Chapter 5: MachoKing Learns the Hard Way

Episode 5

The redhead who told him to look up “JusticeEnforcer” didn’t stop there.

[General] Seohyeon: Didn’t anything feel off?
[General] Seohyeon: I mean, you’ve been digging all day
[General] Seohyeon: Doing pure manual labor
[General] Seohyeon: But got barely anything, right?

Gyeongheon’s gaze slowly dropped down the scrolling chat.
He reread the messages several times, then scrambled for his phone.
Turning on the screen, he hurried into Odin’s Frontier’s General Forum.

He froze as soon as he entered.

He’d only lurked in the strategy boards until now, never touching the general community—
and it was absolute chaos.
The place was a mud pit of rage, users trashing Odin’s Frontier’s publisher Adios,
the devs, the executives—everyone.

Gyeongheon carefully waded past thread titles overflowing with profanity…
until he reached the author Seohyeon mentioned.

“…JusticeEnforcer.”

The nickname alone felt ominous.
The post title tugged at his fingertip.

“9-Star Mineral at 60%… Are You Kidding Me?”

Unease prickling up his back, Gyeongheon clicked.

Odin’s Strategy

[Author: JusticeEnforcer]
[Title: 9-Star Mineral 60%… For Real?]

Hello.
I’m JusticeEnforcer, guild master of <DeathByFactCheck>.

There’s something you all need to know, so I’m posting here.

I’ll get straight to the facts:

The mineral rate listed in the official guide is fake.

After playing Odin for 3 years, I began to notice—
and so did many other players posting around these forums—
that the real mining yield is different from what the game claims.

Everyone had suspicions, but no one formally raised an issue.
So I reached out to other guilds.
Three guilds, including ours, spent a full week mining nonstop.

Here’s the truth:

9-Star Mineral Rate: 55% → 60%
1-Star Mineral Rate: 0.1% → 0.01%

Meaning:
To get one 1-star mineral, you don’t need to dig 1,000 times—
you need 10,000.

(☆ Simplified analogy for player understanding—please bear with me.)

2. We documented all findings and sent them to the publisher, Adios.
   But it’s been a week and Adios has not responded once.

After deceiving players for the past 10 years,
we demand Adios address this immediately.

If you’re still mining pointlessly in the caves right now,
return to town immediately.

 Additional:
Based on these findings, we plan to investigate gathering rates next.
Five guilds will be participating, excluding ours.
We’ll broadcast the entire week-long test on YTube.
Please help spread the word.

Thank you.

(Comments)

Wait… WHAT???? 0.01%??
⌎ Yeah… it’s true. I was one of the testers. Counted every dig manually.
⌎ Screw mining, just buy off the auction house or trade. No point digging.
⌎ LMAO explains why all I got was trash trash trash
⌎ Honestly, buying might be cheaper
⌎ Problem is sellers might jack up prices…

• When’s the truck protest
  ⌎ Sir… we actually did a fundraiser last year but the organizer ghosted us…
  ⌎ Same here;; never got my refund
  ⌎ Like damn, the game sucks but can we not scam each other at least??

• Meanwhile the game next door holds community meetings…
  ⌎ Odin? Having meetings? <<not applicable>>
  ⌎ A trapped sucker gets no snacks

• JusticeEnforcer doing God’s work again
  ⌎ fr like when he exposed that trash swordsman last time
  ⌎ The only player I trust

• That’s it, full-scale protest. I’ll drive the truck.

• This post is gonna get deleted soon
  ⌎ Deleted? Why?
  ⌎ They don’t delete normal dev insults lol
  ⌎ But insult the CEO? insta-delete
  ⌎ He’s got an inflated ego dipped in oil

Reading through all the comments, Gyeongheon clenched his fists.
JusticeEnforcer’s words stabbed him like needles.

Ten thousand digs for a 1-star mineral?
Then what had he been doing for the past week?

Now he understood why people kept telling him to stop.
Why strangers in the mines begged him to quit.

Seohyeon was right.
All those users who told MachoKing to run were right.
He shouldn’t have been wasting away underground like a trapped mole—he needed escape.

Gyeongheon shut the phone with a trembling breath and looked back at the laptop.
The redhead was still there—waiting, as if nothing happened—
killing time by playing a one-man word chain game.

[General] Seohyeon: Longing
[General] Seohyeon: Long-lost leisure
[General] Seohyeon: Hallasan
[General] MachoKing: …san… butt

The sudden “butt” left the chat silent for a moment.

Then:

[General] Seohyeon: Give me ten seconds, I’ll find a word

[General] MachoKing: No

Gyeongheon quickly shoved the shovel into his inventory and typed:

[General] MachoKing: Thanks for the info, anyway
[General] Seohyeon: Don’t mention it lol

She said she’d accept the thanks “in her heart,”
and Gyeongheon couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.
Anyone who traveled into a mine just to watch him dig clearly wasn’t normal—
but someone who played word chain alone?
This guy was missing at least two dozen screws.

He’d met a trashy player on day one,
but this one might actually be more dangerous.

His fingers flew.

[General] MachoKing: Anyway, thanks
[General] MachoKing: It was brief, but thank you

He was ready to cut ties cleanly—
but Seohyeon grabbed him fast.

[General] Seohyeon: Macho??
[General] Seohyeon: Okay wait, calm down

Maybe… maybe he should’ve just told Jong-un everything from the beginning.
His savings matured soon anyway.
It would be smarter to wait and pay him the correct price later
instead of half-paying out of guilt.

His thoughts finally settled into some peace—
a peace that lasted all of ten seconds.

[General] Seohyeon: Hey, Macho
[General] Seohyeon: You can’t just leave like this
[General] Seohyeon: Did you forget our promise?

The Hunter who followed him all the way into the mines
now whined as if he were the victim.
Her rapid-fire messages filled the entire chat window.

Gyeongheon, irritated, finally snapped:

[General] MachoKing: What

Truthfully, he wanted to delete the game, the mine, and this red-haired pest.

[General] Seohyeon: You said you dropped your items
[General] Seohyeon: And I’m free anyway
[General] MachoKing: Excuse me
[General] Seohyeon: I’ll help you
[General] MachoKing: No thanks, I’m fine now
[General] Seohyeon: Nope
[General] Seohyeon: You dropped A LOT

He stayed silent.
Seohyeon stared at MachoKing, then typed:

[General] Seohyeon: Before that, Macho
[General] Seohyeon: Conch-butt

Gyeongheon inhaled sharply.
What kind of freak—

“…This guy is absolutely insane.”

[General] MachoKing: Are you out of your mind?
[General] MachoKing: Seriously
[General] MachoKing: I’m not friending you, just go

Was he genuinely obsessed with word chain?
Or just poking him on purpose?

He muttered prayers to any deity available,
trying to calm himself—
when the chat lit again.

[General] Seohyeon: I’ve got nothing to do anyway
[General] Seohyeon: I’m bored so let me help

[General] MachoKing: Hey

His voice sharpened without thinking.

[General] MachoKing: ffs even playing this game is exhausting

[General] Seohyeon: Macho, you’re really mad
[General] MachoKing: I tried doing it ant-style without spending money
[General] Seohyeon: You can’t survive with zero spending

He stopped typing for a moment.
Then slowly, he confessed:

[General] MachoKing: I’m drowning in loans right now

Before the hit-and-run, he’d taken out a big loan to buy a car—
90,000 won per month.
Barely drove it ten times before it became a decoration in the garage.

If only he hadn’t insisted on high payments to avoid debt…
He wouldn’t be suffering over a microtransaction.

[General] Seohyeon: You need like 400 bucks to play comfortably. Pure grind won’t cut it
[General] MachoKing: That’s why I’m quitting
[General] MachoKing: This game is freaking hopeless
[General] Seohyeon: Macho, just calm down. Start over with me
[General] Seohyeon: Even a dung-filled ditch is better than the afterlife
[General] MachoKing: For me this is the afterlife

Gyeongheon stared at her avatar—
so cheerful, so nonchalant—
and irritation bubbled up.

[General] MachoKing: And why are you trying so hard to help some stranger?

The trauma of day one had rooted deep.
He no longer trusted anyone.

[General] Seohyeon: Because I have nothing else to do

But the redhead didn’t give up.
Instead, she kept shoving encouragement at him,
as if she’d known him for years.

[General] Seohyeon: And since you like free stuff, accept my free service

Why was someone he met today acting like this?