Only I’m the solo player

Chapter 38 – Serotonin

—–CROW—– 

After parting ways with Kim Jinah’s party, I visited the stall selling the gukbap, a specialty of the 1450 server.

Even after some time had passed, the stall was still crowded. I paid with Festival Coins and took a seat.

Since there was only one menu item, a steaming bowl of gukbap was soon placed in front of me.

“Here’s your gukbap. Be careful, the bowl is hot! This is a ttukbaegi!”

The gukbap was served in a white bowl with an unfamiliar design.  Although it looked different, it was supposedly a type of ttukbaegi (earthenware pot).

Indeed, the gukbap in the bowl was boiling hot, and when I touched it, the entire bowl was warm.

The person who brought the bowl was bare-handed, so they probably had the Fire Resistance skill.

I scooped up a spoonful of the hot broth and tasted it.  It was lightly seasoned with salt.

Since I had been eating only White Troll meat all this time, my tongue reacted sensitively to even a small amount of salt.

There was salt and pepper on each table, but I didn’t need to add any more.

After tasting the broth in its pure form a few times, I added the accompanying ingredients one by one.

A spoonful of chopped herbs that looked similar to green onions.

A sprinkle of pepper.

A bit of seasoning paste.

And finally, a poison arrow.

[Poisoned Steel Arrow (Poison: Strong)]

This is a powerful poison arrow obtainable on the 6th floor, and the poison on it is uniquely colorless and odorless.

Therefore, even if I add poison to my food like this, it doesn’t affect the taste.

My Poison Resistance is already so high that it won’t increase any further with consumables like this, but you never know.

After adding plenty of poison to the gukbap, I mixed in the rice and began my meal leisurely.

While savoring the taste of the gukbap in my mouth, I opened the system interface and displayed an unfamiliar window.

[Friend List]

The friend list, which I never had any reason to look at in the solo Tower 2661.

There, the names of the party members I had just parted ways with, including Kim Jinah, were listed.

**

The suggestion Kim Jinah made was more practical than I thought.

“Between Festival Coins and Meteor Stones, which do you need more, Jinhyuk?”

When Kim Jinah suddenly asked that, I replied that I needed coins more.

Meteor Stones are material items used to craft event-limited equipment, and I wasn’t very interested in equipment.

It would be much more useful to import consumables that can’t be obtained on lower floors using Festival Coins.

Kim Jinah clapped her hands as if she had expected it and said,

“Then it’s perfect.  We need Meteor Stones more. So, how about this?”

Kim Jinah suggested that instead of dividing the dungeon clear rewards equally, we should divide them into coins and Meteor Stones and give them to each other.

“And we form a fixed party and farm by intentionally triggering the trap like we did earlier and quickly getting the rewards.”

In addition, Kim Jinah suggested forming a party and doing a kind of fast “coin farming.”

Our party’s clear time, after finding the shortcut by triggering the trap, was less than half of the existing records.

Since the amount of rewards obtained was also higher than usual, she said it would be more profitable to keep running this dungeon than to go to vaguely better higher-level dungeons.

Although the amount of currency obtainable from a single clear is less than other dungeons, it’s not the case when considering the time required.

Moreover, Kim Jinah was confident that she could trigger the trap again.

“But, why should I?”

Naturally, I refused the offer.  Why should I party with them?

Kim Jinah, unless she was a fool, would know that.

“Hey, I told you, let’s split the coins.”

It turned out that the “split” Kim Jinah mentioned had a broader scope than I thought.

Kim Jinah was going to give me all the individual rewards and coins obtained through individual event quests in exchange for receiving the Meteor Stones.

Kim Jinah’s party would secure Meteor Stones safely under my protection.

And I would acquire a large amount of coins faster than going to higher-level dungeons alone.

A trade made possible by the difference in desired currency.  However, this trade required one premise.

That I wouldn’t want Meteor Stones at all.

I only said that I preferred Festival Coins over Meteor Stones; I didn’t say I didn’t need Meteor Stones.

But Kim Jinah, as if she could read minds, correctly guessed that I wouldn’t need Meteor Stones at all.

When I asked for the basis of her guess, Kim Jinah spoke with the demeanor of a detective revealing the truth of a case.

“When you sent Minhyung flying, I secretly searched your name in the community.  I thought you might be a famous person.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you fought like a ranker earlier.  Just by looking, I thought you must be famous on another server.”

Kim Jinah guessed my resource situation after seeing the numerous bragging posts I had made in the community in the past.

She figured out that I could freely enhance equipment with overflowing materials.

Through that, she realized that the equipment I was currently wearing, despite their appearance, were all highly enhanced items.

And she concluded that Meteor Stone equipment wouldn’t be of much help compared to my current items, which were almost maximally enhanced.

Although there were some inaccuracies, she was mostly right.

The items I’m wearing are indeed highly enhanced. It’s just that all the enhancements are focused on [Durability].

The reason I don’t want Meteor Stone equipment is not because of spec upgrades, but simply because I’m not very interested in equipment.

Anyway, it was a suggestion I had nothing to lose by accepting.

“Alright.”

And so, I used the friend request and exchange functions for the first time.

**

– *Clink.*

I put down the empty gukbap bowl and poured a detoxification potion into it to clean it slightly.

If I didn’t do this, another challenger might get poisoned by the poison remaining in the bowl.

“I don’t want to be labeled as a stall terrorist.”

I got up from my seat, leaving the bowl, and ordered a few more bowls of gukbap to go, paying with Festival Coins.

I plan to try the food from other stalls, but I don’t think anything will be as delicious as the gukbap here.

I still have plenty of Festival Coins anyway.

After that, I ran the dungeon several more times with Kim Jinah’s party.

As she boasted, Kim Jinah remembered the trap that summoned the boss and was able to activate it again.

Our clear time, having found the shortcut, became faster and faster, to the point where we could run it four times in the time it took others to run it once.

Kim Jinah and the other two secured a massive amount of Meteor Stone fragments, and I secured dozens of Festival Coins.

“Here’s your order to go.  Should I add a few heating stones if you’re not going to eat it right away?”

“It’s fine.”

“Alright, then please come again! We’re open until the last day of the festival!”

– *Ding.*

As I picked up the packaged gukbap, a notification from the friend chatroom rang at the perfect timing.

[Kim Jinah: Jinhyuk-gayya, thanks for the fun today, no?]

What the hell is this.  Was there a hallucinogen mixed in the gukbap I just ate? Mental contamination?

[Seo Jinhyuk: ???]

I hurriedly took out a detoxification potion from my inventory and asked why she was talking like that in the chat.

[Kim Jinah: Everyone in the community talks like this.]

[Kim Jinah: Isn’t this right?]

[Seo Jinhyuk: No, that’s not right.]

It seems like she learned it in a strange way after seeing the conversations I had with the ghosts in the community.

I thought something was wrong, let’s put the detoxification potion back.

– *Ding, ding.*

After Kim Jinah’s bizarre greeting, Kim Minhyung and Kim Jinseok also sent messages in the chat.

[Kim Jinseok: Jinhyuk, thank you for your hard work today.]

[Kim Minhyung: I look forward to working with you tomorrow, hyungnim.]

Kim Minhyung had been respectfully calling me “hyungnim” (older brother) ever since I hit him on the shield.

At first, I thought he was a condescending jerk, but after the hierarchy was established, he’s been very obedient.

Although there was a transaction involving coins, I’ve practically been power-leveling them through the dungeon, so it’s only natural.

I briefly replied to their messages and walked towards the inn with the packaged gukbap.

I think I had a really enjoyable day today after a long time.

Although it wasn’t very nutritious, I experienced party play, which I had never experienced before, and ate delicious food after a long time.

Kim Jinah and the other party members kept talking to me despite my broken communication skills.

Even excluding the fact that I was able to obtain a lot of coins, I think I made the right decision to form a fixed party.

Actually, if I just wanted to obtain a lot of coins, I didn’t need to accept Kim Jinah’s offer.

I could have just joined a party of high-level challengers conquering the top-level dungeons without sticking to solo play.

But if I had done that, I might have earned a lot of coins, but it wouldn’t have been this enjoyable.

On the contrary, I might have caused conflict due to my communication problems.

Not a flood of stimulating dopamine from the tangible feeling of growth, but a gentle wave of serotonin.

This is nice once in a while.

**

The next day, I went to the mini-dungeon entrance map, intending to continue coin farming.

“Jinhyuk, over here!”

Kim Jinah and the party members had arrived first and were waiting at the portal, and I immediately joined them.

There was no need to confirm whether we were ready or not.  I immediately placed my hand on the portal to enter.

“Hey, move.”

At that moment, some guy who was waiting next to the portal pushed my hand away.  Who is this?

“This is our party’s spot.”

This guy’s way of talking is also incredibly condescending.  But did he just say “spot”?

I thought he was waiting to enter before our party gathered, but no matter how I look at it, that’s not the case.

There was no one around him who looked like a party member, he was alone.

I could understand if he was a solo player like me, but he clearly said “party,” didn’t he?

“What are you looking at?  Get lost.”

Who is this guy?

—–CROW—–