Stalkerizing

[Chasa has expressed agreement.]

[The Artisan Kirash is wandering through the eastern alley.]

[You have defeated an elite scout of the Wasteland.]

[You have gained 20 points.]

Clearing out the monsters that appeared made three minutes pass quickly. As exactly three minutes elapsed, a system message popped up in the middle of the screen, notifying them of Kirash’s arrival.

[Party] BeginningAndEnd: Oh wow

[Party] BeginningAndEnd: Kirash has spawned in our area.

Glancing briefly, Sa-yoon checked the chat with just his eyes. Once combat began, he had to control both his demon and his main body, effectively managing skills for two characters, leaving no time for idle hands.

Where did it spawn?

Kirash’s spawn location was random each time, but they got lucky this round. If they could find it quickly, it might even be possible to kill it before any competition arrived.

[Party] Driver: We’ll split up to locate Kirash.

The best way to find Kirash as quickly as possible was, of course, a divide-and-search strategy.

[Party] a10235044: Chasa, left side.

[Party] liiiiiiiiiil: Then I’ll go mid with Spearman

[Party] Driver: Sharpshooter, let’s go right together.

[Party] BeginningAndEnd: Got it.

This guy’s really a veteran. The way they organized teams in chat wasn’t something a newbie could do—it had the polish of someone who’d been through battlefields countless times.

Well, you’d have to be pretty confident in your skills to immediately suggest taking on a major boss with total strangers.

The temp nickname’s message meant, “I’ll search the left area with Chasa.” Despite using just two words, it was clear and effective. The player hovered near Sa-yoon.

[Party] Driver: Give a signal if you find it.

At the tank’s signal, the party split into groups of two, each heading in their designated direction.

[You have used a Blessed Olive Fruit.]

[With the Goddess’s Blessing, you can see hidden enemies for 30 seconds.]

As soon as Sa-yoon activated the battlefield-exclusive item, a glowing blue eye symbol briefly appeared above his head before fading. In the meantime, the temp nickname dashed ahead, and Sa-yoon quickly pressed forward.

“Why is he so fast?”

Even considering the head start, the distance between them wasn’t closing—it was actually growing.

Clicking on the temp nickname’s character confirmed it. The gap was increasing.

How the hell is he that fast?

Since enemies could appear at any moment, he couldn’t recklessly use movement skills or buffs. The same should apply to the temp nickname as well.

In the early days of the game, there was a bug where jumping mid-run made you move slightly faster. At the time, the entire field was filled with players bouncing like they were on pogo sticks. Did a new bug like that appear without me knowing?

As he ran, still wondering, the temp nickname ahead of him suddenly stopped and started backtracking.

[Party] Chasa: Found it?

Sa-yoon usually kept to formal language in chat, but not on the battlefield. In urgent situations—whether right before combat or mid-fight—wasting time on extra keystrokes was a liability.

[Party] a10235044: nope

Then why was he coming back?

Scanning the surroundings, Sa-yoon saw nothing unusual except for the usual wandering monsters.

Meanwhile, the floating text of the temp nickname’s nameplate overlapped perfectly with Chasa’s.

In the game, even if characters overlapped, there was no collision or obstruction, meaning the two of them were now running side by side, almost fused together.

[Party] a10235044: It could be coming from the north.

[Party] a10235044: I’ll protect you!

When characters overlapped, it became harder to click accurately on attack targets. This was a strategy often used in large-scale battles when protecting certain classes.

[Party] Chasa: Thanks, thanks.

All this time, no one had ever bothered to protect a warlock, who was usually treated as dead weight.

“This is usually something healers get escorted for…”

Had this guy even checked my ranking? If anything, the one who needed protection should be the temp nickname, not me.

Still, even though it felt a bit odd, it wasn’t a bad feeling.

[Party] Chasa: Not here.

[Party] Chasa: << ??

The road ahead grew narrower and eventually led into an alley. The tightly packed buildings and web-like streets resembled the alleys of Venice, where he had traveled last year, rather than an ancient city.

The actual ancient cities he had visited back then had broad roads designed for carriages and drainage systems. Who even designed this game’s “ancient city” like this?

Since Sa-yoon hadn’t found any traces of the named enemy, he suggested moving one block to the left in a short, efficient message.

[Combat] Enemy ‘Bremen Minstrel’ uses Forward Watch.

At that moment, a red log appeared in the combat tab, recording the enemy’s skill usage within a certain range. The temp nickname must have seen it too because they immediately halted.

[Party] Chasa: got it
[Party] Driver: Confirmed.

Where would it appear from? Predicting the enemy’s path, Sa-yoon entered an abandoned house to take cover. The temp nickname did the same, slipping into the shadows of a nearby building with a missing door.

They hadn’t even discussed it, yet their actions were perfectly in sync. This was why playing with seasoned veterans was so convenient.

Keeping his eyes on the doorway, Sa-yoon soon saw a red-named enemy pass through the alley.

[Party] a10235044: Black 1, Hunter 2.

[Party] a10235044: Go.

The message meant to take down the black mage first, then the two hunters.

With the precision of a true veteran, the temp nickname launched forward like a bullet. Sa-yoon watched as they drove a sword straight into the black mage’s back, then immediately spammed his buff and debuff skills.

[Combat] Contractor ‘Chasa’ summons the high-tier demon, Vine.

[Combat] Uses Kimares’ Encouragement. Ally attack speed increases by 100% for 10 seconds.

[Combat] Uses Alloces’ Rebuke. Enemy defense decreases by 20%.

The black mage, now realizing the danger, activated an invulnerability skill, but Sa-yoon swiftly erased it with Blessing Theft. Buff removal was a rare ability that kept warlocks from going extinct.

[Party] liiiiiiiiiil: One down.

[Party] Driver: Kirash

The party members’ messages popped up one after another. Their goal was to finish this as quickly as possible and regroup with Driver, where Kirash had spawned.

Black mages were deadly because of their high burst damage, but that only applied when they had time to cast their spells. And the temp nickname never gave them that chance.

Most ranged damage dealers were as good as dead the moment they got caught in melee range.

The hunters and Bremen Minstrel tried to intervene, but before they could act, Chasa’s Curse of Chaos sent them smashing into a wall, abandoning their allies.

[‘Black Garlic Mage’ has died.]

[You have gained 150 points.]

Chasa stripped the black mage’s evasion skill with a debuff, and the temp nickname immediately followed up with a stun. The enemy, hit with a chain of silence, buff removal, stun, and debuff, melted under just a few swings of the temp nickname’s blade.

A sharp thrill surged through Sa-yoon at the flawless coordination that required no words. The temp nickname’s combat instincts and damage output were far above average.

Sensing that the fight was turning against them, the Bremen Minstrel chose to flee, using both evasion and invincibility skills to escape. As they chased the retreating enemy, a notification popped up.

[‘SteelBarsOfThePoliceStation’ has died.]

[You have lost 150 points.]

Sa-yoon clicked his tongue as he glanced at the alert. That comp wasn’t one that should have gone down so quickly. It hadn’t been long since Barcode had messaged in chat that they had encountered enemies.

Meanwhile, the Bremen Minstrel had almost reached the end of the alley. Beyond that was a complex network of narrow passageways. Given that hunters had plenty of speed-boosting skills, letting them escape now would likely turn this into an annoying game of tag.

Just as Sa-yoon was about to root the Bremen Minstrel in place, Barcode, barely clinging to life, suddenly stumbled out from around the corner.

[‘liiiiiiiiiil’ has died.]

[You have lost 150 points.]

Their ally healer, Barcode, had been running in their direction—only to be killed. Right behind them, two red-named enemies emerged: a spearman and a sharpshooter.

In an instant, the numbers flipped against them, turning the battle into a 3v2.

The Bremen Minstrel, who had been running for his life just moments ago, immediately made a U-turn upon seeing his allies, brandishing his weapon.

The enemy spearman’s pressure was overwhelming. A single glancing hit shredded a massive chunk of HP—this kind of damage could only come from a +9 weapon or higher, at the very least.

So that’s why our tank went down so fast.

Sa-yoon dodged a charging skill with a movement ability and immediately activated his invincibility.

[Party] Chasa: Take out the hunter first.

As soon as Chasa’s invincibility wore off, the spearman lunged at him.

Against an opponent with that level of weapon enhancement, resistance procs were unlikely. Instead, Chasa left the Bremen Minstrel to the temp nickname and focused on cursing the sharpshooter.

The enemy sharpshooter had been in the middle of a motion to shoot an arrow skyward—but the moment the curse landed, he suddenly spun and smashed headfirst into the wall.

Another diagonal spear strike cut deep into Chasa, causing another massive HP drop.

[‘Bremen Minstrel’ has died.]

[You have gained 150 points.]

“…Huh?”

Sa-yoon made a slightly dazed sound as he confirmed the unexpected notification. He had left the Bremen Minstrel to the temp nickname, but he hadn’t expected them to finish the fight that fast.

Only then did a nagging question resurface in his mind.

Wait… What rank is that guy supposed to be?