Haroon

《Meeting Rumm》

 On the sixth day after the members of The Gusts of Wind entered the Hall of Warriors, Haroon"s footsteps were heading towards the Grand Plaza, where they hadn"t been for the last few days. He was satisfied with training as he had leveled up the Messenger Walking skill, so he got a sudden interest in meeting other users.

"My members will return by tomorrow, so why don"t I go to a hunting ground?"

 He realized he had never been to a proper hunting ground even though he was playing a game as a user. He decided to spend that day on the hunting ground, joining a party if he could.

 On the way to the Grand Plaza, he paid a visit to a mercenary office and checked if there was any requests he could take, but there were none he could do alone in one day. He requested delivering a few letters, and exited the office, enjoying the peaceful view of the viscount castle. He pa.s.sed the chaotic Grand Plaza where the users were opening their own stalls, and headed towards the hunting ground.

 "Excuse me, are you a user?"

 Someone"s voice stopped his carefree steps. Haroon could see a swordsman when he turned back, who seemed to be the same age as him. The guy who stopped him had a vivid face, which was very likeable. The orc leather armor set and extraordinary steel sword on his back told Haroon that the guy had quite a high level, and made him wonder why the guy would stop someone low-leveled like him, but answered anyways.

 "Well, I am. Is there something I can help you with……?

 "You wanna join our party?"

 A sudden party request offered from a stranger.

 "Your party? Well, I don"t think I can be of any help to you as my level is so low. You know, I"ve just got into a cla.s.s," Haroon replied.

 He got interested by the word "party", but refused politely. He was only level 17, and the parties he could join would be sc.r.a.ppy noob parties. If he were to join a proper party, he would at least need to get to level 20.

 "Level doesn"t matter much."

 "Is that so?"

 Haroon still didn"t know the reason, but the guy seemed rather honest, and the guy"s carefree att.i.tude did trigger his interest.

 "Excuse me."

 The guy drew closer and whispered in Haroon"s ear.

 "Let me be honest with you. I found an unregistered dungeon, and it"s a party dungeon. We tried to meet the minimum requirement by inviting friends, we even recruited a priest from the temple, and we still lack a person."

 A party dungeons" difficulty was at least C. If a party doesn"t have 9 people or more, entering the dungeon itself will be denied. If the guy"s words were true, it was Haroon"s lucky day. He hadn’t heard anything about unregistered dungeons from Bell. While it was true he hasn’t been logging out often, he thought it was probably because cla.s.ses like map makers or finders has not appeared yet.

 "But why me, though……?"

 "Well, we were looking for a user in the plaza, and we noticed you coming out from the mercenary office. My friends thought that you"re an NPC, but I had a strange feeling that you"re a user, so we made a bet to see if you were a user or not. Hahaha, and I won the bet, thanks to you."

 "Really?"

 He never thought he would draw the attention of anyone, so it was quite a strange sensation. When he was attending a school in District B, his short height and timid personality helped him with being n.o.body.

  "But still, didn"t you need someone who"s practically useful?"

 "Not really, and I simply liked my first impression of you. Don"t get me wrong, but I felt some kind of charisma contrasted by your lone, cold appearance."

 "Hahaha."

 Haroon smiled from his compliment.

 "In fact, my friends" abilities are somewhat high, so it"s quite uncomfortable for us to invite someone with a high level, and we thought it"d be better if we could find someone to get along with."

 Basically saying the only reason they"re inviting Haroon to their party is that they"re simply interested by their first impression of him.

 "Does that mean they are that innocent? Or are they that confident?"

 It was unpleasant to hear that they didn"t care how skillful Haroon was, but it wasn"t so offending. After all, he had some time to kill until the members came back from the Hall of Warriors.

 Haroon had no reason to refuse the invitation as all he wanted to do is experience the ordinary user"s playstyle. Moreover, they were heading to an unregistered dungeon, which meant they"ll be levelling up more easily, and they might be able to get some good items.

 "Sounds good. Just don"t expect much from me then. I won"t say thank you for inviting me. The name"s Haroon."

 "That means I don"t have to say thank you for joining then? It"s Meshrumm. You can call me Rumm, though. Well then, why don"t we head to the cafe over there where our party is waiting?"

 The two made their way through the crowd, and headed to an open-air cafe that was next to the road that lead to the gate of the castle. It was about a distance of 20 to 30 steps.

 "Just to let you know, we are all from the same university with same majors. Everyone is different and have quite strong characteristic, but I promise they are not bad people at all. We"ll try our best, but bear with us if you feel left out."

 "I see. I envy that though, playing games with friends. And don"t worry about it, I can understand."

 "Hah! It"s the moment of truth!" Rumm proudly shouted at them.

 The faces of the party members who were sitting at tables, separated into two groups, were already changing from seeing the two coming towards them.

 "Just tell us what the trick is, Rumm."

 "I know right? What made you think he is a user?"

 Complaining, Rumm"s friends took silvers out of their pockets and tossed them to Rumm. Some even threw at him, but Rumm was able to catch all 7 of them with quick movements.

 "Well guys, this is Haroon," Rumm introduced him to the party.

 "Nice to meet you. The name"s Haroon. It hasn"t been long since I got a cla.s.s, and this is my first time to play in a party, so I hope I can learn a lot from you guys."

 Five of the party members stood up to greet him. Two of the ones who were still sitting were scanning him with strange looks, and the last one didn"t even care.

 The first one who greeted him was a magician. He was a handsome man, but seemed somewhat bold and arrogant.

 "I"m Maron. The level is 39, and I"m walking on the path of Mana."

 He"s probably the type of person who can"t stay in the background, or the leader of the party. Maybe both. Seeing his att.i.tude and language, Haroon could tell that he was a n.o.ble in real life.

 "I"m Mentosa, level 32 Swordsman. I"m the tanker of the party."

 "Minerva. I"m a level 29 archeress. It is nice to meet you."

 "Tess. I"m a magician. Level"s 33."

 "Same level, I"m swordsman Yeo"myeong¹."

 Mentosa was a rough fellow, who had a greatsword on his back. Haroon initially thought he was a tough, temperous man. He realized he was wrong when he heard his voice.

 Archeress Minerva and Swordswoman² Tess were ladies with completely different images. Minerva was a beautiful lady who seemed warm and open. Tess seemed cold and sharp like a blade. Swordsman Yeo"myeong was slim like a woman, and had sharp eyes, but weren"t as sharp as Tess"s.

 Their level was so much higher than Haroon"s. To reach such a level as students, unlike Haroon who live in the game, they must have started playing Beyond in the initial stage.

 "Hey, Are you not gonna be in the party with us?"

 Rumm was disappointed by his two friends who still weren"t standing up, and berated them, turning his face red. The voice got loud in the meantime, but they were just looking at Haroon.

 "I was just not sure how a user who has never joined a party could enter the mercenary office freely, if he is not an NPC. Isn"t that odd, Mr. Haroon?"

 "That"s what I mean. That"s odd."

 The two must be doubting Haroon"s ident.i.ty. They weren"t wrong, as that"s what most of the users thought.

 "Well, this is my stat window. Help yourselves."

 Haroon opened his stat window and displayed it so they could check it.

Name: Haroon
Race: Human
Cla.s.s: Swordsman
Level: 17
t.i.tle: Hidden by the user.

 He had already set things on private mode just in case he got into a party. He hid stats and skills because he didn"t need to show them. All he had to prove was that he hasn"t lied about the level, and that he is a user.

 "I was able to enter the mercenary guild building because of the request I made. No matter how low the level is, anyone can enter the building if they had something to request."

 The two stood up from their places upon hearing Haroon"s words and seeing the status window, with an expression of sorry on their face. In fact, Haroon requested sending mails to Instructor Hector and Elser, so he wasn"t lying.

 "I"m Mir³. Level"s 33, and I"m working on the path of mana. I"m terribly sorry about what I said just a moment ago. I didn"t know that was a thing."

 "I"m Dasom⁴. Level 30 a.s.sa.s.sin, but not any good at it yet. To be honest, I suspected that you were hiding something from us, as I never knew one could easily enter the mercenary guild office building. To add, Rumm is moody and naive who easily gets tricked so… I"m really sorry!"

 Seeing how Dasom talks, Haroon imagined if she was the girlfriend of Rumm. Haroon realized these two were more normal than the others. These two was able to catch odds from a stranger, when the others only cared about the bet they lost.

 "Don"t worry about it. I understand. It is nice to meet you two."

 Haroon didn"t really mind it. It wasn"t even something to keep in mind, after all. But Rumm seemed uneasy from the actions of the ladies, as if he was the one who was distrusting.

 "And she is Lace, she was the last one who joined the party before you. She is the priest I mentioned earlier. She"s Tess"s older sister, by the way. She meditates whenever she can, so that"s why she hasn"t noticed you yet. Don"t mind too much about her not greeting you."

 Lace opened her eyes. She probably heard what Rumm just said. Her deep, dark pupils held Haroon"s image for a second.

 "Excuse me. I"m Lace, a priest."

 "Nice to meet you."

 "Nice to meet you, too. By the way, is there any reason that you are hiding the t.i.tles?"

 "Huh?"

 She saw the stat window already? She noticed something that the others haven"t. Considering her question, she was an extraordinary person.

 "I just didn"t feel like showing them."

 "Is that so? Fair enough……. Anyways, it is great to have you in our party. I didn"t feel alright until you joined the party. I never knew Rumm had the eye to find a good person. I was underestimating him, to be honest."

 The party realized she wasn"t talking to Haroon when she spoke her last sentence.

 Lace"s level was the highest of the party, she played for the longest time, except Haroon. Moreover, priest was a cla.s.s that helps the others where solo"ing was almost impossible, so she had lots of experience in meeting other players. So words from Lace on people had more weight than anyone in the party.

 Her ambiguous words that implied she found out something that the others hadn"t made the others look at Haroon once again. Just as Lace implied, they could see something different from him that they couldn"t see because of the preconception they had upon hearing the level 17.

 As the mood was getting heavier, Rumm quickly spoke out to lighten it up.

 "Well, then! Let"s get moving. Now that we"ve got enough members, let"s head to the dungeon and enjoy the rights of the first discoverer!"

 Rumm, the life of the party, made everyone"s faces bright again.

 "Wait, Haroon isn"t in the party yet. Maron, it"s your turn," said Rumm.

 "Oh, right. Give me a sec."

[You have received a message. Would you like to check it now?]

 "Yes."

 [Party "KO-1 Top" has invited you. Would you like to accept the invitation?]

 "Yes."

 These users must be living in KO-1 Union, just like Haroon. It didn"t matter as they were meeting in a game, but Haroon felt a deeper connection when meeting someone from the same Union. Naturally, he felt uneasy by having Maron in the party as he was a n.o.ble, but he decided to think positively because of Rumm.

[You are now a member of KO-1 Top party. Experience points will now be gained as a party, and will be distributed depending on how much each contributes. Item distribution is on manual mode, and it won"t affect solo-kills. Party chat is now activated.]

 With a simple procedure, Haroon joined the party.

The destination they were heading was the Nenond mountain. According to someone, although Haroon didn"t remember exactly who it was, it would take about an hour by walking. Fortunately, they didn"t see even the glimpse of a monster on the way. The dungeon was located near a path that merchants usually take, so the guards the of Viscounty of Paros regularly hunted the monsters.

 On the way, the members of KO-1 Top party shared information and planned out the strategy. Although he didn"t want to, Haroon never got the chance to join the conversation. Maron treated Haroon as if he wasn"t there. The others were ignoring him just as Maron was doing, excluding Rumm and Lace.

 Just as Rumm told him, He was just someone who filled the number. His ability as a level 17 wouldn"t benefit the party much anyways. Of course, Haroon didn"t mind it at all. It was what he expected, and it was obvious to them. Haroon was just lucky, they had not chioce as they needed to fill the numbers.

 Haroon simply followed them, quietly practicing Messenger Walking, so the body would get used to it. Since he learned that Messenger Walking works in real life as well, he decided to make his body learn it so that he can cast it automatically. On the way, Lace came near Haroon and asked.

 "I can see that the way you walk is quite unusual. You are walking uphill as if you were walking on the plain land."

 "Really? Maybe I got used to walking way too much."

 Haroon dismissed the question without revealing that he was, in fact, using a skill. Lace"s facial expression changed a bit as if she felt his answer was halfhearted.

 "About what happened earlier, I"m sorry that I suspected you. I think I got carried away as I and the others are friends already. You know, we didn"t really have time to find someone we know, so we had to find someone we could trust."

 It seemed she misunderstood Haroon, that he was still upset about it.

 "Like I said earlier, I don"t really mind it so you don"t have worry about it."

 "I have to say, that"s a really unusual walking style that you use. It looks like you are walking without putting in any effort. The others are tired already, but you seem really, relaxed."

 She wasn"t just saying that to have a conversation with him. She really seemed interested in the way he walks. Anyways, Lace was paying attention to Haroon too much, abnormally so.

 "Is it? I really don"t know what you mean."

 "Huhu, it seems you really don"t want to talk with me."

 She pulled back the hood that she was wearing over her eyes. Her l.u.s.trous, coal-black hair fell over her shoulder like a waterfall, and her entire face was revealed. Crystal-like eyes and an impeccable face dazed Haroon. He had never seen a beautiful lady like her before.

 "You are beautiful."

 "Huhu, am I? I don"t think you really mean it. I can tell from your voice and expression."

 Haroon feared showing his timid, introspective personality, so he has been talking coldly without showing any expressions on his face. That must be why she thought so.

 "I really mean it. I"m quite timid, so I can"t really control my face when I see a beautiful lady. I don"t have a trick to pretend not to be interested, nor courage to admire the beauty."

 "Hahaha."

 She found his words funny, so she laughed, widely opening her mouth.

 "You are more honest than I thought. I thought you were a man with many secrets, since you were hiding your t.i.tles."

 "Haha."

 Haroon simply laughed at it, as he didn"t really have anything to say. Then he got curious about why she revealed her face.

 "It"s because of trouble I made earlier. You seem different so I thought it"d be good to get to know you. That"s why I revealed my face. No other reasons."

 She read his thought through his eyes, and explained even though he didn"t ask for it. It wasn"t something he expected to be answered, but he could see that she was good at reading one"s mind.

 "I felt something, intense that I"ve never felt before, when you were coming with Rumm. It felt like you were a lone wolf, who wanders around the wilderness, swanning around."

 "Maybe you are right about a lone wolf. Not about being intense, though. Maybe you felt it that way because I"m a loner in the real world."

 "I was moved, to be honest. Some ladies do find a lone man charismatic, you know?"

 "Huhuhu, that"s quite an honor."

 Haroon was more honest this time. It was the first time he heard such phrase from a lady, so he got a little excited, but it was a bit scary too. It felt like he was revealing his naked body.

 "Let me introduce myself again. I"m 22, and my real name is Hwayeon. I"m a third-year student of the KO-1 Union Top University. It"s the uni we attend."

 Haroon had nothing to say. It was his first time to hear someone"s real name in a VR game.

 "Some say relationships made in virtual reality is a fake one, but I don"t think so. At least not in Beyond, as it doesn"t feel like it is a virtual reality. This is a precious part of my life, my second life really. And I believe the relationship I make here can be continued in real life as well."

 "Well, I do agree that Beyond is another reality."

 Haroon nodded.

 "And I"m really curious what kind of person you are. Don"t get me wrong though. No one has drawn my interest like you did. And it"s not like I"m putting a move on you. I"m simply interested in you as a person."

 There are people with similar personalities. This type of person has appeared once again. Nemion, a girl he met in the mercenary camp, was like her

 Haroon himself could feel that she wasn"t putting any moves on him. Reflecting the situation on his experience with meeting Nemion, Lace was simply having an innocent and pure interest for what kind of person Haroon is.

 "Well, I"m a jobless, 19 year-old man. I know you are older than me, but I wouldn"t address you as "Nuna".⁵ You know, people say you have to be careful of things like that in male-female relationship. You don"t know what would happen."

 "Huhuhu, you are right on that. Age is just a number between male and female. My parents too,  have a 3-year difference in their age."

 She smiled at Haroon"s words. Haroon saw a hazy dimple and a crooked tooth. He preferred cuteness over beauty.

 "You gotta be extra careful from now on!" Rumm shouted at the members.

 "Are we there yet, Rumm?" Somebody asked.

 "Nope. The dungeon is at the end of this thorn bush forest," Rumm replied.

 Haroon could see a forest made out of thorn bushes that were as tall as a man. Haroon was surprised that someone actually went through this forest. Rumm saw people were getting curious, so he explained.

 "Well, I was looking for a place for No.1…… Then I found the dungeon."

 Everyone laughed at it. This wasn"t the kind of a place that people could find just by coincidence. This party really got lucky on this, as there was no official dungeons announced.

 The party made their way through the bushes, jostling away thorned branches and leaves with their swords. They knew it"d be way simpler if they cut branches, but they were afraid that the other users would find the dungeon by chance.

 When they had pressed their way through for about 10 minutes, they found a cliff. On one side of the cliff, there was a cave with a big entrance, presumably the entrance of the dungeon. While the others were resting, checking their weapons before combat, Rumm came to Haroon as if he was sorry that he couldn"t care much for Haroon.

 "Mr. Haroon. That"s the dungeon I mentioned."

 "I see. It seems quite extraordinary."

 "I know right? At first I didn"t dare to step in at all, but when I did, it told me it was a party dungeon."

 "No one has claimed they"ve found a dungeon as far as I know. That"s awesome work you"ve made."

 Rumm smiled proudly.

 "Haha, and thanks to that, I now have a subject to write my report on."

 "You must be majoring in something related to Games, I presume?"

 "You are right. I major in Computer A.I. Engineering. Lace majors it, too. I saw you two getting along well. Tess has been looking at you two strangely. Have you noticed?"

 Haroon liked how blandly Rumm talks. His bright face and cheerful personality was completely opposite to him, but he liked being with Rumm.

 "She seemed like a good person."

 "By the way, how old are you……?"

 "I became an adult this year."

 "So you must be 19? I"m the same age to you!"

 Rumm must have thought that Haroon was older than him, seeing how Lace got along with Haroon very well. Haroon"s lone atmosphere must have made him seem older as well. Haroon felt sorry for some reason.

 "Well, I do look older. I admit that."

 Rumm waved his hands.

 "No, no. Not at all. It is our fault that we presumed your age. Well, since we are the same age, do you mind if I speak rather informally?"⁶

 "Not at all."

 "Ahaha. Alright, that makes things easier. My name"s Moon’Hee."

 "It"s Haroon. I don"t really use the real name anymore. I just like to be called that way."

 "Fair enough. Where do you live?"

 "District F. Why though?"

 Haroon coldly replied, realizing that even Rumm couldn"t avoid asking where Haroon was from. But despite what Haroon expected, he could see that Rumm was yearning the life Haroon was living.

 "Nah, I just thought your atmosphere suits it. Is that true that people there have a lot of stories?"

 "That"s just a stereotype. At least that"s no to people near me."

 Rumm seemed even more interested in Haroon, even though he revealed that he was from District F. He must have a fantasy of some sort, for some reason.

 Maron drew the attention of the party.

 "Well then. Let"s get in!" He shouted.

 They had rested long enough, and it was time to take action.

 "Let"s put our Tanker, Mentosa on the frontline. Yeo"meong, a.s.sist him. Rumm and Minerva should guard the sides and watch for the flanks, and Mr. Haroon, guard the backline please. Let"s put our magicians in the middle, and each should a.s.sist each direction. Tess, take the frontside, Mir on the left, I"ll take the right side, and Dasom will be a.s.sisting the backline. Lace will be our commander."

 It was just a summary of what they planned along the way, so there was no objections to it. The party had an archeress, an a.s.sa.s.sin, a priest, swordsmen and magicians, which is very well balanced. Haroon was a bit off, but he was just a member to fill the number, and since the commander, Lace was trusting his ability despite how low his level was, there was no reason for the others to say anything about him.

Translated by Channy_
Edited by Tom and Kmatt

Footnotes:

¹Yeo"meong(여명) – The meaning is Daybreak.

² This is mistaken by the author, and is not from translation nor the edit. It is my guess that Tess was once designed as a swordswoman, later changed to a magician, and this is a residue of it, as the author compares Tess to a blade. I"ve checked their recent version, and oddly enough, it wasn"t edited yet. Do your work, ROK media!

³ Mir(미르)  – a pure korean word that means "Dragon"

⁴ Dasom(다솜) – a pure korean word that means "Love"

⁵ Nuna(누나) – The way younger males address slightly older females. (ex. Channy Nuna) Usually used in close relationship, but it doesn"t matter for the kids how close the relationship is. In Haroon"s case, it"s likely that he would use t.i.tle 님 which is p.r.o.nounced as "nim". 님 is formal version of Mr., Miss, Ms., or Mrs. I haven"t been/won"t translate these kinds of t.i.tles unless it is needed.

⁶ Reminder: Korean culture is heavily based on age difference, and people with the same age tends to get along well, as they don"t really need to be so formal to each other. Koreans have a different age system by the way. It is easy to understand if you think of it as "nth year". When you are born, it is your first year of your life, so you are age 1. Age 19 means it is their 19th year of life.

 Though, even when they are the same age, it is a good manner to ask if they can speak "informally", unless there is some kind of context (Like being in the same cla.s.s in school).

Editor"s Notes:

Channy: I’ve created a google spreadsheet for characters. At first, I made it to remind myself (spellings usually), then I thought you might find it interesting. It might contain spoilers, though! You can check it out.

Tom: Thanks for TLing, and for reading! Peace.

Kmatt: Time for more battles and fighting. Also nice to read that the beautiful girls in the story have some defects also makes it feel more real to me.