WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Satori
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Healers Are Not Tools ◈
Chapter 14: Harin, Come Do a Job With Your Big Sister
──────
It was already the day after I'd taught Im Harin my leveling route.
Meanwhile, my own leveling speed was slowing down enough to make me embarrassed about having shown her an optimized route.
But that wasn't just expected. It was inevitable.
The level cap in Lost of Fantasy was sixty.
Starting at fifty, you entered what people called the “red levels.” Not only did you need more experience, but quests also asked you to kill more monsters or collect more materials.
On top of that, even regular mobs were starting to have more health. Of course leveling would get painfully slow for a healer with only a few attack skills.
“Is it about time... to pull that trick...?”
Healers leveling slowly was a problem that hadn't been solved even in Lost of Fantasy's latest expansion, so it didn't particularly bother me.
Sure, they'd made various improvements.
But it was fundamentally impossible to fix. DPS players got a whole flood of attack skills. How could a healer possibly keep up with their monster-killing speed?
Anyway, now that I'd reached a red zone, it was about time to find someone...
Bzzzt!
That message arrived with downright uncanny timing.
[Im Harin - 8:32 a.m.]
「1 Hana」
「It's the weekend. Want to go to the PC café together this morning?」
「(A rabbit throwing a one-two punch)」
What kind of girl wanted to go to a PC café first thing in the morning?
Was that really how a high school girl should spend her time?
Weren't high school girls supposed to spend weekends squealing with their friends while window-shopping or taking pictures in those four-shot photo booths?
Well, most of them were probably stuck in cram schools.
[Jeong Hana - 8:33 a.m.]
「Are you allowed to do that?」
[Im Harin - 8:33 a.m.]
「Why?」
「My mom and dad like it when I go out, so I've always gone to PC cafés」
Really? So this was her normal routine?
...As long as I wasn't turning a fresh-faced high school girl into a PC café addict for the sake of my plans, I supposed it didn't matter.
[Jeong Hana - 8:34 a.m.]
「Then come do a job with me」
I'd needed a DPS player anyway. If I could have her sitting right beside me while we played, that would be sweet.
* * *
“Hey! Give me that blue thing!”
“Why would you get it? It's a sword.”
“You dumbass! I can equip swords too! Give it!”
I'd pulled on a windbreaker and hummed my way to the PC café, where a somewhat unfamiliar sight greeted me.
Though perhaps it was only natural.
Even this early in the morning, the PC café was a little noisy with the lively voices of little kids.
Normally, I'd have ignored them. Kids would be kids. But their conversation was unusual enough to catch my attention.
“Hey, I gave you that blue armor earlier. If you get an item, you should give me one too.”
“You only gave me that because you couldn't equip it and were about to sell it to a shop. I can actually use this.”
“God, you're such a fucking cheapskate.”
What was I even looking at?
To think I'd see four or five little kids sitting in a row, playing Lost of Fantasy at a PC café...
Naturally, being young students, their levels were low.
They were fresh little sprouts who'd only just reached level fifteen.
“Which one should I pick here?”
“That one. Hey, hey, hey! That one! They said Arms Warrior is good for warriors.”
“Sunwoo! Kim Sunwoo! Make sure you pick the right one. Eunyun picked Hunting Gunner and started over yesterday.”
You... didn't actually need to start over for that.
Still, having some woman over twenty appear out of nowhere and start acting like a know-it-all would probably make them uncomfortable, right?
Anyway, watching kids like that enjoy the game left me feeling strangely emotional.
“You're here, Hana?”
After watching the little kids for about a minute, I headed to the tucked-away couple seats we'd used yesterday. Im Harin welcomed me, dressed in casual clothes rather than her school uniform.
“Do you know those kids? You were watching them for ages.”
“They were being loud, so I looked over to see what they were doing. Then I saw they were playing Lost of Fantasy and watched for a bit.”
“Ugh... They play it?”
Im Harin shook her head with a deeply unhappy expression.
“Does it really matter? It's not like Legend of League, where automatic matchmaking forces you to play with them.”
“Well... true. I figured a lot of kids like that would be playing, anyway.”
“Why?”
“Huh? You didn't know, Hana? Lost of Fantasy is number one in the PC café rankings right now.”
Really? So this day had come around again.
No, wait. In Jeong Hana's world, was this the beginning of a legend?
“I don't pay attention to PC café rankings, so I had no idea. Oh, right. Did you do that thing I told you about yesterday?”
“Oh, you mean that OTP thing? I set it up as soon as I got home. It really gives you four more bag slots, right?”
“There's that too, but don't come crying to me to buy you stuff after someone steals all your items.”
Im Harin chuckled, and we logged into the game at about the same time.
《FireFrog》
【Murmur Server】
【Immortal - Warlock】
【LV.49】
Good, good. Her level was just right too.
“Wait, you've gained more levels since yesterday. You weren't this level when you went home.”
“Of course I played more at home.”
“What? You can play games at home?”
“It's not like I don't have a computer. Why wouldn't I be able to? Of course I can.”
Then why did she come to a PC café? She could just play at home.
“Um... Well, my mom and dad don't really like having me at home.”
“But they're fine with you gaming late at night?”
“They're asleep by then, so they don't say anything.”
I was starting to understand why my landlady had asked me to keep an eye on her...
Still, there seemed to be some family issues involved, so I shouldn't pry.
“Anyway, Hana, what are we doing today?”
“Oh, right. I haven't explained yet. Let's level together.”
I pointed with my right hand at my character, who'd just reached level fifty.
“Level together? Can we do that?”
“Of course we can. It was hard before because there was a bit of a level gap between us.”
“No, can we really do that? Then why doesn't everyone else level together?”
“Because they don't know.”
Im Harin blinked.
No, seriously. They really didn't know.
“I bet a lot of people don't know that if you do quests in a party, your monster kills count for everyone, or that you can all loot quest items from the same corpse. Or that you pretty much need a party to kill elite mobs.”
“Forget a lot of people. You're the first person I've ever heard say any of that.”
“And once you reach the red levels, a party's just easier. Even regular mobs are a fucking pain. For starters, their health pools are huge.”
“What are red levels?”
I opened the map and pointed to the area I was in.
《Mana Plains》
“See how this area's name is red?”
“Oh, it is. The place I'm in is yellow.”
“These are basically high-level zones. The developers are giving you a rough warning so you don't wander in and die.”
“Ohhh, so they're called red levels because you have to level in red areas? That's so childish...”
Still, she grinned as though she liked how the phrase rolled off the tongue.
“But, Hana. Hana.”
“What now? What do you want to know?”
“...Doesn't that mean I'm carrying you?”
Oh, look at her.
“Why? Don't you want to carry me?”
“N-nooo. That's not what I meant. I mean, I'm happy to play with you. But if I'm doing this, maybe you could at least buy me a coffee...”
As Im Harin giggled, I grabbed her side with my left hand and gave it a good squeeze and tickle.
“You little brat. After everything I've taught you for free?”
“Ah, ahh! Hng! I was joking! Joking! Hana! Can't I even make a joke?!”
“Just now, you had the eyes of a little brat planning to empty her poor big sister's pockets.”
In the end, Im Harin burst into such breathless laughter that she was gasping. When I finally took my hand away, she fanned her red face and pulled herself upright from where she'd been curled up in the corner.
“Ha, hee... Whew. But, Hana, does that mean I'm really helping you hunt today? Like I'm giving you a carry?”
“Well... Seriously speaking, I'm planning to go somewhere that's fast for leveling but also the most dangerous. Joining my party will benefit you too.”
Im Harin covered her mouth with her left hand.
“You should've said that from the start.”
“If I explained all that and told you how we'd both benefit from partying together, I'd sound like some shady business owner ripping off a high school girl...”
“Pfft...!”
No, why was she laughing?
“No, listen. It'd be like me saying... Harin, if you go to Mana Plains alone, you might run into an Allied Coalition rogue who spends all day jumping people from behind and camping their corpses. Rather than go through that, why don't you party up safely with me? That sounds kind of ridiculous, doesn't it?”
“Pfft, ngh...! Hana. From behind?”
“Oh, come on!! What kind of high school girl are you?! Why's your mind so dirty?”
“What? There's nobody around me who doesn't watch dirty stuff, mmph, mweh.”
Before Im Harin could drop some other bombshell, I pressed her cheeks together with my hand and shut her mouth.
“Hehehe... Anyway! So it's dangerous because of what you just said, right? Open-world PvP!”
“Yeah, exactly. You know, rogues and other annoying types.”
“They're all total pushovers when I fight them. They're not even good. They just bother people for no reason.”
“Sounds like you've fought a few.”
Im Harin made a cute V with her fingers.
Well, gaming talent ran in her blood. She wasn't the sort to hide in fear of people who played dirty, opening from stealth and running away.
“Anyway, can you get to where I am?”
“You mean Mana Plains? I can't go straight there. I do have a quest telling me to go there, though.”
“Then... you'll have to walk part of the way anyway, so walk over from Ashen Harbor here. It might look far, but you'll be coming through a low-level zone, so it'll be easy.”
“Okaaay. Just wait a bit, Hana. I'll be right over to carry you.”
Humming to herself, Im Harin quickly selected the gargoyle route to Ashen Harbor and began flying there automatically.
“But, Hana. Looking at the map, there are quite a few red areas. Why are you leveling in Mana Plains?”
“Oh, that? Nothing special. The quest NPCs are all clustered together here. The PvP's rough too, but you won't die if you move around in a party.”
“Oh... Then the other areas must be absolute hell.”
“Exactly. But people who don't know any better usually go here. See Halphas Hill? It's close to the Demon King's Castle. But once you get there, it's absolute hell.”
* * *
《Halphas Hill》
“Ah, ah... Seriouslyyy! What's wrong with this area?! Are all the NPCs broken? They're standing there perfectly fine, so why won't any of them give me a queeest?!”
As she screamed, Kang Minseo was getting a bitter taste of the “hell” Jeong Hana had described.
- lmaoooooo
- wow this area's complete fucking garbage
- NPCs but no quests? Beepity boop!
- How about ditching this place and going somewhere else?
“Ugh, this place... Seriously! It's total garbage! I haven't gained a single level in two hours!!!”
「Anon donated 1,000 won」
[Minseo~ Minseo~ Isn't this some kind of event area~? I saw a whole crowd of elite mobs standing around earlier~]
“Ugh... I hate this. Seriously... Guys, does anyone know somewhere else I can level?”
Having thoroughly wasted almost three hours, Kang Minseo had reached her limit.
“I'm a tank, so just grinding mobs is already really hard. But there are barely any quests either... And these routes, seriously. Isn't it a bit much when there are more elite mobs than players along the road...?”
Much like someone leveling as a healer, Kang Minseo needed a helping hand. In one sense, she had it even harder because she couldn't heal herself.
“Isn't there... anyone who can help me? Pleeease.”
- Minseo, Minseo, we told you. You're the highest level here.
- this bitch's doing it again lmao
- ma'am, you know more about this game than anyone else in this chat
- yeah lol we only know what you know~~~~~
Realizing that all her whining earned her was mockery, Kang Minseo pressed both hands to her chest and let out a deep sigh.
“Seriously... I can't survive here! I'm going to another red area, even if I have to walk!!!”
Footnotes:
“Beepity boop!” mimics the flashy sound effects used in sensational Korean video intros, turning the complaint into a mock clickbait headline.
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