“Hey, hyung! What were you doing? I told you to call me right away!”
“Ear-splitting, Kijung-ah. What’s up? Can’t you just tell me when I’m logged in?”
The call came immediately, and Kijung’s voice was incredibly loud and clear. It was evident how excited he was.
“You’d better check the internet and log in! Hahaha, this is ridiculous.”
“What’s so ridiculous this time?”
“Just log in quickly. It’s about the current war update… no, it’s better to say the community. There’s a summary table there.”
What kind of commotion was this for Kijung to rush him like this? Leeha quickly went to his computer and logged into the community.
“What the heck…?”
“Did you see it? Amazing, right? Isn’t it cool? Hahaha, hyung!! Hyuuuuuung!!!”
Even though he could only hear laughter through the phone, Leeha could almost see Kijung’s face.
**『Title: ★All Fibiel players praise Ha Leeha★』**
**『Title: LOL I once partied with Ha Leeha, never thought it would turn out like this』**
**『Title: But how did that person eat like this? Didn’t they work with friends from the enemy country for contributions?』**
**『Title: Kraven’s No.1 Drake, Minis’s No.1 Alexander, Fibiel’s No.1 unknown LOL Fibiel’s level is a joke LOL』**
**『Title: Request to upload text file summarizing main contributors for Fibiel』**
The constantly updating posts were all war-related chatter.
And over 90% of that chatter was about the ‘reward announcement’ Kijung mentioned.
By just skimming through the titles, Leeha could understand the contents of the reward announcement.
“No way, did they reveal the top contributors?”
“Yes! And not just the top! On the homepage, they listed the top ten contributors, and above that—above that, hyung’s name was there!”
With a dumbfounded expression, Leeha clicked on one of the posts.
**『Title: Request to upload text file summarizing main contributors for Fibiel』**
1st Contributor―Ha Leeha: Contribution 35,878
2nd Contributor―Granville: Contribution 14,556
3rd Contributor―Pei Wu: Contribution 8,044
4th Contributor―Ram Hwajung: Contribution 6,861
5th Contributor―Ram Hwayeon: Contribution 10,000 → reduced to 5,000
6th Contributor: Rush Guild Master; 7th Contributor: Kidd; 8th Contributor: NPC; 9th Contributor: Byulcho Guild Master; 10th Contributor: Shin Nara.
But how did he manage to beat the top NPC commander? And by more than double the difference, totally insane. Minis having Alexander makes sense at least…
“Isn’t Ram Hwayeon more amazing? Ram Hwajung is at 6,800 but Ram Hwayeon at 5,000?”
└If it wasn’t reduced, she’d be the third contributor level ㄷㄷ Well, we could overlook the NPC commander, but she’s the top among players ㄷㄷ.
└Why was it reduced?
└Rumor says she made a huge mistake at the end…
“I’m at -1,000, but someone else is at +35,000? Damn, can’t even play this game anymore.”
└LOL, I’m at -400 too. Seeing your score makes me feel better.
“The guild master of Rush did well among non-rankers.”
└Byulcho guild master is there too. Rush’s guild master got money and people, but Byulcho’s guild master is the real deal.
“Wow… The difference is more than I thought.”
Leeha wasn’t surprised to be ranked first. He knew well that none of the players had contributed more than he did. However, considering the competition included NPC commanders, it seemed unfair.
The most shocking part for Leeha was that he outscored the top NPC commander by a significant difference.
And the second surprise was seeing another familiar name among the top ten contributors.
“Kijung?! You—”
“Did you see? Did you see? Thanks, hyung! Because of you, there’s chaos. Our guild’s website is swamped with membership requests! Taesil hyung is staying up all night reviewing applications!”
Title: The Esteemed Master Kay of the Special Forces
In recognition of his exceptional performance and leadership, he was acknowledged as having admirably led the Special Forces, which essentially thrived under his command without Leeha.
‘An NPC from the eighth division was one of the division commanders who led the Vikrimor River Invasion route. This means that not only the supreme commander but every single NPC that participated in the war was in direct competition.’
Kijung must have felt immensely proud to have his name prominently featured among them.
Leeha had ample reason to desperately call and leave a message.
―You know, a lot of people recorded our last battle with Alexander. Our names are constantly popping up on YouTube and foreign broadcasts, hyung. Hehe.
“Really? What about preventing recordings?”
―Of course, there were measures. But you know how determined people can be. They managed to record from a sufficient distance. The footage is a bit blurry, but those in the know can recognize it. Remember Rush Guild leader ‘Ron’? He’s already been on TV and even mentioned you in his interviews! Do you want me to send you the YouTube link?
“No, no. I think it will just be embarrassing to watch.”
Ron was someone who had subtly suggested that Leeha join his guild. He surely wouldn’t say anything bad about him.
―More than just embarrassing. He’s afraid of you, hyung.
“What?”
It turned out, Leeha was too innocent in his assumptions. Ron didn’t speak highly of him just to win his favor.
―Ahem, let me read it out to you verbatim.
‘Speaking recklessly about him will result in your head being blown off the moment you log in, without even knowing his location. Yet, it’s a boon in a way. If you get logged out with one hit, without knowing who the attacker was, you can be sure it was Ha Leeha. He has shown the most remarkable skills of any Middle Earth user I’ve ever seen. Even Alexander sitting here would say the same.’
Kijung cleared his throat again after finishing the excerpt from Ron’s interview about Leeha. Leeha couldn’t hide his astonished expression as he listened to Kijung.
“… I’m not some psychopath to shoot someone in the head just because they didn’t compliment me.”
―Hehe, it’s probably an American joke. But, there’s some truth to it. He knows better than to speak wrongly.
Leeha was seen as a figure of fear and reverence even among his allies, except for a few close friends. He wasn’t sure whether to feel good or bad about this peculiar reputation.
―Anyway, log in quickly! The reward period is up in a week’s time in Middle Earth’s calendar, so don’t forget!
“Of course. I’m logging in now.”
―Okay, I’ll tell you more about the rewards once you’re in!
A cute younger hyung who gathered and conveyed information without needing to be asked. Leeha couldn’t help but smile at the cheerful voice of Kijung.
* * *
“Kijung!”
“Hyung! Hyung! You’re here? I was just saying about the rewards―”
“Hold on, Kijung. Before we get into that!”
“Huh?”
As soon as he logged in, Kijung rushed to him like a big, excited puppy. Leeha calmed him down first.
There was no point in obsessing over rewards that were already decided and couldn’t be received any faster. There was something more important for Leeha.
“Do you have any information about the Third Battle of Humans and Demons?”
“The Third Battle of Humans and Demons?”
“You know, what Luger talked about. Bluebeard Count Le, who he said was one of the Demon King’s fragments. Is that monster—or whatever it is—a monster?”
“Ah, right. I haven’t heard much about it. There’s nothing on the forums, and it’s quiet in Middle Earth… Hyung, you’ve seen the community. No one really cares. Some people who heard Luger tried to make it an issue, but everyone’s just concerned about their contributions. Who really cares about Middle Earth’s storyline? I saw a few comments saying it’s just something made up to wrap up the war.”
Kijung conveyed everything he had seen and heard to Leeha.
The truce agreement and the upcoming peace treaty were not of much interest to the general users. What mattered more than the sudden end of the war was the impact on them.
“Hmm… What about Kuzgunak’sh, that red dragon?”
“That’s something the Gold Dragon only told a select few. How would there be any rumors? Of course, there’s no news. Hyung, you’re too serious about this. You need to relax!”
“Haha, hey! Preparing during times like this is crucial. This is what the downtime is for. Don’t you remember getting Masstah before intense training?”
Kijung, who was all excited, seemed like he was about to dance, but Leeha laughed and stopped him. There was a faint but persistent feeling that Middle Earth wouldn’t stay this quiet for long.
“Anyway, listen to my story. First, it’s about the plus and minus contribution rewards.”
“Alright, alright. Go ahead. If you don’t finish, I’ll hit you.”
“Ha ha, as if you would!!”
Leeha’s joke excited Kijung, who continued explaining.
According to Middle Earth’s official reward announcement, the plus contribution points could be exchanged for items or stat points depending on the contribution score.
However, items of rare grade or above required a substantial amount of contribution points, making them difficult to acquire.
There was no need to mention the stats. Middle Earth wouldn’t hand out the most important points for just 100 or 200 contribution points.
“Hmm, what about hero grade or legendary grade?”
“I don’t know. Someone mentioned spending all their contribution points just to get a rare-grade helmet, which cost 1,000 contribution points. Since the points for special grade and rare grade differ by more than three times, it must get worse as you go higher.”
“Even so, a rare grade item would easily exceed 200 gold, right? They must have made some money.”
“Apparently, they spent around 150 gold on potions and buff scrolls just to avoid dying and losing contribution during the war. Even considering that they were complaining, they didn’t seem to profit much. They probably came out with a little bit of profit at most.”
“As expected of Middle Earth.”
“Yes. But those with plus contribution points are the happier ones.”
When Leeha nodded in agreement, Kijung continued speaking. For minus contribution points, there truly was a penalty, as the rumors stated.
It was an experience penalty that could only be removed by sacrificing connection time!
“Won’t it decrease if you don’t log in?”
“No. You must be logged in. Any town would be crowded for a while.”
Rather than going hunting with a penalty, many players preferred to chat in towns. Kijung’s prediction was quite accurate, and Leeha speculated on the purpose behind such penalties.
‘Is this also a way to weaken the players’ power? If the purpose of the war was an event to diminish players’ strength before the third Great War, then…’
However, the experience penalty could be reduced by paying money.
But since Middle Earth’s gold was practically equivalent to a cyber currency, Leeha thought that only players with considerable financial flexibility would be affected.
“There will be significant backlash. Who would pay money to remove it?”
“You still don’t understand Middle Earth players, do you, hyung?”
And the determination of Middle Earth players was much stronger than Leeha anticipated.
“Huh?”
“Despite the backlash, the value of Middle Earth’s gold has risen. Due to people wanting to pay off the penalty with money, the demand for gold suddenly skyrocketed. Even though many people are trying to remove the penalty with money, towns are still overflowing with people. Since it’s nearly impossible to recover from a minus contribution point status after dying even once during the war, there must be a large number of affected players.”
Seeing Leeha’s bewildered expression, Kijung subtly hinted that he had already sold some of his gold.
“What are you planning to do now, hyung? The war is over.”
“Well, I thought about collecting my rewards first, but…. I heard they’re organizing a reward ceremony at the royal palace in a week.”
“Yes. That’s why I haven’t used my contribution points yet. I’m waiting to see what they give out before exchanging them for stats or items.”
Those with few contribution points exchanged their points immediately and went back to hunting, but Kijung was different.
Leeha also shared the same thought.
The royal palace might give out better items, so there was no need to use the points to exchange for items now. He could decide based on the situation then, and there wasn’t much else to do at the moment.
The first priority was hunting.
Despite his considerable efforts in the battlefield, Leeha’s level hadn’t increased. This was because he focused on assassinating key figures rather than killing many characters.
Eventually, he concentrated on destroying keystones, so it was to be expected.
Leeha opened his character window.
Name: Ha Leeha / Race: Human
Class: Musketeer / Level: 162 (99.7%)
Title: Fearless / Achievements: 94
HP: 4,420(3,094) / MP: 1,160
Stats:
Strength 280(+195),
agility 2,031(+817),
intelligence 148(+97),
stamina 145(+52),
mind 40(+30)
Remaining Stat Points: 51
Looking at the 99% experience, Leeha felt fortunate yet slightly perplexed at the same time.