I Login Alone
chapter-3

“Well then, let me explain about the loot.”

“I’ve been waiting.”

Soo Ah-rin still couldn’t escape from her shock but standing still forever wasn’t an option. She pointed at the headless werewolf and started explaining.

“All of the monsters you met in dungeons will drop loot, but it’s very important to take notice of the monster’s ownership. Ownership of a monster goes to the one who contributed the most damage to the monster, so you can’t loot unless you’re the owner.”

“…Ah, right.”

It was evident that mind hadn’t yet returned to its rightful place.

“There are only two goods that can be obtained from a monster. The first is money, and the second is a crystal with a special mana structure that the monster has known as a monster bead.”

“What’s the currency? It probably won’t be Korean won.”

“Yes, unfortunately, it’s not Korean won. It’s US dollars.”

“…I beg your pardon?”

“Because it’s US dollars.”

Soo Ah-rin counter-attacked. This time it was Jung Si-woo’s turn to be confused with reality!

“Some people have wings, and others have power. Is it really strange if a monster spits out money?”

“Yes, that is weird!”

“Please, accept it. Anyway, it’s dollars. Monsters of a high level spit out gold instead, not dollars. But at least for you, that won’t be the case for the time being.”

What was the impact on the world economy if billions of dollars were released? Countless doubts arose, but Soo Ah-rin’s mysterious grin in the dark didn’t allow him to refute.

“The money doesn’t really need an explanation, but I’ll explain more about the monster beads. They are kind of like exchange coins. Although useless by itself, you can put the beads on the altar after the dungeon is cleared. You can get a prize equivalent to the beads collected.”

“Equivalent…?”

“You can imagine it as an item coming out of a game. We’re talking about weapons, armor, and supplies.”

At that point, Jung Si-woo thought she was genius at explanations. It made him feel like he was reading a guidebook.

“You can offer one bead or multiple beads at the type and number of beads offered at the altar, so you need to roll your luck.”

“So, you can only get it after you defeat the boss…haha.”

While listening to her, Jung Si-woo realized one thing.

“These places, dungeons, doesn’t it feel like they don’t want anyone getting stronger inside of them?”

“It’s exactly as you said.”

Not only was he strong, but he was quite smart too. That was good, Soo Ah-rin thought as she explained further.

“From the very first test dungeons to the regular dungeons in Sky Castle, any kind of reward except cash is extremely delayed. This ranges anywhere from leveling up to physical rewards. You could kill as many monsters as you want, but it wouldn’t really matter until the boss monster in the dungeon is defeated because only then can you get your rewards and levels. You don’t continuously grow stronger while fighting inside a dungeon, so grinding doesn’t matter in this scheme.”

Earlier, she mentioned that she had reached level 219. Even though she didn’t explain much about levels, Jung Si-woo knew how important even a single level was. The amount of stamina, the intensity of power, and the strength of the body. It was the absolute standard of countless other players’ abilities! A player was denied entrance to a high-ranking dungeon if their level does not match the dungeon, so there was no need to question their importance.

“So, we have to prove our worth if we want to get stronger.”

“Many players weren’t convinced of this method. They treated the Sky Castle and the dungeons exactly as how it was when they played RPG games. To them, dungeons are a huge test, and they were expecting to be rewarded for each problem they solve…of course, such people didn’t last long and often ended up dead.”

If you consider the monsters as a part of the dungeon itself, then convincing yourself of its methods wasn’t that hard. Jung Si-woo nodded.

“So, what is the most effective looting method?”

“First, looting money is simple. Just give their head a tap when they’re dead, and the money comes out on its own. That’s called ‘Cash Looting.’”

“Hmm.”

So, just giving them a punch and bursting their head won’t work. He would try giving them a light tap. While thinking of that, Jung Si-woo lightly tapped the body of the five werewolves, and dollar bills began to soar above their bodies.

“This is like 550,000 won…”

“A $100 bill from the test dungeon…”

Jung Si-woo was dumbfounded at the fact that he received enough money to buy 550 ice cream bars, or 1100 during a one-plus-one event, by just beating a few weak werewolves. However, Soo Ah-rin was surprised as well. Of course, just 500 dollars wasn’t a shocking amount to her who had stood at the front line in Sky Castle, but it wasn’t an amount that a Player candidate could get through a test dungeon.

“Keep them in my pocket, nice.”

This was the end of his worry and the start of his happiness! Being a player was the best job because you only needed to use a little strength to make money. Jung Si-woo, with a happy expression, put the money deep in his pocket and turned to Soo Ah-rin.

“What about bead looting?”

“After completing the cash looting, monsters that don’t have beads are disassembled into mana and absorbed into the dungeon…but it seems like all of these monsters have beads.”

How lucky. Despite the fact that monster beads were originally a type of rare loot, Soo Ah-rin explained that all five werewolves killed by Jung Si-woo had beads.

“You need to inflict a critical amount of damage to the monsters’ corpses. Only then can you get beads.”

“What…?”

Jung Si-woo’s face hardened up.

“That means you need to use a big amount of mana or strength to get the loot. If you’re not confident you have enough force, then you won’t get beads. Or you could ask another team member to help you.”

“Jung Si-woo, you must have always heard that you’re pretty smart…?”

Not many people heard the looting method and found a gap in the dungeon’s rules so quickly. At first, Soo Ah-rin also thought that it was a waste of power to collect the loot like that.

“If you don’t properly preserve your mana and strength while in the dungeon, you can’t get your loot properly. This is getting a bit fun.”

Jung Si-woo’s eyes lit up. If you want to clear the dungeon, don’t waste your power with loot.

“Okay, then…”

However, Jung Si-woo was a real man. If this dungeon wanted to test him out, then he would gladly destroy them.

“Hey, Jung Si-woo. You surely wouldn’t…”

“Put them like this…hup!”

He gathered the werewolf’s corpse and put them on top of each other, lifted a foot, and stepped on them with all his might. As a result, the body of the werewolves disappeared, leaving small red crystal beads in their wake.

“Great, this is perfect.”

“To reduce the amount of power wasted, I’ve seen monsters being looted together using an area of effect magic or skill, but by stepping on them…”

Just how strong was he? Soo Ah-rin picks up the five crystal beads and put them in her pockets like Jung Si-woo.

“Okay, then everything in this room has been dealt with, no?”

“Usually, there is an action that should be taken after clearing a room. First, check for injuries, check the back and front of the dungeon, check your health and mana. In the test dungeon, you only need to remember that much…”

Soo Ah-rin looked at Jung Si-woo after finishing her speech. The dungeon was still dark, but her vision had adapted to the dark to capture Jung Si-woo’s appearance dimly. He had no injuries, even when she double-checked his appearance.

“But we don’t know how far this dungeon is. You’re aware that it’s important to preserve your health and stamina properly, right?”

“Yes.”

However, watching Jung Si-woo from that point, she could hardly believe that he was preserving his strength. When the monsters didn’t appear, they carefully went looking, but right after Soo Ah-rin explained that there are no traps in the test dungeons, Jung Si-woo picked up speed!

[Grraawoooo!]

“There’s another werewolf over there…run a little slower!”

“Ha!”

Jung Si-woo, who learned some of their behavior patterns when fighting before, realized the second the monster appeared, it was another werewolf and rushed in even more boldly!

“Tackle!”

[Grr!]

[Grrrgh!]

Jung Si-woo slid down and tackled two of the werewolves at once. He then flipped over the ground and kicked another, causing their head to fly away neatly.

[Girh!]

[Grrowhg…!]

“Hup!”

At that point, there were only three werewolves left who were able to fight, and while they weren’t paying attention, another head flew away as a result of Jung Si-woo’s sudden attack. Realizing that they could die if this continued on, the two werewolves hurriedly distanced themselves from Jung Si-woo. Unfortunately, Jung Si-woo already had a long-range weapon.

“Werewolf attack!”

[Growwlgh!]

That’s right; he could use the dead body of your enemy as a weapon to defeat them! It was too strong of a blow, and the moment the bodies collided, the cash looting and the beads looting were instantly completed. Of course, the target of the attack immediately died on the spot.

[Groowgh!]

“Hm?”

However, Jung Si-woo’s powerful attack also came with a disadvantage, as he was completely exposed to counter-attacks. The werewolf, who barely survived after avoiding his attack earlier, pounced on him as soon as he finished the throw. He was exposed!

[Growl!]

“Ha!”

…Or so it thought. Now its teeth were all broken, and it was lying on the floor with a throbbing jaw.

“…”

“There are still three alive…”

Soo Ah-rin’s eyes were wide as she observed him, Jung Si-woo lifted up the still alive werewolf and hit the rest of the dead werewolves with it. She wanted to interrupt him, but she couldn’t deny that it was a great way to deal damage to an enemy while maintaining his stamina effectively.

“Oh, these guys all spit crystal beads too?”

“Well, now that doesn’t sound like such a surprise…”

“Okay, I’ve conserved my stamina. Let’s go to the next room.”

Of course, he limited his strength. He was saving it…Soo Ah-rin followed him with a sigh while thinking just what kind of player candidate broke through the dungeon like this.

Three hours later, Jung Si-woo had hunted 139 werewolves. All of them dropped a $100 bill and a crystal bead. Jung Si-woo had reached the boss room without getting hurt at all.