Damned System

Chapter 23. Player (3)

‘Are they throwing this out there just because there was an update?’

I frowned as I manipulated the interface.

Fortunately, I found the settings menu without wandering too long.

The update wasn’t done carelessly; all the necessary functions were in place.

“Block friend requests, block friend search.”

Only then did the deafening notification sounds cease.

‘Can’t this be turned off?’

I rummaged through the settings, but even after the update, there was no function related to notification sounds.

‘Damn this half-baked system.’

In this day and age, the fact that you couldn’t adjust notification settings to your liking was ridiculous.

Clicking my tongue, I once more criticized the system as I climbed up to the rooftop of the highest studio apartment nearby.

Once there, I sat in a corner and deactivated the invisibility.

As my mana was depleting, I thought of taking a break and browsing the community.

Ever since the first wave of players joined, the number of posts and comments had increased significantly.

It was more than enough time to kill and gather thoughts or information from other players.

As I was recovering my mana and a couple of hours passed by, I came across a post that left me deep in thought.

「Title: Mana – Author: Carl

Content: Crazy, I’ve gathered mana. On a whim, I tried killing the fish in our home aquarium, and I got 1.2 mana. Do you think I’d get more if I caught bigger animals?」

– Billy: You’ll get caught. Animal abuse is a sensitive issue these days.
⌎ Carl: I didn’t mean I’d go out wielding a knife right away. Just asking. In the tutorial, you’d get 7 for a dog.
⌎ Billy: Really? Thanks. I should clear out my aquarium too.
– Kj: Clink-clink, that’s your future.
⌎ Carl: What do you mean?
⌎ Kj: Means you’ll be in cuffs. Or behind bars.
⌎ Carl: Ah, that’s what it means. But I didn’t really mean it. I was just curious.
⌎ Kj: Yeah, that’s what it means, clink-clink.
⌎ Carl: I said I won’t do it.

The post hinted at the realization that mana could be gathered outside the mission areas.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason I was interested in this post.

If one had tried eliminating targets in the tutorial or paid attention to the system’s Absorb function, they could deduce this easily.

What caught my eye were the comments under the post.

A comment left by someone named Kj, more precisely the words “clink-clink” and “ㅇㅇ” (same).

‘… Is he Korean?’

The system didn’t translate colloquially.

If it had been a sentence meaning imprisonment, it would have been translated literally.

But what I saw was clearly “clink-clink.”

And that “ㅇㅇ” was too familiar.

Could other language groups use such abbreviations?

‘I guess okay could be abbreviated like that…’

Feeling a strange nostalgia as I looked over the comments, I typed “Kj” into the search bar.

After skimming through a few posts and comments, my brief hesitation seemed meaningless.

‘He’s Korean.’

Seeing the abbreviation “할말하않” (short for “I have nothing to say”) left no room for doubt.

‘Well, with over 10,000 players, there must be a few Koreans among them.’

It wasn’t something extraordinary, but somehow, it was comforting.

‘I wonder if he’s been in contact with the government.’

I searched for a few more things about Kj.

‘He’s active.’

Unlike me, he was very active in the community.

Considering the first post appeared shortly after the first tutorial, he’s likely a first-wave player.

Yet, he had posted 24 times on his own.

‘Mostly content focused on information gathering rather than small talk.’

Questions, rebuttals, and cross-checks.

His posts and comments were clearly aimed at gathering information about this game.

Looking at the mission completion list, I couldn’t help but be a bit surprised.

「01-12(7/10) – Contributing Members: Bunny Girl, Yokai, World’s Best, Kj, asocial, Sleep Mask, lotto」

‘Have you already completed a mission?’

It had only been five days since the tutorial ended.

If he was already forming a party and entering missions, it gave me a sense of his mental fortitude.

To have succeeded also meant he had quite the backbone.

‘If he’d frozen upon seeing monsters, he’d be dead.’

As I scrolled through Kj’s activities, I did some calculations.

Currently, I was playing alone while hiding my information.

In case of leaving traces, I barely wrote posts or comments in the community.

But how long could I continue playing like this?

From experience, the mana cap for mission levels gradually increased.

‘Level 1 was 1,000, level 2 was 3,000.’

I was still hanging around level 2 since I’d bought invisibility, but messages appeared again saying entry would be restricted once it surpassed 3,000.

The mana capacity required for entry had increased.

That meant there’d come a time when conducting missions at the same level as later players would become inevitable.

‘Continuing to play alone might reach its limits.’

Eventually, I might have to form a party.

Considering that, overly secluded activities wouldn’t be helpful.

‘If it doesn’t reveal my identity…’

Knowing that he is a man, in his 20s, and Korean doesn’t pose as much of a risk.

There are countless matches for those keywords.

‘As long as it doesn’t reveal that K is Kang Hyunwoo.’

I could hide in the crowd.

More importantly, being isolated and enduring alone isn’t a good choice.

Besides, Kj is the same nationality as me, so if something happens, I might be able to get more direct help from him than from Ethan.

I completed my calculations and sent a friend request to Kj.

“Given he’s eager to gather information, he won’t decline.”

I planned to give and take appropriately.

The acceptance message appeared soon after, suggesting he was online.

It didn’t end there; a real-time chat opened.

– Kj: Wow, big bro hi, thanks for the friend request. I copied your mission code name. If it upset you, sorry.

– K: It doesn’t matter. I just put it in casually out of laziness. How old are you? Am I really your bro?

– Kj: Sweet 17.

– K: Guess I’ll continue being “hyung” then.

– K: I added you because you seemed Korean. Is that correct?

– Kj: Wow? From the East Sea and?

– K: Mount Baekdu.

– Kj: Dipping vs. pouring sauce?

– K: Dipping. Prefer kimchi stew to soybean paste stew.

– Kj: OMG LOL are you Korean?! So glad!
– K: I was glad too when I saw your comment.

– Kj: Damn, K being Korean makes my national pride swell, LOL.

– K: What national pride?

– Kj: You’re at the top right now. Doing level 2 alone, isn’t that awesome? Is level 2 really difficult? I barely made it through level 1 once; when should I start level 2? Can I choose when?

I responded without much hesitation.

– K: There’s a mana cap for entry. Probably 1,000.

From the beginning, when sending the friend request, I planned to share some information first.

To perhaps earn goodwill that would allow me to ask questions comfortably later.

‘It wouldn’t be a problem if he has nothing to share for now.’

Even if there wasn’t anything to gain immediately, based on his actions, knowing him seemed unlikely to be a disadvantage.

‘Besides, the things I plan to tell will be naturally revealed over time.’

Meaning they weren’t particularly important or hard-to-get information.

Instead of keeping them to myself, it was better to share and earn favor.

That way, even if something came up later, he might share the news with me.

– K: It seems like a means to prepare your body before moving to level 2.

– Kj: What do you mean?

I explained what I confirmed through repeated level 2 missions to Kj, who asked in return.

– K: The range for graduating level 1 is 1,000 mana. At this point, your physical changes stagnate.

– K: You can consider it like you need to perfect your body to move to level 2.

At first, I thought it was just a feeling.

But as there were continued no changes, I wondered if more mana was needed.

Since usually, you need more experience points for higher levels.

But it wasn’t the case.

Even before buying invisibility, my mana had exceeded 3,000, but my pure physical ability didn’t differ significantly from when I was in the 1,000 range.

Currently, my body was similar to a grown monstrous fox that walked on two legs.

When using mana manipulation, I even had an advantage in strength.

‘The monster held around 80 mana.’

The polar bear, classified as the ultimate predator, had about 20 mana.

And an average human held mana in the low teens.

There exists an inherent difference of 70 mana between a monstrous fox and a human.

‘To bridge that gap, 1,000 mana is needed.’

The measure of inherent strength was patently clear.

Considering the increasing difficulty as the mission levels rise, honestly, it was daunting.

But I had no knowledge of a way to escape this game.

I had no choice but to struggle and survive.

After letting out a deep sigh, I refocused on my conversation with Kj.

– K: It’s uncertain whether there’s a further transformation stage or if it completely stagnates here.
– Kj: Wow… Honestly, I can’t even imagine having 1,000 mana.
– K: You gather it faster than you think. At 1,000, you won’t die pathetically in level 2. You’ll be able to face down the fox bastards.

Though it might be hard to clear without materialization…

– Kj: A fox? Is it a monster in level 2?
– K: It’s random. Among them, a two-legged fox bastard is one of the trickiest. You’ll recognize it by its three tongues.
– Kj: Okay, noted! Three tongues, fox monster!
– Kj: But that’s a far future thing, LOL. I’m only at 130.
– K: I saw you completed a mission.
– Kj: Yeah, out of 10 people, seven came back alive.
– K: Ah, you split the mana, huh?
– Kj: That plus purification pills… I slipped up during the tutorial. I failed at the second hyena. It was harder than the third tiger. Thinking about it still makes my hands shake.

Sure enough, Kj was different from those who froze in fear and just watched.

Adjusting my perception of Kj slightly upward, I asked in return.

– K: Hyena?
– Kj: Yeah, in the Beta test, there were lionesses and polar bears, right? Based on what’s circulating in the community, the main first session’s difficulty seems lower than the Beta test. The first one out was a Doberman. You? Beta?
– K: Yup, kangal. What was the total accomplishment rate in the first session?
– Kj: 249

My hand flinched for a moment.

I hadn’t been overly active in the community, so I was unaware of these details.

And there wasn’t a particular reason to dig into it.

But hearing it like this left me somewhat shocked.

Claiming the difficulty had decreased, yet it was merely in the 200 range.

“That’s less than 3%?”

The Beta testers were around 7% in number.

I knew the Gamma group was a vast majority.

But hearing the specific numbers made me momentarily speechless.

While I was at a loss for words, Kj continued the conversation.

– Kj: OMG, I just searched Kangal. Why is it so big? Is it really a dog?
– K: Ever since facing it, I feel uneasy whenever I see a dog.
– Kj: You had it tough too…

If this continued, the conversation might drag on.

I decided to take the lead before he could add more.

– K: Let me ask a question now. Do you know any news related to the government?
– Kj: Sure, sure! I’m in a party exclusively for Koreans. We have had encounters with the National Intelligence Service. Not me personally, but my party members did.

This time, I clenched my fists tightly.

I didn’t blink once as I stared at the chat window for a moment.

Soon, a lengthy message appeared.

Damned System