Former Ranker's Newbie Life-Chapter 27

Theresa’s eyes darted around the room, sharp and focused like a predator on the hunt. Her gaze was like that of a hawk zeroing in on prey. She was chasing the latest craze: recruiting a magic damage dealer to farm Iron Golems.

For three straight days, she’d been making the rounds at the inn, tavern, and restaurant near the Closed Iron Mine, practically camping out at each spot. Yet, she still hadn’t managed to fill the magic DPS slot.

The reason was painfully simple. She and her friend—a warrior and a swordsman both focused on strength—were utterly useless when it came to taking down Iron Golems, infamous for their insane physical defense. Every time she spotted a solo player, she’d approach them, only to get turned down over and over.

After what felt like the hundredth rejection, Theresa muttered to herself in a voice full of gloom, “This feels harder than job hunting.”

Her friend Sang-Soo, who had been half-watching her antics while sipping beer for days, finally chimed in. “Job hunting’s harder. You’re a liberal arts major, for fuck’s sake. Honestly, it’s kinda funny that someone from Creative Writing is even talking about employment. If you wanted a job, maybe you shouldn’t have gone into that department.”

“Shut up! That’s why I’m job hunting here! I’m gonna make my money in-game!” Theresa shot back, her voice muffled as she slumped over the table, mumbling about her grand career plans.

Another friend, Soso, decided to jump in. “If you really want to recruit someone, maybe you should start by hiding those ridiculous weapons of yours. You’re standing in front of a dungeon that only needs tanks, waving around that giant hammer and oversized sword, and wondering why no one wants to join? I don’t play any games but even I know this. With that kind of brainpower, no wonder you’re broke.”

Soso, her friend of twelve years, delivered her critique with surgical precision, leaving Theresa feeling a pang of despair.

“You wouldn’t understand, Soso! You’re a rich kid from a doctor’s family! I have to do this to survive!”

“You’re still stuck on the ‘doctor’s kid’ thing? I dropped out of med school ages ago and have been unemployed ever since. Honestly, I don’t get why you’re still at this. It’s clearly not working. Just move on. Even if you’re a dumbass warrior who only knows how to hit hard, I’m not gonna abandon you.”

“Well, gee, thanks. I can sleep at night knowing the almighty healer isn’t going to ditch me.”

Truth be told, Theresa wanted nothing more than to leave this place and try another hunting ground. If it weren’t for that damn weapon crafting quest, she wouldn’t have wasted days stuck here.

Hell, I should’ve just used this time to grind money and buy another weapon instead of waiting around like a moron... Theresa sighed, looking like a disheartened investor stuck at the peak of a bad stock trade.

Soso, noticing her mood, popped a small piece of bread into Theresa’s mouth and spoke with mock reassurance. “Don’t stress about finding a job. If things really don’t work out, you can just work at my mom’s company.”

“What about me? Let me in too! I can work like a slave!” Sang-Soo exclaimed.

“Sorry. My mom hates nepo babies.”

“Hey! You guys are nepo babies, too!”

“Well, I’m my mom’s own daughter and Theresa’s my friend. And just because you are her friend doesn’t make you my friend all of a sudden.”

Although Sang-Soo had known them since elementary school, he had never really interacted with Soso in particular. Still, those brutally honest words made his face crumple as if someone had stabbed him in the chest.

Just then, Theresa tapped both of them with her hands. “Hey, quiet down both of you. There’s a mage who just walked in. I saw him turn down every party request from the others so far.”

At the sight of a rare, unclaimed “catch,” Theresa’s voice shot up an octave in excitement. “L-let me handle this one! We’re hunting today, I swear! Both of you, look serious and give off that pro vibe. First impressions matter, alright?”

Watching her stammer with excitement over the first decent lead in days, Soso propped her chin on her hand, unimpressed and whispered to Sang-Soo, “Think she’s gonna fail again?”

“Obviously. If he turned down all those other parties, why the hell would he join ours?”

“Both of you, shut the hell up.”

Theresa growled, shooting them a death glare before taking a deep breath. Then, with her eyes locked on her prey—the lone mage—she made her move.

“This time, I’ve got a plan, okay?”

Her mind buzzed with the rough strategy she’d come up with as she approached.

***

“Ugh.” Do-Jin let out a frustrated sigh, annoyance creeping into his expression.

Since his return to the past, everything had gone according to plan. Not once had things gone off the rails, at least until today.

Coming to the Closed Iron Mine, the most efficient hunting ground for mid-to-late Level 30 players, had been a solid decision. He had learned a new skill from the point exchange, stocked up on plenty of consumables, and prepared meticulously for this hunt. He thought he was ready to dive straight into action, but he’d hit a snag in the unlikeliest of places.

I should’ve realized this place would be a goddamn tank-and-healer convention.

Not a single physical damage dealer was in sight. It was understandable since word had already spread far and wide that Iron Golems had ridiculously high physical defense and hilariously low magic resistance. Any class reliant on physical damage would have no business being here. They wouldn’t even get into a party, and even if they did, they’d contribute absolutely nothing.

In the future, tank-healer-magic damage dealer parties would fade out of favor, and his dream team centered around physical DPS would dominate. Of course, that was still a long way off.

It’d be easier to spot a unicorn in downtown Seoul.

Frustrated, Do-Jin raised his hand to call over a server. After wandering between inns and restaurants all day, he was tired, hungry, and thirsty. At this point, he’d settle for shoving whatever food they had into his face.

Despite the chaos of the crowded room, the server immediately spotted him and scurried over. “Yes, sir! We’ve got meals, drinks, and alcohol ready to go. What can I get you?”

Do-Jin was about to order something simple when a voice cut in, followed by the clink of a coin being flipped. “A cold beer for him.”

Even though the coin was tossed sloppily, the server caught it like a pro.

“One cold beer! Order received!” The server darted off to the kitchen without missing a beat.

Suddenly, a woman plopped herself down in front of Do-Jin, completely uninvited and without so much as a word of explanation. Staring at the stranger who’d so casually barged in, Do-Jin thought to himself, Who the fuck is this clown?

The woman sitting awkwardly across from Do-Jin had a face like a squishy dumpling. When he shot her a sharp glare, she flinched. As if she was determined to save face, she forced a casual smile and tried to look confident.

“Haven’t seen your face around here. You new?” she asked.

What the hell kind of act was this? Do-Jin nearly let out a sarcastic laugh. Sure, there were players in LOST who liked to roleplay as native Lostanians, hiding their real origins for the sake of immersion, but this was so half-assed it was painful to watch.

The game prevented players from making their avatars too different from real life. Judging by her baby-faced features, she looked like a kid barely past twenty trying to act like a grizzled veteran adventurer. Her trembling smile and darting eyes, which failed miserably at projecting confidence, only made the whole act even more pathetic.

Normally, he might have humored someone like this for a laugh, maybe even played along for a bit. Today, he was not in the mood.

Maybe if she was really committed to her role, she could’ve sold it better. Before she could salvage it, though, Do-Jin cut her off flatly. “Sorry, I’m not in the mood to go along with your roleplay. If you’ve got something to say, get to the point.”

The words carried enough chill to make the air between them feel icy.

“W-what? Nah, I was just trying to give some advice. You looked new around here, that’s all,” the dumpling stammered, still clinging to her act.

“I don’t do vague small talk,” he said flatly. “If you’ve got a reason for being here, spit it out. If not, take that beer the server’s bringing and get lost. I don’t drink.”

The words landed like a punch to the gut, leaving her wide-eyed and unsteady, like a rookie taking their first hit in the ring.

To be fair, Theresa hadn’t meant to come across like an idiot. She’d been rejected so many times in the past few days that she figured it was because she seemed too desperate. So, in a misguided attempt to appear confident, she attempted to channel a cool, seasoned mercenary, much like the badass character she’d seen in a web comic recently.

The only problem was this role didn’t suit her at all, and her half-baked acting made a complete mess of her first impression. Now that her confidence was shot to hell, she had no idea how to recover.

“Your cold beer is here!” The server’s cheerful voice rang out, breaking the tension for a moment.

But Theresa could still feel Do-Jin’s glare burning a hole through her. In truth, Do-Jin was just waiting for her to speak, but to the already-shaken Theresa, his sharp eyes might as well have been screaming, “Why the hell are you still here?”

Crushed under the weight of her own embarrassment, Theresa’s lips moved soundlessly a few times before she gave up the act entirely. With her head bowed, she muttered, “Sorry for being rude.”

The second she dropped the persona, a wave of shame and regret came crashing down on her. She couldn’t even muster the courage to follow up with her real reason for approaching him. How could she possibly ask, “Would you consider partying with us? By the way, we’ve got two trash-tier physical damage dealers and no tank!”

Completely deflated, she mumbled another apology, stood up, and shuffled back toward her friends, her steps heavy and defeated. Do-Jin, who had been mildly curious about what kind of nonsense this dumpling-faced rookie was about to spout, felt let down by the anticlimactic turn of events. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Was I too harsh? Now it feels like I just took out my shitty mood on her. I mean, she’s the one who started it, but still...

Then again, if she’d committed to the bit, she should’ve been ready to take the heat. Still watching her slink away like a crumpled dumpling, Do-Jin let out a small sigh.

Right there and then, he saw the massive warhammer lying in her path. Nobody in their right mind would tank with something like that. If anyone tried, they’d have to be completely insane. That thing was built only to deal damage, plain and simple.

Sitting by the spot where the hammer was laid was a man with a long sword strapped to his back, the kind that swordsmen, not warriors, typically favored. Right there, within arm’s reach, were two living relics, a pair of physical DPS classes in this tank-and-healer wonderland. They were the rare beasts he’d been scouring for all day.

And what had he done? He’d stomped on the golden pumpkin that rolled into his lap, crushed it to pieces, and chased them off. Do-Jin’s stomach sank as he realized his mistake, but there was no time for regret because he needed to fix this fast.

“Wait,” he called out to the dumpling.

Whether she hadn’t heard him or was just pretending not to, the woman kept walking. Do-Jin couldn’t just let her go like that, since hunting with a suboptimal party would tank his efficiency by more than half. He stood from his seat and strode forward, grabbing her shoulder.

“W-what? Did I mess something up again?” Theresa spun around, her gaze darting nervously around until landing on the beer at the table. “Oh...! I’m sorry! You said you didn’t drink, didn’t you? I-I’ll get rid of it right away!”

As she fumbled to correct what she thought was her mistake, Do-Jin stopped her with a raised hand. “No, it’s not that. I just wanted to apologize. I think I snapped at you for no good reason. It wasn’t a big deal... I just had a shitty day, and I took it out on you.”

Theresa blinked, clearly thrown off by the sudden change in tone. A moment ago, this guy had been sharp enough to cut with a look, and now this.

“You said you had something to talk about, right? Just skip the awkward acting and get to the point. And drink the beer you ordered... It’d be a waste to throw it out.” Do-Jin gave her an awkward smile, the kind that said he wasn’t used to apologizing.

“Uh... are you sure? I mean, it’s not really that important...” Faced with his disarming grin, Theresa, ever the gullible optimist, found herself lowering her guard.

There’s no fucking way I’m letting you go now. You and your buddy are my damage slaves until further notice.

She was unaware that, behind his innocent smile, a devilish grin was lurking.