—-

Just being on the other side of Kieran’s cold gaze made Aspaira tremble. It didn’t seem like an expression that a normal person should have. The look was a kind of deterring pressure that only someone who experienced brutal battles could withstand.

However, given the standard of realism Kieran experienced in the past, coupled with the training from individuals who engaged in warfare ops regularly, it was understandable that Kieran could unleash a terrifying gaze―one horrifying enough to stifle all of Aspaira’s actions.

“U-Um… Aatrox, why that expression?” Aspaira muttered in an almost fragile tone. The last thing she wanted was for an issue to escalate far out of their control. After all, from how their assaulters carried themselves, Aspaira could tell they were one cohesive unit.

This cohesiveness alone made Aspaira feel there should be some type of power behind them. While Aspaira wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about the classifications of these organizations, the fact she was defenseless against them scared her.

Additionally, she couldn’t help but wonder if there were more of them.

“Because they’ve misplaced their target, and as a result, they’ve brought you guys into this,” Kieran said. Their actions reminded Kieran far too much of how the Golden Brigade executed forceful methods. So, it touched upon a sore spot inside Kieran.

Naturally, Kieran would need to retaliate with this sore spot triggered, or his rage wouldn’t subside. After a short pause, Kieran calmed down and assessed the issue properly while returning his attention to Aspaira.

“How many were there during that time? Also, how many coins did you ultimately drop?” Kieran questioned. If they dropped too much, Kieran would have to make some adjustments._-.

Aspaira’s bitter smile deepened as she recollected the event. “There were about 20 of them initially, but they were forced to call for more back-up when Altair took on their leader and three more simultaneously. As for the coins dropped… well, err.”

“Spit it out,” Kieran interjected in a direct and almost harsh tone.

“I alone dropped over 30 Silver Coins. I didn’t know the death penalty became so bad!” Aspaira whimpered. She felt the system was absolutely ruthless. How could it justify depleting so much item durability and razing one’s inventory?

However, Kieran simply shook his head with a complex expression. He was well aware of how Zenith Online’s system treated those deemed to be weaklings. The more susceptible one was to death, the harsher the consequence. In short, the death penalty was designed to incentivize players to work on their survivability.

The weak had no place in the upper echelon of Zenith Online, so those who continued to die would only fall behind the rest. Similarly, Zenith Online was also impartial when it came to consequences. While victim players were admittedly punished for being weak, the opposing party was admittedly punished for being vindictive.

As mentioned before, if you attacked a fellow player, it would not only begin to increase your Infamy value, but it would also activate the PK System. The PK system was a two-dimensional system because it had both an aggressor and a defender side.

If the defender prevailed in battle, the defender wouldn’t acquire Infamy whatsoever. However, if the aggressor who immediately adopted a pale-red shade to their name were to die, they would experience an increased death penalty related to their corresponding Infamy level.

The stages of Infamy varied from the First to Fifth Degree, with each degree requiring an increasingly heinous achievement to reach. But, it was easy to reach the First to Third Degree because their effects weren’t as dire as the last two. Not to mention, regularly generating Infamy ran the risk of gaining a permanent Infamy value.

While it may seem harmless at the beginning, it could severely harm a player’s chances of generating a relationship with essential characters or organizations, especially ones of righteous or just stances.

“Then this won’t do. I’ll return some of the coins you’ve given me,” Kieran said. But, once he noticed the change in Aspaira’s expression, he quickly continued, “Before you start, this is just temporary. I expect you to return what I give you once you properly situate yourself. Is that understood?”

“Okay, fine. That works,” Aspaira relented, giving in to Kieran’s suggestion.

Something told her she wouldn’t win even if she continued to reject the offer. It wasn’t that Kieran was a selfless person; he simply didn’t believe in letting someone unrelated to him suffer for a matter they weren’t involved in.

One of Kieran’s cardinal rules was that neither the innocent nor the powerless should be roped into an ongoing conflict. Not only was someone who did this scum, but they were unfit to even be called a proper person.

Afterward, Kieran exited the shop while noticing Altair’s icon come online. It was pretty late in the day already, so Kieran estimated that he must’ve stayed on a little longer than he claimed to most likely take advantage of the Medallion of Growth’s benefits.

Suddenly, Altair sent Kieran a video call request the moment he logged in. Kieran answered, linking the calls together. After realizing Aspaira was already there, Altair understood he didn’t need to fill Kieran in on the situation. Still, there was something else he needed to talk about.

“Yo! Have you checked the forum recently?” Altair asked.

“I haven’t,” Kieran admitted. He was too busy setting up the meeting with Dr. Riley to pay attention to anything regarding the game’s forum right now. “Is there something important that I missed?”

“Well, I guess that’ll be up to you to decide. I mean, we’ve already snagged a first achievement. Though I can’t lie, another one wouldn’t hurt at all,” Altair shrugged.

Kieran would be lying if he said Altair’s words didn’t hold some intrigue. Amassing achievements would not only deliver rewards, but if enough were accumulated, it could directly affect their standing with the Adventurer Guild once they registered as official adventurers.

“What is it?” Aspaira asked curiously.

“It appears that enough time has passed. World Bosses are beginning to appear in all beginner villages’ leveling fields! But get this, they’re not Normal. All of them that have been sighted are Rare!” Altair exclaimed with sparkling eyes.

The allure of a Rare World Boss made him practically salivate.

After being online for a decent amount of time on the first day, Altair became privy to some of the Monster and Boss ranks. While it wasn’t perfect, he surmised that World Bosses should at least be as strong as Dungeon Bosses.

However, Kieran shook his head at Altair’s naive excitement. “You know that a World Boss and a Dungeon Boss are two completely different issues, right? You really shouldn’t compare a Dungeon Boss to a World Boss.”

“What…? Why not?” Altair muttered with a slightly deflated expression present behind his scarf.

“First of all, as the name insinuates, a World Boss is a boss open to the world. Now, can you tell me what that means?”

At first, Altair knitted his brows while looking at Kieran. But, that changed after a few seconds. A look of realization appeared upon Altair’s face. “Ah! Damn, it doesn’t have the party limitation of a dungeon!”

“Precisely.”

A World Boss was completely unlike a Dungeon Boss. Not only were its attributes exponentially higher, but its health was designed to account for countless people joining together to kill it. Of course, this also meant the experience distribution attached to World Bosses differed significantly.

“There’s only one of them appearing per starting area, right?” Kieran asked with a playful gleam in his eyes. Perhaps a boss of this caliber was just what he needed to properly prepare for his quest. What’s more, if it was in the proper region, he could even use his trade skill if the opportunity presented itself.

“Yes sir! You hit the nail on the head. So… are we teaming up again?” Altair asked excitedly.

However, before answering, Kieran looked toward Aspaira’s screen for a moment. If this information was made public, then there would be many parties scrambling to find the region the World Boss would spawn in. Amongst those people, the Shadow Cartel should mobilize their forces as well.

For this reason, Kieran wasn’t sure if it was better for Aspaira to remain in town or accompany them to seek out the boss. Additionally, there was also the problem regarding Cygnus and Sithik. Their levels were significantly lower as well. Experience from the boss could essentially replenish what they lost, if not more.

Eventually, Kieran decided to let this decision be up to those who were affected.

“If it’s with you two, I’m willing to seek out the boss. There’s no reason we shouldn’t aim for more experience, right?”

“Good, then we’ll all meet in Gena Village if that’s the case.”

After leaving the scroll shop, Kieran immediately noticed the aftereffects of the rumors circulating on the forum. A stream of players above the average Lv.9 rushed out of Gena Village and towards the Fanged Forest direction.

Kieran didn’t bother trying to guess what the boss was because there were too many possible answers. If he made preparations for the wrong one, it would be rendered useless. So, Kieran chose not to prepare at all. He was already comparable to a Lv.22 character without a class promotion with his current gear.

Approximately 25 minutes later, both Sithik and Cygnus logged in within ten minutes of each other. After logging in, they rendezvoused at the entrance of Gena Village with sorry looks.

Before they could express their sorrows, Kieran raised his hand. “Don’t worry. You’re not to blame. Sometimes, this is just how the game goes. I wouldn’t be surprised if you guys weren’t the only ones affected by the PK habits of the Shadow Cartel.”

Now that they were all together, Kieran led everyone towards the Fanged Forest. However, unlike the rest, Kieran moved slowly. He wasn’t in a hurry to meet with a World Boss. He needed to give the situation time to ripen.

In the meantime, he devised a few plans that could be implemented right away.