The respawn point was Havencrest City's plaza, the same spot where Jin-woo had originally spawned after leaving Tutorial Island. It was evening in-game now, the twin suns setting on the horizon, magical street lamps beginning to glow with soft light.
Jin-woo checked his character status immediately. The death penalty had cost him 80 experience points, dropping him from 95/800 XP to 15/800 XP at level 4. Not devastating, but annoying. Eighty experience represented maybe three or four wolf kills, about ten minutes of grinding wasted.
More importantly, he was alive, his equipment intact, and he had nearly six hours of playtime available before he'd need to log out for the headset recharge and his own rest.
No more parties. Jin-woo had learned that lesson. Solo grinding was predictable, controllable. If he died, it would be his own fault, his own mistake to learn from. No panic pulls, no incompetent party members, no one else to blame.
He headed back to the west gate and the Plains of Beginning. The wolf hunting grounds were familiar now, comfortable. He knew the spawn patterns, the safe pulling distances, the best routes between packs.
Jin-woo settled into a rhythm that would define the next several hours: find wolf, engage, kill, loot, regenerate health if necessary, repeat. His level 4 stats made the level 2-3 wolves manageable. Most fights ended with him at 80% health or higher. Kill times averaged about sixty to seventy seconds per wolf.
An hour passed. Jin-woo had killed twelve wolves, earning roughly 50 copper from direct drops plus another 30 copper worth of vendorable items. His experience bar slowly crept upward: 15/800. 87/800. 156/800.
He varied his hunting between wolves and goblins, traveling to the northern goblin camp when wolf spawns were being camped by other players, then returning to the plains when the goblins were crowded. The constant movement kept his efficiency high—no time wasted waiting for spawns.
Two hours. Twenty-seven total kills between wolves and goblins. His inventory was filling up with fangs, pelts, damaged equipment. His currency was growing: 1,834 + 143 = 1,977 copper.
Three hours. The in-game night was fully dark now, the twin suns long set, stars brilliant overhead. Jin-woo's kill count hit forty-nine. His experience bar crossed the halfway point: 478/800.
Four hours. Sixty-two kills. His experience bar: 701/800.
Jin-woo was in the middle of fighting a level 3 wolf near the eastern edge of the plains when the notification appeared:
LEVEL UP! You have reached Level 5! +5 Stat Points available to allocate Health increased to 165/165 Stamina increased to 140/140
Level 5. Jin-woo finished killing the wolf—it died in three hits now that his damage had increased from the level up—and paused to allocate his stats. He pulled up the character sheet:
Name: Jin Park Level: 5
Experience: 34/1000
Attributes: Strength: 19 Agility: 11 Vitality: 15 Intelligence: 10 Wisdom: 10 Luck: 10
Unallocated Points: 5
Following the forum guide ratios, Jin-woo allocated: 3 points to Strength, 2 points to Vitality.
His stats updated: Strength: 22 Vitality: 17 Health: 175/175
The power increase was immediately noticeable. His next wolf kill took only forty-five seconds, his damage per hit jumping from around 18-20 to 22-24. The higher health pool meant he could chain-pull multiple wolves with less downtime for regeneration.
Jin-woo continued grinding. Five hours total playtime. Seventy-eight kills. Six hours. Ninety-six kills. His inventory was completely full now, every slot occupied by loot. He needed to return to the city to vendor everything.
The trip back took fifteen minutes. Jin-woo sold all his collected junk to the Ironwood Trading Company merchant, the items converting to a satisfying pile of copper:
Total Vendor Value: 347 copper
His currency updated: 2,324 + 347 = 2,671 copper.
That was 26 silver and 71 copper. Over twenty-six dollars. Combined with what he'd earned from the goblin quest earlier, his total for the day was... Jin-woo did the math. He'd started the day with 419 copper. Now he had 2,671 copper. That was 2,252 copper gained, or 22 silver and 52 copper.
Twenty-two dollars and fifty-two cents.
Jin-woo checked his real-world phone timer. He'd been playing for approximately ten hours total today, accounting for the six-hour death penalty break. Twenty-two dollars for ten hours of actual gameplay, minus the six hours of forced downtime.
If he counted only productive playtime, it was roughly $2.25 per hour. If he counted the full sixteen-hour period including the lockout, it dropped to about $1.40 per hour.
Both numbers were depressing.
Jin-woo found the exchange terminal in the plaza and converted 1,500 copper to real money:
Convert 1,500 copper (15 silver) to USD? You will receive: $14.25 (after 5% fee)
He confirmed the transaction and checked his bank account. The balance updated: -$112.23.
He was still overdrawn, but the number was getting smaller. Progress, however slow.
That left him with 1,171 copper (11 silver, 71 copper) in-game. Enough for emergency potions or equipment repairs if needed.
Jin-woo sat on a bench in the plaza—his virtual body sitting while his real body remained on the uncomfortable chair in his apartment—and pulled up a calculator on his phone. He needed to run the numbers, see if this was even possible.
His loan payment was $1,232, due in 28 days now. If he could earn $15 per day by playing 12 hours daily, that was $420 over 28 days. Not even close to $1,232.
If he played 16 hours per day—pushing himself to the absolute limit of what his first-generation headset could handle—and maintained his current rate, that was maybe $20-22 per day. Over 28 days, that was $560-616. Still not enough.
And that didn't account for food, utilities, the fact that his phone bill was due in two weeks, or any other expenses. The loan was just one debt among many.
Jin-woo stared at the numbers, feeling the familiar weight of impossibility settling over him. Even at sixteen hours per day of grinding—which would destroy his health, his sleep schedule, his sanity—he couldn't earn enough to cover his expenses.
He needed better methods. Better money-making strategies. Higher-level content that paid more per hour.
Jin-woo opened the ERO forums on his phone and started searching with new focus. His previous research had been about learning the game's basics. Now he needed advanced strategies. He searched for:
"Best money making level 5-10" "Crafting materials farming guide"
"Rare drop locations early game" "Dungeon grinding silver per hour"
The results were extensive. Jin-woo started reading, taking notes in his phone's memo app.
One thread particularly caught his attention: "Crafting Material Farming: The Overlooked Goldmine"
The post was detailed and analytical:
"Everyone focuses on quest rewards and vendor trash, but the real money is in crafting materials. Here's why:
Crafters need MASSIVE quantities of basic materials. We're talking thousands of iron ore, hundreds of rare herbs, stacks and stacks of leather. They'll pay premium prices for bulk materials because gathering is boring and time-consuming.
The market prices for materials are often 2-3x higher than vendor prices. Example: Wolf Pelt vendors for 5 copper. Players will buy it for 12-15 copper because they need hundreds for leveling their leatherworking.
Best materials for levels 5-10 to farm:
Iron Ore: Found in caves, sells for 40-50 copper per stack of 10Moonpetal Herb: Rare spawn in forests, sells for 1-2 silver eachQuality Leather: Drops from level 6+ beasts, sells for 20-25 copper eachSlime Cores: Rare drop from slimes, sells for 50 copper-1 silver each
Focus on rare materials, not common ones. Common materials have market oversupply. Rare materials have high demand and low supply.
Pro tip: Check the auction house daily. Learn what's expensive. Farm that."
Jin-woo read the post three times, his mind racing. He'd been vendoring everything to NPCs, taking the guaranteed but low prices. But if players would pay more...
Another thread: "Dungeon Guide: Beginner Dungeons Ranked by Profit"
"Dungeons are group content, but if you can find a good party, they're the fastest money.
Starter dungeons (level 5-10):
Goblin Warren: 4-5 silver per run, 30-40 minutes per run, drops recipesSpider Nest: 6-7 silver per run, 45 minutes per run, drops rare silk materialsBandit Hideout: 3-4 silver per run, 20 minutes per run, fast but low reward
Best option for level 5: Find a group for Goblin Warren. The recipe drops sell for 1-2 gold to other players. That's 100-200 silver. One lucky drop pays for weeks of grinding.
WARNING: Dungeons are harder than open world. High risk of party wipes. Make sure your party knows the mechanics."
Dungeons. High risk, high reward. Jin-woo had just experienced a party wipe in open world content. Dungeons would be worse. But the potential earnings...
A third thread: "Rare Drop Farming: RNG But Worth It"
"Some monsters have rare drops worth significant money. Low drop chance (0.5-5%) but high value.
Examples:
Slime King (rare spawn): Drops Slime Core (1 gold value)Alpha Wolf (rare spawn): Drops Alpha Pelt (2 gold value)Elite Goblins: Drop Goblin Shaman Staff recipe (3-5 gold value)
Farming these is gambling. You might kill 100 and get nothing. Or you might get lucky on kill #3 and make a fortune.
Only worth it if you have time to waste or are already farming the area."
Jin-woo absorbed all the information, his notes growing longer. The picture becoming clearer. He'd been approaching ERO like a job—clock in, grind mobs, clock out. But the real money came from understanding the economy, finding inefficiencies, taking calculated risks.
Crafting materials sold to players for more than to vendors. Dungeons had rare drops worth exponentially more than common loot. Rare spawns could drop items worth days of grinding.
But all of it required either luck, skill, or cooperation with other players. And Jin-woo had just been reminded how dangerous party content could be.
He checked the time: 8:47 PM in real life. His headset battery showed 23%—maybe an hour of playtime left before it died. His eyes burned with fatigue, and his neck was stiff from hours of sitting.
Jin-woo logged out and removed the headset. His apartment was dark except for the glow of his phone screen. The eviction notice sat on the table, twenty-eight days remaining. His bank account showed -$112.23. His loan payment of $1,232 loomed like a guillotine.
He'd earned over twenty-two dollars today, but it wasn't enough. It wasn't close to enough.
Tomorrow, he'd try something different. No more simple wolf and goblin grinding. He'd research the crafting material markets, find out what was valuable, and target farm those items. He'd look for rare spawns. Maybe, carefully, he'd try to find a competent party for a dungeon run.
Whatever it took to increase his earnings rate. Because at his current pace, he'd still be broke in thirty days, just with slightly less debt.
Jin-woo set his phone alarm for 6:00 AM. Earlier start tomorrow. More hours available for grinding. He needed every advantage he could get.
He lay down on his futon, fully clothed again, too exhausted to care. The numbers swirled in his head—silver per hour, copper per kill, days remaining, dollars needed. The math that refused to add up to survival.
Sleep came slowly, troubled by dreams of wolves with price tags and goblins that dropped eviction notices instead of copper coins.