Starting with Vermouth, I cleared every raid available at my level without skipping a single one.
💬 Party Chat— BiennamashitaSaintess-nim, you've got your gear equipped wrong!— BiennamashitaYou're using a one-handed sword right now.— Goksan Fist Vol1Ah lol, thought you came as a DPS saintess lol.— Saintess NiceIt's equipped properly, though?— Biennamashita?— Goksan Fist Vol1?You have been forcibly removed from the party.
Of course, things weren't exactly smooth sailing.
The vast majority of players still hadn't grasped the value of the one-handed sword saintess build.
They'd never even tried it properly themselves, yet they insisted my setup was weird or wrong, telling me to ditch the one-handed sword and equip something stupid like a holy book.
Whether it's shit or bean paste, you have to taste it yourself to know, right?
Well, I guess that's fair. Even if I'd proven my setup on Eder-hyung's stream, not every player watches streams religiously.
It was just... regrettable.
Like leaving a gem right in front of them to chase after worthless pebbles.
"Nngh..."
Hours of sitting in one spot grinding raids had my body aching all over.
"Hngh... Nngh... Tch!"
I did some light stretching in place, stretched my arms overhead, then sat back down.
I could feel the gaze of the person next to me, but I didn't pay it much mind.
If they were staring openly, maybe, but just sneaking glances? Whatever.
Besides, I was planning to head home soon anyway.
"Market share rising~ Logins rising~"
Of course, I didn't plan to go straight home.
The whole reason I'd dragged myself from home to the PC bang was for this.
đź“° Item Mania
The amount needed for this month's rent was about 100,000 won.
If I sold all the gold I'd earned today, I could just scrape it together.
"Hmm... Raids reset weekly, and in a week..."
Checking the prices on the trading site, it was clear gold farming alone couldn't cover rent every month.
"Way short."
I'd wondered why Lee Min-ji worked so many part-time jobs. Now I got it.
"Did I quit for no reason...?"
But someone like me, who'd never done a single part-time gig in my life, couldn't handle that schedule.
A suddenly worthless newbie employee? I'd get fired in a heartbeat.
Anyway, it was starting to get annoying.
"Excuse me, sorry, but could you stop staring?"
"Ah... Sorry."
A few hints should have been enough for them to back off.
Looking at her, though, she probably wouldn't have gotten fired even if she sucked at the job.
A pretty girl who can't work has more value than an ugly one who can—that's the world's common sense.
Fucking lookism.
Of course, now I was part of the privileged class under that ideology, so it didn't bother me much.
Either way, gold farming to cover rent was only viable this month.
I had to figure something out starting next month.
Worst case... just do some camgirl stuff.
It's gross, but better than starving, right?
💬 1:1 Chat— Me100:250 for 500k pp— TraderOK, logging in now.— MeTrade on alt char ok?— TraderAww yeah, carrot stick straight up.— MeGot it.— TraderYou're welcome. You come so well.
"I'm a gold farm~ Already a gold farm~"
While waiting for the trader to log into Ias, I hummed along to the song playing on YouTube.
AI singing songs... the world sure has changed in weird ways.
— Nationwide Gold Buyer (Whisper)Thought it was someone, but it's the industry big senior. But do alts even matter for you?— Saintess Nice 12I just realized too.— Nationwide Gold Buyer (Whisper)Lollll hilarious.Nationwide Gold Buyer has sent a trade request. [Accept]
Was the 24/7 standby for real? The trader logged into Ias in seconds.
After confirming the deposit into Item Mania's virtual account, I immediately sent a trade request and tried to hand over the gold.
But for some reason, the trade wouldn't go through.
Insufficient trust level. Trade automatically canceled.
"Huh?"
— Nationwide Gold Buyer (Whisper)Dude no. Initiating trades without trust level? What am I gonna do ;;
Trust level...?
— Saintess Nice 12What's that?— Nationwide Gold Buyer (Whisper)Sigh... Wasted time.Trade canceled.
"What's that even?!"
What the hell was a trust level? It must be some new system added to Ias during the year and a half I was gone. Thanks to it, my plan to cover rent with gold farming went up in smoke. But I'm not the type to just sit there defeated. Who am I? Me, Saintess Nice.đź“° Title: Honestly, saintesses should buff lolđź“° Title: If not nerfing paladins is disgusting, upvoteđź“° Title: Assassins could use more nerfs though, right?
The strategist who turns every balance patch into a shitstorm in the gallery, sparking Galld Cups.
đź“° Title: Fuck stop spammingđź“° Title: Am I a gold farmer? Answer.đź“° Title: Am I a gold farmer? Answer.đź“° Title: Am I a gold farmer? Answer.
The warrior who stood alone against thousands, tens of thousands of Ias gallery users trying to tear me down.
I earned a permanent ban from Ias Gal and the infamous gold farmer label, but to me, those were badges of honor.
Humans who don't learn get weeded out.
If I don't know what a trust level is, I just learn.
Luckily, my surroundings were overflowing with sages who did nothing but play Ias after meals.
Now, grant me your wisdom, oh sages.
🗂 Ias Doomsday Gallery📰 Title: PC Bang Girl Next to Me Suddenly Moans Story— OP (121.21)What does the trust level system do..?— AnonSo where's the girl next to you?— AnonThis trash gal has aggro too?— AnonThe trashier the gal, the more aggro it has.— AnonAggro fuck off.— AnonHate myself for clicking in excitement.
A question post without aggro gets buried fast, as expected.
So I sprinkled a bit of MSG bait, and luckily, everyone seemed to like it.
— AnonNew feature to prevent gold farmers.
Thank goodness—a proper reply came quick.
Almost went dark there; you saved the gal?
— OPGot that it's anti-gold farm, but how exactly does it work?— AnonToo complex to explain... TLDR—
Hmm.
— OPGot it perfectly!— AnonYou didn't get shit.— OPYeah.
No clue what any of that's saying.
— AnonSigh fuck, basically the more gold you spend, trust level goes up like mileage, no trust = can't send gold to others ok?
So, in summary.
If you don't spend gold... you can't give gold to others?
— OPSpend gold... then you have no gold to give, right?— AnonUh... yeah?
Oh god.
I didn't have time to build trust when I couldn't even pay rent right now.
To avoid getting kicked out, I had to make money somehow.
Now it was really... camgirl or bust...?
Was there truly no other path besides becoming side dish for faceless men?
"Gotta practice dancing or something..."
Zero to hero and terminal... what else could I do...
As my mind drifted to camgirl streams,
📰 Title: Seongna, Eder-hyung's looking for you— White Dragon Pavilion
One post in the doomsday gal caught my eye.
"Huh? Me?"
If it had been an anon, I wouldn't have bitten on that aggro.
But a high nick—and a famous friendly one in the doomsday gal, White Dragon Pavilion—that changed things.
— AnonWhy— White Dragon PavilionYou Seongna, right?
Straight-up doubting me—solid attitude.
In the world of anonymity, constant suspicion is key to survival.
— AnonJune 17, 2023, Yonggak got dumped after getting his sum girl drunk and groping.— White Dragon PavilionYou little shit.
That should convince them it's me.
— Deleted Chat— White Dragon PavilionYou little shit.— AnonBelieve now? So why'd you call— White Dragon PavilionSigh... Eder-hyung's been searching the gal for you nonstop, didn't see?
Eder-hyung looking for me?
Why?
— AnonKnew that.
Ah, of course I already knew Eder-hyung was looking for me.
The question was why.
— White Dragon Pavilion? Then why ignore— AnonAnswering with no response— White Dragon Pavilion..?
Honestly, no bandwidth for that with the trust level mess.
— (Eder) Are you Seongna-nim?— White Dragon PavilionOh, he came himself. You two talk, I'm off to raids~
Oh, didn't expect him to show up personally.
— AnonOh— AnonThought you'd forgotten us, but here you are?— (Eder)Forget? Lol. Been busy with streams, so not here much.— AnonSo what brings you here~?
I could guess.
Probably... wants the creator of the one-handed sword setup—me—to appear on his stream and explain it.
— (Eder)Mentioned it in Vermouth earlier, but tons of people asking about your setup. Could you guest on my stream?— AnonHmm..
Not super appealing, honestly.
Great if the one-handed sword saintess greatness spreads, but haven't they witnessed it once already?
The greatness of the one-handed sword.
I had no desire to mingle with those who'd seen the miracle and now wanted to dissect its principles—blasphemers.
— (Eder)If you appear, I'll give you 80% of that day's donation revenue. We can fine-tune details based on the day too.
...Sharing donation revenue?
— AnonDo it.— AnonAbsolutely do it.
I saw it.
The rent-covering solution.