[The Torch of Destruction has invited you to a party.]
[Do you accept the invitation? Y/N]
[You have joined the party.]
The most basic farming method for Infinity Black is field hunting.
Not that there aren’t raid or instant dungeons, but without an elite team, they surprisingly don’t yield much efficiency.
Clearly, everyone here is supposed to be skilled, so why can’t you dodge this?
It was a pattern that anyone using items could have broken.
Was 30 won more precious than 10 minutes of time?
Only those who have endured it know the hell of infinite retries!
For me, with so many enemies, gathering people is quite a difficult task, so it’s not an option I readily consider. Still, fighting other people is more fun, anyway.
[Party Member List]
[Party Leader: Torch of Destruction(Sniper)]
[Hundoshimania(Fighter)]
[Abujidolgyulloga(Swordsman)]
[Gawol(Assassin)]
[Sansa(Bard)]
The party composition is fairly satisfying. The Fighter and Swordsman will take care of the front line while my fellow Sniper and I handle the main damage output. With the Bard supporting us, we’ve essentially got a textbook composition.
As the party members exchanged polite greetings, my eyes drifted towards the chat window.
[Private Message from Herok]
– This is Herok, Guild Master of SSA. I heard about your discussion at Dynamic Station.
– I’ve finished speaking with the neighboring guild, and they’ve sent their Fighter as a representative.
– Please take care of our youngest member. After this war is settled, I’ll reach out again.
“Upper-tier” is slang referring to a superior guild.
And this Fighter, Hundoshimania, has chosen to conceal their guild affiliation.
It seems they plan to intervene on this pretext if things take a turn for the worse.
But really, I don’t care about these convoluted power plays. I just need to do my job for the money I’ve been paid.
A rare opportunity to farm while earning some cash!
Setting up the party for a top-tier hunting ground is quite a hassle, but I’ve left all that trouble to others.
Here, I’ll just idle around and, if necessary, take down a streamer and call it a day.
The party leader, Torch of Destruction, began speaking in a matter-of-fact tone:
“We’ll have three minutes for individual preparation, and we start on the hour. Gawol will be handling monster gathering, and Hundoshimania will serve as the main tank.”
“Understood.”
“Don’t forget about experience and item buffs.”
True to the nature of a purpose-driven party, there was no idle chatter. As the hour struck, I began moving first, and the Fighter trailed me at a safe distance.
This place, the ‘Ancient Weapon Depo’, ranks among the best hunting grounds at the moment.
Infinity Black is a game where leveling up is difficult, and the growth curve is long.
It’s not a place amateurs can tread.
True to their nature, the party members, all seasoned players, stuck faithfully to their roles.
As a cool breeze tickled my calves, the Bard’s buff came in perfectly timed.
[You are blessed by the Wind of Favor.]
[All action speed increased by 10%. Movement speed increased by 15%.]
[Cast by: Sansa.]
It was a straightforward hunting session.
I used a Chain Scythe to lure the monsters, exploiting their tendency to chase agile targets.
Once they were bunched together, the Fighter used a strong skill to gain their attention.
The Swordsman’s job was to ensure the monsters didn’t disperse. Finally, the Sniper and I would finish them off.
Had there been a fault in this process, our life bars would have vanished instantly. But none of us made such beginner mistakes.
Field hunting should be safe and efficient. And as we grew accustomed to the mechanical motions, light chatter began to emerge.
The Bard, Sansa, spoke first. Likely feeling the relative ease of her supportive role, she seemed to find the prolonged silence tiresome.
“Ms. Gawol.”
“Yes?”
“Are you truly Gawol?”
“Are there fake ones?”
The game doesn’t allow duplicate nicknames, as a rule. But with various ways to hide or mimic names and guild affiliations, there are bound to be pretenders who imitate others, and occasionally, there are indeed impersonators on the community forums.
Reflecting back, it was not a pleasant experience, and perhaps that’s why my tone had turned a little sharper. The golden-haired Halfling shook her head gently.
“No, not at all! It’s just that you’ve become quite famous recently.”
“Sorry, but I’d rather not talk about the video.”
“Not about that! Actually, I’ve been a fan for a long time.”
“Huh? Really?”
“Fan. There was a time when my guild was embroiled in a war, and we were saved after being attacked by you. I’m really grateful.”
Uh…
Oops, I need to manage my expression.
Fortunately, I was at the party’s forefront.
When there was some distance between us, I opened Sansa’s info window. Her guild was called Lesser Panda, a name I didn’t recognize, but it had a large number of members.
Apparently, it’s a guild that welcomes newbies without any conditions.
The game benefits from having more such guilds, but they are also easy targets for exploitation. Alas, this game’s survival of the fittest doesn’t spare even beginners. Many times, even if the newbies face injustices, the guild’s officers often have to humble themselves.
So, in the field ecology, they’re more like herbivores.
It seems our paths crossed during one of their tough times.
“It wasn’t intentional, you know.”
“Still, it wasn’t the only time you helped us. I’ve always wanted to thank you.”
“I’m not exactly the paragon of clean gameplay…”
“I’ve heard. But among us, the herbivores, none have ever been harmed by you. All the same, I root for you.”
“Hm. Thank you.”
So, life does give moments like this.
The word “fan” gave me a strange thrill.
My avoiding weaker guilds isn’t out of any grand principle.
There’s simply no reason to bother. My clients are mostly like jackals, anyway.
Why would a jackal pay me big bucks if they couldn’t catch a rabbit?
Killing popular streamers is much more fun and exciting.
Weaklings are just not satisfying to step on.
[★ You have successfully obtained a Complete Ancient Weapon Power Source.]
Even the system message contributed to my good mood.
With a sense of my gaming balance growing, I hunted with renewed vigor.
*
Typically, party hunting sessions last an hour.
Even in these high-level hunting grounds, where players often stay for hours, people do occasionally want short breaks.
While the Swordsman stepped out for a smoke, I sat in a safe zone and browsed through a streaming platform.
[Private Message from Torch of Destruction]
– We’ve been hunting for quite some time, but they haven’t shown up yet.
– I expected them within the hour.
There’s one streamer I need to inspect.
They might cross paths due to this engagement. Though there’s no guarantee of a fight, reviewing them beforehand is never a waste.
However, despite my searches, their broadcast wasn’t live.
They must’ve turned it off for now.
I set up an alarm to notify me when it goes live, even during hunts, then adjusted the voice channel options.
From now on, only Torch of Destruction can hear my voice, while I’ll manage chat on Luche’s stream.
Resizing the screen and attaching it next to the minimap, I arranged it so Luche can see it, while I maintain my guard.
It’s a pretty neat setup.
“They’re still offline. This Dongmicham guy, his stream is off.”
– They could still be in the game though. Understood.
“By the way, how did you end up tangled with that guy? You don’t have to answer if it’s a tough question.”
– Originally, I belonged to that guy’s guild before I went into the military…
“Things didn’t go well between you two?”
– His actions… well, let’s just say they were a bit… off. I met the Dynamic Station Agent at the post.
We heard a rather interesting story.
Originally, Dynamic Station Agent and Torch of Destruction were on opposing sides.
They even engaged in friendly banter with six-letter slurs in the field.
But when both were summoned for their national service, Torch ended up as Dynamic Station’s successor.
At first, they expected to be tormented endlessly.
Even if not outright harassed, they thought it would’ve made for awkward coexistence at the station.
Instead, Dynamic Station’s side handled the situation with unexpected magnanimity, and they quickly became close.
– So, when my mandatory service ended, we decided to put the past behind completely. But you know how this scene works; traitors don’t get a clean slate. So, we’re going through this formal ceremony.
“Right. That’s why you’re not fighting directly and instead have summoned the upper guild.”
As stated, having a good reason is crucial in the game world.
And in a situation like this, where you pull members from the guild, it’s necessary to give the opponent some leeway.
In any case, vengeful actions can’t last forever. After a few weeks of trouble, things settle down.
SSA’s relatively passive response also made sense.
“Dynamic Station seems to be quite fond of you. They’ve called in the upper guild for protection, and even hooked you up with me.”
– Well… on leaving the guild, I took a few proprietary items with me. I was an officer.
“Ah, that makes sense.”
– If I die, I could drop these items, so they’re trying to protect me. But they can’t be seen as overtly sheltering me as it would undermine their justification.
This is the same tale of city-state politics I’ve known all too well.
This rich, toxic scent of politics.
How endearing.
