face,

“But, how will the Rataphel nobles be aware of us?”

“Uhm?”

“It’s because of the guards. We didn’t leave any of them out… I don’t think anything would even run into the manor.”

That was a good answer.

However, Ian dismissed it as he didn’t want anyone else to think about it.

“Noisy.”

“…”

Ian who was dissatisfied with his party members’ attitude just started to move again.

Since Ian had Elcarix with him, the hunt was much more fun for him.

“El, Bondage of Light!”

“El, Dragonic Barrier!”

“Good job, El!”

Elcarix who made a deal with Ian did what he asked, and the party members just followed.

“Hehe, dad. I’m the best, right?”

“Yeah! El, you’re 20 times better than your brother.”

“Het! Let’s clear this as fast as we can and go to the auction house. Dad you’re supposed to buy me some pretty clothes.”

“…”

Though they hesitated a bit earlier, Ian and his friends cleared the dungeon smoothly.

The dungeon’s difficulty was similar to that of that dungeon where Kells was. That was why it was natural for Ian and his party to easily clear the dungeon since they were stronger now.

Around 30 minutes have passed…

“Oh, the staircase is there!”

“Phew, we really broke through in 30 minutes.”

“That’s what I said…”

Ian cleared the 3rd basement of the dungeon and succeeded in finding a staircase that descended into the 4th floor.

Just when everything seemed to be going smoothly…

Kung- Kukung-!

“What? What’s this all of a sudden now?”

“Uh? Uh-oh…?”

The whole dungeon shook when a shining light appeared in front of Ian’s party.

After a while.

Woong-!

They suddenly heard a low voice after a large resonating sound.

[Who dares to step foot in here! You probably have a death wish!]

Spoke the voice of a very familiar man.