A New Name and a Surprising Ally

After finishing the sleek customization and settling on Berserker as my class, I fell into another dilemma.
As expected, the most time-consuming part of creating a new character is picking a nickname.

“What should I go with? Anything good?”

I tried searching a string of nicknames that popped into my head, but sadly, they were all taken.
Ugh, this is way harder than customizing.

A name change ticket costs 10,000 won.
I don’t mind spending that on cosmetics, but for a name change? That stings.

OnlyKillsGunners? Nah, that’s too close to my alt’s vibe.

Since I’m starting fresh, I wanted a nickname unrelated to SoonToDie.

I even resorted to searching “nickname ideas” online, but nothing clicked.

In a fit of frustration, I typed in a profanity-laced name, only to get a “cannot use” prompt, which just pissed me off more.

Why’s everything telling me what to do? Why’s nothing available?

“Wait, I got one. Is this taken?”

A sudden idea hit me, and I typed it in hopefully.
The screen transitioned to the prologue.

It worked! Finally!

Ten minutes on customization, thirty on the nickname—forty minutes total to log in.

“What a pain.”

Annoying, but what can you do?

It was my fault for not picking a name in advance.

Skipping the familiar prologue, I entered the game and saw my new nickname in bold.

[DontOrderMe]

Truly a perfect name.

—

### 3. DontOrderMe

(1)

After transferring all items from my mule to DontOrderMe, I moved the character around in the starter village.
Since creating a new character resets all previous settings, I had to tweak everything again—especially on a different account.

Once I matched the settings to what I’d always used, the controls felt much smoother.

This is why I game!
The plan was to speed through leveling, push the main quest, and then ask Beta to let me into her guild.

Following my mental checklist, I grabbed a quest from the village chief NPC and headed to the field.

Early on, you can’t enter dungeons, so I had to hunt in the field to unlock a dungeon-access quest.

Beating up weak mobs that didn’t even need movement, I cleared quests back-to-back, and my level shot up.
Then, out of nowhere, someone with an unfamiliar nickname appeared and killed me.

[All/DontOrderMe: ?]

[All/DontOrderMe: Who?]

[All/BbiBbiYong: What’re you doing, man?]

I’d done plenty of PKing, but getting PK’d was a first, and my head was spinning.

Is this how the people I killed felt?
I’m not one for guilt, but I felt a twinge of it.

[All/DontOrderMe: Uh; Sorry;]

[All/BbiBbiYong: Knew you weren’t a newbie.]

Guess I deserve it, so I’ll let it slide.
Agro multiplies like roaches if you engage, so it’s best to ignore and move on.

Conveniently, I needed to return to town anyway, and they even “helped” me teleport back, so I should be grateful.
Lost EXP? No level penalty, so it’s whatever.

Rubbing my nose, I hit the return button, and my character appeared in the town’s teleport zone.
Wow! Free teleport, thanks!

Feeling good, I rushed to the NPC, cleared the quest, and got a new main quest to enter a dungeon.
Perfect. This is what I was waiting for.

“Good thing I transferred gear. Even in low-level zones, gear makes a difference.”

The faster you clear, the more dungeons you can run, and the quicker you level.

I opened my inventory, equipped some decent gear, and used an EXP boost scroll.
For the next hour, I’d get 30% more EXP.

Diving into the dungeon, I unleashed my veteran moves, mowing down monsters.

With high-level gear for my level and solid mechanics, I barely took damage except from unavoidable AoE attacks.
Even when I got hit, it didn’t hurt much—gear advantage is real.

“This is why people make alts.”

High-level zones can be tough to solo, but low-level ones are a breeze.
Even though I forgot some dungeon mechanics from not running them in ages, I could predict attacks just by glancing, making gimmicks a cakewalk.

Letting out a quiet “whoa,” I cleared the dungeon faster than the wind, cleaner than anyone.

I progressed quests, cleared dungeons, sold junk at the shop, repaired gear, and repeated.
After about three hours, I hit level 35.

“Damn, that’s fast.”

Thanks to the EXP scroll?

For a game with a level 100 cap, this pace was insane.
Rising levels let me plow through quests without hitting level gates.

“This quest is Yukria’s Cave.”

Unlike typical instanced dungeons, Yukria’s Cave is a field dungeon, meaning other players can enter mid-run.
In other words, someone could barge in and PK me.

“What to do…”

Clearing it isn’t hard.
The issue is if someone’s already in or follows me in.
At my low level, a high-level player could PK me, and the level and gear gap would mean death.

Should I ask Beta for help?
I wanted to hit max level before contacting her, but oh well.

After long deliberation, I made a quick decision: set the nearby town as my return point and go in.
If I’m lucky, I can clear it solo and get out clean.

Entering Yukria’s Cave, I beat down monsters with ease.
Unlike instanced dungeons, field dungeons have respawning monsters, so I had to rush the boss and teleport out.

Thankfully, my gear made mob-clearing a breeze.
The real problem was about to start.

As I entered the mid-boss area, a message popped up, making me frown.
Of all times…

[PatchNote has entered the dungeon.]

Why this dungeon out of all of them?
All you get here is EXP or crafting materials—housing materials, at that.

Are they here for those?

I heard some hardcore crafters prefer farming materials themselves over buying them.
Not my thing, though.

Hoping they were a newbie here for a quest, my optimism faded when I saw them arrive.

Their gear screamed veteran.
Their weapon glowed with heavy enhancement effects, and they were decked out in endgame raid gear.

[All/PatchNote: Hello.]

[All/PatchNote: Soloing?]

While debating whether to teleport out and return later, they sent me a chat.
Why ask that?
Shaking off my confusion, I replied honestly.

[All/DontOrderMe: Yeah, I am.]

[All/PatchNote: Wanna party up?]

[All/DontOrderMe: Why?]

The question slipped out.
Why would a fully geared veteran party with a random lowbie in a low-level dungeon?

The boss isn’t even hard enough to need help.
PatchNote went quiet for a bit before responding.

[All/PatchNote: You seem like a newbie, so I thought I’d carry you.]

[All/PatchNote: No carry fee, don’t worry.]

[All/DontOrderMe: I’m not a newbie.]

After a moment’s thought, I told the truth.
I’m low-level, but not a newbie—this is an alt.
Despite my clarification, they brushed it off.

[All/PatchNote: No worries.]

[All/PatchNote: This map’s long and tough. I’ll help.]

PatchNote sent me a party invite.
Hesitating, I accepted, and they did a smiling emote before taking the lead.

Outside of raids, I almost always solo, so partying felt awkward.
But that awkwardness vanished with PatchNote’s carry.

“Whoa… what’s this? This is insanely comfy!”

PatchNote darted around, pulling aggro from every monster nearby.

Grouping them up, they unleashed an AoE skill, wiping them out in one go.

A single *boom* of effects, and the monsters turned into EXP.

This wasn’t just a bus—it was a luxury limousine.