The morning of the Wild Forest raid was bright. Cha Min-Woo was among the crowd of people that were gathering in front of the Gate, wearing an armband. He scanned the Players and quietly nodded his head. “As expected…..”

“Huh? What did you say?” His team member asked after hearing the muttering. Cha Min-Woo jutted his chin toward the other Players. 

“Look at the Players around you. There’s not a single riffraff here.” Most Players were no longer considered beginners when they reached around level 25. If you didn’t go around clearing Uncleared Gates like Seo Jun-Ho, you needed to clear at least 20 Gates to reach that level. 

This also meant that you had to have at least 10 near-death experiences. None of the people today looked inexperienced

“Well…this Gate only lets in Players between levels 20 and 35.”

“Their energies are different from the Players we have seen in our country. Their equipment is good too.”

“We’re on the stage of the world.”

Cha Min-Woo was strangely restless as he looked around as if looking for something. His team members noticed and smiled. “You’re looking for Player Seo Jun-Ho, aren’t you?”

“You’ll hurt your neck.”

“...Leave him alone, he’s excited.”

Watching Seo Jun-Ho fight the Cinder Fox changed his worldview. 

‘It’s embarrassing to think about how I’ve always taken the easy and comfortable paths.’ 

After that day, Cha Min-Woo started to train himself. He wanted to show Seo Jun-Ho a better version of himself if they met again. 

“...He’s over there.” Cha Min-Woo whispered as he stared to one side. Seo Jun-Ho looked much better than last time. “But what is he…?” 

Cha Min-Woo tilted his head and walked over to Seo Jun-Ho. As he got close, Seo Jun-Ho blinked as he recognized him. “Huh? Are you the one from the Cinder Fox…”

“So, you remember me? Still, let me introduce myself again. I’m Cha Min-Woo of the Cheong-hae Guild.”

“It’s nice to see you again. I heard that you helped me after the fight, but I never got to thank you.”

“I should be the one thanking you. You saved our lives.” The team members standing behind him also bowed. “Did you have a problem? Your armor…I mean.”

“Oh, this…..?” Seo Jun-Ho laughed bitterly and looked down. The leather armor that Kwon Noya had made for him was now ripped and messy. 

‘I got too greedy.’ 

Seo Jun-Ho let out a small sigh. The idea of going into a Gate to condition himself was good in theory. But he had gotten too excited. 

‘…I only should’ve only done one. Two Gates were a little too much.’ 

During those four days, he cleared two Gates in the area. Thanks to that, he was able to reach level 23 in order to equip Black Dragon Fang, but his armor was reduced to rags in the process.

“I warmed up before I came.” 

‘…What kind of warmup did he do that it ruined his armor?’ 

Cha Min-Woo doubted him, but he swallowed the question. “Are you really going in with that armor? It looks really dangerous.”

“There are only 5 minutes left until we go in, so it’s not like I can do anything. It’s fine.”

That was true. Cha Min-Woo looked disappointed. He didn’t really have any way to help Seo Jun-Ho.

Vroom!

A motorcycle parked in front of them.

“Are you Mr. Seo Jun-Ho?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

“Please sign here. It’s express delivery.” After he signed, the driver got off and put down a large carrier, and disappeared. 

Cha Min-Woo watched from the side. “Did you order new armor by any chance?”

“No, I didn’t order anything…” 

Seo Jun-Ho tilted his head and picked up the carrier. 

‘It’s super heavy.’ 

He put it down again and pressed a button on the handle. There was the sound of creaking cogs, and it opened. Inside it was beautiful black armor.

“This is…?” Seo Jun-Ho stroked the surface, and his suspicion turned into certainty. 

‘I’m sure of it. The armor’s made of dragon bones.’ 

He picked up the note inside. 

[This is a commissioned item for Association President Shim Deok-Gu. The name of the armor is simply ‘Black Armor.’ I hope you like it. -Kwon Palmo.]

‘…There’s no way I wouldn’t like it.’ 

The armor matched Kwon Noya’s ‘Black Dragon Fang’ perfectly. 

Who thought that the pair of grandfather and grandson would create such a great set of gear together?

Seo Jun-Ho suddenly realized what Kwon Palmo had said at the workshop. 

‘He said that I’d know soon, and here it is…Deok-Gu, that rascal.’ 

He grinned, far from disappointed. Shim Deok-Gu used the dragon bones he gave to him as a gift to gift him armor made from it. It was an unexpected gift, but the timing was perfect. He needed armor now more than ever. 

“...It’s beautiful,” Cha Min-Woo whispered. 

He was staring at the armor like his soul had left his body. He swallowed.

‘The quality of this armor is much better than the ones we get from the workshop we have an exclusive contract with.’ 

Armor made of bones were usually coarse and uncomfortable when you wore them, but the armor in front of him didn’t give that impression at all. 

‘Even the joints are delicate. They’re made up of smaller bones.’ 

The technique would be hard to imitate, even for a skilled craftsman. Cha Min-Woo started to get curious. 

‘Which master made this?’ 

He looked around the carrier, but there wasn’t a single brand logo he recognized. 

But the word ‘Kwuan’ was written lightly as if it had been added as an afterthought.[1]

“Kwon…?” He read the name without a second thought, but his eyes went wide as he said it out loud. There were countless blacksmiths in the world. But among the Kwon smiths, only two people could make such armor with this level of finesse. 

“Oh, the Kwon workshop in Andong…!” The clan was composed of blacksmiths for generations and was famous for they were a family of one of the best blacksmiths in the world—Kwon Noya. As soon as he said that, the faces of the nearby Players changed. 

“What? That armor is from the Kwon workshop?”

“No way. I never heard that they made armor for rookies.”

“There must be a mistake.” 

As the people watched, Seo Jun-Ho carefully raised the Black Armor. He looked down at the carrier to double-check, but there was only one piece of armor. 

‘Armor sets usually have one set for the upper body and one set for the lower body…did he leave out the latter because there wasn’t enough time?’ 

Seo Jun-Ho was slightly disappointed, but he still put it on. 

Rattle…

The armor expanded like a machine, covering him from head to toe. 

“O-oh my god! It’s Spread Armor?!”

“That’s insane…only ancient artifacts can do that!”

“There aren’t many people who can make Spread Armor…”

“Wait, it says ‘Kwon’ inside the carrier!”

“What? Then…it’s really from Kwon workshop?”

The people around him collectively gulped. They were looking at the Spread Armor from the Kwon workshop as they instantly gave it a market value. The Players who realized this looked at Seo Jun-Ho with envy.

“Hup.” Seo Jun-Ho moved his body to test out the armor and smiled. 

‘I like it.’ 

There was a simple reason why he wore leather armor until now—no matter how much magic he attached to light or medium weight armor, he still found them hard to move in. But the armor that Kwon Palmo made didn’t bother his movement in the slightest. 

The options are great too. Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes were bright as he read the item data. 

[Black Armor]

Grade: Unique

Stamina +15

*Lightweight: Magic is attached to make this armor lightweight.

*Disruption: This armor can block tracking skills rank C and lower aimed at the user.

Use requirements: Level 23, 60 stamina, 60 strength. 

It was a bit lacking compared to Kwon Noya’s sword, but the armor was also Unique-grade. It was the best armor he could get at his level. 

‘And since they’re a set, they’ll be extra efficient.’ 

Equipment with too few prerequisites usually had limited functions. But if it had too many prerequisites, Players wouldn’t be able to use it. But that didn’t apply to these two items. 

‘This is the perfect synergy that only happens when a Player and a talented blacksmith meet.’ 

The required level of the Black Dragon Fang and Black Armor was low, but the required stats were high. They were made to push Seo Jun-Ho to his limits. This was expected since the items came from an outstanding blacksmith.

“I didn’t know that the Kwon workshop made deals…I guess that’s the Association for you.”

Cha Min-Woo thought that the Kwon workshop made the armor because of the Association. Seo Jun-Ho was an outstanding Player, but the Kwon workshop had never once made deals with newbies. 

“The President used his power.” Seo Jun-Ho smiled brightly at him and checked the time. 

It was exactly 11. It was time to go into the Gate. 

“Excuse me, Mr. Seo Jun-Ho,” Cha Min-Woo said reluctantly. 

“Speak.”

“Well...is there a party you belong to?”

“Party?” 

In Gates like the Wild Forest, no one went off on their own. The smallest units they went around in were parties. Seo Jun-Ho should be no different. 

‘The party cap is 200…so there will probably be about 1000 monsters.’ 

In a Gate like this, he also needed some people to watch his back. He could move around on his own, but it would be inefficient.

“Not yet.”

“T-then, would you like to join our party for this Gate?” Cha Min-Woo nervously looked back at his teammates. 

‘The Cheong-hae Guild isn’t a bad option…actually, it’s good.’ 

They were a noble guild with elite members. Seo Jun-Ho couldn’t find any reason to refuse their offer as he happily accepted it. 

“Thank you for asking. Let’s do this.” 

11:02 AM. 

200 Players filled the cap and entered the Wild Forest Gate.

1. This is written in English. I’m keeping the romanization as is. ☜