The next day, Jin-woo logged into ERO at 8:15 AM. Before he could leave the city, he opened the zone chat to check for any useful information.
The chat was active. Multiple messages scrolled past.
PlayerX: "Anyone know who Jin Park is? Saw his name on forums"
SwordGuy: "He's the griefer in Deadwood. Kills people for their money"
MageGirl22: "Shadow Merchants employee. Avoid him"
TankMaster: "Just saw forum post about him. Says he's extorting players"
Jin-woo opened the ERO forums on his laptop while still logged into the game. He searched for his character name.
Three posts appeared on the first page of search results.
The first post was titled: "Jin Park griefing in Deadwood, avoid him"
The post had been made eight hours ago. It had 47 comments.
Jin-woo clicked on the post and read it.
Original post by FireBolt: "Player named Jin Park (level 20 warrior) is camping Deadwood Swamp and demanding 50 silver from everyone. He's working for Shadow Merchants. If you don't pay, he kills you. I refused and he killed me in 3 seconds. Avoid that zone or bring friends."
The comments below were mixed.
Comment 1: "Shadow Merchants have been doing this for months. They control several zones"
Comment 2: "Just pay the tax, it's easier than dying"
Comment 3: "This is griefing and should be banned"
Comment 4: "It's not against TOS. PvP zones allow this behavior"
Comment 5: "Someone needs to hunt this guy and teach him a lesson"
Jin-woo closed the forum. His character name was now known. Players would recognize him. Some would avoid him. Some would try to fight him.
He logged back into the game and walked toward Deadwood Swamp. He needed to collect more tax for Vex. The job was not finished.
Jin-woo entered the swamp at 9:47 AM game time. He saw five players farming in different areas of the zone. He approached the first player, a level 22 ranger.
Before Jin-woo could speak, the ranger saw him and immediately logged out. The ranger's character disappeared.
Jin-woo moved to the second player. The player saw Jin-woo approaching and ran toward the zone exit. Jin-woo did not chase. The player escaped.
The third player was fighting a swamp zombie when Jin-woo arrived. As soon as the zombie died, the player opened their map and used a teleport stone. The player vanished in a flash of light.
Players were avoiding him. They recognized his name from the forum post. They were not staying to fight or pay. They were just leaving.
Jin-woo spent thirty minutes in the swamp. He approached seven players total. Six of them logged out or teleported away. Only one player paid the 50 silver tax.
This was not working. Jin-woo could not collect tax if everyone ran away before he could talk to them.
He was about to leave the swamp when a message appeared in zone chat.
Justice_Knight: "Jin Park is in Deadwood. I'm coming to stop him."
Jin-woo read the message. He checked the player profile for Justice_Knight. Level 26 warrior. The character had a title: "Protector of the Weak."
Jin-woo considered leaving the zone immediately. A level 26 player was six levels higher than him. The level difference would give Justice_Knight significant stat advantages.
But Jin-woo stayed. He wanted to see if he could win the fight. He needed to know if he was strong enough.
Ten minutes later, a player entered the swamp from the south entrance. The name above the character was "Justice_Knight." The character wore polished silver armor that reflected light. A large sword with a golden hilt hung on his back.
Justice_Knight walked directly toward Jin-woo. He stopped five meters away.
"Stop griefing low-level players," Justice_Knight said.
"I'm doing a job," Jin-woo said.
"Extortion is not a job," Justice_Knight said. "It's abuse."
"PvP is allowed in this zone," Jin-woo said.
"I'm also using PvP," Justice_Knight said. "Let's see how you like it."
A PvP warning appeared. 5 seconds until combat.
Jin-woo drew his sword. Justice_Knight drew his larger blade. The countdown finished.
Justice_Knight moved first. He used a skill called "Shield Bash" even though he had no shield. A golden barrier appeared in front of him for one second. He charged forward with the barrier.
The barrier hit Jin-woo. 89 damage. Jin-woo was also stunned for 2 seconds. His character could not move or use abilities.
During the stun, Justice_Knight used a normal attack. His sword struck Jin-woo's chest. 76 damage.
The stun ended. Jin-woo's health was at 165 out of 330. He had lost half his health in three seconds.
Jin-woo used Whirlwind Strike. The spinning attack hit Justice_Knight for 224 damage. Justice_Knight's health bar barely moved. It dropped from 800 to 576. He had much more total health than Jin-woo.
Justice_Knight used a skill called "Punishment Strike." His sword glowed with white light. He swung downward.
The blade hit Jin-woo for 134 damage. Jin-woo's health dropped to 31. He was in critical health range. His screen flashed red at the edges.
Jin-woo drank a health potion. His health restored to 181.
Jin-woo used Power Strike. He charged the attack. Justice_Knight did not interrupt him. Jin-woo released the strike. 159 damage. Justice_Knight's health dropped to 417.
Justice_Knight used another skill called "Judgment." Golden light surrounded his sword. He attacked three times in rapid succession. Each attack hit Jin-woo.
First hit: 71 damage.
Second hit: 68 damage.
Third hit: 73 damage.
Jin-woo's health dropped to zero. His character fell to the ground. The screen faded to black.
You have died.
Death Penalty: -300 experience, -35 silver, 6-hour login lockout
Jin-woo respawned at Havencrest City. His experience bar showed he had lost significant progress. He was still level 20, but now he needed to regain the 300 experience he had lost.
35 silver had dropped on the ground where he died. Justice_Knight could loot it.
The 6-hour login lockout appeared. Jin-woo could not play until 4:32 PM.
Jin-woo logged out. He opened the messenger and sent a message to Vex.
Jin: "Getting hunted. Lost a fight to level 26 player. Can't collect tax if everyone runs or I'm getting killed."
Vex replied after five minutes.
Vex: "That happens. Players will hunt you when you work for us. Either lay low for a few days or get stronger and fight better. Your choice."
Jin-woo closed the messenger. He looked at his bank account. $513. He had made good money this week, but now his name was marked. Players knew who he was and what he did.
He could not collect tax efficiently if everyone ran away. He could not fight higher-level players and win.
Jin-woo needed to level up. He needed to get stronger. He needed better stats and better equipment.
He decided to grind in a different zone where players did not know his name yet.
At 4:32 PM, the login lockout ended. Jin-woo logged back in. He opened his map and searched for grinding zones.
Crimson Wastes was a level 20-25 zone in the western desert region. It was on a different server cluster than Deadwood Swamp. Players there would not have seen the forum posts about Deadwood. His name would not be recognized.
Jin-woo traveled to Crimson Wastes. The journey took three hours by foot. He arrived at 7:41 PM game time.
The zone was a desert with red sand and rock formations. The sky was orange and red. Heat waves distorted the air. Cacti grew scattered across the landscape.
Jin-woo saw monsters in the distance. Giant scorpions. Desert raiders wearing tattered cloth armor. Sand elementals made of swirling sand.
He approached the first scorpion. It was level 22 with 900 HP. The scorpion had a brown carapace and a tail with a stinger that dripped green venom.
Jin-woo attacked the scorpion with his sword. 49 damage. The scorpion turned toward him. Its tail whipped forward. The stinger stabbed at Jin-woo.
Jin-woo dodged to the right. The stinger missed him by half a meter. He struck the scorpion twice more. 51 damage. 48 damage.
The scorpion's pincers snapped at Jin-woo. One pincer caught his arm. 42 damage. Jin-woo's health dropped to 288.
Jin-woo backed up. He used Power Strike. The charged attack hit the scorpion's head for 161 damage. The scorpion's health dropped to 640.
The scorpion scuttled forward quickly. Its tail whipped three times in succession. Jin-woo dodged the first two strikes. The third strike hit his leg. 38 damage.
A debuff appeared: "Poisoned - Lose 5 HP per second for 10 seconds."
Jin-woo's health ticked down. 250, 245, 240, 235...
He attacked the scorpion aggressively. Normal strikes. 52 damage. 49 damage. 50 damage. Whirlwind Strike. 227 damage.
The scorpion's health dropped to 312. Jin-woo's poison debuff ended. His health was at 200.
The scorpion attacked with both pincers at once. Jin-woo blocked one pincer with his sword. The other pincer hit his chest. 44 damage.
Jin-woo used Power Strike again. 158 damage. The scorpion's health dropped to 154.
Jin-woo finished the scorpion with four more normal attacks. The scorpion died. He gained 102 experience.
The fight had taken four minutes. Jin-woo had used one health potion during the poison phase.
Jin-woo continued grinding scorpions for the next six hours. Each scorpion gave around 100 experience. The fights were challenging but manageable. The poison debuff was annoying but not deadly if he killed the scorpions quickly enough.
After scorpions, Jin-woo moved to fighting desert raiders. The raiders were level 23-24 humanoid enemies with 950 HP. They wore cloth armor and used scimitars.
The raiders were faster than scorpions but had no poison. They used a skill called "Sand Throw" which blinded Jin-woo for 3 seconds, but Jin-woo learned to predict when they would use it and dodge to the side.
Jin-woo ground for twelve hours per day for the next three days. He fought scorpions and raiders continuously. When his inventory filled with vendor trash and materials, he would return to the nearest outpost, sell everything, and return to grinding.
His experience bar filled steadily. The grind was monotonous but effective.
On the first day, Jin-woo reached level 21. He put 4 points into Strength and 1 into Vitality. His Strength reached 73. His HP increased to 340.
On the second day, he reached level 22. Then level 23 four hours later. Each time he allocated points the same way. 4 to Strength, 1 to Vitality.
On the third day, Jin-woo reached level 24 in the morning. He reached level 25 at 6:18 PM game time.
A notification appeared.
Level Up! You are now level 25.
Another notification appeared immediately after.
Class Advancement Available! Visit your Class Guild to advance to a specialized class.
Jin-woo opened his character screen and allocated his stat points. 4 to Strength, 1 to Vitality.
Name: Jin Park
Level: 25
Strength: 85
Vitality: 38
Agility: 11
HP: 380/380
Jin-woo's damage had increased significantly over the past five levels. Power Strike now dealt around 185-195 damage instead of 150-160. Normal attacks dealt 60-65 damage instead of 48-52. Whirlwind Strike dealt 250-260 damage per target.
Jin-woo opened his quest log. The class advancement notification gave him directions.
Class Advancement Quest: Visit the Warrior Guild in Havencrest City to choose your specialization.
Jin-woo left Crimson Wastes and traveled back to Havencrest. The journey took three hours. He arrived at the city at 9:45 PM game time.
The Warrior Guild was a large stone building in the military district. Jin-woo entered through the main doors.
Inside was a training hall with practice dummies and weapon racks along the walls. Several NPC warriors stood around the hall. At the far end was a raised platform. An NPC named "Guild Master Roderick" stood on the platform.
Guild Master Roderick was a level 75 NPC warrior wearing masterwork plate armor. He had a gray beard and a large two-handed hammer on his back.
Jin-woo walked up to the platform. Roderick looked down at him.
"You have reached level 25," Roderick said. "You have proven yourself capable in battle. Now you must choose your path."
A window appeared in front of Jin-woo. It showed two options.
Guardian - Defensive Specialization
+50 HP per level (instead of +10) +15% Defense New Skills: "Iron Skin" (reduce damage by 40% for 15 seconds), "Taunt" (force enemy to attack you), "Shield Wall" (block all frontal attacks for 5 seconds)
Berserker - Offensive Specialization
+5 Strength per level (instead of +0) +10% Critical Hit Chance New Skills: "Blood Rage" (increase attack by 30% for 20 seconds, lose 5% HP per second), "Execute" (deal 300% damage to enemies below 20% HP), "Rampage" (attack speed +50% for 10 seconds)
Jin-woo read both descriptions carefully.
Guardian was for tanking. High HP and defense. Good for dungeon groups and surviving difficult content. But it focused on defense, not damage.
Berserker was for damage. High attack stats and critical hits. Good for killing enemies quickly. The skills were all offensive.
Jin-woo thought about his situation. He needed to make money. Making money meant killing enemies efficiently. More damage meant faster kills. Faster kills meant more gold per hour.
He also needed to win PvP fights. Justice_Knight had beaten him easily because of the level difference. But even at equal levels, Guardian specialization would not help him kill other players quickly. Berserker would.
"I need to kill faster for money," Jin-woo said.
He selected Berserker.
A notification appeared.
You have chosen the Berserker specialization. Your path is now set.
Golden light surrounded Jin-woo's character. His equipment glowed briefly. The light faded.
Jin-woo opened his character screen. His class now showed "Berserker" instead of "Warrior." Three new skills had been added to his skill list: Blood Rage, Execute, and Rampage. All three were grayed out with the note "Available at level 26, 28, and 30."
Another notification appeared.
Class Quest: Prove Your Fury
Objective: Kill the Desert Warlord (Level 28 Mini-Boss) solo without dying.
Reward: Berserker Class Weapon, +500 experience
Location: Crimson Wastes - Warlord's Camp
Jin-woo accepted the quest. The quest marker appeared on his map, showing a location deep in the Crimson Wastes desert.
Jin-woo left the Warrior Guild and traveled back toward Crimson Wastes. The journey took another three hours. He arrived at the desert at 1:22 AM game time.
The desert was dark now. The orange sky had turned deep red. Torches lit scattered camps across the landscape.
Jin-woo followed the quest marker. It led him to the northeast section of the zone, far from where he had been grinding previously.
After thirty minutes of walking, Jin-woo saw a large camp ahead. Eight tents surrounded a central fire pit. Desert raiders patrolled between the tents. In the center of the camp stood a larger tent with banners on either side.
Jin-woo crouched behind a rock formation and observed the camp. He counted twelve desert raiders patrolling. All were level 24-25. The large tent had to be where the Desert Warlord was located.
This was the class advancement quest. Jin-woo needed to kill the Warlord solo. That meant he needed to either fight through all the raiders first, or find a way to pull the Warlord without alerting the entire camp.