# Player with Maxed-Out Talent Episode 39

20. Coin Random Box

“Like this.”

I took out the ‘Spear for Beginners’ that I had purchased from the item shop. Then, I also took out another item.

──────────

[Black Yak Meat]

This is a juicy piece of meat.

Even a very small amount can create a tremendous feeling of fullness as an ingredient.

──────────

I had acquired the black yak meat a while back at the ‘Seoul Station Dungeon’ where I had met Seo Ju-hwan. I never thought I would use it here in my inventory.

‘I always planned to use it someday.’

And now I was using it here, much sooner than I thought. The black yak meat was a large chunk of flesh. I hung about two pieces of it on the tip of the spear.

“I’ll start looking for a swamp now.”

They reside in swamps. If you find them on land, you can hunt them directly, and if they’re in the water or the swamp, you just need to pull them out.

“Ah. So you’re using this to lure them out.”

I nodded.

“Crocodile fishing. First time trying it?”

Of course, it was also my first time.

[‘The Nameless Observer’ is watching you.]

[‘The Whispering Demon’ finds your trickery amusing.]

I didn’t receive notifications from other guardians. It seemed like they were planning to observe me a bit longer.

How much time had passed? We moved through the reed beds and found a large swamp. The swamp was almost muddy, more akin to a puddle of water.

I thrust the spear with the black yak meat into it and stirred vigorously. There was no need for fancy fishing techniques.

‘Eat up.’

If there were crocodiles here, they would probably eat it. If they did eat, they would come ashore because of the properties of the black yak meat.

──────────

Even a very small amount can create a tremendous feeling of fullness as an ingredient.

──────────

‘When… will they appear?’

Shin Yeon-seo asked me.

“Can we really catch a crocodile with this?”

It looked shabby to my eyes, too. How good could a store-bought spear for beginners be, and would anyone believe that you could catch a crocodile with it just by fitting it with black yak meat?

“If it’s here, just stay focused. You never know when it might leap out and bite our ankles.”

Just in case that happens.

“Cut off the ankle. That’s how you’ll survive.”

I focused on the water. The swamp was an ambiguous space between an actual swamp and a muddy water hole.

‘It’s here.’

I could feel it. Although not visible to the eye, the presence of the crocodile I had seen earlier was palpable. My senses conveyed the information to me.

‘Come forth.’

I felt it slowly approaching. I didn’t let my guard down.

‘Don’t let it bite me.’

I made sure it would bite the meat rather than me. I whipped the spear around, keeping as much distance from the edge of the swamp as possible.

‘Bite.’

It approached closely. The speed at which the creature leaped out of the water was unimaginably fast—that was its characteristic. I could feel a slight vibration through the spear’s tip. It was sizing up the situation.

‘Bite.’

Suddenly, the water erupted. Just like I did with the Japanese player earlier, it shot up from the water.

‘It ate it!’

The black yak meat was eaten.

“Now we just wait.”

Though there were just two chunks, they would probably give it the sensation of having eaten an entire person due to the meat’s properties. The black yak meat, lacking in flavor, nevertheless became popular as a diet food.

Sure enough, the sated creature crawled ashore to take a nap and could be captured without difficulty.

[You have hunted a ‘Swamp Crocodile’.]

[Swamp Crocodile Claw 2/5]

Shin Yeon-seo blinked in astonishment.

“I’ve never seen a monster caught like this. How did you even think of this?”

“Just.”

A thought suddenly crossed my mind.

‘What if I didn’t know this method?’

This method is something people from the future would know. But what if I wasn’t a regressor and was in the same position as Shin Yeon-seo? Just that I could use the item shop and already had the black yak meat?

‘At the point the Japanese player died… I would have guessed that it would come ashore to nap.’

Even without knowledge of the guide, I felt that I could have come up with this method. It seemed like I would have known regardless of the guide.

‘Actually, this gate has no information at all.’

Of course, it was just a beginner-level gate, but technically I’m at a beginner-level.

‘It’s easier than I thought.’

It certainly was easier than I thought. Even though it was a gate I was challenging without a guide, I seemed to be proceeding quite smoothly.

[You have hunted a ‘Swamp Crocodile’.]

[Swamp Crocodile Claw 3/5]

[Swamp Crocodile Claw 4/5]

[Swamp Crocodile Claw 5/5]

In the end, I had collected all five swamp crocodile claws. I handed them to Senia.

Senia received the five claws.

“…”

She was silent for a long time.

“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”

“No, it’s not that.”

“Then what?”

“…It’s nothing.”

Anyway, the quest was clear.

[You have completed the quest ‘Acquire Swamp Crocodile Claws’.]

[You will receive your quest reward.]

As a middle manager gave out the quest, the rewards came from Senia.

“Here is your quest completion reward.”

It was an item.

──────────

[Map of the Turtle’s Nest]

This is a map of the turtle’s nest. It contains crucial information about the turtle’s nest.

──────────

It was so easy to obtain the map item. It definitely seemed like the right level for a low-level gate.

‘A map.’

With a map, the gate’s strategy is practically done. It was almost like starting with most of the information about the gate.

‘Let’s take a look.’

I examined it.

‘The swamp crocodile’s habitat is marked… so this must be the actual turtle’s nest.’

I found a particular spot. There was a high chance that the clear crystal was there. I felt relieved.

“Let’s go.”

* * *

Senia watched Kim Hyuk-jin’s back as he led the way. His back looked quite relaxed. After obtaining the map, it became even more so.

‘Right now, you have no idea what you’ve done, do you?’

The guardians were in an uproar.

[‘Wanderer of the Milky Way’ reveals his true name and joins the conversation.]

[‘Eye of the Abyss’ reveals his true name and joins the conversation.]

Two guardians had revealed their names. To reveal a name means they are getting ready to take serious actions. It is known that revealing a true name costs as much as 1,000,000,000 COIN. So, the guardians who revealed their names are by no means small fry.

Of course, there were still many guardians who did not reveal their names. As usual, they led the conversation.

-‘What’s with this guy?’

-‘Isn’t this gate supposed to have collapsed? If it continues like this, won’t it be cleared?’

-‘Japan’s server. It’s a mess starting from the first scenario, no?’

-‘Shouldn’t the difficulty be raised considering this?’

It seemed almost certain that the gate would be cleared. The first scenario quest of the Japan server was ruined. Of course, Kim Hyuk-jin had used no unfair means in the process. On the contrary, he had only used the best methods.

‘Two guardians have revealed their names, and you’ve messed up the very first part of Japan’s server scenario.’

Ahead in the distance, the back of Kim Hyuk-jin appeared once again.

‘What are you, exactly?’

I had already performed a scan. There was no ‘True Name.’ He really is a ‘human.’ He may be an awakener of precognitive dreams, but I don’t think it’s possible to lead the situation this way simply with precognitive abilities.

‘Maybe… the difficulty needs to be adjusted.’

Because of this one person. No, because of the party this one person is leading, the difficulty may need to be recalibrated.

I decided to keep watching a little longer.

* * *

I discovered a cave. It wasn’t too difficult. I had a map, after all.

‘It’s not here.’

The gold turtle did not appear. I could guess why quite easily.

“The Japanese player must have found this place first.”

So he had so many ‘gold turtles.’ He couldn’t hunt the gold turtles hiding in their shells, so he just had them in the net.

“There are a total of three nests.”

I thoroughly examined this place but did not find the ‘clear crystal.’ Since the Japanese player died, even if he had it, it would have respawned here. So it’s not in this place.

“We’ll check all three.”

In another location, the gold turtles were still present, and a fairly large water hole was visible nearby.

“Ma Sang-hyeon, Shin Yeon-seo. Make sure that you two block them from going into the water.”

Each one of these turtles drops a large amount of COIN. Even a random COIN box can drop from them sometimes.

“If they get into the water, we can’t catch them.”

“Understood, brother! Just trust me!”

“Okay. I’ll earn my keep too.”

We blocked the path from the cave to the puddle. The gold turtles we discovered immediately hid inside their shells. That made hunting incredibly easy. More precisely, just like the Japanese player before us, we gathered all of them in nets.

“Are we not going to hunt now?”

“I’ll do it all at once later.”

“Why? Why not catch them now?”

“Nothing beats area hunting, right?”

It is most efficient to round them up in one place and hunt them. Ma Sang-hyeon clapped his hands lightly in admiration.

“This is a kind of drive hunting! I never expected to do drive hunting this way.”

There was no clear crystal in the second location either. We reached the third nest. There were quite a number of gold turtles living here as well. It wasn’t difficult to catch them.

Finding the crystal wasn’t too challenging, considering the gate’s rating wasn’t particularly high.

“Brother. There’s a crystal over there.”

A purple crystal. If you break this sparkling crystal, the gate will be cleared.

“What should I do? Shall I break it?”

“No.”

I decided to hunt first. I released dozens of gold turtles that were curled up into balls inside their shells. I didn’t count them exactly, but there seemed to be about 60.

‘It’s about time for a notification.’

This strategy would be widely known in the future. When hunting gold turtles, gather as many as possible in one place. Eventually, there were even farms for raising and slaughterhouses for processing gold turtles.

‘Wasn’t the number at least 40? The name was probably “Group Behavior of the Gold Turtles.”‘

If my memory serves correct, that should be the name. “Group Behavior of the Gold Turtles.”

[You have fulfilled a Hidden Piece: “Group Behavior of the Gold Turtles”.]

Although it had a fancy name, Hidden Piece, this is a strategy that everyone will know in the future.

[For the next 30 minutes, the COIN random box drop rate increases by +10%.]

[For the next 30 minutes, COIN acquisition increases by +10%.]

Effortlessly reaping the most benefits. That was the point of the strategy. This raid could certainly be considered a huge success. It was indeed a great success. The COIN acquired here would serve as paint to draw a firmer and clearer picture.

‘Now then, let’s take care of these guys.’

But just then, a yellow ‘!!!’ sign flashed before my eyes.

‘A critical alert all of a sudden?’