This is a common setup, right? (7)

"I'm sorry, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"I don't really want to talk."

"Just a minute."

"I don't want a minute."

The man stared at Sung-hoon, his eyes inwardly glazed over. A day ago, or even three days ago, he would have been intimidated by that look. But not now. He'd killed creatures in the Chamber of Beginnings many times before, and the man holding the sword and threatening him didn't frighten him in the slightest. Rather, the man's unidentifiable chill made him take a step backwards.

But then he glanced at the woman behind him and took another step forward.

"I've just heard that you've completed a quest called Catching the Rats. If you don't mind my asking, could you tell me a bit about it?"

You can refuse, and it's not a bad idea to scatter false information and confuse people here. The people in the room were all paying attention to the conversation between themselves and this man, pretending to fiddle with their papers. Sung-hoon, who was just about to finish chewing, had a sudden thought.

"In exchange for an answer, I have a condition."

"What is it? As you can see, I don't have any money."

"I'm not asking for money. Can you tell me what title you have?"

The man paused for a moment. If the other man had asked for a guild, he would have refused immediately. He and his girlfriend had less than fifty guilds between them. But to be asked for a title, let alone a stat, didn't seem all that great.

"My title is Brave Survivor."

"I see, thanks for telling me."

You've earned the title of cowardly survivor, and the other person has earned the title of brave survivor. Based on their names, they were probably somewhat trustworthy. Now the question was about information. Sung-hoon wondered if he should give them fake information or real information, but he quickly made up his mind.

"Don't do the rat race if you can help it."

"May I ask why?"

"You'll have to try it yourself, but catching rats is not an easy quest."

"Well, they're rats at best...."

"It's not the rats that are the problem, it's the catching of the rats, and I don't recommend catching rats if you're not prepared.

Sung-hoon chose to give real information.

There weren't just one or two people here, and there was a steady stream of people coming in. If I told you that ratting was easy, most people here would choose to do it. And some of them will definitely complete the quest. It was far better to give the right information here than to risk resentment by giving the wrong information.

"And some people won't believe you anyway, even if you give them the right information.

"Oh, so this isn't the easiest quest to catch a rat? Isn't that a lie?"

"Look at the other quests. It's a hundred times better to catch a rat than a dog or a wolf."

"That's a lie?"

"Yes, it is. If you think about it for a second, it's simple: he's lying about how hard it is to catch rats, and then he gets a kick out of seeing people flock to the dog catcher and fail."

"Don't listen to that asshole!"

Even if I told him the truth, he wouldn't believe me.

There's one reason. The name of the game is clouding their reasoning. Anyone who has played the game knows this. Even people who don't play games know that rats are the foundation of any game.

It is probably assumed that rats are much easier to deal with than dogs.

And when someone makes a plausible guess, Sung-hoon instantly becomes the bad guy.

"I'll catch the rats."

"I'm in the rat race, too."

"Hey, this isn't a first-come, first-served thing, is it? I'm in!"

Before anyone could stop him, a bunch of people were engulfed in light and began to disappear. The vicious cycle didn't end there. People entering the mission through the door saw the people vanishing with the words "Rat Catcher" and rushed to accept the quest. If Sung-hoon wanted to stop him, he could.

But he didn't.

He's given them the right information, and it's their choice to believe it or not.

They still hadn't gotten a sense of reality. They were still imagining a mouse that drops items with a damage marker above it when you hit it.

"Kuk-kuk-kuk."

Sung-hoon began to laugh softly, thinking of them as moths to a flame. He would have burst out laughing if the man and woman weren't constantly staring at him. Barely able to contain his laughter with a smack to the corner of his mouth, Sung-hoon turned to them.

"I'd like a hunting quest, please."

"Wait, don't you want to play in a party?"

"Is it possible to party?"

"Yes. Me and my girlfriend have been acting together since the tutorial. I asked people here and they said that the quest can be done in party play."

Sung-hoon's body stiffened at the mention of party play. When he thought about it, it made sense that there was party play in the rules of the game.

A dog and a companion. After a moment of weighing the pros and cons, Sung-hoon shook his head.

'I have enough skill to catch the dogs. I'd have to be prepared to be betrayed if I brought those two in, and I don't think she'd be much help in combat, and she'd give away too much information about me.

After a while, if you're just starting out in the game and you start with a coat and sword, and then move on to swordsmanship, potions, and food, you'll definitely start to question your identity. Maybe they'll even try to steal your fortune.

"I refuse. I'll hunt alone. Don't you have a hunting quest for me?"

"Oh, I'll give it to you now!"

-You have received the Hound Hunt quest. Go to the mission location.

Whoosh!

A pure white light began to surround you. He could have disappeared without saying a word, but Sung-hoon found himself opening his mouth, as a way of thanking the man who had informed him that party play was possible.

"I'm serious. I'd rather you do pest control."

"Wait...."

Before he could finish, the man disappeared beyond the light.

Watching him go, Lee sighed as he withdrew his arm. More and more people were arriving, most of them choosing the quest to catch the rats. He wanted to do the same, too.

But he was worried about his girlfriend, Park Hye-na, who had been dropped into this world unexpectedly and was half-dazed. She would have died if I hadn't helped her during the tutorial quest.

She needed to stabilize for a few days, but it was the Guild that mattered.

Finding a place that looked like an inn to rest before stopping by the mission, Young'gi's jaw dropped when he was told that a night's stay would cost a hundred guilders.

"Thirty guilds.

After buying weapons and basic swordsmanship with the guild money he received from the basic rewards and bonuses, he couldn't afford to stay at the inn for even one night. Whether I liked it or not, I had to do missions to survive.

And I had to do it while I still had the strength. It's better to do missions when you're not as exhausted as the people here. Doing a mission when you were still clueless and bemoaning the situation, or when you were starving and exhausted from wandering around, was the worst possible option.

"Hye-na, can you move?"

"Uh, yeah. I can move."

"Then we should do a quest. What is it?"

Lee thought for a moment, then remembered the missing man's advice and said.

"Pest control, please."

"Brother, if it's because of me, it's okay. We'll also do the rat swarm...."

"No, it's not because of you. It's because I'm insecure. We're still new, and bugs are easier to deal with than rats."

Even after they disappeared in a flash of light, a steady stream of people continued to enter the mission, most of them choosing to take on the rat swarm quest.

The truth didn't always work.