Rovan and Genie played Versal together in the past. He, along with Genie and her two friends, often raided monsters together. Genie and her friends were extremely skilled and talented players. Rovan and Genie exchanged numbers in reality so he was able to contact her when he started playing Athenae. Genie had told Rovan that she was the guild master of Legend Guild and she would gladly accept Rovan as their member. That was the reason why Rovan was trying hard in his leveling frenzy; he wanted to live up to her high expectations.

[Rovan: I’m going hunting right now. Please wait a bit more. I will reach Level 300 in a month. Ah, how about the monsters behind the iron gate? Did you succeed?]

[Guild Master Genie: We failed ㅠㅠㅠㅠ. We only have a few Blessed Return Stones left...]

The Blessed Return Stone was an item that would allow a player to ignore the penalty of a forced log-out and safely return to the nearest village. It was an extremely valuable item.

[Guild Master Genie: I won’t disturb your leveling frenzy anymore. If you don’t reach Level 300 in a month, you will be kicked out of the guild ^^!]

‘S…so brutal!’ Rovan thought. That smiling emoticon really meant that she would do it. So, Rovan had to respond and meet her expectations. Although Rovan had ranked first in Versal, he knew that it was only through luck that he was able to join the best guild in Athenae despite being a novice in the game and only having a low level.

[Rovan: I will turn off the Guild Chat(GC) for a while. It’s time to start my leveling frenzy,]

[Guild Master Genie: Yes!]

Rovan had a habit of ignoring messages from the GC or refusing whispers whenever he was hunting. So, he turned off everything and approached the player from earlier. The player was still chatting happily with Kemil.

“There’s really plenty of our specialty, duck meat, in here. However, we have too much, to the point that we’re eating duck bulgogi for breakfast, smoked duck for lunch, and even steamed duck for dinner, you know?”

“So jealous...”

“...”

Kemil looked at the young man in confusion. He could see the look of envy on the man’s face, and he knew it was not fake. He said, “Anyway, that’s the reason why your kimchi pancake was all the more delicious for me. Hahaha!”

“Then, can’t you give me some duck meat right now?”

“That’s not possible. Hahaha. You have to finish your mission successfully first!”

“Hahahahahaha. Then if I fail, does that mean that I won’t receive any? Hahahaha!”

As the two men laughed loudly, Rovan approached them and tried to talk to the man. He said, “Excuse me.”

***

Minhyuk felt a bit sorry for himself. He was talking to Kemil earlier and thought that he was almost able to get some duck meat! Then, a man approached them and interrupted their conversation. He was the player earlier that looked like he was going to steal some of his kimchi pancakes. Of course, with that prior experience, Minhyuk was now completely on guard against this man.

“What’s wrong?”

“By any chance, are you looking for a party member?”

“Yes.”

“Would you like to party with me?”

Minhyuk looked at the man carefully. The man looked like he was a bit older than himself. He was about 180 centimeters tall, equipped with decent artifacts. The man looked like he was someone that was skilled and powerful. However, what caught Minhyuk’s attention the most was…

‘He looks like he would ask for a bite of food from me!’

Minhyuk did not know why his impression of this man was like that, but it made him extremely wary. However, he also knew that if he continued to be like this, then he would never be able to find any party members at all. So far, the reactions of the other players had been the same.

“Hey, hey. Look at that player with the frying pan on his back. He looks funny!”

“Is he doing cosplay?”

“Does he want to hit a monster in the head with that frying pan? Is he a chef?”

“I have never seen a chef carry a frying pan on his back. It looks like the party would immediately disband if you take him with you.”

Just like that, the people in the surroundings kept their distance from him.

“What’s wrong with me?”

The man asked him after he heard the surrounding whispers. He said, “Do you really not know why...?”

“Yes. What’s so strange about wearing a frying pan on my back?”

“It’s not normal.”

When Minhyuk saw that the man did not understand his viewpoint, he decided to explain it to him, saying, “Just think about it.”

“Okay,” The man said, nodding his head.

“You can use a frying pan to cook, right?”

“Of course.”

“You can also use it to attack, right?”

“Y…yeah?” The man said. He nodded, thinking about how much damage a frying pan could even make. It did not matter to him, Minhyuk could definitely hit every once in a while.

“With this, I can also defend myself.”

“...I, is that so?”

“Yes. There’s no other artifact like this in the world! It can cook, defend and even attack!”

“...Uhm.” The man hummed and nodded anyway. Eager to put the topic of the frying pan behind them, he quickly introduced himself. He said, “My nickname is Rovan. Just like what I said earlier, would you like to party with me?”

Minhyuk thought deeply before answering him. He was sure that Rovan was most likely going to ask him for food and eat with him, but there seemed to be no one else that was willing to form a party with him. After much consideration, he slowly nodded to accept his proposal. He said, “I understand.”

[Would you like to join Handsome Rovan’s Party?]

[ Yes / No ]

“Yes.”

[You have joined Handsome Rovan’s Party.]

Minhyuk could clearly see it. This man was someone that was extremely narcissistic and confident in himself. What kind of party name was “Handsome Rovan”? Then, he suddenly thought, ‘This person is strange...’

At the same time, Rovan also thought, ‘This person is strange...’

What kind of defense could anyone do with a frying pan? It would already be enough if he could stop flying stones from reaching him. This was what Rovan believed. Thus, the party of two oddballs were formed.

***

Employee Lee Minhwa was tapping on her keyboard leisurely. She had joined the company for quite some time now and she finally was able to rid herself of the ‘novice employee’ and ‘new recruit’ titles. Right now, she could already switch monitors or watch through several monitors with just a click on her keyboard. 

‘Fufu, I’m such a competent and talented woman!’ Lee Minhwa thought as she brought up one of the special players on one of the monitors. The special player that she wanted to look at was Rovan. Rovan was a ranker in Versal and his leveling speed was vastly different compared to the other players. In addition to that, he had received the legendary class, Berserker.

‘Come to think of it, that legendary Berserker class...’ Lee Minhwa thought, recalling the fact that Player Minhyuk had the chance to receive it, but forfeited it for one reason alone.

“It was because he wouldn’t be able to sweet red bean jelly, right...?”

A player refused a legendary class for sweet red bean jelly, unbelievable, right? However, that class was extremely strong and powerful. In fact, the Berserker class allowed Rovan to have a rapid increase in his level, making him proud of himself and the legendary class. Rovan was even able to receive a quest that could increase his already overwhelming skills and abilities. That hidden quest could only be received and completed by a player that was recognized for his overwhelming strength.

‘But the Trial of Sin would not be as easy as he thought…’ Lee Minhwa thought, finally pulling up Rovan on the screen. However…

“Gasp!” Lee Minhwa gasped in shock.

“What’s wrong?” Team Leader Park asked, hurriedly standing up and looking at her monitor from his leisurely coffee break.

“Players Rovan and Minhyuk are together...”

In other words, the two of them would definitely be heading towards the hidden quest together. As he looked at the monitor, Team Leader Park finished his analysis and spoke to Lee Minhwa beside him. He said, “Rovan is a lone hunter. I think that’s why he thought to find a player that did not have as much firepower as his party member.”

“Do they need to create a party before they can enter the Shrieking Hills?”

“Yeah. Look at Player Minhyuk, he looks weak.”

“You’re right,” Lee Minhwa agreed with a nod. After all, Player Minhyuk really did look weak. With all that had happened though, she said, “However, he’s someone that’s extremely strong.”

“Yeah.”

“So, who do you think will be able to complete this hidden quest?”

Since the two of them were companions, she naturally thought that Player Minhyuk would be able to get this hidden quest. But if player Rovan’s plan went as planned, then he would probably work really hard to complete the quest.

“Honestly? I don’t think Player Rovan will be able to clear the hidden quest yet,” Team Leader Park murmured this to himself. He knew that Rovan’s abilities were still far from the requirements to complete the hidden quest. Suddenly, his eyes widened. Then, Team Leader Park said, “Come to think of it...”

“...?” 

“I think the Trial of Sin might not affect Player Minhyuk...?”

“Ah, that’s entirely possible!”

Team Leader Park and Lee Minhwa nodded at the same time and looked at the monitor. The scene that was playing on the monitor was quite harmonious. Players Minhyuk and Rovan were walking together while Rovan was showing off.

[Hey, by any chance do you know about legendary classes?]

[I know.]

[I received one. It’s the Berserker class. Ah. Really. I wanted to become someone normal in Athenae this time. But, do you know that Berserker is such a strong class?]

“...He’s bragging about his Berserker class to the person who did not want that class because he wanted to eat sweet red bean jelly? He probably won’t be able to lift his face proudly if he knew about that...” Team Leader Park said.

Lee Minhwa also added, “His face will definitely burn in shame…..”

***

Minhyuk knew that his hunch was always right. Just like he thought, this player was really narcissistic! In fact, he already told Minhyuk about how he was a ranker in Versal and how he got his legendary class, Berserker. When he heard about this, Minhyuk suddenly thought, ‘...If I didn’t want to eat sweet red bean jelly then I could easily get that. Tsk.’

However, Minhyuk still had no regrets. After all, the sweet red bean jelly was extremely delicious. Then, Minhyuk looked over the information of the quest that he had received earlier.

[Quest: Hunt 200 monsters in the Shrieking Hills.]

Rank: C

Requirements: Players should be over Level 90, Party Hunting

Rewards: 20,000 EXP, 300,000 gold

Current Number of Hunted Monsters: 0 / 200

Penalty for Failure: You won’t be able to receive any quests from Shrieking Hills.

Description: The monsters that reside in the Shrieking Hills sometimes appear to wreak havoc and cause damages and injuries to the residents of Hesvin, a town located in the vicinity. These monsters are very tricky, some of them can even use magic. Hunt 200 of these monsters!

‘I may have failed to receive duck meat earlier, but I still have a chance to get duck meat!’

Minhyuk even received an additional 50,000 gold from Kemil, the man that ate duck meat thrice a day, on top of the original gold reward of 250,000 gold.

I will exchange my pancakes with duck meat! So this mission should be successful!

Then, not long after, they arrived in front of the guard who was guarding the bridge that connected the Shrieking Hills from the town. The guard said, “From this point on, you’re already in the Shrieking Hills.”

The guard looked over Rovan and Minhyuk, and asked, “Will you guys be fine with just the two of you? Those guys in there are much stronger than you think.”

“We’ll be fine,” Rovan said as he nodded happily before looking back at Minhyuk. Minhyuk also nodded in agreement.

“Let’s go.”

The two of them stepped forward and crossed the bridge. As soon as they crossed the bridge, the talkative Rovan immediately quieted down.

‘His aura suddenly changed.’ Minhyuk thought, a bit impressed with Rovan’s change. He was like a completely different person from the person before, who had been screaming and saying ‘I just received my legendary class recently! I’m the best, you should trust me!’. The person who was so narcissistic and confident about himself earlier, had suddenly quieted down and turned serious.

“We should always be alert whenever we are in any hunting grounds. We don’t know when or where a variable will pop out.”

“I know.”

“I’ll start hunting now. Minhyuk, why don’t you try to hunt one? In Minhyuk’s case, if you find hunting difficult, you can just ‘assist’ me when I look tired.”

Rovan’s words were implying to Minhyuk that he should step aside if he could not hunt properly, after all, he was just a chef. However, Minhyuk did not feel offended at his words. He thought that it was alright for others to think that he was a chef. He even thought of welcoming Rovan’s offer for him to do nothing. One reason was because he wanted to take the bus and be power-leveled. However, he had yet to test his skills in actual combat, so he was still a bit excited about what was going to happen.

‘This guy. He’s strong.’

Minhyuk could tell. He had been exercising and working out a lot ever since he was a child, so he knew how to determine the strong just by the gait and aura that they exude. He knew that Rovan was someone who stood above those who were strong.

[You have entered the Shrieking Hills.]

[If you aren’t strong enough, please turn back and go outside.]

Unlike other dungeons, the Shrieking Hills belong to the field category. The advantage of a field dungeon was that the players could easily go back and forth in the dungeon without having to hunt and kill the boss monster. Of course, there were exceptions to these rules.

‘I should first finish hunting 200 monsters before I go for my hidden quest,’ Rovan thought, looking around to decide his course of action. He could see plenty of players hunting monsters. Then…

“Kiiiiieeeeeeeee!”

…Minhyuk and Rovan heard a harsh, ear-piercing shriek.