Everyone Except Me is a Newbie - Chapter 21

All the Quests Are Mine

After losing all his assets to Kim I-seo, about half of the guild members left the guild.

The remaining members helped the collapsed Jeon Min-jae back and returned.

In the place they left behind were bags of money. Seeing the golden bags, which were something only seen in games, but in reality, made them even more tempting.

“Wow, potions, money, what’s this? Cloth and ropes too?”

“Why would they carry ropes around…? Could it be…”

“Let’s not think too much. Team leader.”

“Oh my. Can we take all of this? Hehe.”

Choi Seo-yeon, contrary to her words, diligently gathered up the bags of money. She didn’t forget to enjoy the sound of gold jingling inside.

“What’s the big deal? They were trying to take everything from us anyway.”

“Wow! We can proceed with the quest right away with this!”

Heo Won-moo exclaimed excitedly, hugging a bunch of burning monkey tails.

Thanks to Jeon Min-jae’s gang, there was no need to hunt quest monsters laboriously. They had already gathered all the required numbers.

“So, are we going to visit the quest NPC?”

In response to Ji Ho-tae’s question, Kim Iseo firmly replied.

Absolutely not.

“No.”

“…Why? We gathered these to complete the quest, right?”

“To complete it.”

“…?”

“It’s not just for us to complete; we gathered it so that others can complete it too.”

This was a common wordplay from Kim I-seo.

To be precise, it meant:

‘So that others can complete it. If they pay us.’

The part about needing to pay was omitted.

In other words, it was an act of effectively preventing others from completing it. It was about monopolizing.

“Ah…”

Ji Ho-tae, who understood his superior’s words perfectly, realized that Kim Iseo was using politician-like rhetoric to say that he would monopolize the tails.

“We’ll need a lot of money in the future. We should secure it while we can.”

“But, is it really okay? People will probably dislike it.

Ji Ho-tae seemed to feel some moral guilt. Kim Iseo didn’t reprimand him for it.

She simply told him that it wasn’t necessary.

“What if people dislike it? The world we lived in was the same. Once someone holds onto power, do they ever let go?”

“…N-no, that’s not true.”

“Right. So why should we let go of our power? We should use it to gain even more benefits; that’s the norm.”

“…That’s true.”

“I know what you’re thinking, but listen. Are we simply gaining benefits from holding power?”

“What do you mean?”

“We saved this world once by rescuing Janalet, didn’t we? And we have to continue doing that. Mana Sword isn’t an easy game. We’re not just pursuing our own benefits.”

“Ah, I see. I was shortsighted.

Ji Ho-tae scratched his head. He had no choice but to be persuaded by her words. They were all true. He nodded slowly in agreement.

‘Oh? But…’

Ji Ho-tae suddenly seemed to remember something and asked again.

“But doesn’t it regenerate, anyway?”

His question was about whether the fiery monkeys would regenerate elsewhere, making monopoly impossible. It was a reasonable question.

Kim Iseo’s calculator in his head had certainly considered such obvious matters.

“Heo Won, tell us how the field monster regeneration system works.”

At the sudden call, Heo Won was surprised but quickly recited as instructed.

“Most monsters in Mana Sword will stop regenerating in that area if they are removed as soon as they regenerate. So if this situation continues for a long time, regeneration in that area will cease.”

In other words, if the fiery monkeys are wiped out here, they would seek other regeneration areas.

“So, they regenerate in other areas, right?”

Kim Iseo shook her head.

“The problem is that the fiery monkey quest NPC is right here.”

There was no online marketplace or anything like that.

For transactions, they had to meet in person.

But what if the fiery monkeys near the quest NPC ran out?

This world was both a game and a reality.

They couldn’t wander around like in a game searching for fiery monkeys day and night.

“We’ll sell the tails right next to that NPC.”

Whether late or early, people would adapt to this world. They would learn that the fiery monkey quest was valuable.

Kim Iseo planned to make a big profit from that.

‘What a scary guy…’

‘Malicious.’

‘Obsessed with money.’

The subordinates, hearing their boss’s plan, shook their heads in unison.

Even the Weplay members, who were shaking their heads, couldn’t resist the money. They might have to solve their meals with game money from now on.

“Kill them all!”

“Wipe them out!”

They soon dashed around the grassy area of Seoul Station Square with more enthusiasm than the monkeys themselves.

Even Lee Hae-won, who followed behind to heal the injured, gritted his teeth and hunted the monkeys.

Despite pretending to be composed, they were, in fact, more obsessed with money than anyone else.

After all, they were employees who had risen through the bizarre competition of ‘Donsun,’ which was famous for being obsessed with money.

– Ukkiee! (Go away, you demons!)

– Ukkigigi! (Why are you doing this to us!)

The fire monkeys, not understanding what was happening, suddenly found themselves in a battle for their species’ survival against the ‘Money Freaks,’ and naturally, the result was a crushing defeat.

Boom!

Kim I-seo’s massive blade turned the last fire monkey into a bloody mess.

“Phew. That’s the end.”

Before they knew it, the sky had darkened.

“Let’s go.”

They headed toward the fire monkey NPC.

* * *

In front of Seoul City Hall.

Most of the building was in ruins, but this place was intact. Surrounding it were people gathering and murmuring.

The reason they were gathered in the dangerous city full of monsters was simple.

“Waaah!”

Because of a red-haired boy who kept crying incessantly.

“What’s up with him? Why is he like this?”

“Have you tried talking to him?”

“No. He just keeps saying the same thing.”

No matter how much they tried to talk to him, the boy just cried without responding. There were even rumors that he didn’t sleep at night.

“Isn’t he some kind of ghost?”

“Crazy…”

It wasn’t strange to suspect him to be a ghost under the circumstances.

In the midst of this, a group boldly approached the crying boy.

“Who are they… Soldiers?”

“What’s with that sword?”

The enormous sword of Kim Iseo at the forefront drew everyone’s attention.

The fact that he appeared holding a sword that could be resized to pocket size was clearly a deliberate display.

‘Look. This is how you do a quest.’

It was meant to draw attention.

“Hey, kid.”

“Waaaah!”

Kim Iseo spoke, but the red-haired boy continued to cry without stopping.

“Ahem.”

He didn’t seem flustered.

He just cleared his throat.

‘In games, you get options… but in reality, you have to actually do it.’

Even right in front of the NPC, no options or dialogue boxes appeared. It seemed he had to demonstrate it through action.

He took a deep breath and then shouted as if to drown out City Hall.

“Yaaaaaaaah! SHUT UPPPP!”

His shout echoed throughout the entire building.

The people watching were startled and stared at him. But sadly, this was a familiar scream to the Weplug members.

‘…That surprised me. I thought we were having a morning meeting.’

‘Phew… I thought I was back at Donsun.’

When Kim I-seo was sensitive, everyone suffered from his audio terror during meetings.

Of course, he wasn’t actually angry and shouting this time.

It was for the quest.

Originally, to start the quest, you would have to choose “Scream until your ears bleed.”

Kim Iseo had translated that choice into reality.

“Waaah…?! Wh-who are you?”

The boy, who had been crying incessantly, stopped immediately at the appearance of someone even scarier.

‘Looks like it worked.’

Seeing Thomas’s reaction, Kim Iseo felt relieved. His loud shouting had not been in vain.

‘Next is to offer help.’

Kim Iseo proceeded to implement the next option.

“I’ll help you. Stop crying.”

“You’ll help me?”

“Yeah.”

“Th-then…”

A somewhat awkward conversation followed, and a welcome notification chimed.

Ding!

[Quest: Thomas’s Request]

[Do you accept?]

“Please bring me 50 fire monkey tails. They’re the ones who killed my parents.”

The line that came out of Thomas’s mouth.

At that moment, no one thought that Thomas was just an ordinary kid.

“Did we just get a quest?”

“Wait, is that an NPC?”

“Whoa, what’s the reward for completing that?”

People started murmuring.

‘Good.’

The corners of Kim I-seo’s mouth secretly lifted.

‘Next is the reward.’

Showing the reward would make people’s eyes spin.

“Hey? There are a ton of those tails!”

With a flourish, Kim I-seo presented 50 fire monkey tails as if he had been waiting for this moment.

“Wow! Thank you! I feel so much better now!”

The red-haired boy, filled with a desire for revenge, cheered as he looked at the monkey tails.

“As a token of thanks, I’ll give you this pendant that I inherited from my mother.”

Clink.

He pulled out five pendants at once.

Of course, it wasn’t because he had five mothers. It was just that, as a game NPC, he was giving them to match the party members.

==========================
<Thomas’s Pendant> ▻ Rarity: Ultra Rare
▻ Effect: All skill levels +1, Evasion Rate +5%
▻ Description: A pendant with a suspicious black gem embedded in it.
==========================

“Wow… it increases all skill levels by 1? That’s impressive.”

Kim Iseo deliberately spoke out loud about the pendant’s abilities.

“Is that an item?”

“There are things like that? It really is a game!”

“Damn! We need to get that! Clearly, it’s a huge quest!”

Those with some gaming experience immediately understood how valuable the phrase ‘all skill levels’ was. They would want that pendant even if they had to pay for it.

“Plus, the evasion rate!? This could save lives!”

The pendant’s effect didn’t just stop at increasing all stats.

In a world where games had become a reality, defensive abilities were more critical than anything. In this world, death meant the end.

“Evasion rate?”

“That’s from the game?”

“Wow. With something like that, you could really survive encounters with monsters, right?”

People began gathering around Kim Iseo.

“Hey! Can you tell us how to do that quest?”

“Where are the monkeys?”

Kim I-seo’s face was filled with a smile as he began to explain eagerly to them.

Pointing to the area where the monkeys would be, which shouldn’t exist right now.

[Blue Constellation. ‘Meticulous Strategist’ is pleased with your strategy!]

* * *

[Blue / Meticulous Strategist: He’s sharp. Did he figure out that there’s a quest for collecting tails?]

[Colorless / 9940: Yeah, seems like it. Thinking about hunting until the monkeys stop coming. He’s really ignorant but decisiveㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[Colorless / 38144: How much money does he intend to make?]

[Colorless / 993: Who knows. Will he end up monopolizing food supplies too? LOL]

[Colorless / 12495: He might go for armor box farming. The ratings will explode.]