Closed Beta That Only I Played

Chapter 107: Impossible Quest (2)

“Thank you so much, Asirante!”

“I’ve earned 150 coins, and a bunch of golden rings and EXP thanks to our unit coming 1st!”

“Thanks a million!”

Even those who were dubious about my ability at first expressed gratitude.

Although they scored 0 in terms of contribution, they received the reward because they belonged to the 91st Defense Unit that won the 1st prize.

So, I collected everything including the Scorpion King’s ring that the monster dropped when it died, and ended the quest. Although they said they would give it to me, it was me who killed the Scorpion King.

As soon as I finished the quest, I moved to the hunting ground, ‘Tombs of the Dead.’

I cleared the quest with an overwhelming record. So, did I need a break?

Not really. Actually, clearing the level 400 regular quest was not a big deal because it was a piece of cake.

So, I came to this hunting ground managed by Daeyu with the intention of hunting again, but an unexpected guy was waiting for me there. It was Sunghan Kim.

Of course, Sunghan Kim would not know me. But I knew him well because I had heard things from my dad, my brother, and Director Sok about him.

“Hahaha. Hello, Asirante. I am Sunghan Kim, and I will be your support starting from today. It’s so nice to see such a famous man like you, Asirante.”

“Hello, actually, the man before you helped me a lot. Anyway, I hope I’m in your good hands.”

“Sure, if you have anything you need, please tell me without any hesitation.”

In fact, Kim was hired by Myongjin because he reported having achieved the max level in the 1st Closed Beta and received a trait as a reward. But Kim achieved the max level in the 1st and 2nd Closed Betas, so he actually had two traits.

But he intentionally concealed his second trait.

I found out later on that his second trait triggered favorable feelings from other people he talks to. Because of this, almost 150 men with the special traits under Myongjin’s care were taken away by Kim. To make matters worse, it was impossible to win back these trait holders from Kim.

Anyway, while conversing with Kim, I kept repeating to myself that I could not trust his cunning guy.

‘That’s weird. I heard that when somebody talks with Kim, he or she will obviously have a favorable feeling toward him.’

In my case, I did not have any favorable feelings toward him at all perhaps because I felt bad about him from the beginning.

Rather than feeling favorable toward him, I was full of desire to detain him in an Ice Prison and use Ice Blast.

But I put up with it for now because I needed to stick to Daeyu like a leech and obtain as much as possible.

After I achieved my goal, I would attack Kim first by using all my skills.

So, I opened my mouth while brightly smiling at Kim.

“Then, can I ask you for some monster herding?”

“Of course. I will prepare for that soon.”

This was Kim’s first time encountering Asirante, but he could not help but get frustrated because a message rang as soon as he used his second trait that would trigger favorable feelings toward him.

[There is a huge gap between you and the other party.

-The effect of triggering the other party’s favorable feelings is reduced by 99.5%.]

In fact, Kim was so overjoyed to have earned his second trait that triggered affable feelings from the other party.

Winning the other party’s favorable feelings without paying any price meant that he could win over the other party easily.

Actually, he secretly moved and won over 50% of those players with traits that Myongjin had hired. Of course, Kim found out too late that this was the wrong choice because instead of the guys with traits, he needed to win over Managing Director Sok or Chairman Sangman Hong to take over Myongjin.

However, his dirty trick was revealed, and he could not meet Sok, let alone Hong, within the game, so he had no choice but to meet Chairman Hong in the real world.

And he tried to strike a deal with the chairman, but the deal fell flat and he got fired by Myongjin.

Rumors about his failed deal with Hong spread widely to the other top business groups.

So, Kim tried to visit Daeyu’s Chairman Daeyoung Suh, and he immediately knew why Daeyu was one of Korea’s top five business groups. All the figures he met were only small fries. What was the point in winning over these small fries by triggering their favorable feelings toward him? This frustrated him all the more.

In the meantime, Chairman Suh asked him to collect any information about this guy called Asirante. So, Kim accepted Suh’s offer immediately.

Of course, he had no intention of handing over the information about Asirante to Chairman Suh even if he obtained it. If he got that information, it could be his hidden card to help him get over his current crisis.

Kim’s hopes were smashed, though.

‘Damn it! 99.5%! If this is true, I can’t make him have a favorable feeling toward me at all!’

His ability to trigger the other party’s favorable feelings had an enormous effect.

Without it, he could not make these 150 guys with special traits follow him like fanatics. However, there were also limitations, namely, a gap with the other party.

The rate of triggering the other party’s favorable feelings toward Kim depended on the gap between him and the other party.

So, Kim himself hunted really hard. Since these 150 men were willing to risk their lives for him, Kim leveled up quickly and easily, and wore the highest quality equipment.

So, he had never experienced a situation where his trait dropped by over 30% effectiveness.

However, he felt it regrettable that he could not meet face to face with those, including Chairman Daeyoung Suh, who he really needed to favor him.

But right now his likability with Asirante dropped by 99.5%.

Kim was smiling on the surface, but he heavily swore at Asirante on the inside because it was almost impossible for even an expert swindler to win over the other party without getting a favorable impression first. And Kim himself wasn’t a swindler.

Anyway, while relying on that 0.5% effect to trigger Asirante’s favor, Kim followed Asirante religiously. A week later at the main base of the Daeyu Guild.

“Tut, tut, tut. That idiot, Sunghan Kim!”

“If Kim can’t win over Asirante with his dirty snout, doesn’t that mean that Asirante has a special defense?”

“Damn it!”

Chairman Suh was so upset about the fact that he still had not obtained any information about Asirante even though a lot of time had passed.

At that moment, Nakson Lee, head of Daeyu’s intelligence department, opened his mouth again. Lee was the man who first suggested using Kim for this purpose.

“Well, there was something special Asirante did that he even stopped his frequent hunting.”

“The quest?”

Anyway, Lee’s suggestion was useless now, but Chairman Suh asked first because he knew Lee was really capable since he continued to receive information about Asirante in real-time.

“You’re right. I haven’t seen anyone who hunts as frequently as Asirante. Moreover, as it is often confirmed in the video, he is hunting happily all the time. But Asirante paid so much attention to that quest that he even stopped hunting for it. What do you think his behavior suggests? Please think about it.”

“Oh my God! Are you talking about that?”

“Yes. A quest that nobody has cleared until now. Isn’t it a quest that nobody will ever clear?”

“But Asirante...”

Of course, the chairman thought it was impossible for even Asirante to clear it.

No matter how capable Asirante was, the quest was too difficult for anybody.

So much so that the chairman gave up on the idea of somebody clearing it someday.

“Why don’t we strike a deal with Asirante? For example, if he fails to clear the quest, let him promise to have dinner with you.”

“Hmm...” Chairman Suh groaned for a moment.

But he nodded, at last, because he judged that no matter how capable Asirante was, it would be impossible for him to clear the quest.

However, neither Lee, the head of the intelligence department, nor Suh knew that Asirante had no cooldown on his Blink skill.